Our Mission

The Skeptic Heads goal is to develop critical thinking skills and to apply those skills to the everyday practical.  This includes

  • Reviewing news events of the day
  • Breaking down the science of a particular phenomenon
  • Analyzing social and political policy
  • Evaluating sources of information and evidence
  • Examining the various beliefs, rites, rituals, practices, and superstitions that are held around the world
  • And much more

The Skeptic Heads podcast endeavors to discover the evidence, in form of verifiable facts, observations, scientific analysis, and expert consensus, that are relevant to the issues, and to demonstrate the best practices of critical thought in the examination of those issues.

The Principles of Skepticism

Though there are many ways to describe skepticism, we believe that these four fundamental principles form the axiomatic foundations of the skeptical process:

  • 100% Certainty is not Attainable
    Beyond matters of logic and definition, one cannot know the veracity of any claim to an absolute 100% unquestionable certainty. But, one can show that a claim is “confirmed to such a degree that it would be perverse to withhold provisional assent”.  That means, we accept the claim as fact on a provisional basis unless or until there is a reason not to.  And, that reason must either be presence of new information, or a modification of the supporting information.
  • Truth is Based on Evidence
    The veracity of a claim is based on verifiable evidence in the form of facts, observations, demonstrations, scientific analysis, and expert consensus. Truth, to the degree that it can be established, is not ascertained through desires, feelings, or faith; it is ascertained by the preponderence of verifiable and demonstrable evidence.
  • Knowledge is not immutable
    Knowledge, the collection of truth claims derived from epistemology, is not static and unchanging. It is always rational and appropriate to re-evaluate the veracity of a claim, and possibly modify one’s conclusions, if new evidence becomes available that warrants such action, and only to the degree that the new evidence warrants any modification. All evidence must be in the form of verifiable facts, observations, demonstrations, scientific analysis, and expert consensus.
  • Everyone has Biases and Preconceptions
    A preconception is an already established idea or prejudice; a bias is a predisposition to interpret evidence in a such manner so as to preserve and/or reinforce a preconception. Every person has biases and preconceptions that cloud their ability to evaluate objectively. This is simply a consequence of way the human mind works.  Recognizing this, one looks for independent confirmation of one’s conclusions.  An example of this process is the scientific community’s self-imposed requirement that all scientific analyses be peer reviewed and independently replicated before the veracity of the results are concluded.

Dr. Scot Haire is a skeptic, a secularist, an atheist, and an ardent advocate of the sciences, the scientific process, and STEM education.

Scot has a BS and an MS in Aerospace Engineering, with concentration in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), from the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA). While attending UTA, he tutored mathematics and physics through the university sponsored program SOAR (Students Obtaining Academic Readiness).

Scot also has a PhD in Mechanical Engineering, with concentration in CFD and Turbulence Modeling, from Stanford University . While attending Stanford, he helped to organize and he participated in The Science Bus, an after-school science and technology education program in which Stanford graduate students in engineering and the sciences conduct hands-on experiments and demonstrations with gradeschool students at the East Palo Alto Charter School.

Since 2001, Scot has been employed as an algorithm developer with a Silicon Valley tech company.

In 2013, Scot and Brian foundedThe Atheist Community of San Jose (ACSJ), a 501(c)(3) organization for atheists and like-minded non-believers, founded to develop and support the atheist community and to provide opportunities for socializing, philanthropy, education, and friendship.

In 2016, Scot and Brian both became ACSJ emeritus board members, at which point they began The Skeptic Heads podcast.

 

Brian Broome is a skeptic, a secularist, and an atheist.

In 2013, Brian and Scot founded The Atheist Community of San Jose, a 501(c)(3) organization for atheists and like-minded non-believers, founded to develop and support the atheist community and to provide opportunities for socializing, philanthropy, education, and friendship.

In 2016, Brian and Scot both became ACSJ emeritus board members, at which point they began The Skeptic Heads podcast.