gall@yunexus.UUCP (Norman R. Gall) (07/04/89)
This is the first call for votes on a new unmoderated group called
sci.skeptic. Instructions for voting are given below.
The charter for this group is:
"A group dealing with issues in Parapsychology,
UFOlogy, Creation Science, New Ageism, Astrology,
Paranormal Health Claims, Cryptozoology, and other
areas of inquiry which might tend to contradict or
dismiss generally accepted principles of Science.
Sociological and Educational issues arising from these
areas are also important to Science and will be
acceptable material. The aim is not to prove a priori
that these kinds of claims are false, but to
scrutinise them and try to tease out new threads of
inquiry, reveal faulty logic or assumptions (as should
be the case in _all_ areas of discourse), and
generally investigate the impact these claims might or
do have on _Scientific_ discourse. "
What we get out of the new group:
-- Allows for exchange of information about current events in these areas.
-- Provides an area for honest discussion of these issues in a non-credulous
atmosphere.
-- Increases the exposure to rigourous argument that some readers may find
hard to locate.
To vote, you send a message to one of two addresses.
* If you want the group to be created, send a message to
skeptic-yes@nexus.yorku.ca
* If you do not want the group to be created, send your message to
skeptic-no@nexus.yorku.ca
The contents of the message are irrelevant; they will be classifed solely by
which address they are sent to.
Votes sent to my personal account, which includes replies to this
posting, will be ignored.
The actual vote tallying is being undertaken by David Collier-Brown
(davecb@nexus.yorku.ca [Don't send things to him, either]
The voting ends on August 3, 1989.
Followups to this message should be posted in news.groups.
nrg
--
York University |"_Wanting_ to think is one thing;
Department of Philosophy | having a talent for thinking another"
Toronto, Ontario, Canada | - L. Wittgenstein (CV 44)
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