Beehive Skeptics Foundation is a skeptical activism group in Utah. We are official affiliates of the Center for Inquiry
Beehive Skeptics is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit devoted to:
Creating and maintaining a community of skeptics.
Providing a public dissenting voice to misinformation.
Protecting the consumer from pseudoscientific or unproven products.
Testing the claims of the supernatural using proper scientific controls.
Questions and Answers:
What is a skeptic?
A: We follow the philosophy of "scientific skepticism". This means that we require evidence up to scientific standards for all of our beliefs.
Skeptics love the phrase "prove it" and love it when the request is answered. You will often find us working as a kind of consumer protection. Challenging practitioners of a supernatural or alternative medicine products and services to test and prove their claims.
Why are Skeptics such a buzzkill?
A: Ouch... We skeptics see the harm that seemingly harmless beliefs can bring. Whether it be financial, mental, emotional, or even physical harm. Beliefs not rooted in critical thinking can do damage. Extreme examples are in climate change denial, where politicians and corporations are failing to take action to reverse the damage based on flawed, denialist logic. Other examples can be in medicine, where individuals with a terminal illness can be told their doctors are trying to keep them sick and are promised miracle cures in exchange for their life savings. Often turning down science based treatments.
Many of us love the story telling and artistry of the paranormal, but draw a line when the clearly distressed individual who says they talk to ghosts and demons is told they're right, instead of told to seek professional medical assistance.
Skeptics feel their life is enriched by critical thinking. They have the skills they need to defend against financial scams and make informed medical decisions.
I am a practitioner of a supernatural or alternative medicine practice. (reiki, acupuncture, professional psychic, medium, naturalist, homeopath, Paranormal Investigator, cryptology, faith healer, ex...) Is this group for me?
A: We would love to talk to you! We as skeptics are interested in the truth, not our ideals. We would be ecstatic to see undeniable, falsifiable proof of any supernatural claim. If you feel the supernatural is real and can prove it in a scientific and falsifiable test, contact us! We will work with you to create a falsifiable test of the claims. If feasible, we will test it ourselves. If it passes, we will help facilitate entry to earn 500K!
See the details on our Paranormal Challenge page.
Support Our Mission
Beehive Skeptics hosts multiple community outreach events designed to educate the public on critical thinking and science.
This includes vendor booths at the Ogden and Salt Lake City pride festival, or events where the majority of people may not agree with us such as PhenomeCon and Salt City ParaCon.
We also host movie screenings of documentaries tackling current issues, as well as engage in social media outreach by creating content that tries to teach critical thinking in fun and entertaining ways.
We put on events for community building designed to grow and nurture a community of skeptics. This includes monthly "Skeptics in the Pub" meetups, rock climbing, snowboarding, hiking, and an annual "Skepticamp" conference. See our Events & Meetups and our Meetup page for more detail.
Get your own Beehive Skeptics merch by visiting our merch shop. Featuring custom t-shirts, prints, and more.
