A BRIEF HISTORY OF SKEPP:

THE STUDY CIRCLE FOR THE CRITICAL EVALUATION OF PSEUDOSCIENCE AND THE PARANORMAL

Tim Trachet, Bach in Mathematics and Philosophy at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, former reporter at the Flemish Association of Radio and Television (VRT), honorary and founding president of SKEPP and vice-president of the European Council of Skeptical Organisations (ECSO).

On June 9, 1990, the association SKEPP (Study Circle for the Critical Evaluation of Pseudosciences and the Paranormal) was founded in Belgium. Formally, SKEPP had thirteen (yes!) founding members. In fact, only twelve of them signed the memorandum of association that day. The thirteenth didn't show up because... His house had been struck by lightning.

The late Flemish physician and professor Wim Betz (right) and his British-German colleague Edzard Ernsten, both famous skeptics of pseudo-medical therapies, at a European conference in London, 2003.

How did it come to this? Based on my personal experience, I would say... which was Wernher von Braun's fault. Not because the rocket developed by this German caused quite a few casualties during World War II, but because after that war, this rocket led to a rapid development of space travel, the undisputed highlight being manned flights to the moon. This led to unprecedented optimism. When the first man landed on the moon in 1969, experts predicted that the first man would land on Mars around 1980, at least before the end of the century. Anything seemed possible. And if humans could visit other planets in the foreseeable future, it seemed obvious to many that we would also receive occasional visits from aliens. Books about UFOs and extraterrestrial civilizations had a large circulation. Authors such as Erich von Däniken broke through with their books on the influence of aliens on cultures of the past and television was filled with series such as UFO and The Invaders, not to mention Star Trek.

Space travel also strongly stimulated interest in astronomy among young people. The Association of Astronomy in Belgium (VVS), founded in 1944, saw a veritable influx of young amateur astronomers, including the author of this article. Through the VVS magazine they not only received useful information about astronomy, but also some warnings about pseudosciences. The editor-in-chief continually pointed out in the magazine the "new superstition" about UFOs and extraterrestrials. In reality, he said, there were no UFOs, and in any case, astronomers did not see any UFOs. Most UFOs were reported by inexperienced observers who had never heard of a sunrise, had never seen a bright meteor, had no idea what the planet Venus looked like, or didn't know that the moon can appear very large when it's low on the horizon. The books of von Däniken and others were full of nonsense. It was a hoax, or at least – the word was already mentioned then – a pseudoscience.

At the same time, the magazine lashed out at another kind of nonsense: astrology. It is nothing new that astronomers considered this prediction based on the position of celestial bodies to be completely absurd. Two centuries earlier, the French astronomer and politician Bailly called astrology "the greatest disease that has afflicted human reason." The relative marginality in which astronomy found itself for quite some time was broken during the golden 1960s thanks to the emerging alternative movements. During the 1970s, interest increased, especially in the media, and commercial exploitation of the "alternative" sector began. People interested in science began to worry more and more about the nonsense that was coming up. Some prominent members of the VVS made statements about it on occasion in the press.

In 1976, the American magazine The Humanist published a statement by more than a hundred scientists and philosophers against astrology. A copy of the statement was published in the VVS magazine . Soon after, the philosopher Paul Kurtz, one of the promoters of the declaration, would create CSICOP, the current Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) in the United States.

That same year, a professor created a working group within the VVS to critically examine pseudosciences. Several young people (including the author) immediately joined in. The Prometheus group, as it was called for obvious reasons, would carry out intense study work for more than ten years and at the same time inform the general public through articles, pamphlets, lectures and debates with "pseudos" (sometimes also on television).

In the early years it was only about astrology, UFOs and related topics, such as von Däniken's theories. Throughout the 1980s, the group took on more and more work and focused on pseudosciences other than those that were considered peripheral domains of astronomy. For example, parapsychology and creationism.

CSICOP and its magazine Skeptical Inquirer had become world famous. Paul Kurtz and his employees regularly visited Europe, organized meetings, and encouraged like-minded people to join. This is how the Skepsis Foundation was founded in 1988 in the Netherlands and shortly afterwards the GWUP in Germany. Belgium already had a skeptical organization, even the oldest in the world! Since 1947 there was a Belgian Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Paranormal Phenomena (known as the "Para Committee"). Formally it was a bilingual organization (in Belgium it has two official languages: Dutch – or Flemish – in the north and French in the south of the country). In practice, the majority of the members and all the leaders of the Para Committee were French-speaking.

The Prometheus group then began holding meetings with other interested and skeptical-minded people. The contacts thus established gave rise to an informal and larger group, in which psychologists and doctors also participated. The arrival of doctors ensured that medical problems were now treated as well. Among them was Willem (Wim) Betz, a professor of general medicine at the University of Brussels who, as a general practitioner, had witnessed the detrimental influence of alternative medicine on desperate patients. Betz seriously considered the possibility of founding an association against quackery, following the Dutch example. However, a group with only skeptical doctors would have been very limited. A group was then created to deal with pseudosciences in general.

Skepp: scientifically approved

What should happen now? Initially, it was thought to join the Para Committee collectively, some of whom were already members. But the Para Committee itself finally thought it would be better to have a separate Dutch-speaking association. The decision was made. The name SKEPP was soon accepted.

Managing the young association at first was not an easy task, especially since resources were very limited. SKEPP lived – and always lives – solely on the contributions of its members. Fortunately, it seems that many people are willing to contribute generously to an association that, apart from the magazine and the occasional conference, has little to offer its members. Therefore, members understand that SKEPP is there primarily to achieve its goals and that this requires money. It's not a lot of money, especially since all the work within the association is purely voluntary.

SKEPP has gained a lot of support and fame since its founding. The number of members has now grown to more than a thousand. However, a large number of members is not a goal in itself. When it comes to active contributors, SKEPP is still short on staff. We are especially lacking in "experts", people who have the courage and competence to study strange and controversial dossiers. This may be because the number of scientists and academics within SKEPP has not increased as much as the total number of members.

Magazine Wonder en is gheen Wonder [Wonder and is no Wonder] 2022 

Magazine Skepp 2023 

If we compare the texts that SKEPP has published through its magazine and website, we see the importance that medical topics have had in twenty years of operation. First of all, everything related to alternative medicine, in which Wim Betz – sadly deceased – has become an international authority. But all sorts of health claims, such as the supposed dangers of vaccination and mobile phone radiation, have also not escaped our attention. Surprising attention is paid to controversial psychological practices, such as psychoanalysis and modern human resource methods.

Creationism also received considerable attention. Belgium has relatively few opponents of the theory of evolution, but they are numerous among the Muslim population. On the other hand, less attention is paid to parapsychology and the occult than one might initially have thought. The investigation of the paranormal was limited to tests conducted by Marc Braem on clairvoyants, astrologers and astral travelers. This has rarely happened in recent years. "Psychics" aren't always enthusiastic about being tested by skeptics, though they can win a big cash prize if the test is positive. In recent years, a lot of attention has been paid to conspiracy theories and bizarre opinions spread on the Internet. How could it be otherwise?

Finally, the presence of quite a few philosophers in our association has resulted in numerous conferences and articles with philosophical reflections, perhaps more than in other comparable associations.

The highlight in the media was our actions around a bill (1998-1999) that sought to implement certain alternative medicines. Wim Betz harshly and substantially criticised this proposal by the Belgian Minister of Health. On the other hand, an attack by this minister on the alleged bias of scientists towards his bill was responded to with an open letter in the press. This led to a bitter television debate with the minister.  All this has contributed to the fact that the recognition procedure provided for in the law has been tightened to such an extent that there is still no recognition more than twenty years after its approval...

This was perhaps our "finest hour", along with the "collective suicide action", in which members and supporters of the SKEPP took homeopathic medicines en masse in front of the cameras, of course without the slightest consequence. An event that became the first point of television news. This "suicidal action" was later adopted by other skeptical societies around the world.

"Collective suicide action" in which Skepp supporters massively ingested a homeopathic remedy with arsenic and snake venom but extremely diluted: ten times in water thirty times in a row, in Brussels, 2011.

SKEPP has also quietly intervened on occasion to stop serious media outlets, such as public radio and television, from paying uncritical attention to this kind of nonsense. Often with favorable results.

The mere fact that we exist is positive: people know us. Our website is widely consulted. Journalists know where to turn to get a critical response to some strange news. Students ask us for help in completing a capstone project. Victims of charlatans, sometimes desperately, ask us for advice.

In short, we can say of Skepp what Voltaire said of God: if he did not exist, he would have to be invented. Although... We really hope that we can abolish it as quickly as possible, if it turns out that it is no longer necessary. Unfortunately, that won't happen anytime soon, maybe ever. But as long as society is harmed by nonsense and deception, people will be needed to denounce it. There is still a lot of work to be done.

(Translation by Word of the Spanish article “BREVE HISTORIA DE SKEPP: EL CÍRCULO DE ESTUDIOS PARA LA EVALUACIÓN CRÍTICA DE LASPSEUDOCIENCIAS Y DEL PARANORMAL” and reviewed by M.A. Paz y Miño)   

GO TO NEO-SKEPSIS # 16: SKEPTICISM IN THE WORLD (II)