Welcome!
Stichting Skepsis is a Dutch organisation dedicated to the promotion and practice of scientific skepticism. Four times a year we publish our magazine Skepter and once a year we organise a congress. Most of our activities are in Dutch, but in Amsterdam and in Groningen we support monthly Skeptics in the Pub meetings, which are in English. Some of the articles in Skepter have been translated in English (or have been written in the magazines of other skeptical organisations). Below you can find a list.
If you have any questions about Stichting Skepsis, feel free to contact us. And if you would like to support our activities, consider a donation to Skepsis.
List of English articles
Most of these articles are translations from the original Dutch articles, which were published in the magazine Skepter. English translations of articles on the Skepsis Blog can be found here.
Mrs. Sickesz is a [*bleep*] by Rob Nanninga
On the struggle in courts between the Association againts Quackery and Mrs. Sickesz over the use of the word ‘kwakzalver’ (=quack).
How macrobiotics killed my wife by Roel van Duijn (Skepter 11.3, 1998)
Herniated disc treatments of miracle doctor Alfred Bonati by Dick Zeilstra (Skepter 13.1, 2000)
The awarding of a Ph.D. to astrologer Elizabeth Teissier by Eric Hoogcarspel and Jan Willem Nienhuys (Skepter 14.2, 2001)
Spontaneous Human Confabulation – Requiem for Phyllis by Jan Willem Nienhuys (Skeptical Inquirer, 25(2), March/April 2001)
Examination of an oft-repeated tale of spontaneous human combustion reveals distortions, errors, and mystery mongering.
The Mars Effect in retrospect by Jan Willem Nienhuys (Skeptical Inquirer, 21(6), November/December 1997)
The so-called Mars effect, found by French psychologist Michel Gauquelin has haunted science for forty years now, but there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. It may have been an illusion after all.
Dutch Astrotest with 44 astrologers by Rob Nanninga (1996)
The stage hypnotism and conjuring tricks of Rasti Rostelli by Rob Nanninga (De Volkskrant, 3 Dec. 1994)
Satanic Abuse – the dark side of a psychotherapeutic cult by Rob Nanninga (Intermediair, 3 March 1995; Trouw, 18 March 1995)
The Institute for Video Gestalt Therapy led by Wies Moget, a self taught therapist for incest victims, has much in common with a cult.
Ritual Abuse – report by the Dutch Ministry of Justice (1994)
Sons of Light – A Visit to the Sixth European Creationist Congress in Holland by Bart Koene (Skepter 8.3, 1995)
Was Hippocrates a homeopath? by Jan Willem Nienhuys
Some homeopaths claim that their art goes back to Hippocrates; it is not true.
Gerard Croiset: Investigation of the Mozart of ‘Psychic Sleuths’ – Part I
&
Croiset and Professor Tenhaeff: Discrepancies in Claims of Clairvoyance by Piet Hein Hoebens
(Skeptical Inquirer , vol. VI no. 1 & 2, 1981)
Lazzarini’s little sticks (pdf) by Hans van Maanen (Skepter 31.3, 2018)
In 1910, Mario Lazzarini claimed to have approximated the value of pi to an unbelievable six decimal places with an ingenious automaton. Even today, mathematicians are still indignant: Lazzarini must have been a fraud. More likely, though, he was a prankster.
Religious Cults: an extensive bibliography (August 2002)
Links to online articles about religious movements (August 2002)
