I’ve Been Waiting For A Conference Like SkepTech (guest post by Tim Farley)

“What? Yet another skeptic conference? Do we need another?” I’m sure as the annual skeptic conference schedule gets more and more packed, that has been said more than once.
And it is true that there are more skeptic conferences than ever. I created an online database of these events in order to promote and research them at a site called Lanyrd. Even (somewhat arbitrarily) excluding the events with little science content, just in 2012 alone I found over 45 events in 10 different countries, including 20 participant-run Skepticamps. The vast majority of these events were created in the last five years.
But I think this is a good thing – it shows growing interest in skepticism and related topics. And as these events proliferate, they will naturally find ways to differentiate and specialize. Some are regional, of course. And now we are seeing topic specialization. A good example last year was the debut of Women in Secularism (which repeats this year). And Skep Tech continues this excellent trend.
Since the very first talk I gave at a skeptic conference, I’ve always recommended that skeptics specialize as much as possible. There are simply too many topic areas we cover for any skeptic to be an expert on all of them. And wading into complex issues without a full grasp of them is a good way to get in trouble. It is only natural that our conferences should specialize too. Frankly, it is difficult to curate a weekend conference that covers all of skepticism – too many topics, too few hours in a weekend.
I’m also glad that Skep Tech has focused in technology, because that’s where my skeptic specialty lies. When I was choosing my own path in skepticism, I chose to apply my decades of knowledge of Internet security and networking technologies to assist other skeptics. My “day job” is in Internet security, in which I have developed software for several companies, taught training classes all around the US, and been granted three patents. Applying this to skepticism has led to my creation of a website called What’s the Harm and a blog called Skeptical Software Tools where I write about new techniques.
The Internet has played a key role in the recent growth of skepticism. I’m most pleased when I can help other skeptics make optimal use of these technologies in their work. In fact, I think it is crucial that we use all available technologies to their fullest. We skeptics are often outnumbered and outspent by our cultural competitors. We must compensate for our lack of advantage with cleverness and sometimes guile. Fortunately, the Internet provides many such opportunities.
And so my talk at Skep Tech will focus on how I believe our proficiency in using Internet technologies will help us out-maneuver our well funded opponents. I’ll talk about some of the latest developments in web and other technologies that can give us all a leg up in our outreach efforts.
I’m very excited to be speaking at Skep Tech and I hope to see you there!
- Tim Farley

Comments

This post currently has one response

  • Well said. I also do not think we have enough conferences. Think about how easy it is to find a religious gathering if you feel the need to socialize with like minded fellow believers. As skeptics we are often alone in our communities, the most often cited reason people attend these events is “the people”.

    We need more skeptic’s in the pub events and definitely more SkeptiCamps. Smaller local events grow our movement. With my own group, Monterey County Skeptics, we put up a meetup whenever someone wants to go to the movies or just hang out and get pizza. Nothing formal, just fulfilling the need we have to bond and socialize with others.

    I know this isn’t exactly what Tim was getting at, he is advocating more “conferences” which I think will be outcome of these local meetups. As more people are meeting each other locally, they will be more inclined to attend the larger more formal events.

    Specializing is indeed going to be the next step. Robert Sheaffer is currently attending a pro-UFO conference in Arizona. I’m loving his reports on his blog Bad UFO, and that isn’t even my favorite paranormal topic. But my point is that we all have different interests in this giant tent of skepticism. As we find each other we will need to diversify.

    It is an exciting time to be in our movement. I look forward to more gatherings.

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