Grief Vampires - Wikipedia and more
GC Skeptics wrapped up 2019 with our first international speaker, Susan Gerbic discussing her work on guerrilla skepticism and debunking psychics.
Following a demonstration of mentalism tricks and techniques from her colleague Mark Edwards, Susan detailed her experience setting up Operation Pizza Roll, her famous sting of psychic Thomas John. She explained how psychics perform ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ reads to trick unsuspecting victims into believing in paranormal communication in both live performances and reality television.
Susan talked about her Wikipedia Skepticism project, which involves editing Wikipedia pages to make them more factual, promoting critical evaluation of supernatural scams and spreading the importance of evidence based media, and the damage that fallacious and fraudulent resources can have on social perspectives.
Finally, Susan shared a variety of ways to get involved with her sting and skepticism projects, all available on her website, AboutTimeProject.org.
About the speaker:
Susan Gerbic
CSI Fellow, Founder of Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia, co-founder of Monterey County Skeptics, contributor to Skeptical Inquirer (CSICOP) and the Skepticality, and a self-proclaimed skeptical junkie.
Affectionately called the Wikipediatrician, Susan Gerbic is the founder of Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia (GSoW), Monterey County Skeptics and is a self-proclaimed skeptical junkie. A Skeptical Inquirer contributor, Gerbic is a fellow of CSI and winner of the James Randi Foundation award for 2017. In 2018, Susan founded and manages About Time, a non-profit organization focusing on scientific skepticism and activism. While her particular focus has been “Grief Vampires” (psychics), her activism encompasses all areas of skepticism.
Website: AboutTimeProject.org
Email: SusanGerbic@yahoo.com
Twitter: @susanGerbic
