FROM THE EDITOR
For scientists and scientific skeptics, the most powerful word is why. Why is nature like it is? Why do people behave they way they do? Wondering why initiates all inquiry and leads to all new knowledge. In the Skeptical Inquirer we have articles that investigate and articles that explain. Investigations may find new answers to mysteries. Explanatory articles help us understand why things are the way they are.
Psychologist James E. Alcock’s cover article in this issue, “The God Engine,” is an exemplary form of explanatory writing. The question he asks, and cogently answers, is: Why is religious belief so pervasive, so powerful, so important, so resistant to criticism? It’s a question all thoughtful people ponder, but to science-minded people and freethinkers it has occupied a big share of our time and energy.