I’m not a skeptical celebrity, how can I be involved?

If you are new to skepticism, or have only been a lurker in skeptical cyberspace up to now, you may be wondering what you can do to become involved in, or even contribute to, the skeptical community. It might seem like skepticism is something you are interested in, but only other people actually participate in. Sure, not all of us can be Genie Scott, Phil Plait, Kylie Sturgess, Joe Nickell, Ben Radford, or Derek and Swoopy,  just to name a few of the world’s skeptical superstars. But, I’m convinced you can easily become involved in, and even contribute to, skepticism.

Daniel Loxton, the editor of Junior Skeptic, addressed this exact topic back in March. He gathered input from 13 leading skeptics on what they think people can do to be involved, and the result is a wonderful, in-depth guide called “What Do I Do Next – Leading skeptics discuss 105 practical ways to promote science and advance skepticism“(pdf). I encourage you to read that detailed discussion, or at least his distilled version “What Do I Do Next – Quick Reference Guide“, and just skip my discussion below!

My handsome skeptic husband, Rob T., and I went to Dragon*Con last weekend. It was amazing, fun, informative, exhausting, educational, and weird. (The SkepTrack was all of the first five superlatives, but the costumes were the sixth!) We met many of the skeptic superstars listed above, and we were so energized by the experience, we spent the entire drive home coming up with ideas of how we can become more involved. I know that every one of you reading this can do at least one of the things on the list below. I want to be your cheerleader here, and help you get involved!

Attend a local skeptics group:Meeting other people who have the same worldview as yourself can help you realize you are not alone, and give you hope that this skeptical thing might really take off! There are skeptic clubs, societies, and meetups popping up all over the country. You can find out if there are any skeptical events scheduled in your area by checking out the calendar on GrassRootsSkeptics.org, and DrinkingSkeptically. There may be a Center for Inquiry near you, with activities every week. You can search for a local meetup on Meetup.com, using the search terms “skeptic” or “rational thought”. You can check for groups being advertised under the Community section on Craigslist. Also try Google, with search terms that include the word “skeptic” and the name of your nearest city. If you find a local group, try it for a few months. Each meeting or activity will probably be different, so try several to get an idea of the membership and the tone of the group. Plus, if you return several times, you will get more comfortable, and get to know more people. The benefits are many, including learning about skepticism, making friends, and even making professional connections.

Start a new local skeptics group: If you can’t find any groups in your area, start your own! I’m not just suggesting  it, I’m here to say it can be done. I searched, and found that the nearest skeptical group to our area is an hour and a half away. Yet we live near a large metro area. I checked Meetup.com and while it said there were no skeptics groups locally, it said there were many people on Meetup who had indicated that they wanted to be notified if someone started a skeptics meetup! So, for a low $12 a month, I became a Meetup organizer, and almost immediately had 30 people on the mailing list. We had our first meetup in August, and were overwhelmed by the 45 people who attended. Our mailing list has increased to more than 65, and we have high-hopes for the future of our little club. Our current goal is to have at least one meeting a month which features a professional giving a presentation on a skeptical topic, and perhaps one other meetup a month that is purely social or that is family-friendly. We don’t know these people very well yet, but we expect to make some very good friends. Step one was creating the meetup group at Meetup.com, step two was finding a speaker (I emailed college professors until one said “yes”), step three was finding a venue (we chose a local brew pub), step four was setting the date and scheduling it on Meetup.com, then the final step was to advertise. I placed an ad for the meetup on Craigslist, and I emailed everyone I knew who might be interested. I created a Facebook page for the club, and invited my skeptical Facebook friends to join it, even if they aren’t local, just to show support. Several people blogged about it for me as well. The entire process really didn’t take very long, and most of it was done on my laptop. You, as the organizer, can decide what kind of group you can start. It can be Skeptics in the Pub, or a lecture series at a local library or college, or a series of meetups at local museums, or a book club at a bookstore, or a coffee clatch at a coffee shop. Meeting new people can be nerve-wracking, especially if you are paralyzingly shy like me, but if I can do it, you can, too!

Donate to a national skeptical organization: It is helpful to join or donate to one or all of the national skeptical organizations, for your own personal growth, and also to help the organizations to thrive and grow. Rob and I are “friends of the center” at CFI, we donate to the James Randi Educational Foundation, subscribe to Skeptical Inquirer magazine,  subscribe to Skeptic magazine, and donate to the Foundation Beyond Belief. Our philosophy is that we are dedicated to giving some of our income to charity ever year, and we feel strongly about the good works that these organizations do, including educational outreach and furthering the cause of skepticism. We feel we get more back than we are currently able to give, but maybe in the future we can turn that around.

Attend a convention: There are now three major conventions for skeptics: The Amazing Meeting in Los Vegas, the SkepTrack at Dragon*Con in Atlanta, and NECSS in New York.  There are other activities, such a cruises, that CFI and the JREF offer as well. Local skeptical groups have begun to host SkeptiCamps, which are like mini-conferences put on by the attendees. These have the benefit of being cheaper, shorter, and closer than a national convention. So far Rob and I have only attended one convention: last week’s Dragon*Con. We had a great time meeting other skeptics who up to now have only been email or Facebook friends. We also learned many, many new things about a huge range of skeptical topics, from UFOs, to ghosts, to teaching skepticism, to skeptical parenting. It was expensive, and we had to take time off work, but it was a great vacation.

Get to know the skeptic superstars: I am lucky in having met many of my heroes in person, but even if you can’t afford to travel to a convention, you can befriend these people over the Internet. You can and should read and comment on their blogs, but you can also follow them on Twitter, friend them on Facebook,  and even email them. I’m not advocating that everyone in cyberspace start forwarding funny emails to Phil Plait (please don’t, he’s busy), I just mean that you can, via cyberspace, get to know the movers and shakers in the skeptical community. By doing so, you will learn so much and be motivated and energized!

Teach skepticism: It seems that the average American  does not know much about skepticism. So it is your challenge to educate as many people as you can! Talking about skeptical topics in a friendly, enthusiastic, way to friends and family is a great start. The Bad Astronomer Phil Plait recently expressed the need for skeptical passion very well. Teaching your kids how to think critically is crucial. You can blog if you want to, but be warned that you’ll mostly be preaching to the choir. A better idea might be to share articles on Facebook that demonstrate skeptical themes. When you share on Facebook, or Twitter, you are reaching all your friends, not just your skeptical ones. If you are able, you can go so far as to volunteer at your child’s school to teach a science topic, or offer free lectures on critical thinking at a library.

Becoming part of the skeptical community is something you can do. How hard you want to work and how much time you want to dedicate is your choice. But you can start today!

Now I’d like to open this up to you commenters. What ideas from Daniel Loxton’s booklet did you find most helpful? What ideas do you have that we missed?