It's been nine months since the first Drinking Skeptically, and last night's edition was our most successful yet! Over twenty skeptically-minded folks met at the Four Faced Liar in the West Village, including several new attendees from the New York City Drinking Skeptically Meetup Group.

Also making his way downtown was Scientific American editor-in-chief (and NYC Skeptics Advisory Board member) John Rennie. Proudly wearing his Darwin08 t-shirt, John regaled everyone while discussing his recent smackdown of Expelled associate producer Mark Mathis.

Thanks to everyone who showed up, and see you all at the next Drinking Skeptically on May 28!

Skeptics, engrossed

John Rennie listens to NYC Skeptics forum admin William Kane

NYC Skeptics treasurer Matt McCarthy and friends

John Rennie doing some regaling

by Michael Dorian

Massimo Pigliucci shoots straight, pulls no punches, and isn't afraid to take on weighty issues. That was made delightfully obvious during not only Pigliucci's informative and highly entertaining slide-show presentation but also at the afternoon brunch following the engaging talk by the SUNY Stonybrook Professor of Ecology, Evolution, and Philosophy.

Professor Pigliucci entertains and enlightens.

A near-capacity crowd was in attendance Saturday April 5th at the University Settlement on Eldridge Street for Pigliucci's new lecture, "Of Paradigm Shifts and Objectivity in Science." In elucidating some of the less auspicious moments in Science's colorful history, Pigliucci brought a thoughtful, easy style punctuated by insightful and humorous observations. Complete with PowerPoint accompaniment, Massimo regaled the audience with the story of the spat between Charles Darwin and Lord Kelvin over the Earth's age, Science's unfortunate foray into eugenics, and "The Sokol Affair," which was a brilliant hoax on Postmodernism perpetrated by Alan Sokol in the publication Social Text.

Willing "guinea pigs."

Being on the side of rationality and good science, Pigliucci made sure to point out that Science is not always correct. He explained that good science relies significantly upon proving new theories (though that often means disproving older and accepted ones), stringent and honest peer review, and upon a methodology that strives for objectivity.

It was Massimo's first time giving this particular lecture, so he made sure to inform us at the outset that we were his "guinea pigs." It was a thoroughly painless experiment carried out on willing subjects. After the talk, a group of at least 20 sidled over to a nearby French bistro for some drinks and light fare. Massimo joined us and we found ourselves in truly stimulating conversation about all manner of topics from the morality of drawing qualitative distinctions between human and non-human animals to how Massimo declared his atheism as a 12-year-old to his Italian Roman-Catholic mother, who even to this day is not thrilled with her son's decision.

All in all, it was a splendid afternoon of smart and scintillating ideas hosted by the ever-thoughtful, ever-logical, and ever-hospitable NYC Skeptics.

NYC Skeptics president Michael Feldman enjoys the presentation.

Photos: Dale Langdon

By A.J. Mell

Rebecca Watson, a.k.a. the Skepchick, brought her winning blend of humor, skeptical chops, and unabashed girl power to the Lower East Side on Saturday as the third speaker in NYC Skeptics’ Public Lecture Series.

Speaking to an audience of almost 70 people at University Settlement on Eldridge Street, Watson gave a smart, chatty, PowerPoint-assisted talk on “Women and Skepticism,” leavened with wry observations and the occasional “unicorn break.” (Watson may be a hard-headed critical thinker, but she’s still a unicorn-lovin’ girl and doesn’t care who knows it.) A brief Q & A followed the presentation.

Rebecca Watson and a full house of attentive skeptics.

In a field where Y chromosomes predominate, the 27-year-old, Boston-based Watson has become the bespectacled public face of female skepticism. Toward the beginning of the lecture, she outlined the course of her own growing activism, which began with frequent contributions to James Randi’s online forum. Initially, she registered the Skepchick website to market the pinup calendar of the same name, a bit of tongue-in-cheek cheesecake which proves definitively that not all skeptics are bitter old men or socially maladroit mouth-breathers who speak fluent Klingon. (The site has since blossomed into a lively online magazine aimed primarily at young women.) More recently, Watson produced a well-received pilot for a proposed NPR series entitled "Curiosity Aroused"; she can also be heard dispensing informed opinions and tart witticisms on "The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe," a popular weekly podcast hosted by previous series lecturer Dr. Steven Novella.

Watson has devoted much of her energy to bringing more women into the fold—no small task, since her own research indicates that women are more inclined than men to believe weird things. (It’s a credit to Watson’s skeptical integrity that she reaches this uncomfortable conclusion, even though it goes against her own expectations.) Among the odd facts that came up in the presentation: women are more likely than men to have accidents on Friday the 13th, and less than 28% of the visitors to her girl-centric website, www.skepchick.org, are women.

Watson and the NYC Skeptics Board of Directors.

So how do we correct this depressing imbalance? Watson suggests a combination of web-based outreach, an attitude adjustment that discourages obnoxious alpha-male practices like “flaming,” and a general irreverence toward the old-boy’s-club mentality that dominates skeptical discourse. Nevertheless, she acknowledged that changing attitudes within the community is not enough; change also has to happen at a deeper societal level. Women find power in superstition because they’ve been denied more legitimate avenues. Ultimately, bringing more women into skepticism involves creating a society where women are encouraged to stand up, speak their minds, and not be afraid of controversy.

Watson modeling the the NYC Skeptics "Darwin08" t-shirt.

Due to the overwhelming success of Drinking Skeptically, we will be moving to a larger venue - The Village Pourhouse. The Pourhouse has many advantages over our prior home, including more space with multiple backrooms available, as well as full food service.

DS will continue to take place on the last Wednesday of every month, but the festivities will now start at 7PM, an hour earlier than before (of course, this should not discourage anyone from joining us later in the evening).

The first date at our new location will be FEBRUARY 27, 2008.

We will be meeting in the RED LIGHT room of the Pourhouse.

The Village Pourhouse is located at 64 Third Avenue (at 11th Street) in the East Village in New York City (click here for map).

Please contact us if you have any questions about this change. We hope to see everyone there!

For those who may not know, the "Skepchick" Rebecca Watson of Skeptics Guide to the Universe fame and long-time friend of NYC Skeptics has released her pilot episode as a finalist in the Public Radio Talent Quest this past week. She will now be searching for public radio stations to carry her irreverent and sorely needed skeptical take on current events called "Curiosity Aroused".

Listen to the pilot at www.publicradioquest.com/node/2696 and hear her interviews with Richard Saunders of the Australian Sceptic Society, Dr. Richard Wiseman (the Quirkologist), and a psychic "Lisa Marie" who displays just the sort of accuracy you might expect. Also, don't forget to check in on her blog as well at www.skepchick.org and tune into the SGU podcast every week with Rebecca, Dr. Steven Novella, and the rest of the skeptical rogues.

Congratulations on becoming a finalist Rebecca and best of luck with the show!

After Steve's fantastic talk this past Saturday, the Novella clan (including Skepchick Rebecca Watson, who sadly missed the lecture due to her editing schedule) graciously joined the New York City Skeptics board (and new Forum Admin William) for dinner.

Here are a few pictures, courtesy of Rebecca.

From l. to r. William, Robert Novella, Rebecca Watson, Steve Novella, Matt McCarthy, Jamy Ian Swiss, Michael Feldman, Benny Pollak (seated).

The Board of Directors of the NYC Skeptics is honored to announce that William has been selected to be the first official administrator of the NYC Skeptics Forum. William was voted into this position by unanimous vote and has graciously accepted the position.

As Forum Administrator, William will be tasked with establishing and maintaining a set of policies for the forum, assisting users with concerns, and helping shape the direction of this forum so that it may be an invaluable asset to the growing online skeptical community. As this forum is quite new, and the NYC Skeptics membership is quickly growing, this will be a exciting undertaking and we fully expect William will rise to the challenges that establishing a new forum (frequented by some of the brightest people in NYC and beyond) presents. The Board wishes to extend congratulations and thanks to William for taking on this position and we encourage others on the forum to thank William for his willingness to support NYC Skeptics in this capacity.

In addition to being an insightful and frequent poster, William will also be present at many of our events and we encourage you to introduce yourself to this fellow skeptic and friend.

Again, congratulations William!

New York City Skeptics is proud to co-sponsor Michael Shermer's lecture "The Mind of the Market: Compassionate Apes, Competitive Humans, and Other Tales from Evolutionary Economics" at the New York Academy of Sciences.

Author and psychologist Michael Shermer will lecture and host a book-signing reception for his latest book, The Mind of the Market: Compassionate Apes, Competitive Humans, and Other Tales from Evolutionary Economics, at the New York Academy of Sciences as part of the Science & the City Author Series.

In this eye-opening exploration, Dr. Shermer uncovers the evolutionary roots of our economic behavior. How did we make the leap from ancient hunter-gatherers to modern consumers and traders? Why do people get so emotional and irrational about bottom line financial and business decisions? Is the capitalist marketplace a sort of Darwinian organism that evolved through natural selection?

Michael Shermer is the author of nine previous books, including the bestselling Why People Believe Weird Things. He is a columnist for Scientific American, the publisher of Skeptic magazine, and the founder and director of the International Skeptics Society.

Where:
The New York Academy of Sciences
7 World Trade Center
250 Greenwich St, 40th Fl
New York, NY 10007-2157

When:
January 09, 2008
6:00PM -7:30PM

NYAS Members: $10
Student Non-Members: $15
Non-Members: $25

RSVP is requried. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.nyas.org/authors.

All proceeds go the New York Academy of Science "Science and the City" author series.

Thank you to everyone who showed up at last night's Drinking Skeptically! We had a great turnout of both new and familiar faces.

In between bouts of arcade game madness, we had some lively discussions ranging in topic from speaker wire to the NYC Skeptics Forum (shameless plug) to Peter Popoff to God, the Universe, and Everything.

We met in the newly-opened back room of the Four-Faced Liar and it looks like that will be our go-to spot from now on. The next DS will be on Wednesday December 26 @ 8PM. Celebrate the post-Newtonmas blues with your fellow skeptics! Click here for details.

We hope to see you there!

The audio of John Rennie's lecture "Scientific American's Century-and-a-half of Skepticism" is now available at the below link:

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The lecture was recorded on October 27, 2007 as part of the New York City Skeptics Public Lecture Series. Our next lecture, featuring Dr. Steve Novella of The Skeptics Guide to the Universe, will take place on December 8, 2007. Click here for details.

PS. Don't forget to join us next week at Drinking Skeptically! Wash away the post-Thanksgiving blues by sharing a drink with your fellow skeptics. Wednesday November 28th @ 8PM. Click here for location and directions.