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''Skepter'' is a
In its first issue, the contemporary president of Stichting Skepsis, astronomer Cornelis de Jager, wrote that the paper "could fulfill a useful task in explaining many seemingly miraculous things, and consequently to the clarification of the misconceptions that exist in many people's minds. Education of a hopefully large audience is the first and foremost task of our magazine." From 1988 until 2002, astronomer was editor-in-chief, and when he was succeeded by Rob Nanninga, the magazine first appeared in colour. In 2007, to reduce costs, increase accessibility and facilitate production and distribution, ''Skepter'' has been concentrated more and more on the Internet. In that year, the frequency of ''Skepter'' was reduced from quarterly to semi-annually. On the other hand, its size grew from 20 pages per issue in 1988 to 48 in 2014. During Nanninga's editorship (2002–2014), the number of subscribers increased from about 1500 to 2200.
After Nanninga's death in May 2014, he was succeeded as editor-in-chief by science journalist Hans van Maanen in December. The layout was revamped, and since 2016 ''Skepter'' has been issued four times a year again, as was the case before 2007. Since September 2017, the staff consists of editor-in-chief Hans van Maanen and editors Pepijn van Erp and CSI fellow Jan Willem Nienhuys. The paid circulation is more than 2300, the total circulation is at 2900.
Online article index
{{Skeptical magazines 1988 establishments in the Netherlands Biannual magazines Dutch-language magazines Science and technology magazines published in the Netherlands Magazines established in 1988 Paranormal magazines Scientific skepticism mass media Quarterly magazines published in the Netherlands Popular science magazines
popular science
Popular science (also called pop-science or popsci) is an interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is more broad ranging. It may be written ...
magazine
A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...
of the Dutch skeptical foundation Stichting Skepsis. It describes paranormal or controversial theories and methods from a skeptical perspective.
History
In its first issue, the contemporary president of Stichting Skepsis, astronomer Cornelis de Jager, wrote that the paper "could fulfill a useful task in explaining many seemingly miraculous things, and consequently to the clarification of the misconceptions that exist in many people's minds. Education of a hopefully large audience is the first and foremost task of our magazine." From 1988 until 2002, astronomer was editor-in-chief, and when he was succeeded by Rob Nanninga, the magazine first appeared in colour. In 2007, to reduce costs, increase accessibility and facilitate production and distribution, ''Skepter'' has been concentrated more and more on the Internet. In that year, the frequency of ''Skepter'' was reduced from quarterly to semi-annually. On the other hand, its size grew from 20 pages per issue in 1988 to 48 in 2014. During Nanninga's editorship (2002–2014), the number of subscribers increased from about 1500 to 2200.
After Nanninga's death in May 2014, he was succeeded as editor-in-chief by science journalist Hans van Maanen in December. The layout was revamped, and since 2016 ''Skepter'' has been issued four times a year again, as was the case before 2007. Since September 2017, the staff consists of editor-in-chief Hans van Maanen and editors Pepijn van Erp and CSI fellow Jan Willem Nienhuys. The paid circulation is more than 2300, the total circulation is at 2900.
Contents
The magazine deals with topics such asalternative medicine
Alternative medicine refers to practices that aim to achieve the healing effects of conventional medicine, but that typically lack biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or supporting evidence of effectiveness. Such practices are ...
, magic and the paranormal. Examples include medical claims in reflexology, 9/11 conspiracy theories, tidal forces, the hype surrounding the popular book '' The Secret'', forged doctorate
A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...
s from non-existent universities, the "ridiculous" verdict by an Amsterdam judge that the Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij could not label orthomanual therapist M. Sickesz a "quack" (later overturned), iridology, Bach flower remedies, ayurveda, Aqua Detox, magnet therapy applied kinesiology, bioresonance therapy, acupuncture and reiki. Moreover, attention is given to clairvoyance
Clairvoyance (; ) is the claimed ability to acquire information that would be considered impossible to get through scientifically proven sensations, thus classified as extrasensory perception, or "sixth sense". Any person who is claimed to h ...
, parapsychology
Parapsychology is the study of alleged psychic phenomena (extrasensory perception, telepathy, teleportation, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis (also called telekinesis), and psychometry (paranormal), psychometry) and other paranormal cla ...
, auras and dowsing, but also to Egyptian pyramids, aliens, crop circles and UFOs. Although Nanninga said that practices such as forging doctorates are a disgrace, he emphasised that (writing about) critical thinking
Critical thinking is the process of analyzing available facts, evidence, observations, and arguments to make sound conclusions or informed choices. It involves recognizing underlying assumptions, providing justifications for ideas and actions, ...
can be interesting.
See also
*Critical thinking
Critical thinking is the process of analyzing available facts, evidence, observations, and arguments to make sound conclusions or informed choices. It involves recognizing underlying assumptions, providing justifications for ideas and actions, ...
* Freethought
References
External links
Online article index
{{Skeptical magazines 1988 establishments in the Netherlands Biannual magazines Dutch-language magazines Science and technology magazines published in the Netherlands Magazines established in 1988 Paranormal magazines Scientific skepticism mass media Quarterly magazines published in the Netherlands Popular science magazines