Earlier this week, inspired by an essay by my friend Nicole, I asked readers here and on Twitter to tweet their journey to skepticism. How did you get from there to here? Was it a single, momentous event, or a long, gradual realization? I'd take the best, I said, and post them here. As an example, I tweeted my own:
UFOs. Telepathy. Clairvoyance. I believed them all… until my life got a little Randi.
When I got this idea, it seemed like a pretty good one. I was curious about everyone's story, and thought this would be fun and very interesting. I was right, but as an example of a skeptic not thinking ahead too clearly, I was somewhat overwhelmed when I got 500 responses. OK then. Change of plan. Instead of picking and choosing, I decided to go ahead and collate them all into very rough groups and post them in one ginormous article. They follow below. I'll note that in the cutting and pasting I may have missed a few, and I apologize (you can find them yourself by searching Twitter for the #SkepticTale hashtag). Some tweets violate my "no cursing" rule; in some cases a slight edit was all it took to fix that, so I have taken that privilege. Others needed editing to format them for the blog, and so on. I tried very hard not to change the tenor or content, and they are presented in no particular order. Some of these stories are intensely personal; no two are precisely the same, because each comes from an individual with different perspectives, different opinions. Some are very similar, of course, due to the topic and the short format, but it's still noteworthy how fiercely individual these are. I experienced a wide range of emotions reading these tales, especially from the ones that are so different than my own experience. It was simultaneously humbling and inspiring... and also fascinating to see people speaking out on a topic clearly so important in their lives, allowing everyone else to peek into their minds. For that reason, let me sincerely and gratefully thank everyone who took the time to do this. So here you go. 500 skeptical journeys, each unique in its own way, and yet together combining into an overarching message that critical thinking has made people happier, made their lives fuller, and made them appreciate the world around them more than they might have previously imagined. Happy new year. Let's make it one we can appreciate.
Skeptics of note
