Perspectives from a “new” skeptic Part I: Growing up with science

My parents were not scientists. I cannot recall my elementary school teachers giving more than a mere mention to the idea of science. As an only child with single mother working too hard to support us, I found myself much of the time sitting at home, alone, cross-legged a few feet in front of my television. I can remember turning the dial on the TV with its distinctive “clack” between the 4-5 local channels with multiple channels of loud static until I came across something that was not local news. In the morning it was Mr. Wizard, who would on a daily basis teach a curious child about the world through observation and experimentation. By middle school, Saturday morning programming included two scientific installments, the wacky Beekman’s World and the far tamer Bill Nye, the Science Guy. These shows became the main course for me after choking down the appetizers of cliché cartoons. Basic and silly as these shows may have been, they laid the foundation in my life for questioning outrageous claims and for how to use the scientific method to find answers.

My mother remarried and we upgraded to cable TV, which opened up a whole world of information to me. Shows about the universe and shows about UFO’s. Shows about whales and shows about the Loch Ness Monster. Shows on evolution and the 700 Club. Shows about the brain and shows about telepathy. Shows about the tomb of King Tutankhamen and shows about the Shroud of Turin. Shows about near death experiences and shows about after-death experiences. Einstein and Nostradamus. Tyrannosaurus Rex and bigfoot. While I clearly gravitated toward the truly scientific shows (the former in the above comparisons), I couldn’t help but watch their pseudoscientific counterparts as well. These shows tended to have more flash, higher budgets, and more “wow” factor to go along with their “woo” factor. Plus they had better time slots and outnumbered their scientific counterparts at least 3:1 in airtime. A clear turning point in my life was when our local PBS station re-aired the entire series of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos: A Personal Voyage. Unfortunately, I missed the original airing as I was not yet a twinkle in my parents’ eyes. His words were profound, nearly each sentence being quotable. His passion for science and the universe was palpable and invigorating. The things he said, and the way he said them, changed the way that I saw the world forever.

DoR