Official skeptics societies offer an important element
to contemporary society, especially in America. Their goal is essentially
debunking - every possible myth, quack, lie, false advertising, "supernatural" phenomena,
psychics, inaccurate science, misrepresentation of statistics, and psuedoscience
you could think of. I say "in America" because we in this country seem
to have a special knack for gullibility. Or, conversely, a special skill
for manipulation and hucksterism. Skeptical Inquirer sets out to fight
against those tendencies through hard facts and logical thinking.
The bonus that enticed me to subscribe to Skeptical
Inquirer was the free "Science and Religion" issue that came extra with
the subscription. It was a rich and thought-provoking examination of
many aspects of the overlapping magisteria of science and religious issues.
The regular issues have been good as well, but not
nearly as all-around enjoyable and intriguing. The individual issues
have hit or miss articles. I read fewer articles per issue in here than
perhaps any other magazine I read. But the ones that do appeal to me
tend to be very good. They also constantly have good book reviews. This
would be a good magazine to check out on the stands and see if particular
articles appeal to you.
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