Articles about skepticism related topics with specific emphasis on their European aspects.
“Let us provide you with a real ESP experience” – These were the closing
words of a trailer for the first European Skeptics Podcast (TheESP) done by András G. Pintér, vice president of the Hungarian Skeptic Society and co-host of the new, bi-weekly skeptic show. The first (pilot) episode came out on Wednesday 18th November and is available online on SoundCloud, iTunes and Stitcher.
Continue reading ““Let us provide you with a real ESP experience””
Members of the Section of Medical Sciences of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (HAS) voted unanimously for supporting the earlier proposal of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The Swedish statement requested that the homeopathic remedies should go through the same efficacy trials as normal drugs should.
Continue reading “Hungarian Academy of Sciences statement proposing the same scientific standards for homeopathic drug registration as for normal drugs”
The Dutch-speaking skeptical landscape
For a bit of context, let me take you on a short tour around the skeptical movement in the Dutch-speaking world. This includes the Netherlands and Flanders (Northern Belgium). In total there are four active organizations; two in the Netherlands and two in Flanders. In the Netherlands the Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij (Society Against Quackery) or VtdK, founded in 1881, is the oldest skeptical organization in the world. The VtdK specifically focuses on fighting harmful or useless (alternative) medicine. The second organization in the Netherlands is Stichting Skepsis (founded in 1987 with the help of Paul Kurtz), which focuses on skepticism in general. In Flanders there is SKEPP (founded in 1990 with the help of James Randi and Skepsis), also focused on skepticism in general. Het Denkgelag, the fourth group, is a recent offshoot from SKEPP (althought they’re not competing, rather completing each other) that was founded in 2012 to hold discussions and lectures aimed at attracting people outside the skeptical community, and stimulating critical thinking. Continue reading “Report from the Skepsis Congres on 8 November 2014 in Utrecht, the Netherlands”
