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Good Thinking Society

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The Good Thinking Society
AbbreviationGTS
FormationSeptember 2012
FounderSimon Singh
TypeNonprofit organisation
Legal statusRegistered charity[1]
PurposeTo encourage curious minds and promote rational enquiry[1]
Region served
England and Wales[1]
Chairman
Simon Singh[2]
Johnnie Shannon, Michael Marshall, Laura Thomason[2]
Websitegoodthinkingsociety.org

The Good Thinking Society is a nonprofit organisation promoting scientific scepticism established by Simon Singh in September 2012.

Activities

Michael Marshall lecturing on GTS' homeopathy campaign at QED 2015.

The society aims to raise awareness of and fund sceptical projects.[3]

During the 2014 World Homeopathy Awareness Week, the Good Thinking Society set up a website at homeopathyawarenessweek.org with the purpose of giving a factual scientific view on homeopathy.[4] They also ran Psychic Awareness Month in October 2014 which included handing out leaflets to audience members before psychic's shows in the UK.[5] In April 2015 the organisation threatened legal action against the Liverpudlian Clinical Commissioning Group over its spending of £30,000 per year on homeopathy, with Singh saying "Homeopathic treatments when paid for by the NHS are a waste of crucial resources".[6][7]

In May 2015, GTS obtained video footage from the Spirit of Health Congress, where, according to project director Michael Marshall, claims were made about health that 'appeared illegal and could cause serious harm': "The dangerous misinformation at the Spirit of Health event is shocking, particularly with regard to serious conditions such as cancer."[8]

Awards

The society runs a number of awards including the Golden Duck award, given for a 'lifetime achievement of quackery', awarded to Andrew Wakefield in 2012.[9] The society also awarded a joint Science Blog Prize to Suzi Gage and David Colquhoun in 2012; Ben Goldacre and Mark Henderson were among the judges, choosing from over 100 entries.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c "1147404 - Good Thinking". charitycommission.gov.uk. Charity Commission for England and Wales. 5 April 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  2. ^ a b "People". GTS website. Good Thinking Society. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  3. ^ Sims, Paul (10 December 2013). "Adding up with The Simpsons". New Humanist. Rationalist Association. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  4. ^ Doctorow, Cory (April 12, 2014). "Celebrate World Homeopathy Awareness Week with homeopathyawarenessweek.org". Boing Boing. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
  5. ^ Stockwell, Tony (13 October 2014). "Good Thinking Society encourages scepticism at medium's Pavilion show". Bournemouth Echo. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  6. ^ Joshua Taylor (12 April 2015). "Liverpool NHS to review £30k homeopathy bill after threat of legal action". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  7. ^ Laura Donnelly (27 April 2015). "Homeopathy on the NHS to be reviewed". The Telegraph. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  8. ^ Laura Donnelly, Justin Stoneman (25 May 2015). "The fake cancer cure conference the 'healers' tried to keep secret". The Telegraph. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  9. ^ Jha, Alok (23 December 2012). "Struck off MMR doctor handed award for 'lifetime achievement in quackery'". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  10. ^ Parr, Chris (1 December 2012). "Science blog awards recognise youth and experience". Times Higher Education. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
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