What type of profession would this be?

[Juno Styles]

is there any type of profession out there where it's someone's job to disprove things that science can't prove like magic, religion, aliens, etc?

i'm working on an outline for a story where the main character is a major skeptic and basically gets a curse put on him...something's that's totally ridiculous to him but he becomes a victim of it. i'd like this man's career and life to be based on disproving such things but i can not think of any such profession.

i believe this is what's causing me to be stuck on my logline as well as coming up with a title for the project

[Ribeau]

Re: What type of profession would this be?

Professional Skeptic

http://impactiviti.wordpress.com/200...ional-skeptic/

[bioprofessor]

Re: What type of profession would this be?

You've basically described Michael Shermer. Check out his eSkeptic website. I sugggest you read his books. I've met him. He's a good guy. You may also want to check out Penn & Teller, well known skeptics and magicians

[wcmartell]

Re: What type of profession would this be?

Magician.

It's a traditional part of a magician's job to debunk psychics and paranormal hokum and anything else - and show that it is a trick.

Harry Houdini did this... and numerous others. Probably the most famous recent magician who does this is The Amazing Randi...
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/1m-challenge.html

The great trick played on Houdini by Arthur Conan Doyle was the camera that shot movies of the past. Doyle set up this whole preposterous thing for Houdini to debunk... then showed him actual movies of *dinosaurs*! Of course, it was the silent version of LOST WORLD. Houdini thought he'd finally found something strange and supernatural that he could not prove was a trick - but the trick was on him!

So - Magician is the answer.

- Bill

[Jake Schuster]

Re: What type of profession would this be?

À propos of Martell's suggestion, check out the Amazing Randi. Professional magician and debunker of all things magical and otherwise. He was the one who blew the lid on Uri Geller. I met him when I was a kid. Nice guy from Asbury Park.

[Juno Styles]

Re: What type of profession would this be?

wow, interesting, a magician, now that changes things a lot and adds irony to what i'm trying to do. i think i may run with this occupation.

just out of curiosity, is there any type of scientist or a certain field of science where the person basically works to disprove religion, magic, paranormal activities?

thanks guys!

[mswriterj]

Re: What type of profession would this be?

Don't forget about the show "Mythbusters."

[Fortean]

A Curse? What Curse?

Fortean.

[RichMike]

Re: What type of profession would this be?

the owners of Snopes.com

someone in the military or national security

someone at the patent's office

make it work for you, but see if you can make the job part of the theme.

[grant]

Re: What type of profession would this be?

wow, interesting, a magician, now that changes things a lot and adds irony to what i'm trying to do. i think i may run with this occupation.

just out of curiosity, is there any type of scientist or a certain field of science where the person basically works to disprove religion, magic, paranormal activities?

thanks guys!

Two prominent and vocal atheists (Richard Dawkins and PZ Myers) are both phd biologists who work as professors. Not that biology as a whole is anti-religion...

[bioprofessor]

Re: What type of profession would this be?

wow, interesting, a magician, now that changes things a lot and adds irony to what i'm trying to do. i think i may run with this occupation.

just out of curiosity, is there any type of scientist or a certain field of science where the person basically works to disprove religion, magic, paranormal activities?

thanks guys!

Technically speaking, science cannot "disprove" religion, magic, or anything. In fact, and this drives lay people nuts, science never "proves" anything. In its purest form, the process of science strives to either support or falsify hypotheses. Unlike a lot of religions, good science and the "facts" that it produces, is not dogmatic. It leaves the door open for future testing, challenges to so-called facts. A well-written, peer-reviewed paper, will include in its discussion a statement inviting further investigation to help better understand, even modify, what has already been learned.

Hypotheses that cannot be tested within the natural realm and therefore do not have at least the potential for falsification, lie outside the realm of science, and cannot and should not be addressed scientifically.

I love Richard Dawkins, a brilliant evolutionist and geneticist, but sometimes I think he goes too far, blurring the lines between his scientific pursuits and that of his personal beliefs. In the end, both are weakened.

[NikeeGoddess]

Re: What type of profession would this be?

just out of curiosity, is there any type of scientist or a certain field of science where the person basically works to disprove religion, magic, paranormal activities?

this is a great opportunity for you to create a new profession = the science guy meets penn and teller meets mythbusters

[dworhach]

Re: What type of profession would this be?

Immediately thought of Randi.
Also see Ricky Jay at rickyjay.com

[WritersBlock2010]

Re: What type of profession would this be?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0444682/

[Donreel]

Re: What type of profession would this be?

Also, check out this website:

http://www.csicop.org/si/

The Skeptical Inquirer.