Blue Collar Scientist

Michael Stackpole came to my attention in the late 1980’s when I read of some of his research that debunked claims that role-playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons led to involvement in Satanic cults and killings. The research was eventually compiled into The Pulling Report in 1990.

For some years now, Mike has been the Executive Director of the Arizona Skeptics. Every year he and his fellows in that group compile a list of predictions, some of them serious and some of them humorous, that are of the style of the annual predictions that so-called psychics make. Year in and year out, the organization comes up with more accurate predictions than the psychics, by wildly huge margins.

Although I follow the predictions every year, it was from his appearance on Skepticality some time ago that I learned more about some other things Mike does - namely, he goes toe-to-toe with the crazies on radio shows, representing skepticism and rational thinking in the mass media, where the cards are stacked most strongly against you. After doing a bit of research last November, I put Mike on my list of people who needed to have an asteroid named after him.

So there I was at TAM 5.5 last January, eating dinner with a bunch of complete strangers, when Mike walks in and sits down next to me. Nobody else at the table seemed to have “made” him, so I brought up the Pulling Report and said something that probably sounded sycophantic. Mike and I later waxed nostalgic in the hotel bar - which contained an original Star Wars poster - and I ended up having lunch with him and a bunch of other great people on the last day of the conference. The whole time I’m sitting there thinking how much I’d love to spill the beans that I’d just written a proposal to name an asteroid after him - but couldn’t, because the process is supposed to be secret.

The citation I submitted for Mike reads:

Michael Stackpole (b. 1957) is a prolific and popular science fiction author, and is a popular advocate for science and rational thinking through media appearances, public speaking, and writing.

Phil Plait is a great guy, and I’m just tickled pink that I’m the person who got to name an asteroid after him.

I first had interactions with Phil in 1995, when I was literally a nobody, an amateur astronomer with no research under my belt and only one article published in a major astronomy magazine almost ten years before. From time to time over the years we exchanged e-mail about various subjects, but we never met, and contact was separated by enough time that I assumed each time I got in touch he’d have forgotten me from the last time. When I called him on the phone a couple years ago to help me name asteroids after the Skepticality hosts, I was surprised that he recognized my name.

When Bad Astronomy went from a static website to a blog, and when Bad Astronomy (the book) was published, Phil started to look like a serious heavy hitter in astronomy education to me. It seemed to me that he, more than anyone else, was doing the hardest kind of astronomy education. He was taking on the kind of harmless cranks that show up at a public star parties to look through my telescope, and regale me with stories about how the moon landing was faked, or about how gravity from some planetary alignment would destroy the Earth. I began to get laser printer business cards, on which I printed an appropriate collection of URLs from Phil’s website, to hand out at these events to people wanting or needing real information.

I’ve been following Phil’s work now for more than ten years, and finally met him last January at TAM 5.5. I am persuaded - having given it a lot of thought - that he will likely be our next Carl Sagan. I take nothing away from Tyson, or any of the many others doing outstanding work in communicating astronomy, but Phil has not only the knowledge and professionalism, but also the enthusiasm and the sense of humor needed to fill those shoes. And more importantly, Phil is a free agent, devoting himself to science communication full time, on his own terms. I am very much looking forward to seeing what he accomplishes in the next few years.

The naming citation I submitted for Phil reads:

Phil Plait (b. 1964) is an astronomer, educator, and author. Since 1998 Plait has educated the public and debunked astronomy myths and misconceptions through his popular website, books, and media appearances.

I have a confession. I would have named an asteroid after Phil years ago, but stupidly, I assumed it had already been done - and I never checked to make sure until last December. Better late than never, Phil!

TAM 5.5 is officially over - well over. I’m in the airport in Jacksonville, Florida, and this is the first fully working internet I’ve had since the beginning of TAM.

The event was outstanding. It was a tightly-scheduled affair, and Amazingly (pun intended) the schedule was kept to almost perfectly.

The “How To Be Heard” workshop on Friday was, somewhat surprisingly to many of the people who had signed up for it, substantially about podcasting. Most of the attendees that I spoke to expected it to have more about blogging and other non-podcast manifestations of publishing. But it was well run by Mr. Farkas, Brian Dunning, and the skepchick, and was chock full of useful information. It is the only place I’ve ever seen a simple summary of podcasting technology, including microphones, along with a straightforward explanation of the options and their implications. But Brian Dunning had probably the most important thing to say at the workshop, which involved time management and what you have to do to successfully put together a podcast. The time investment is not inconsiderable.

That evening, there was a dinner and reception, and I snagged a table with two or three other strangers. After a few minutes, Mike Stackpole came over with a plate full of chicken wings and sat down right next to me. For the next 45 minutes the five or so of us at the table chatted with him, and unbeknownst to us, he was giving us a sneak-preview of his talk the following day.

On Saturday, Kelly Jolkowski gave a talk about avoiding psychic predators. It was a truly outstanding presentation on the predatory and damaging practices of psychics who take advantage of aggrieved people in order to generate fees. As if getting bilked out of money isn’t bad enough, in some cases psychics have led to the expenditure of enormous resources during searches for missing persons which could much better have been spent on proven investigative methods.

Mark Roberts then gave one of the best presentations of the weekend, about 9/11 conspiracy theorists. I simply don’t have much to say about this - as Mark pointed out, some these people have strong political and financial agendas, and their allegations don’t pass even the most simple of ‘bullshit’ tests.

The panel discussion on podcasts was perhaps the most forgettable part of TAM.

Rebecca Watson’s talk, “Get Off Your Lazy Can and Do Something,” did not really conform to what the title suggested. Rather than a talk about activism techniques and motivating remarks, it was more of an explanation of what she had to go through to get her radio show. It was still quite enjoyable.

Alison Smith then gave a five-minute talk about that obnoxious ghost hunting show, which was probably the best five minutes of TAM.

Robert Lancaster then gave an outstanding talk about the Stop Sylvia Browne website, and a simple way to extend the model to other obnoxious parasites.

Chris Cordero, who purported to have the psychic power to transmit information to another mind, was to have been tested for the Million-Dollar Challenge, but he didn’t show. As it happens, I psychically predicted that would happen. As a result, that part of the schedule was devoted to some discussion of the Challenge and a Q&A session with the people most involved in it.

Mike Stackpole then gave what is widely thought to have been the best presentation of TAM, about how to argue and interact with believers of woo in such a way that you win over the hearts (first) and minds (later) of people who are undecided about false beliefs. It was an excellent, pragmatic, technique-based talk, and TAM 5.5, whose theme was “activism and skepticism,” could have used two or three more talks along the same lines.

Randi then gave an entertaining speech, substantially about Uri Geller, some of which I’ve echoed on the Twitter feed.

On Saturday night, Skepchick sponsored a large, noisy party at the hotel next door. After talking to a hell of a lot of people well into the morning, I went back to my room and back to bed.

The following morning there was an open house at the JREF Headquarters, which is a nice building of sufficient size for a small business, full of eclectic objects and neat sciency-type demonstrations. Randi was holding court in the library and demonstrated a few of the same ‘tricks’ that I do for high school classes, notably dropping a powerful magnet through a copper pipe. (If you’ve never seen it, you won’t believe it.)

After that a bunch of us went to Anthony’s Coal-Fired Pizza, a famous joint (the pizza was good, but not quite up to the place’s reputation), and I managed to sit myself down next to Mike Stackpole again. This time a lot of the discussion was about fiction writing, something I find fascinating, since I’m quite incompetent about it.

I spent most of the afternoon Sunday hanging out on the patio by the pool with a bunch of other people, and then went with some of them to a Japanese restaurant, where I had the most enormous serving of sashimi that I think I’ve ever had, for the concerningly low price of $18. I didn’t get sick, so it was well-spent.

This morning I flew out, and am now laying over, sort of, in Jacksonville, where I finally have some decent internet. I have to go get some actual work done, so I’ll leave this entry short and sweet - sorry, no time to place links to the many deserving people who presented at TAM. (Google will easily turn them up, though.) I’m glad I went, and the bottom line is, if you are a skeptic, you will probably have a ball at these things.

I’ll post a more thorough wrap-up of TAM 5.5 tomorrow, the delay being necessary because the hotel internet is now completely down. Suffice it to say, for now, that the event was outstanding.

I’m really just posting to see if the sucky hotel internet is behaving, but I’m in the middle of the first day’s workshop, and we’re talking about all sorts of diverse subjects - including the God Hates Figs webpage. Rebecca, Bart, and Brian are doing a great job.

I’m checked in for TAM and waiting for the first workshop to start. As twitter bar readers will note, things have not started off well here. My vintage 1950 room has a lack of grounded outlets, and I had to remove a six-plug extender to get a place to plug in my laptop. Then I discovered the desk was coated in a mysterious brown sticky substance. When I went to the sink to clean it up, I discovered ants. The list goes on, but suffice it to say that I don’t recommend you stay at the plantation hotel and conference center.

The internet is so irresponsibly bad here that I’m posting from my blackberry.

Hopefully things will improve. The first workshop starts in about 15 minutes - and signs are hopeful that it willturn the tide.