Susan Gerbic

Susan Gerbic is an American photographer, skeptic, Wikipedia editor, and part time (Grief) Vampire hunter. She is a co-founder of the Monterey County Skeptics, a regular contributor to Skeptical InquirerTen Distinguished Scientists and Scholars  Named Fellows of Committee for Skeptical Inquiry Center for Inquiry November/December 2015 and a CFI fellow.Susan Gerbic Center for Inquiry
==Building communities==
One of Susan's primary goals is to promote scientific skepticism as a way to connect and befriend likeminded people. In her quest to encourage skeptics to get out of their basements and touch grass she travels around the world giving lectures,Susan Gerbic Back on Tour Skeptical Inquirer 8 August 2022 attends conventionsCome for the Speakers, Return for the Community Skeptical Inquirer March/April 2024Australian Skeptics 2023 or Bust! Skeptical Inquirer 30 January 2024 and organises meetups with small skeptic groups.Small Skeptic Groups Skeptical Inquirer 22 November 2022 She believes that small local groups are the lifeblood of the movement and encourages people to follow her lead in volunteering with their local communities.
In her role as an ambassador she appears on a lot of podcasts to talk about her shennanigans, including The Skeptic Zone,The Skeptic Zone #795 The Skeptic Zone Podcast 31 December 2023 The Thinking AtheistThe Grief Vampires The Thinking Atheist Podcast 21 March 2023 and The European Skeptics Podcast.TheESP – Ep. #380 – Susan Gerbic on skeptical activism The European Skeptics Podcast 2 June 2023
==Hunting "Grief Vampires"==
Susan's primary field of expertise within skepticism is psychic mediumship. She regularly assumes fake identities and attends séances to analyse and debunk the methods of those who would exploit vulnerable people suffering from grief.Inside the Secret Sting Operations to Expose Celebrity Psychics The New York Times 26 February 2019 She also runs a small YouTube channelPsychics Explained - Grief Vampire Edition dedicated to the subject of Grief Vampires.
She frequently documents her failures and successes in her SI articles.Author: Susan Gerbic Some of her notable sting operations include:
*Operation Bumblebee,Operation Bumblebee stings psychic medium Chip Coffey James Randi Educational Foundation 29 September 2014Operation Bumblebee Skeptical Inquirer 5 February 2015 during which she and a group of like minded volunteers attended a reading by Chip Coffey in order to see whether he used cold or hot reading techniques. 
*Operation Ice Cream Cone,Operation Ice Cream Cone Skeptical Inquirer 10 February 2015 which involved setting up a fake Facebook page to entice phone psychic Tim Braun into exposing his methodology.
*Operation Tater Tot,Grief Vampires Don’t Come Out Only at Night Skeptical Inquirer 20 January 2016Operation Tater Tot: Following Up On A Grief Vampire Skeptical Inquirer 26 February 2016 an online campaign raising awareness of the charlatanry of Tyler Henry. 
*Operation Pizza Roll,Operation Pizza Roll – Thomas John Skeptical Inquirer 21 February 2019 a double blind experiment of Thomas John's psychic powers.
==Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia==
Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia (GSoW) is a group that edits Wikipedia articles to improve skeptical content.
It's also the tyrannical shadow government of Wikipedia, censoring views not in alignment with the Skeptical Scriptures.
===Activities===
GSoW was founded by Susan with the intent of improving skeptical content on Wikipedia and guiding fellow skeptics on how to contribute.Wikapediatrician Susan Gerbic discusses her Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia project Skeptical Inquirer 8 March 2013Episode #076, feat. Susan Gerbic The European Skeptics Podcast 5 June 2017 GSoW have written or improved a number of Wikipedia pages about skeptics, science educators, and science-based medicine proponents who push back against pseudoscience and the paranormal in the media, such as Ken Feder, Sara Mayhew, Indre Viskontes, Kiki Sanford, Bryan & Baxter, Jennifer Ouellette, Tim Farley, Alan Melikdjanian, William B. Davis, Mary Roach, and Sikivu Hutchinson. They also try to make sure all claims on paranormal themed pages are balanced and have citations to notable secondary sources. (For example, lots of obscure psychics have Wikipedia pages full of nutty claims that often turn out to be written by the psychics themselves.) GSoW also assists with translations of high-importance skeptical articles from English into other languages, such as Arabic, Dutch, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Portuguese.Susan Gerbic And Wikiskepticism JREF Swift Blog 26 March 2013
===Conspiracy theories===
GSoW is very unpopular among the many supporters of paranormal, pseudoscience, and fringe science theories who would argue that their cranky views are the least bit plausible, or even of any noteworthy relevance to the scientific consensus view on any given topic. These brave whistleblowers frequently accuse GSoW of devising an organized effort to prevent fringe lunacy from permeating Wikipedia, thereby bolstering the scientific quality and skeptical tone of the articles. This, of course, cannot stand, and so resistance needs to be mounted.
====Claims====
In March 2013, Robert McLuhan wrote on his blog Paranormalia that GSoW were coordinating the actions of editors at the online encyclopedia to label paranormal subjects as pseudoscience and to promote a skeptical point of view about psychic phenomena. He also claimed GSoW editors had destroyed Rupert Sheldrake's Wikipedia article.Guerilla Skeptics Paranormalia 26 March 2013Rupert Sheldrake on Guerilla Skeptics and Wikipedia News Voice 25 June 2013
Later in 2013, self-proclaimed "psychic healer" Craig Weiler published a blog post titled "The Wikipedia Battle for Rupert Sheldrake’s Biography", stating:The Wikipedia Battle for Rupert Sheldrake’s Biography The Weiler Spi 1 October 2013
Weiler wove a complex conspiracy theory that claimed Sheldrake's article was being unfairly edited to marginalize his ideas, not just by Gerbic's group, but by organized skeptics everywhere. Encouraged by McLuhan and Weiler, Sheldrake endorsed the new conspiracy theory, posting a wacky rant titled "Wikipedia Under Threat".Wikipedia Under Threat Science Set Free (Archived from the original on 08 November 2021) Gratified by Sheldrake's response, Weiler erupted with a series of blog posts that accused atheists and materialists of taking over Wikipedia.The Wikipedia Skeptics Problem The Weiler Psi 12 October 2013Wikipedia: Adult Supervision Required (not incl.) The Weiler Psi 14 October 2013 Weiler soon began posting his accusations of a skeptical conspiracy on the discussion page of Wikipedia's Rupert Sheldrake article.
In October 2013, Rupert Sheldrake stated:Wikipedia Under Threat Rupert SheldrakeWikipedia, Rupert Sheldrake, Susan Gerbic and Guerrilla Skepticism: The online methods for Wikipedia control of pseudoskeptics and atheist ideologues. The need for guerrilla anti-pseudoskepticism Subversive Thinking 10 October 2013 (archived from the original on 13 November 2013)Pseudoscientist Rupert Sheldrake Is Not Being Persecuted, And Is Not Like Galileo The New Republic 8 November 2013
Sheldrake claimed the group is unfairly boosting the biographies of skeptics and adding biased information to denigrate paranormal subjects. Sheldrake accused GSoW of having "captured the Wikipedia page about me" and of "rewriting my biography with as much negative bias as possible, to the point of defamation."
An increasing number of people have taken up the narrative, including Deepak ChopraThe Rise and Fall of Militant Skepticism SFGate 6 January 2014 and David Wilder.How the Skeptic Ideologues Control Wikipedia Reality SandwichFurther reflections on Rupert Sheldrake, Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia and the passivity of anti-skeptics Subversive Thinking 16 October 2013 (archived from the original on 30 October 2013)Guerrilla War, Unfair (part 1) Mind Futures 24 October 2013
Rome Viharo, posting under the username Tumbleman,Talk:Rupert Sheldrake Hover your cursor over the name "Rome Viharo." appeared on the Sheldrake article's Talk page to accuse skeptics of conspiracy, stating his purpose there was to oppose "bias" by members of Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia (the group Sheldrake claims is conspiring against him),Viharo first referred to GSoW as "GSM", . Viharo has since denied that he thought GSoW was to blame.The Sheldrake Wiki War begins WIKIPEDIA, WE HAVE A PROBLEM (archived from the original on 02 November 2019)From Susan: One of the trouble makers from the Sheldrake drama believes GSoW when we say we were not involved. - About Time Project Facebook 29 December 2013. After finally being nailed for sock puppetry and disruptive behavior on Wikipedia,TSockpuppet investigations/Tumbleman/Archive Wikipedia 13 October 2013 Viharo (posting as Tumbleman) was indefinitely blocked from editing by the unanimous decision of five Wikipedia administrators.Result concerning Tumbleman Wikipedia 16 October 2013 
One astrologer claimed that Sheldrake and Viharo were "slandered, mocked and ridiculed" by GSoW due to "the Sun opposed by transiting Pluto" and other planetary conditions (which are somehow also connected to Julian Assange).What Do Rupert Sheldrake, Julian Assange, and the USA Have in Common? Astrological Trends 9 July 2014 (archived from the original on 5 May 2015
Even the BBC got pulled in, giving Sheldrake 5 minutes on their World Service programme, without bringing any opposing views on.
According to the woo-friendly Epoch Times, Sheldrake believes the aim of GSoW is “to control information" and that "Ms Gerbik (sic) glories in the power that she and her warriors wield.”Can You Trust What Wikipedia Tells You About Science? The Epoch Times 19 July 2014
Occasionally, it is claimed that RationalWiki is involved,e.g. Anthony Peake though we know of nobody active in both.
Paranormal researcher Callum E. Cooper has claimed that GSoW are paid editors, although he gives no evidence for this.Episode 5 - Dr Callum E Cooper TRAPADEMIC
====Reality====
Despite the name "Guerrilla Skepticism", the edits actually being made by the group were rather tame and typically uncontroversial, such as improvements to biographies of high profile skeptical personalities like Carl Sagan or additions of criticism to balance fringe claims in articles like Chupacabra.
However, there was never any evidence the GSoW group had ever edited the Sheldrake Wikipedia article. In fact, the editor who did most of the editting to the article () posted a response to many of Sheldrake et. al.'s points.User:Manul/Sheldrake response Wikipedia 6 October 2013 According to skeptic who investigated the edits:Maverick Biologist Rupert Sheldrake Criticizes Attacks by ‘Guerilla Skeptics’ on Wikipedia Daily Grail 10 October 2013The right way and the wrong way to file skeptic complaints Skeptools 12 October 2013
And, according to "Julie", member of GSoW:The BBC and Chopra buy into woomeister Rupert Sheldrake’s “Galileo syndrome” Why Evolution Is True 6 November 2013
In December, 2013 GSoW founder Susan Gerbic discussed how the conspiracy theory had no real basis in fact, but woo-believers were still promoting it.Egg Balancing and more (lots more) Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia 6 December 2013
GSoW's activities have apparently not been affected by the entire incident.Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia keeps keepin’ on Doubtful News 7 December 2013 (archived from the original on 11 July 2017)
Since Wikipedia policies actually require that pseudoscience and other fringe views be marginalized, the group's work was completely in sync with the encyclopedia's goals. A notice at the top of Sheldrake's talkpage mentions many relevant WP policies,Talk:Rupert Sheldrake Wikipedia including 
Weiler responded to WP:FRINGE by saying:
Despite Weiler's attacks, reliable secondary sources are the only way Wikipedia can ensure that fringe views are shown to be such. The paucity of reliable secondary sources from mainstream academia for parapsychology just underscores how far from mainstream it is.
===Failed closure attempt===
Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia had been investigated by ArbCom in 2022. Other than one of the editors being topic banned, and then only with regard to living people, the motions adopted were general praises from ArbCom.Arbitration/Requests/Case/Skepticism and coordinated editing Wikipedia 3 March 2022
===Mick West conspiracy theory===
In January and February 2024, a conspiracy theory was being promoted on social media by the UFOThe Wikipedia conspiracy that wasn’t; or, why Wikipedia says Roswell was a balloon The Sketpic (UK) 13 March 2024 and parapsychology community that Mick West is a member of GSoW and is the owner of the Wikipedia account LuckyLouie, paid to insert skepticism on UFO-related articles. Mick West has publicly denied the rumours that he is the account LuckyLouie or a member of GSoW. He has said that he has met Susan Gerbic at skeptic conferences and does have a Wikipedia account, but he does not edit anything related to Ufology.Rogue UFO Edits? Mick West on the Wikipedia Controversy from the YouTube channel The Basement Hangout 26 January 2024
UFO nutters have since created a petition "Demand[ing] Wikipedia to Dismiss Editors Suppressing UAP Phenomenon Information", which lists LuckyLouie, Susan Gerbic, and six other skeptical Wikipedia editors.Demand Wikipedia to Dismiss Editors Suppressing UAP Phenomenon Information change.org (archived from the original on 15 February 2024) However, apart from Gerbic, most of the listed users are not associated with GSoW.
===Proponents of the GSoW conspiracy theory===
==External links==
*The Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia blog (ceased updating in 2018 with move to About Time)
*The GSoW YouTube channel
*About Time, which GSoW is a part of, also has some videos from them.
*Is Wikipedia a Conspiracy? Common Myths Explained, CSICOP
==Notes==
==References==
Category:Conspiracy theories
Category:Skeptical organizations
Category:Wikipedians
Category:Living people