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 [Editor's Note: It is the weekend of The Amazing Meeting! 9, in Las Vegas, Nevada and as a precursor we collected a series of stories from readers like you; people who have, through one means or another, discovered skepticism. These stories remind us that we all started somewhere in our journey toward critical thinking and some of us are still finding our way.

Today's story comes from Patty, the Vice President of the Branson Freethinkers]

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[Editor’s Note: We are pleased to announce a new regular feature to the blog on Randi.org. Dusty Wallace, our new movie critic, will be offering bi-weekly reviews on skeptic-themed movies.]

The Tree of Life (2011)

Directed by Terrence Malick

Starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn

Rated PG-13  

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Being a parent is the hardest job any of us can have, but being a skeptical parent offers it’s own set of challenges.   There are several issues that come up when you are trying to raise your children to think critically and skeptically that the average parent probably doesn’t have to deal with, or even think about.   How do you handle the ever-present BS that seems to be everywhere in our society?  What should you say when your child asks about god?  These are just a couple of the things that you will face when raising children skeptically.

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In less than a week, well over 1,500 people will convene for TAM Las Vegas 2011. Before we gather for these fun four days in the desert, here are a few quick updates, and some words on a recent controversy in our skeptics movement.

First, the bad news. We recently learned that Adam Savage, a great friend to the JREF and a member of our advisory board, will be unable to appear at TAM as originally scheduled. This is because of an unavoidable television obligation. Adam feels horrible about this, since he says TAM is a highlight of his year. We all look forward to seeing him again at our next TAM Vegas in 2012.

Second, some good news: Due to the generosity of Penn and Teller, and as a fundraiser for the JREF, if you are a TAM registrant, you can receive a great discount on their show while you are in Vegas. This is a 2 for 1 discount, and this offer is good for any seat in the house except for the VIP section! The coupon is good from Wednesday, July 13th, 2011 - Sunday, July 17, 2011. To receive the 2 for 1 coupon, you can either call the P&T box office (888-746-7784) and give the code PNTTAM, and order your tickets now, or you can purchase the tickets directly at their box office during the TAM.  When purchasing the tickets over the phone, you will receive the discount, but you must provide a PNTTAM coupon and a TAM badge when picking up your ticket(s).  If you purchase the tickets in person, you will need to provide the coupon and your TAM badge. These discount coupons will be available at TAM.

More good news: As another instance of JREF's foray into smart phone apps, I am happy to announce that TAM Vegas 2011 has its very own app! Robust, it allows for notes, ratings of speakers, twitter functionality through the app, and holds the full conference program on your phone, among other bells and whistles. Our TAM app is available for Apple iOS devices such as iPhones, and Android devices and Blackberry devices / Mobile Web.   

Lastly, I want to address the recent online debates regarding sexism in the skeptics movement in general, and the divide surfacing around statements involving Rebecca Watson, Richard Dawkins and others in particular. I believe that this controversy gives us the opportunity to make this issue about more than online conflicts and blog wars, about more than "Team Rebecca" versus "Team Richard." I hope we can use this conflict to improve and strengthen our community, to reaffirm our intention to take diversity seriously, and to make the skeptics movement a welcoming place for all people, regardless of gender or sex or race or sexual orientation or where they stand on any given issue. We are all subject to confirmation bias, to taking a position and not budging; we all have more to learn about applying skepticism to our own views. But being unwilling to discuss these topics without recourse to personal attack or threats is counter to our goals as a skeptical movement.

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[Editor's Note: As a precursor to The Amazing Meeting! 9, we have collected a series of stories from readers like you; people who have, through one means or another, discovered skepticism and critical thinking. These stories remind us that we all started somewhere and some of us are still finding our way as skeptics If you are interested in contributing your own story, please submit your piece of around 1000 words to maria (at) randi.org along with a short 2-3 line bio.

Today’s stories comes from one of our regular contributors to the blog, Dr. Milton Mermikides]

 

The Boy Who Stared At Pencils: A Potted Early History of One Man’s Stumble to Skepticism: By Dr. Milton Mermikides

In deference to TAM’s imminent arrival I’ve been invited to pen – or key – a short account of my journey to skepticism. I’ve provided an essay for JREF previously on what I feel is the importance of skepticism so I’ll deal here with a time-line of selected key moments in the first 12 years of my life – a series of micro-epiphanies – which in retrospect held particular importance to my development and interest in skeptical issues. I offer these in the hope that they might ring some bells in the skeptic community, or cause some bells to ring for those on the fence, or at least the bells might play a pretty fine tune.  

 

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