Robert Todd Carroll
| Robert Todd Carroll | |
|---|---|
Carroll at SkeptiCalCon May 29, 2011, in Berkeley, California
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| Born | Robert Todd Carroll 1945 Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Residence | United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | University of California, San Diego PhD |
| Occupation | Author, professor |
| Website | http://www.skepdic.com/ |
Robert Todd Carroll (born 1945) is an American writer and academic. Carroll has written several books and skeptical essays but achieved notability by publishing the Skeptic's Dictionary online in 1994.
Contents
Early life
Carroll earned his PhD in philosophy in 1974 at the University of California, San Diego, writing his doctoral thesis on the religious philosophy of Edward Stillingfleet. It was published in 1975.[1]
Career
Until his retirement in 2007, Carroll was a professor of philosophy at Sacramento City College.
A longtime advocate of scientific skepticism and critical thinking, in 1994 Carroll set up the Skeptic's Dictionary website online. It initially consisted of fewer than fifty articles, mostly on informal fallacies and pseudoscience. The site has now grown to several hundred articles, including many on the paranormal and the supernatural. It attracts more than a million visitors per month.[2] Entries from the dictionary have been translated into more than a dozen languages.
Carroll's views have attracted numerous interviews for him from mainstream media and local newspapers, such as the Davis Enterprise.[3] In addition, he has been interviewed by representatives of groups promoting scientific skepticism, such as the New England Skeptical Society[4] and Media Man Australia.[5]
In January 2010 Carroll was elected as a Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry[6]
After Carroll published a piece online labelling Richard Milton's writings on alternative science as "Internet Bunk", Milton responded by accusing Carroll of being a "pseudo-skeptic", and showed where he had fabricated quotations and misrepresented his arguments.[7] Carroll tried to counter these accusations in an addendum to his piece.[8]
On May 29, 2011, Carroll led a discussion concerning the "Five Myths About Skeptics" at the 2nd annual SkeptiCalCon event held in Berkeley, CA.[9]
On March 27, 2012, Carroll began a regular segment on the podcast Skepticality entitled Unnatural Virtue.[10]
Publications
- Becoming a Critical Thinker – A Guide for the New Millennium, 2nd ed., ISBN 0-536-85934-5.
- "Unnatural Acts: Critical Thinking, Skepticism, and Science Exposed!", Los Angeles: James Randi Educational Foundation, 2011, ISBN 1105902196.
- The Skeptic's Dictionary: A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions, New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2003, ISBN 0-471-27242-6.
- The Common-sense Philosophy of Religion of Bishop Edward Stillingfleet 1635–1699, ISBN 90-247-1647-0. (1974 doctoral dissertation, under the direction of Richard Popkin, University of California at San Diego).
See also
Notes
- ↑ Robert Todd Carroll, The common-sense philosophy of religion of bishop Edward Stillingfleet 1635–1699, Nijhoff, 1975
- ↑ Preface, Skeptic's Dictionary.
- ↑ Elizabeth Sherwin, "Author attempts to debunk angels, other 'strange beliefs', Davis Enterprise, 29 Dec 2003
- ↑ Perry DeAngelis, "Interview with Robert Todd Carroll", New England Skeptical Society Journal, no article at link
- ↑ "Interview with Bob Carrol", Media Man Australia, 21 Apr 2003
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External links
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Wikiquote has quotations related to: Robert Todd Carroll |
- "Unnatural Acts: Critical Thinking, Skepticism, and Science Exposed!"
- The Skeptic's Dictionary: A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions
- The Skeptic's Refuge
- Skeptic's Dictionary Newsletter, May 2, 2002 to present
- Who's Who Online
- Skeptic's Dictionary For Kids, Released August 4, 2011
Articles and essays
- Skeptical Essays by Carroll
- Swift: Online Newsletter of the JREF James Randi Educational Foundation newsletter written by Carroll, March 17, 2006
- Pranks, Frauds, and Hoaxes from Around the World by Carroll, Skeptical Inquirer, July 2004
- Critical Thinking and Control Groups at the Wayback Machine (archived November 24, 2007) by Carroll for Inquiring Minds, a CSICOP website
- What if Gary Schwartz is right? by Carroll on Gary Schwartz, at Freethinker, mukto-mona.com, a Bengali humanist website
- Keep on Doubting by Roy Herbert, New Scientist Print Edition, Nov. 22, 2003
- The Incomplete Skeptic by Gary Jason, Liberty, Oct. 2005
- Richard Milton, critical response to The Skeptic's Dictionary at the Wayback Machine (archived September 27, 2007)
- Terrence J. Sandbek, "Co-opting Alternative Medicine – The Psychology of Alternative Medicine", Bay Area Skeptics
Interviews
- Greg Tingle, "Interview with Bob Carrol", Media Man Australia, Apr. 24, 2003
- Bob Carroll – "Defining Skepticism" on Point of Inquiry, April 16, 2010.
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