Skepticism is healthy for civilization, and a local group is helping people learn critical thinking skills.

David Schmalz here, with a few things to say about skepticism, as it’s on the menu this weekend in the Monterey Peninsula. 

In plainspeak, skepticism more or less means needing to see the evidence of something before declaring it to be true, despite whatever sales pitches are being made, which are sometimes being made by public agencies. 

That being said, off top, here are at least two things I’m not skeptical about: climate change and the efficacy of vaccines. The evidence for both is abundant. Also, the Earth is not flat, it’s a sphere. 

But there are plenty of things to remain skeptical about in this increasingly dynamic world, and being a skeptic doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t come around to believing something; it’s a critical thinking exercise to more fully understand it—or debunk it. It’s about seeing and weighing the evidence. 

Skepticism, especially in this era of disinformation and misinformation, is vitally important to keep the glue of our civilization holding strong, and there are local residents fully committed to it, so much so that they created their own group, Monterey County Skeptics, with the aim to promote “critical thinking and science in the Monterey Bay Area.” Earlier this week, I spoke with Salinas native Susan Gerbic, a co-founder of the group, to get a clearer picture of what the group’s aims are. 

“We’re pro-science, and hoping to combat misinformation locally,” Gerbic says. “Also, to be a skeptic, it’s kind of one of those bad words. We want to take it back—we are critical thinkers, interested in educating people.” 

The group is hosting a meet-and-greet at London Bridge Pub in Monterey this Friday, Jan. 3 from 6-10pm, but the main event, Monterey County SkeptiCamp, happens Saturday, Jan. 4 from 9:30am to 4:30pm at Seaside Community Center, 220 Coe Ave., where a slate of experts will expound on their various areas of expertise. 

Those include Leonard Tramiel, a retired computer scientist and member of Bay Area Skeptics, talking about drones. The title of the talk is, “Drones? Really?” Drones, evidently, have inspired many conspiracy theories, which is unsurprising given how much thought has been given to misunderstanding contrails, like they’re a government-funded program to poison us in some way. Aaargh!

There’s also data scientist Kyle Polich talking about cancer clusters in Southern California, who will expound on whether they’re a coincidence, or caused by something locally. 

And there’s a whole lot more. In essence, Gerbic says, the group is trying to get out in front of stories to “inoculate” people from believing misinformation related to them. 

In this era of social media, where sensationalized misinformation often travels faster and farther than the truth, that’s a heavy lift, but a noble pursuit. 

SkeptiCamp is free—though donations are appreciated—and for those who might like to attend, details, including all the speakers, can be found on the group’s website.