I want a "JREF" too! :)

[S.F.]

Hey everyone, I'm from Romania and I want to start some sort of skeptic/science/reason promoting group.
We can go into schools and "bother" classes for about 10 minutes or so while making a presentation (or maybe showing a presentation video) so there will be no trouble in getting the message out.
The main purpose of the group is to bring together highschool and college students and cultivate awareness of science, reason and the value of skepticism.

How can we approach that so it would be interesting to the kids? I'm 20, but i'm actually interested in the topics above but I can't really tell what could get others interested.

We don't have faith healers here, but we have miracle-working icons. We also have a "Romanian Dowsers Society" but they're not too popular.
Homeopathy, accupuncture, magnet therapy are practiced by some doctors but they're not widely known.
Exposing fraud in barely-known topics won't attract much attention.

What do you suggest I do?

 

[Puggy]

Hey S.F. welcome to the forum.

I wont even try to answer Your questions, as there other people more capable of that. But I'm very interested in this discussion since this is the exact same thing I want to try in my town.

The idea I had was to be one step ahead of charlatans and topics that are unfounded. For example, the whole ID movement thing. Here in México almost nobody cares about the topic of Evolution-Creationism, but I'm wary that the ID craze will start to catch. So I was thinking of promoting the discussion of the "controversy" now, to raise consciousness on the issue. But I haven't had the time to really think of the best way to do it.

 

[athon]

Recently I've been involved in several negotiations -- both online and IRL -- looking into the potential of setting up programs that aim to educate the public on critical thinking and skepticism. The following is my personal advice, based on experience and research into critical thinking education.

If it is something you feel you have the time and energy to devote to, you should consider doing it properly. Establish a clear goal and decide how you will determine that your goal has been effectively attained. Perhaps you wish to simply challenge some beliefs with alternative explanations for phenomena people have experienced; survey your potential clients and see what their beliefs are and look into how you might be able to construct a program to deliver information. Then look into some methods on how you can tell that your program was effective.

Next, be aware that a one-off, short term experience will give very short term results. The 'even if I change one person's mind' goal sounds nice on paper, but if you are really aiming to only change a few minds, there are far easier, far more productive and far more economic ways of doing that then to tour the country doing talks. In short, don't expect to have a sizeable impact on critical thinking through a school-lecture strategy. Narrow down your expectations and focus on a single strategy, such as 'debunking miracle workers'.

Don't expect this to translate effectively across into other paranormal fields. Debunking miracle workers won't create critical thinkers who will automatically use those same thinking skills on homeopathy or ghosts. You will simply give pause for some people on the phenomena of miracle workers.

Look into the resources you have at hand, and (as you have done already) the relevant needs of the community. There's no point in Australia, for instance, for a travelling show to tackle miracle workers, as most people don't take it seriously here. Homeopathy, on the other hand, might be more worthwhile.

Finally, tackle the literature out there on how people think. Walking in and simply offering contradictory evidence, or giving a spiel on how critical thinking works is not going to impress a crowd all that much.

This is a great place to put your ideas up for criticism and support. Use it. And PM me if you need any further help.

Good luck!

Athon