The big bang for many skeptical organizations
was Douglas Hofstadter’s seminal article in Scientific American in
February 1982[1],
in which he described the Skeptical Inquirer as David fighting Goliath.
CSICOP was founded in 1976, so this article might be better titled Cosmic
Inflation after the Big Bang. The article was reprinted two months later in its
German edition Spektrum der Wissenschaft[2].
The article struck a chord around the world.
Subscriptions to the Skeptical Inquirer skyrocketed, and among them were
many of the future founders of the Gesellschaft zur
wissenschaftlichen Untersuchung von Parawissenschaften-GWUP (Society for the Scientific Investigation of Pseudosciences).
With the groundwork laid, a letter to all Skeptical
Inquirer subscribers worldwide sparked the next step. I had offered to
coordinate other subscribers in Germany and received the addresses of 20
people. In the end, ten of us met in Darmstadt on February 7, 1987. Five were
subscribers, and five others I contacted who I knew would be interested, some
of whom were already active in the fight against pseudoscience.
One of them was Irmgard Oepen, a professor of
medicine, who later became the first president of GWUP and perhaps the first
woman to lead a large skeptical group. She also strongly focused on the
problems associated with pseudo-medical theories and practices, such as homoeopathy
and anthroposophic medicine. This was still considered a fringe issue in
America with little impact.
Many of the other founders dealt at issues like
the the Bermuda Triangle, Uri Geller, Erich von Däniken, dowsing or “Earth
Rays” as it is called in Germany, or ancient pyramids. We all also felt a
strong need for a rational voice in Germany.
This led to the founding of the GWUP in October
of the same year with our magazine Der Skeptiker, now called Skeptiker.
We had already grown from 10 to more than 30 members. Today, we have more than
2000 members and in addition, more than 2000 subscribers to our magazine
Skeptiker.
Dr. Martin Mahner Director of GWUP Information Center with Skeptiker Magazine
The German Skeptics got a big boost from the Amazing James Randi as early as December 1986, predating our first meeting. In that, Randi writes to me: “I have heard from Mark Plummer, Executive Director of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), that you are interested in forming a group in West Germany similar to CSICOP. I wish to encourage you to do this, and hope that you are successful.”
James Randi continued to support GWUP on many
occasions. We had our first big joint project in 1990 on dowsing based on
previous tests, such as in Australia.
One of the first major projects was to conduct
a dowsing test. The German Research Ministry had earlier sponsored tests
conducted in the University of Munich leading to the so-called “Wünschelruten-Report”[3].
The report claimed that some dowsers had extraordinary capabilities and were
able to detect water with a divining rod.
We tested overall 20 people who claimed to be
able to detect water and other articles with their dowsing rod. The Amazin
Randi helped us with the conditions of the experiments based on his previous
experience. None of those tested scored above chance in a randomised,
double-blind setting[4].
In the early 2000s, we started testing people annually,
which went on until the Corona epidemic. Here, we tested many different psychic
claims, including dowsing, offering a prize of 10,000 €. No one performed well
enough to claim the prize.
Our organisation started small with a room in
my house via a small apartment close by to a full-fledged office with two
employees.
Since the very beginning, we have been hosting
annual conferences, starting with the first in Bonn in 1987. We interrupted the
series when we hosted a European Skeptics Congress three times in Bad Tölz,
Rossdorf and Vienna and when we hosted the World Skeptics Congress in
Heidelberg (1998) and Berlin (2012). The congresses covered a wide range of
typical skeptical topics but have moved on to topics related to science and
science denial as well, as in the case of GMOs.
Another unique annual activity is that we evaluate
the predictions of psychics and astrologers, which has been a big success with
the media. A large number of newspapers report about this in December every
year. We jokingly say that this is the only activity where journalists knock on
our doors every December, and we do not have to go to the media. Of course, we
publish a press release on this every year. An interesting aspect that some
predictions are basically impossible even based on chance, such as predicting a
Mars landing by astronauts considering that the journey takes more than a year.
Topic-wise, medical issues have been much of a
focus for GWUP, which is not strange considering that Germany is where
homoeopathy and anthroposophy were invented and still have a huge following.
Confronting homoeopathy has also led to one of our major successes, where we
have managed to turn the tide. Today, even most media have become more
critical. Anthroposophy in medicine and schools, however, remain a major challenge
for the future.
In addition, new topics have come in of late,
such as conspiracy myths and topics related to defending science on climate,
energy and agriculture, including GMOS and Glyphosate. We even had a special
issue of Skeptiker on the conspiracy myths related to COVID-19.
We started with 10 in February, grew to almost
50 by the end of the first year, and now have over 2200 members and a similar number
of subscribers to our magazine who are not members. Attendance at our
conferences has grown from around 100 in the first decade to regularly more
than 200.
With many new issues emerging where science and
pseudoscience conflict, we face a similar challenge as many other skeptical
organisations. Do we mainly stick to our traditional topics or move on? Whatever
the focus, skeptics in Germany will continue to have a lot of work to do.
[1] Douglas Hofstadter: Metamagical Themas,
February 1982. About two kinds of inquiry: National Enquirer and The
Skeptical Inquirer.
[2] Douglas Hofstadter: Mathematische Spielereien, April 1982.
Wissenschaft und Aberglaube: Der Kampf zwischen David und Goliath.
[3] Betz, König, H. L., Betz, H. D.: Erdstrahlen? - Der
Wünschelrutenreport: wissenschaftlicher Untersuchungsbericht.
[4] König, R., Moll, J, Sarma. A.: Wünschelrutentest in Kassel. Skeptiker
1/91. Pp 4 – 10.
GO TO NEO-SKEPSIS # 16: SKEPTICISM IN THE WORLD (II)
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