Send Your Corrections to Skeptoid

Note: Due to the volume of feedback received, I've had to impose a 2-year statute of limitations on updates to transcripts. If you have feedback or corrections on an episode released more than 2 years ago, please discuss it in our Facebook group, our Discord channel, or Reddit r/skeptoid.

It's true: I really do make mistakes!

And I want Skeptoid to be as good a resource as possible. So when a mistake is made, we all want to see it corrected. Corrections can be emailed to me (Brian Dunning) directly at brian@skeptoid.com.

But...

Let's be clear about a few things. I do not report new, fringe, or minority ideas. Skeptoid is about what we know and how we know it; the latest and greatest state of our current knowledge. I report the mainstream science perspective, as accepted by the majority of working scientists in the relevant fields.

If you have a personal experience that disagrees with the conclusions presented in an episode, that's great, but it's not something I report here. Even if you consider yourself an expert and know better than most, if your correction is not something that the majority of scientists agree with, it's not ready to be reported on Skeptoid as the best state of our knowledge. Perhaps it will be in the future; and when the journals report that the mainstream view has changed, that's when I will report it here. You may be right, but Skeptoid is only about what has already passed the most rigorous — and replicated — study.

So... if you do have a correction, I cannot accept your word, your experience, your thoughts, alone. I need to see solid references that support your correction, and that indicate the majority of mainstream scientists are on board with it.

Good: Articles from legit science journals.

Insufficient: YouTube videos, blogs, magazine articles, mass-market books, Wikipedia, anything from a pay-to-publish journal, your personal expertise.

Strength of references is what keeps Skeptoid a valuable resource. So if your correction meets all these criteria, and you have the references handy, go ahead and email it to me. If the references you provide check out, the web page will be updated, and it will be covered in a future corrections episode.

Brian Dunning

PS: I regret that I do not have time to engage in personal one-on-one debate with all of those who would like to do so.