Media Release

Prize winning skepticism

November 20, 2006

Scepticism is indispensable perspective for anyone involved in science and a useful one for everyone; as a Queensland academic learned last weekend, it can also be a lucrative one.  At a dinner on Saturday, November 18,  Dr Martin Bridgstock, a Senior Lecturer in the School of Science at Griffith University, was awarded the inaugural Australian Skeptics Prize for Critical Thinking, worth $10 000.

Concerned at the high level of acceptance of paranormal  beliefs in the community, the lack of knowledge of the nature of science displayed by first year students, and their inability to evaluate paranormal claims, Dr Bridgstock convinced his university of the need to do something about the problem.

This led to him constructing a course, Skepticism, Science and the Paranormal, as an elective for second year students. From an initial enrollment of 25 in 2003, the course has grown in numbers and popularity each year since then.

Dr Bridgstock was aware that simply debunking paranormal claims would be unlikely to win the acceptance of young adults, so his course  requires students to demonstrate that they understand, and can apply, key skeptical principles to arrive at their own conclusions. He makes clear to his students that a skeptical approach is not merely a set of tools that can be discarded; it is a powerful perspective that, once learned, will make it difficult for them to look at the world the same way again.

Australian Skeptics also awarded a Runner's-Up prize of $2,000 to Ms Kylie Sturgess, an English Teacher at MLC Perth, for her initiative and enthusiasm in encouraging her high school students to use skeptical critical thinking skills in investigating popular paranormal beliefs. The results she achieved have been most encouraging.

The Critical Thinking Prize is sponsored by Australian Skeptics Inc, an association dedicated to the critical investigation of paranormal and pseudo-scientific claims.  We are delighted at the high standard exhibited by our inaugural Prize winners and hope that the rewards attendant on success  will encourage others to seek to apply a skeptical approach. The Critical Thinking Prize will be awarded annually and is not necessarily confined to educational institutions We will also seek entries from  original researchers, or from journalists, who expose popular paranormal or pseudo-scientific claims to critical scrutiny.  Further details can be found at our web site www.skeptics.com.au.