Edinburgh Skeptics (Edinburgh Skeptics Society) is a

nonprofit organisation A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

that promotes science, reason and

critical thinking Critical thinking is the analysis of available facts, evidence, observations, and arguments to form a judgement. The subject is complex; several different definitions exist, which generally include the rational, skeptical, and unbiased analysis ...

in Edinburgh and throughout Scotland. It was founded in 2009. The Society hosts regular social and educational events in Edinburgh and has campaigned against the use of

homeopathy Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine. It was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Its practitioners, called homeopaths, believe that a substance that causes symptoms of a dis ...

and challenged claims of

ghost A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...

sightings. The Society organizes regular talks as part of Skeptics in the Pub. The speaker invited to launch the group in March 2009 was Chris French. Subsequent speakers have included David Aaronovitch and Julian Baggini. In 2010 the Society created the award-winning ''Skeptics on the Fringe'' event, which is held annually during the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

. ''Skeptics on the Fringe'' won an ''Ockham Award'' after a vote by the readers of ''The Skeptic'' magazine in 2013 and has been awarded 4 stars by the publication

Broadway Baby ''Broadway Baby'' is a British online review guide and arts news website which launched in 2004. It is the most prolific reviewing publication at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe from 2012 onward. It contains reviews of music, comedy, theatre and ...

. An Ockham award was again won in 2017. Speakers such as Simon Singh, Richard Wiseman,

A C Grayling Anthony Clifford Grayling (; born 3 April 1949) is a British philosopher and author. He was born in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) and spent most of his childhood there and in Nyasaland (now Malawi). In 2011 he founded and became the first Ma ...

, Edzard Ernst and Paul Zenon have taken part in this event. Other Fringe activities include themed walking tours of Edinburgh. Current activities include a range of talks held as part of the Edinburgh International Science Festival, a cinema night, a discussion group and a mobile stall to deliver science and rationalism outreach to the public. In 2015 the Society started the Edinburgh Skeptics Podcast on a variety of platforms with content including interviews with various personalities as well as recordings of the Society's events. In the past the Society has also co-hosted special events, such as a talk by

Marc Abrahams Marc Abrahams is the editor and co-founder of '' Annals of Improbable Research'', and the originator and master of ceremonies of the annual Ig Nobel Prize celebration. He was formerly editor of the ''Journal of Irreproducible Results''. Abrahams ...

, founder of the

Ig Nobel Prizes The Ig Nobel Prize ( ) is a satiric prize awarded annually since 1991 to celebrate ten unusual or trivial achievements in scientific research. Its aim is to "honor achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think." The name of ...

and continues to work with various groups in the scientific and skeptical community.

History

Edinburgh Skeptics was the fifth Skeptics in the Pub group to be established in the UK. The group was formalised as Edinburgh Skeptics Society in 2009 by Ash Pryce, later to be joined by Alex Buque and Keir Liddle in 2010. Edinburgh Skeptics was one of the first Skeptic groups in the UK to implement an anti-harassment policy to promote inclusiveness. The policy "Respect people, challenge ideas" covers both visiting speakers and attendees.

Meetings

The Society organizes regular educational events in Edinburgh. Edinburgh Skeptics also holds social meetings and informal discussions on skeptic topics such as "Should Atheists Ignore Christmas?". The group has also arranged excursion events entitled ''Skeptical Days Out''. Atheist Circle A XmasTree

Edinburgh Skeptics in the Pub

Meetings include a guest speaker which have included David Aaronovitch discussing his book ''Voodoo Histories: The Role of Conspiracy Theory in Modern History'', and

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

, writer and journalist Julian Baggini on the subject of ''Being Sceptical of Scepticism: Ways of Being Wrong''. More recent speakers have included Professor David Nutt,

Phil Hammond Philip James Hammond (born 1 January 1962) is a British physician, broadcaster, comedian and commentator on health issues in the United Kingdom. He is best known for his humorous commentary on the National Health Service. He first came into t ...

Kat Arney Katharine Luisa Arney is a British science communicator, broadcaster, author, and the founder and creative director of communications consultancy First Create the Media. She was a regular co-host of ''The Naked Scientists'', a BBC Radio programm ...

and

Margaret McCartney Margaret Mary McCartney is a general practitioner, freelance writer and broadcaster based in Glasgow, Scotland. McCartney is a vocal advocate for evidence-based medicine. McCartney was a regular columnist at the '' British Medical Journal''. Sh ...

. Talks are also given by group members and cover a wide range of subjects including

health care Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...

, science,

atheism Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...

, the paranormal/

supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

, psychics, politics and psychology. Skeptics in the Pub continues to be held on the third Thursday of every month.

Skeptics Between the Covers

Skeptics Between the Covers was the first skeptical book group in the UK. It was founded by Edinburgh Skeptics to discuss books of interest to Skeptics. The group has covered both

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...

and

nonfiction Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with be ...

genres, such as social psychology and biography, with books including '' When Prophecy Fails: A Social and Psychological Study of a Modern Group That Predicted the Destruction of the World'' by

Leon Festinger Leon Festinger (8 May 1919 – 11 February 1989) was an American social psychologist who originated the theory of cognitive dissonance and social comparison theory. The rejection of the previously dominant behaviorist view of social psychology ...

Henry Riecken Henry William Riecken (November 11, 1917 – December 27, 2012) was an American psychologist. Riecken was born on November 11, 1917, and was raised in Brooklyn. He obtained a bachelor's degree from Harvard University in 1939, and completed a master ...

, and

Stanley Schachter Stanley Schachter (April 15, 1922 – June 7, 1997) was an American social psychologist, who is perhaps best known for his development of the two factor theory of emotion in 1962 along with Jerome E. Singer. In his theory he states that emotions ...

, which contains one of the first published accounts of cognitive dissonance, and ''Bare-Faced Messiah: The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard'' by British journalist

Russell Miller Russell Miller (born 1938) is a British journalist and author of fifteen books, including biographies of Hugh Hefner, J. Paul Getty and L. Ron Hubbard. While under contract to ''The Sunday Times Magazine'' he won four press awar ...

. ''Bare-Faced Messiah'' is a posthumous biography of Scientology founder

L. Ron Hubbard Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (March 13, 1911 – January 24, 1986) was an American author, primarily of science fiction and fantasy stories, who is best known for having founded the Church of Scientology. In 1950, Hubbard authored '' Dianetic ...

, which was originally withdrawn from publication in the US after legal action, although the Court of Appeal of England and Wales allowed publication in the UK

in the public interest In the Public Interest (ITPI) is a nonpartisan non-profit organization based in Oakland, California, Oakland, California, that studies public education, infrastructure, social services, and other public goods. According to its website, ITPI “help ...

Homeopathy

The 10:23 Campaign was an awareness campaign and protest against homeopathy. It was started in the UK by the Merseyside Skeptics Society and has international participation. In 2010 the Society organised a protest that included mass homeopathic overdoses outside Boots stores to mock what the protesters asserted to be the lack of

efficacy Efficacy is the ability to perform a task to a satisfactory or expected degree. The word comes from the same roots as ''effectiveness'', and it has often been used synonymously, although in pharmacology a pragmatic clinical trial#Efficacy versu ...

in homeopathic products. As participants in this campaign, Edinburgh Skeptics organised a protest outside the

Princes Street Princes Street ( gd, Sràid nam Prionnsan) is one of the major thoroughfares in central Edinburgh, Scotland and the main shopping street in the capital. It is the southernmost street of Edinburgh's New Town, stretching around 1.2 km (three ...

branch of Boots against its policy of selling homeopathic preparations as equivalent to mainstream scientifically based medicine. These 10:23 Campaign protests took place in 70 cities in 30 countries around the world including

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and New Zealand and resulted in no ill effects to those taking the products. Following the overdoses, Paul Bennett, professional standards director for Boots, responded by stating, "We know that many people believe in the benefits of complementary medicines and we aim to offer the products we know our customers want".

Local Campaign

The Society was involved in the 2012–13 homeopathy consultation carried out by the Lothian region of the Scottish National Health Service (NHS Scotland), during which it encouraged those who support evidence-based medicine to voice their opposition to homeopathy being provided on the

NHS in Scotland NHS Scotland, sometimes styled NHSScotland, is the publicly funded healthcare system in Scotland and one of the four systems that make up the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. It operates 14 territorial NHS boards across Scotland, ...

. NHS Lothian is one of the fourteen regions of NHS Scotland. Keir Liddle, president of the Edinburgh Skeptics Society, presented a talk on "Homoeopathy: The Air Guitar of Medicine" and was invited to write an article on the topic alongside Sara Eames, President of the Faculty of Homeopathy. When the public response to the consultation was announced, Liddle was quoted in the press stating that "Homeopathy is an unevidenced-based relic" and that "The Edinburgh Skeptics Society welcomes the consultation response and hopes that NHS Lothian acts appropriately in ending the funding of magic water on the NHS and using the money saved, ..to fund more appropriate, evidence-based treatments and care".

Debunking Paranormal Claims

The society has also been involved in the

debunking {{Short pages monitor