WHO IS JOE NICKELL?

Joe Nickell is a columnist who publishes frequently in the Skeptical Inquirer magazine and LiveScience, a popular science and technology web site. He is author of numerous books, including "Looking for a Miracle" and "Real-Life X-Files." LiveScience says of him:

“Nickell is Senior Research Fellow of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal and "Investigative Files" columnist for the organization’s science magazine, Skeptical Inquirer.”

Skeptical Inquirer and LiveScience are not peer-reviewed scientific journals. That is not a criticism. These high quality, easy-to-read publications, like Popular Science and many other magazines, serve a useful purpose reporting science to the public. But they are not always so useful in opinion columns such as those Nickell writes, particularly about the Shroud of Turin.

Joe Nickell is not a scientist. That is not a criticism either. He has a doctoral degree in literature from the University of Kentucky and he is a skilled writer. According to Nickell, not being a scientist is advantageous as researcher or investigator.

In an article entitled, “An Interview With Joe Nickell,” Eric Krieg of the Philadelphia Association for Critical Thinking, describes Nickell (using Nickell's own words) as an “investigator” and formerly an “undercover detective, teacher, draft dodger, river boat manager, carnival promoter, magician and spokesperson.” 

“Joe [Nickell] impressed on me the difference between being a scientist and an investigator,” Kreig continued.  “Joe seems to have no significant credentials . . .  Joe [Nickell] remarks that a scientist tends to approach an investigation from the narrow view of his own specialty - where as a ‘jack of all trades’ would come up with more avenues of investigation.”

Joe Nickell is a skeptic when it comes to the Shroud of Turin. There is no question about that. Nor is that a criticism. What needs to be questioned, however, are his methods, those things he writes as "facts" and the conclusions he draws.

The aim of the thoughtful skeptical inquirer is not to achieve this or that outcome. Rather the aim of the true and honest skeptical inquirer is an open mind, careful analysis and proper use of sources.

Everyone should read a recent Joe Nickell's article "Claims of Invalid “Shroud” Radiocarbon Date Cut from Whole Cloth" and the criticisms of this article that follow. Everyone should judge for himself or herself.

Poisoning the Well

Claims vs. Proof

Attacks on Provenance

The thoughtful skeptical inquirer should not be confused with the magazine, Skeptical Inquirer. The Skeptical Inquirer is the journal of CSICOP, the "Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal," an organization that has included such scientific luminaries as Carl Sagan and Steven Jay Gould.

Skeptical Inquirer is an interesting and entertaining magazine. It usually does an excellent job of debunking outlandish myths, urban legends and all manner of unscientific claims. But when it comes to the Shroud of Turin it has failed. For the editors of Skeptical Inquirer, everything they find distasteful in Christianity is mimicked in pitiable fashion as they struggle to attack the Shroud's authenticity. They recast history to their own fancy. They ignore scientific facts unless they suits their purpose. Hilariously, without any sense of exegetical perception, they cite the "Christian Bible," as though they thought the text literally true, to argue that the Shroud of Turin is not authentic.

The Skeptical Inquirer magazine has fooled itself by not being an inquirer and not being truly skeptical; for skepticism fueled by selective use of information is not skepticism at all.