The Sagan Society of Georgia celebrates curiosity and intellect

Despite their reputation as bastions of learning, colleges and universities aren't immune to fuzzy thinking. At the University of Georgia, the problem has become especially troubling in recent years, most notably with conservative Christian attacks on evolution in the guise of "intelligent design theory." The university has also seen its share of psychic networks, conspiracy theories, and UFO gurus.

This past spring, students and faculty decided to challenge the trend. They formed a group called The Sagan Society, an organization promoting curiosity, rationalism, and skepticism on campus and in the greater Athens, Georgia, community. Its goals include objective inquiry in the spirit of the Enlightenment and better student-faculty interactions through lectures, discussions, field trips, social gatherings and special events. The society also provides local media with expert opinion whenever pseudoscientific claptrap raises its head.

Rationalists and skeptics are too often portrayed as devoid of an emotional or spiritual dimension. The Sagan Society hopes to debunk that myth by celebrating the awesome beauty of the world around us and the power of the human intellect.

So far, the results have been phenomenal. As of this writing, more than 100 people have joined the group, including nonvoting participants from as far away as California and the United Kingdom. The society had a full list of speakers for fall semester including UGA Physics and Astronomy professor J. P. Caillaut (Extraterrestrial Life - Are We Alone?), author Michael Shermer (Why People Believe Weird Things), Atlanta Freethought Society's Edward Buckner (This Is a Free Country, Not a Christian Nation), and UGA's Pulitzer Prize-winning history professor, Edward Larson (The Religious Beliefs of Scientists). Social events include a get-together at the university observatory. Sagan Society vice president Keith Lankford provided in-depth feedback when the daily newspaper highlighted a local dowser. Lankford also publishes the society's newsletter, Doubting Thomas.

Sagan Society meetings are designed to stimulate discussion in a nonthreatening atmosphere. The Society seeks to avoid labels such as atheist and humanist, not because it disagrees with those philosophies but because it wants to be an inclusive organization that welcomes various perspectives. Since labels can intimidate people, they're counterproductive. The Society's bottom line is weighing ideas and beliefs against objective, material evidence.

The Sagan Society can serve as a model for similar campus organizations elsewhere. Young people are constantly bombarded by creationism, psychics, astrology, and poor media reporting. Too often this material goes unchallenged. As the problem worsens with millennium fever, what better time to rally students and members of the community-at-large to the banner of rationalism and critical thinking.

As Thomas Jefferson said, "A nation that expects to be ignorant and free, expects what never can or will be."

For more information, visit The Sagan Society at www.uga.edu/dogsbody.

Barry A. Palevitz is a professor of botany and biology and a faculty advisor to The Sagan Society of the University of Georgia, Athens. E-mail: palevitz@dogwood.botany.uga.edu.

COPYRIGHT 1999 Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group