There are many possible paths to becoming a contributor to the skeptical movement. In this interview, we learn of Adrienne Hill’s journey into activism, which may serve as a blueprint for others who want to get involved and make a difference.
Adrienne’s voice (and ubiquitous giggle) will certainly be recognizable to fans of Richard Saunders’ The Skeptic Zone podcast for which she has contributed weekly segments over several years. Her name may also be familiar to readers of the Skeptical Inquirer as well as the Australian magazine The Skeptic, as she has been published in both. Also, CSICon 2023 attendees who stayed for the Sunday Papers session may remember Adrienne because of her talk concerning the false information that has been spread for a century about both Sallie Winchester and her former home, the Winchester Mystery House.
As you will learn in the interview, these achievements of Adrienne’s only happened as a result of her joining the Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia (GSoW) project. Let me explain the connection between joining GSoW and all those other accomplishments.
After learning to edit Wikipedia following all of the encyclopedia’s rules, GSoW team members improve articles (or write new ones) regarding science & skepticism, countering pseudoscience, paranormal and conspiracy claims using reliable sources. (And the team works in many of the languages supported by Wikipedia.) The benefit for the general public from Adrienne and her teammates’ work is that accurate information has been made available for hundreds of millions of people searching for the truth about important topics.[1]
The primary benefit for the members of the GSoW team may be that they gain a huge sense of accomplishment from their work in educating the public. But importantly, being part of GSoW has additional perks. Team members often make valuable connections with people in the skeptical and science fields (starting with the well-connected Susan Gerbic who runs the project). This in turn can provide opportunities to contribute to organized skepticism in previously unanticipated ways, just as happened in Adrienne’s case. And her story isn’t unique in this regard; I count myself among many GSoW teammates who trace their skeptical activism accomplishments back to joining Susan’s project.
In this interview, while exploring Adrienne’s own path to skeptical activism, we discussed many things. These included her early, misplaced belief in the pseudoscience of Naturopathy, her extremely impactful Wikipedia work, her contributions to The Skeptic Zone, and her CSICon Sunday Papers presentation and article about Sallie Winchester. We also touched upon her work in educating the public about Tourette Syndrome, her participation in the Great Australian Psychic Prediction Project, and the psychological concept of Impostor Syndrome, often generated by one’s success in a new field.
So please enjoy my conversation with Adrienne, and if you are not already a fan of The Skeptic Zone, consider subscribing to the podcast to hear her weekly reports, complete with plenty of contagious giggles.