The Skeptic's Toolbox was a four-day workshop devoted to scientific skepticism. Founded by psychologist and now-retired University of Oregon professor Ray Hyman, it was sponsored by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Annual workshops focused on educating people to be better critical thinkers, and involved a central theme. The attendees formed small groups and were given tasks that to work on and whose results they then presented to the entire workshop on the final day.
History Hyman created the Skeptic's Toolbox in 1989 to teach people how to be better skeptics. He tells James Underdown that "we were putting out more fires by skeptics than by believers... they were going overboard". The first toolbox was in Buffalo, NY with himself, James Alcock and Steve Shaw (now called Banachek). With the exception of the first year in Buffalo and one year when the toolbox was held in Boulder, Colorado, the toolbox was held at the University of Oregon in Eugene. Attendance was generally limited to approximately 90 participants so that everyone would receive personalized attention and the opportunity to participate. At the 1993 Toolbox, "More than a hundred people participated, from 19 states, Canada, and Hong Kong, and their enthusiasm continued to grow with each passing day, ending on the fifth day with what appeared to be a unanimous 'If only we had more time!'".
In 1997 Skeptical Inquirer announced that CFI would begin offering an academic certificate for students in a three-year program. Students needed to complete 30 units in academic work as well as in workshops. The two certificates offered were Humanistic Studies and Science and the Paranormal, attending The Skeptic's Toolbox would satisfy one of the workshop requirements.
Methodology and focus While critical thinking was the overall focus, lectures designed around the theme focused on the specialties of the faculty. A reporter for the Register-Guard attended the 2003 toolbox, and wrote of his experience hearing lectures on post traumatic stress syndrome, graphology, repressed memory court cases, communication with the dead, healing through prayer, traditional Chinese medicine, psychic dogs, and Jerry Andrus's display of optical illusions. The goal of the Toolbox was to "help skeptics add to their arsenal of tools and techniques with which to both guard against deception and properly evaluate paranormal claims". Learning how to communicate with believers was also a main theme: "Skeptics search for truths, believers tend to want validation of their experiences".
Communicating the skeptical message to non-skeptics was the focus at the 1993 workshop. Faculty felt that non-skeptics might be more receptive if attendees understood how they were perceived by others. "Many people view skeptics as die-hard cynics and debunkers, even as enemies of free speech. Non-skeptics often hear only the "COP" in CSICOP".
In 2010, interviewed by D. J. Grothe, Hyman explained, "give people the tools to think, help them to become better thinkers". Mentalist Bob Fellows performed at the second conference and told the audience, "The effect (of a magic trick) on audiences who (believe the trick is real magic) can be enormously powerful. And when deceit is involved, they can be potentially harmful as well". Hyman felt that it was necessary to teach attendees with a "case-based approach... concrete examples as a first step toward extracting broad examples... (giving) the benefit of context" to the learning experience.
Faculty Loren Pankratz – A founding faculty member of the Skeptic's Toolbox, Pankratz explained to Harriet Hall, about the beginnings of the Toolbox, "Ray Hyman, Jerry Andrus and I were meeting together once a month or so and we decided that maybe the three of us could put a Toolbox together."
Barry Beyerstein – "One of the many enjoyable tasks I undertake for CSICOP is to lecture in Ray Hyman's annual summer workshop at the University of Oregon. Not only is it the towering presence of Ray himself, and the joy of observing the sheer brainpower of my fellow faculty at work, it is also the people, literally from around the world, who enroll in this and other CSICOP functions that keep me from suffering that occupational hazard 'skeptic's burnout.' They are a remarkable lot, genuinely nice people committed to critical thinking and leaving the place a bit better than they found it. They make me very pleased that my fate was to become a skeptical inquirer."Barry Beyerstein, “From Fate to Skeptical Inquirer”, Paul Kurtz (ed) (2001). Skeptical Odysseys: Personal Accounts by the World's Leading Paranormal Inquirers. Prometheus Books, pp. 101–119. .
Harriet Hall – Prior to attending the Toolbox as a student, Hall had been a "passive skeptic", "I hadn't done any writing... Ray Hyman and Wally Sampson encouraged me to try my hand at writing, one thing led to another and now I'm on the faculty of the Skeptic's Toolbox." (Interview from 16:08 to 33:25)
Lindsay Beyerstein – She started attending the Skeptic's Toolbox when she was 14; her father Barry Beyerstein strongly influenced her involvement in the skeptical movement. "It's sorta funny, the skeptics' movement is now finally old enough, it's like Scientology, we have second gen!" She recounts, "I was always involved with my Dad in skeptical meetings... "We would have family newsletter-stuffing nights (for the BC Skeptics)." instead of hiring babysitters her father would take Lindsay to his media interviews. "Does Satanic music cause suicide? Out-of-body experiences... it was always something new and different."
James Alcock – "Ray and I and a magician by the name of Steve Shaw, now known as Banachek did the very first Toolbox in Buffalo... a little while later Ray asked me if I could come out here to this group." Ray stated "It took a long while to get Jim out here, but finally we managed it."
Dates Theme Faculty NotesOctober 20–22, 1989Skeptical Inquiry: The Role of the Skeptic Ray Hyman, James Alcock, Banachek Held at the University of New York, BuffaloAugust 20–24, 1992The Skeptic's Toolbox The Complete Skeptic's Field Guide – the goal was to create a pocket-sized manual for skeptics Ray Hyman, Barry Beyerstein, Loren Pankratz, Jeff Mayhew, Jerry AndrusFirst one held in Eugene, OregonAugust 19–23, 1993The Skeptic's Toolbox II Case-Based Reasoning – Using model cases to generate principles for use in a similar situation Ray Hyman, Jerry Andrus, Barry Beyerstein, Bob Fellows, Loren PankratzAugust 4–8, 1994The Skeptic's Toolbox III: Thinking Good, Bad & Critical Ray Hyman, Barry Beyerstein, Loren Pankratz, Jerry Andrus Held at the University of Colorado, BoulderAugust 17–21, 1995Human Error Psychology of belief and error Ray Hyman, James Alcock, Jerry Andrus, Barry Beyerstein, Loren Pankratz No WorkshopConflict with celebration ceremonies of CSICOP's 20th Anniversary August 21–25, 1997The Skeptic's Toolbox '97 Seven critical questions to apply to any skeptical inquiry Ray Hyman, James Alcock, Jerry Andrus, Barry Beyerstein, Loren Pankratz August 20–24, 1998Psychology of Deception: Scams, Cons and other Deceits Deception, Self-deception, Advertising, Illusions, Psychopaths Ray Hyman, Wallace Sampson, Jerry Andrus, Barry Beyerstein, Loren Pankratz August 19–23, 1999The Skeptic's Toolbox '99: Science vs Pseudoscience Model cases: Oregon Vortex, Near death experiences, Fooling scientists Ray Hyman, James Alcock, Jerry Andrus, Barry Beyerstein, Loren Pankratz, Wallace SampsonAugust 17–20, 2000The Inquisitive Skeptic Workshop Examples of claims for the participants to examine Ray Hyman, James Alcock, Jerry Andrus, Barry Beyerstein, Loren Pankratz, Wallace Sampson, Massimo PolidoroAugust 16–19, 2001Talking to the Dead and other Transcendental Seductions Mediumship, Dissociation, etc. Ray Hyman, James Alcock, Jerry Andrus, Barry Beyerstein, Loren Pankratz, Wallace Sampson, Massimo Polidoro August 15–18, 2002How to Be a "Whys" Skeptic Getting our message across Jerry Andrus, Barry Beyerstein, Loren Pankratz, Wallace Sampson, Ray Hyman, James AlcockAugust 14–17, 2003Critiquing Research: Determining Adequacy Evidence, Statistics, Persistence Ray Hyman, James Alcock, Jerry Andrus, Barry Beyerstein, Loren Pankratz, Wallace Sampson August 12–15, 2004The YOU You Don't Know Unconscious, Ideomotor, Hypnosis Ray Hyman, James Alcock, Jerry Andrus, Loren Pankratz, Wallace Sampson, Barry BeyersteinIn The Trenches Award winners – Carol & Ben Baumgartner and Wilma RussellAugust 11–14, 2005The Classics of Skeptical Investigation Pitted windshields, Clever Hans, Memory in Water, etc. Ray Hyman, James Alcock, Jerry Andrus, Loren Pankratz, Barry Beyerstein, Wallace SampsonIn The Trenches Award winners – Herb Masters and Jeanine DeNomaAugust 10–13, 2006The Healthy Skeptic Quackery, Bogus therapies, Self-help, Personal testimony, alternative medicine Ray Hyman, James Alcock, Jerry Andrus, Loren Pankratz, Barry Beyerstein, Wallace SampsonIn The Trenches Award winners – Chris Clarke and Harriet HallAugust 9–12, 2007Changing Minds Persuasion, Conversion, Brain-washing, Ethics of behavior control Ray Hyman, James Alcock, Jerry Andrus, Loren Pankratz, Lindsay Beyerstein, Wallace Sampson, In The Trenches Award winner – Judy KjellermanAugust 7–10, 2008Your Wonderful Brain Free-will, Cognitive illusions, Brain fitness programs, Eyewitness testimony, Blindspots Ray Hyman, Lindsay Byerstein, Loren Pankratz, Wallace Sampson, James AlcockIn The Trenches Award winners – Susan Beyerstein and Charles WynnAugust 6–9, 2009The Scientific Method Ray Hyman, Harriet A. Hall “Tooth Fairy Science and Other Pitfalls: Applying Rigorous Science to Messy Medicine.”, Lindsay Byerstein, Loren Pankratz, James AlcockIn The Trenches Award winner – Steve CampbellAugust 12–15, 2010SCAMS! Ray Hyman, James Alcock, Loren Pankratz, Anthony Pratkanis, Lindsay Beyerstein, Harriet Hall In The Trenches Award winner – Michael BennettAugust 11–14, 2011How Smart People Go Wrong Ray Hyman, Loren Pankratz, Lindsay Beyerstein, Harriet Hall, James Alcock In The Trenches Award winner – Heidi ShawAugust 9–12, 2012 Evaluating Evidence: Garbage In, Garbage Out Ray Hyman, Lindsay Beyerstein, Harriet Hall, James Alcock, Loren Pankratz, Richard WackrowIn The Trenches Award winner – Susan Gerbic Barry Karr awarded 25 years of service. Also, Toolbox faculty recognized as honorary Trenches winnersAugust 8–11, 2013Using Probabilistically Challenged Minds to Cope with Uncertainty Ray Hyman, Lindsay Beyerstein, Harriet Hall, James Alcock, Loren PankratzIn The Trenches Award winner – Richard E. WackrowAugust 7–10, 2014Using Model Cases to Deal with Dubious Claims Ray Hyman, Lindsay Beyerstein, Harriet Hall, James Alcock, Loren PankratzIn the Trenches Award winner – Jerry SchwarzAugust 6–9, 2015FRAMING: Sanctifying the Bogus and Demonizing the ScientificRay Hyman, Lindsay Beyerstein, Harriet Hall, James Alcock, Loren PankratzTrish Randall
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