Back from TAM 6

I'm back from TAM 6 and Las Vegas. I had a great time. Las Vegas was fun--endless lights, people, and slot machines. And hot. Fascinating in small doses. It's the epitome of the superficial for a meeting of the substantial. But I like a little superficiality now and then as much as the next guy.

As for the meeting, I can say that Neil deGrasse Tyson is amazing. He was the keynote speaker and is entertaining and thought provoking. He is the kind of guy we need for science. We need some public scientists who are entertaining, articulate, and good with the public. We are still suffering from the loss of Carl Sagan over 10 years ago. Tyson has the potential to help fill the void. I wonder if he ever gets on the Tonight Show or Letterman? It was great when Johny Carson was the host of the Tonight Show, because he was a great skeptic (as was his predecessor, Steve Allen). He helped to make Sagan and James Randi into celebrities.

Richard Wiseman was another great speaker. His work is perfect for making the public interested in science. He deals with every day perceptions and characteristics of thinking. He has tried to scientifically determine the best joke and the best pick up line. At the meeting, we did the worlds record spoon bending exercise, with over 800 spoons being broken at once. Video of it will be available later. I will make sure to link to it.

There were many other good speakers. It seems the common thread of the best speakers was their enthusiasm for science. In addition to Tyson and Wiseman, this included the Bad Astronomer Phil Plaitt and Ben Goldacre. Adam Savage of myth busters was appropriately enthusiastic although his talk seemed to lack much of a point. PZ Myers, Steve Novella, and Sharon Begley all gave good talks as well, with great content even if they were not quite as animated as some of the others.

And I got to see all of these famous people, people who I have read or listened to many times (at least famous to us skeptics). In addition to those mentioned there are the other members of the Skeptics Guide to the Universe podcast, Micheal Shermer, and of course, the Amazing James Randi himself.

What was really different is being surrounded by so many people who think like me. Usually a scientific or skeptical attitude is in the minority. Here I was surrounded by 900 people who all thought science was cool and the best way to know about the world, who all know creationism is bunk, and who would consider a curmudgeonly magician to be a hero. What more could I want?