Greeting Card Campaign: 10-13 Skeptics Day

Download card here.

October 13^th is Skeptics Day.  No one really knows the origins of this day of doubt, but skeptics have long been respected for their healthy suspicion of ultimate truth. Oddly, I myself came to be a true believer in Christianity with my skepticism still in tact. At my conversion I told God I'd give it a shot, but that he was going to have to prove himself step by step.

It is profoundly ironic in this often world of political, religious and even scientific true believers that may self-proclaimed skeptic will brook no challenging of their own pet theories. For instance, if you decide to be skeptical about global warming, socialism, Marxism, conservatism, libertarianism or some religious truth, watch how fast the "healthy skeptics" descend on you to shout you down.

My favorite skeptics are those who recognize the hypocrisy even of self-proclaimed skeptics. Famous physicist, Albert Einstein, once tweaked his fellow physicists said. "If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts."  The tendency of science to create an "establishment" is one of the reasons for the stairstep, lurching progress of science, noted by Thomas Kuhn in his seminal book, "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions".  Kuhn observed that scientists, who are supposed to bring a healthy skepticism to their work tend to hang on to the generally accepted "truths".  They even actively resist such evidence that challenges their favorite theories.

Scientists aren't the only ones. Politicians, writers, pundits, preachers and teachers tend to take shelter in the warm glow of group think.  Mark Twain made an observation about the publishing business that agrees with Einstein's later comment about the scientific community. "Get your facts first," said Twain, "Then you can distort them as you please."

As those who have found true love know, however, there are some things that are true. Tell your true love that your love is a fact - no skepticism necessary with this Skeptic Day Greeting Card.

Just click on the caption below the picture of the skeptical girl at the top right.  The link will take you to a pdf file in Google Docs. Remember, instead of printing from Google Docs, click on "File" in the upper left corner, then select "Download" and copy the file to your own computer.  Open it with Adobe PDF Reader or whatever PDF reader you use and print the card from there. For some reason Google Docs doesn't handle fonts well, even though they are supposed to be embedded in the PDF document itself.

This is a side fold card, so when it prints, be sure to tell your printer it's in "landscape" format so you get the whole file. Flip it on the short side to print double-sided. Much quicker that way. No need to be skeptical. It's free.....


© by Tom King

Note:  This card is out of order because I fell asleep during the creation of this card and accidentally published it on the wrong blog. It WAS on time though. Not the first time I've done this sort of thing. I have six blogs I'm currently caring for.  It was, however, the first time I didn't catch it almost immediately.  Oh, well. It was Skeptics Day and if you needed an excuse to be skeptical of my prowess as an editor/publisher, there you have it! Sorry for the confusion.