Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
A half-century ago, a rising tide of pseudoscience and paranormal belief swept the Western world. In response, a small group of scholars, magicians, science writers, and others alarmed by the dearth of reaction from the scientific community banded together to found the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), now the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI). This marked the beginning of the modern skeptical movement. While the Committee’s survival for fifty years is in itself a signal accomplishment and reason for celebration, one cannot fully appreciate the passion and urgency with which it was founded, nor comprehend the magnitude of its achievements, without first understanding the societal context in which it took form. James Alcock knows that context well; he was there.
This talk was part of the exciting lineup for CSICon 2026. CSICon is the premiere conference for science and skepticism.
Learn more at: csiconference.org
James E. Alcock is professor emeritus of psychology at York University, Toronto, Canada. He is author of Belief: What It Means to Believe and Why Our Convictions Are So Compelling, Parapsychology: Science or Magic?, and Science and Supernature. He is also coeditor of Psi Wars: Getting to Grips with the Paranormal. He is a member of CSI’s executive council and of the Skeptical Inquirer editorial board.
This talk took place during CSICon in Buffalo, NY on June 12, 2026
A half-century ago, a rising tide of pseudoscience and paranormal belief swept the Western world. In response, a small group of scholars, magicians, science writers, and others alarmed by the dearth of reaction from the scientific community banded together to found the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), now the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI). This marked the beginning of the modern skeptical movement. While the Committee’s survival for fifty years is in itself a signal accomplishment and reason for celebration, one cannot fully appreciate the passion and urgency with which it was founded, nor comprehend the magnitude of its achievements, without first understanding the societal context in which it took form. James Alcock knows that context well; he was there.
This talk was part of the exciting lineup for CSICon 2026. CSICon is the premiere conference for science and skepticism.
Learn more at: csiconference.org
James E. Alcock is professor emeritus of psychology at York University, Toronto, Canada. He is author of Belief: What It Means to Believe and Why Our Convictions Are So Compelling, Parapsychology: Science or Magic?, and Science and Supernature. He is also coeditor of Psi Wars: Getting to Grips with the Paranormal. He is a member of CSI’s executive council and of the Skeptical Inquirer editorial board.
This talk took place during CSICon in Buffalo, NY on June 12, 2026
