Introduction
Rational, sceptical, analysis has allowed great advances in our knowledge these last centuries. Unfortunately mysticism, superstition and credulity still have a strong presence in our society. Sometimes because the desire for something to be true overcomes common sense, but often because someone profits from actually promoting falsehood and deceit.
Our objective is to provide freely the knowledge and the methods that may provide each person with a better protection against these situations.
Motivation
Several worrying facts have motivated the founding of this association:
The growth of pseudo scientific
fraud: Scientific knowledge is so vast nowadays that no one can be an
expert on everything. So it can be easy for anyone to claim expertise
and defraud a credulous victim. The so called 'Alternative' Medicine is
an example of this danger.
The growing sensationalism in the mass media, where the constant search
for audience grabbing stories completely eliminates rigorous and impartial
analysis, and often incredible fantasy is presented as fact.
The proliferation of sects and cults (whether religious or not) that try
to dominate the lives of many for the material profit of a few leaders.
In Portugal this problem has so far been far less serious than in other
more afflicted countries, but the current trend is worthy of some concern.
The business (for some a way of life) of defrauding the more afflicted
and less knowledgeable persons alleging supernatural powers, like the
ability to foresee events in nearly anything (from tea leaves to planets),
changing someone's luck by telephone or healing anything by burning candles
(invariably expensive ones).
We feel that facilitating the access to rigorous and impartial information,
many will be able to better defend themselves from these acts, which sometimes
can have serious consequences.