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"Better Know a Skeptic" is a series of articles introducing the members of the Ottawa skeptics by asking ten questions. Feel free to offer up your profile. Details are in the forums. -------------------------------------------------------------
Name: Stephen MacDougall
Screen name: TheSkepticCanuck
Member Since: Feb 2009 Chosen quote: "The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully." - Richard Dawkins
1) Briefly describe yourself. What do you do for a living, etc.
I am a 40-something computer programmer and technical writer. I was born and grew up in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and moved to Ottawa in 1995. I am currently married, with one highly intelligent and very energetic son, whom I am grooming to grow up to be a critical thinker.
2) Why are you a "skeptic"? Was there a "wow" moment?
There wasn't exactly a wow moment. I was skeptical as a young person, took a brief detour through the land of woo, and now I am back on the critical thinking highway once again. I credit Penn and Teller, the Mythbusters, Robert Lancaster (stopsylvia.com), Phil Plait, and James Randi for helping me get back on the right path. 3) What are your hobbies/interests?
My hobbies include writing, reading, photography, watching science fiction, mystery, and dramatic shows and movies (no sitcoms), spending time hanging out with my son, and spending way too much time on the JREF forums.
4) What are you passionate about at the moment?
My current passion is mobile computing, as I am a new BlackBerry owner and enthusiast, and I do all my twittering and IMing from it, and I am fascinated by the future potential of this and other mobile platforms, including the iPhone. I am also quite passionate about the skeptical / critical thinking movement, and read many of the skeptical web sites and listen to several skeptical podcasts as soon as they are made available for download. I believe we need to spread the word as far and as wide as we possibly can. 5) Do you have a hero? Why him/her?
I don't have any heroes, but there are many people I look up to, and derive inspiration from, for various reasons. 6) If you could have dinner with 5 people, dead or alive, who would they be and why?
- John Lennon, who challenged people to "imagine there's no heaven".
- Dale Earnhardt, the Intimidator, who knew what he wanted and gave everything he had, including his life, in pursuit of it.
- Albert Einstein. Who wouldn't want to hang out with him for an evening?
- Joss Whedon, who created some of my favourite shows, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dollhouse, and Firefly.
- Isaac Asimov, one of my favourite authors, who could write fact and fiction with equal skill and authority 7) Do you have a favourite: album, musician, sports team, movie, TV show, book? (Feel free to list one, some, or all.) - Favourite musicians - Rush, Porcupine Tree, Weird Al Yankovic, Billy Joel, Blue Man Group, Van Halen (DLR era), Evanescence, Vanessa Carlton, Vanessa-Mae, and many, many more.
- Favourite types of music - I like all genres of music, with very few exceptions. 70's and 80's music holds a special place in my heart, as that is when I grew up listening to.
- Favourite authors - Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Kathy Reichs and Joseph Wambaugh, to name but a few.
- Favourite sports team - The Ottawa Senators! Go Sens Go!
- Favourite movies - Watchmen, Lord of the Rings trilogy, the Spider-man movies, Star Wars movies (the original 3), the X-Men trilogy, and anything made by Pixar Studios.
- Favourite TV shows - House, 24, Heroes, Bones, Firefly, Dollhouse, Star Trek (TOS, TNG, and DS-9), Mythbusters, Penn & Teller: B*llsh*t, Battlestar Galactica, Monk, NUMB3RS, and many more.
- Favourite books - I don't really have any favourites. I enjoy so many different books, from so many different authors, that I simply cannot name any favourites. 8) What grinds your gears?
Bad drivers, especially on the highway, sloppy science, people who accept woo too easily, and the idiots at Fox Broadcasting who keep killing every good show they air that doesn't get 24-like ratings on the pilot episode. 9) Tell me something I don't know about you.
I have a deep, deep dislike of all insects, with a special hatred of spiders. 10) Why are we here?
Some of the greatest minds in history have struggled with that very question, and if they haven't figured it out by now, I probably don't have a good answer either.
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