Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal

The Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, or CSICOP, is a U.S. organization founded to "encourage the critical investigation of paranormal and fringe-science claims from a responsible, scientific point of view and disseminate factual information about the results of such inquiries to the scientific community and the public." Statement from the heading of the website. It is a nonprofit organization, founded in 1976 by Paul Kurtz to counter an apparent uncritical acceptance of, and support for, paranormal claims by both the media and society in general. Its practical goals and philosophical position of scientific skepticism are closely shared by the Skeptics Society, the James Randi Educational Foundation, and many smaller U.S. regional skeptics' organizations, as well as by national skeptics' organizations in other countries. (Many of the U.S. regional and overseas skeptics' groups are formally associated with CSICOP.) Notable members of CSICOP have included TV science program host Bill Nye, Isaac Asimov, Carl Sagan, Milbourne Christopher, Martin Gardner, James Randi, and many others.

Activities

According to CSICOP's charter, the organization exists to pursue six major goals:

Maintain a network of people interested in critically examining paranormal, fringe science, and other claims, and in contributing to consumer education.
Prepare bibliographies of published materials that carefully examine such claims.
Encourage research by objective and impartial inquiry in areas where it is needed.
Convene conferences and meetings.
Publish articles that examine claims of the paranormal.
Do not reject claims on a priori grounds, antecedent to inquiry, but examine them objectively and carefully.

CSICOP has conducted or published investigations into many paranormal claims, ranging from Bigfoot and UFO sightings to self-proclaimed psychics, pseudoscience, astrology, alternative medicines, and religious cults.

CSICOP encourages and publishes examinations of claims of paranormal phenomena that apply accepted scientific and academic methodologies to topics that most scientific organizations ignore as fringe science or pseudoscience. Noting that many paranormal claims, if true, would have major scientific importance, CSICOP advocates an approach to such claims in the manner recommended by CSICOP Fellow Carl Sagan:

"... at the heart of science is an essential balance between two seemingly contradictory attitudes—an openness to new ideas, no matter how bizarre or counterintuitive, and the most ruthlessly skeptical scrutiny of all ideas, old and new. This is how deep truths are winnowed from deep nonsense. The collective enterprise of creative thinking and skeptical thinking, working together, keeps the field on track."

Most commentators accept that critical scrutiny of claims of the paranormal is appropriate and valuable; differences between skeptics and proponents of the paranormal often arise over the issue of acceptable standards of evidence.

An axiom often repeated among CSICOP members is that "extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence." This is analogous to the standard required by U.S. criminal courts, in which the claimant must prove their claim beyond a reasonable doubt. Since paranormal claims are potentially revolutionary scientific discoveries that fly in the face of an established body of scientific knowledge, nothing less than the strictest standards of scientific scrutiny should be accepted as convincing. This might involve, for example, well-designed, double-blind, strictly controlled scientific experiments published in reputable peer-reviewed journals, followed by successful independent replication by other scientists.

Paranormal proponents often advocate a less stringent standard of evidence. Arguing for a preponderance of evidence standard analogous to that required by U.S. civil courts, paranormal proponents may offer as proof of paranormal phenomena such evidence as eyewitness testimonies, historical quotations, informal experiments, and inference. These lines of evidence are typically published in popular sources, and not subject to formal criticism or peer-review.

Throughout its history, CSICOP has been involved with the media in a number of ways. As CSICOP executive director Lee Nisbet wrote in a 25th anniversary issue of Skeptical Inquirer:

"CSICOP originated in the spring of 1976 to fight mass-media exploitation of supposedly "occult" and "paranormal" phenomena. The strategy was twofold: First, to strengthen the hand of skeptics in the media by providing information that "debunked" paranormal wonders. Second, to serve as a "media-watchdog" group which would direct public and media attention to egregious media exploitation of the supposed paranormal wonders. An underlying principle of action was to use the mainline media's thirst for public-attracting controversies to keep our activities in the media, hence public eye."

This media-orientation continues to the present day with, for example, CSICOP founding the Council For Media Integrity in 1996, as well as co-producing a TV documentary series Critical Eye hosted by William B. Davis (The X-Files’ Smoking Man). CSICOP members can also be seen regularly in the mainstream media offering their perspective on a variety of paranormal claims, and in 1999 Joe Nickell was appointed special consultant on a number of investigative documentaries for the BBC. In its capacity as a media-watchdog, CSICOP has “mobilized thousands of scientists, academics and responsible communicators” to criticize what it regards as “media's most blatant excesses.” While much of this criticism has focused on factual TV programming or newspaper articles offering support for paranormal claims, CSICOP has also been critical of programs such as The X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer which it feels portray skeptics and science in a bad light and help to promote the paranormal agenda. CSICOP’s website currently lists the email addresses of over 90 US media organizations and encourages visitors to “directly influence” the media by contacting “the networks, the TV shows and the editors responsible for the way it portrays the world.”

An issue of particular concern to CSICOP members is instances of paranormal claims or pseudoscience that endanger people's health and well-being. The use of alternative medicine treatments, to the exclusion of scientifically supported treatments for a life-threatening illness is one example of this. Investigations by CSICOP and others, including consumer watchdog groups, law enforcement agencies, and government regulatory bodies, have shown that the industries surrounding paranormal phenomena, alternative medicine and pseudo-scientific products can be enormously profitable. CSICOP alleges that this profitability has enabled the various pro-paranormal factions to dedicate large resources to advertising, lobbying efforts and other forms of advocacy, to the detriment of the public's well-being.

A related focus of CSICOP is the improvement of scientific literacy. Not only do they consider this the best defense against being victimized by paranormal and pseudoscience frauds, it is also a growing need in a world that is increasingly affected by science and technology.

CSICOP changes its focus with the changing fads of pseudo science and paranormal beliefs. As promoters of Intelligent Design have increased their efforts to have this teaching included in school curriculums in recent years, CSOCOP has stepped up their own attention to the subject, creating an "Intelligent Design Watch" website^*, and publishing numerous articles on evolution and Intelligent Design in Skeptical Inquirer and on the web.

In addition to "extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence," another maxim occasionally exercised by CSICOP is H. L. Mencken's "one belly laugh is worth a thousand syllogisms." Thus, Skeptical Inquirer has carried such articles as reports on the success rate of past years' tabloid "psychic predictions" and coverage of the Australian Skeptics' "Bent Spoon Awards" (winners are notified by telepathy and required to collect their trophy by paranormal means).

CSICOP is a member organization of the International Humanist and Ethical Union and endorses the Amsterdam Declaration 2002.

CSICOP awards the Robert P. Balles Annual Prize in Critical Thinking. The first award was the 2005 award, which was shared by Ray Hyman, Andrew Skolnick, and Joe Nickell .

Skeptical Inquirer

CSICOP publishes the magazine Skeptical Inquirer, containing articles on its inquiries and those of like-minded individuals. The Skeptical Inquirer was founded by Marcello Truzzi, under the name The Zetetic and retitled after a few months under the editorship of Kendrick Frazier, former editor of Science News. There have been several collections of articles from the Skeptical Inquirer, most edited by Frazier:

Paranormal Borderlands of Science (1981). edited by Kendrick Frazier, Prometheus Books; ISBN 0-87975-148-7.

Science Confronts the Paranormal (1986). edited by Kendrick Frazier, Prometheus Books; ISBN 0-87975-314-5.

The Hundredth Monkey: And Other Paradigms of the Paranormal (1991). edited by Kendrick Frazier, Prometheus Books; ISBN 0-87975-655-1

The Outer Edge: Classic Investigations of the Paranormal (1996). edited by Joe Nickell, Barry Karr, and Tom Genoni, CSICOP.

The UFO Invasion: The Roswell Incident, Alien Abductions, and Government Coverups (1997). edited by Kendrick Frazier, Prometheus Books; ISBN 1-57392-131-9

Encounters With the Paranormal: Science, Knowledge, and Belief (1998). edited by Kendrick Frazier, Prometheus Books; ISBN 1-57392-203-X.

Bizarre Cases: From the Files of The Skeptical Inquirer (2000). edited by Benjamin Radford, CSICOP

Center for Inquiry

A transnational non-profit umbrella organization called the Center for Inquiry encompasses both CSICOP and the Council for Secular Humanism, as well as other organizations such as the Center for Inquiry - On Campus national youth group and the Commission for Scientific Medicine and Mental Health. While these organizations share headquarters and some staff, their mandates are kept distinct: while CSICOP generally addresses questions of religion only in cases in which testable scientifics assertions have been made (such as weeping statues or faith healing), the Council for Secular Humanism is an organization explicitly devoted to Humanism and secularism. Activities of the Council for Secular Humanism include campaigning for the separation of church and state and the publication of the bi-monthly journal Free Inquiry.

Partial list of CSICOP fellows (past and present)

Criticisms and responses

Over the years CSICOP's activities concerning the paranormal and fringe-science have earned it considerable criticism, as well as the nickname “the PSI Cops”. Much of this criticism has come, as one might expect, from those individuals or groups that have been the main focus of CSICOP’s attention. Israeli psychic Uri Geller, for example, had until recently been in open dispute with the organisation for many years and had filed a number of lawsuits against them. A small but significant amount of criticism, however, has come from within the scientific community and, indeed, from within CSICOP itself. Marcello Truzzi, for example, one of CSICOP’s co-founders, clamed that, “They tend to block honest inquiry, in my opinion. Most of them are not agnostic toward claims of the paranormal; they are out to knock them. ^* When an experiment of the paranormal meets their requirements, then they move the goal posts.” Truzzi even coined the term pseudoskeptic to describe the attitude he felt was prevalent in CSICOP.

Another founder member, Dennis Rawlins, launched an even more scathing attack on CSICOP over its analysis of claims by French statistician Michel Gauquelin that champion athletes are more likely to be born when the planet Mars is in certain positions in the sky - the so-called Mars effect. Rawlins, a professional astronomer involved in CSICOP's research into the Mars effect, claimed that other CSICOP researchers used incorrect statistics, faulty science and outright falsification in an attempt to "debunk" Gauquelin’s claims. In an article in Fate magazine, Rawlins concluded: "I am still skeptical of the occult beliefs CSICOP was created to debunk. But I have changed my mind about the integrity of some of those who make a career of opposing occultism." Rawlins' account of the Mars Effect investigation CSICOP's Philip Klass investigated Rawlins' claims and wrote a lengthy article in rebuttal. Phillip Klass' response to Rawlins' article

More recently CSICOP has come under attack for its “debunking” of claimed Psychic Natasha Demkina. Nobel Prize winning physicist Brian Josephson argued that CSICOP’s testing of Demkina looked to have been “some kind of plot to discredit the teenage claimed psychic by setting up the conditions to make it likely that they could pass her off as a failure”.Scientists use Media for Propoganda, Brian Josephson CSICOP fellow Richard Wiseman, who co-designed the experiment to test Demkina, rejected Josephson’s criticisms as unscientific and questioned Josephson's scientific credentials regarding such matters. Keith Rennolls, Professor of applied statistics at Greenwich University, also claimed the experiment was “woefully inadequate in many ways.”[http://www.tcm.phy.cam.ac.uk/%7Ebdj10/propaganda/THES1.html The Times Higher Education Supplement: Scientists fail to see eye to eye over girl's 'X-ray vision'

On a more general level, CSICOP has been regularly criticised for an overly dogmatic and sometimes arrogant approach based not on science, but on a priori convictions, and that this aggressive debunking discourages scientific research into the paranormal.The Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, Volume 86, No. 1, January 1992; pp. 20, 24, 40, 46, 51 With qualifications, Carl Sagan concedes that some of this may be accurate:

"Have I ever heard a skeptic wax superior and contempuous? Certainly. I've even sometimes heard, to my retrospective dismay, that unpleasant tone in my own voice. There are human imperfections on both sides of this issue. Even when it's applied sensitively, scientific skepticism may come across as arrogant, dogmatic, heartless, and dismissive of the feelings and deeply held beliefs of others... CSICOP is imperfect. ^* But from my point of view CSICOP serves an important social function — as a well-known organization to which media can apply when they wish to hear the other side of the story, especially when some amazing claim of pseudoscience is judged newsworthy." (Source: The Demon-Haunted World, Carl Sagan, 1996.)

On the question of dogmatism or a priori convictions, CSICOP points out that dedicated paranormal research has been ongoing for many decades both by skeptics and pro-paranormal researchers; in that time, no convincing and independently replicable evidence of the existence of any paranormal phenomena has ever been established to the standards required to persuade the scientific community. On the other hand, many cases of purported paranormal forces or events have been demonstrated to be false, either through misinterpreted data or as intentional fraud.

On at least one occasion, CSICOP was the intended target of an attack more serious than mere criticism. In 1977, a government raid on the offices of the Church of Scientology uncovered considerable evidence of a plot against CSICOP by the Church; this included plans by Scientology to discredit CSICOP by forging CIA documents. The documents seized by the FBI described a plan to spread rumors that CSICOP was actually a front group for the CIA. (Source: Toronto Globe and Mail, January 25, 1980.)

Notes

References

External links

Scientific skepticism | 1976 establishments | Paranormal phenomena

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