Community Profile

The concept for this group was first made public in the sci.skeptic and alt.atheism usenet groups in 1994:

From: John A. Johnson
Date: Wed, May 4 1994 10:25 am
Email: John A. Johnson <j...@psuvm.psu.edu>
Groups: sci.skeptic, alt.atheism

Sometimes people suggest that the line is very thin between police
officer and criminal, between psychologist and psychologically
disturbed, etc. Is this true in some cases for skeptics? I must
confess that, although I describe myself as a skeptic and atheist,
I am fascinated by paranormal claims and unusual experiences.
I know all about statistics, but I can't help being intrigued when
a host of startling coincidences intrudes into my life. This happened
just recently when I read the Celestine Prophecy. Should I ask my
doctor for anticonvulsant medication for my temporal lobes? Is there
a support group for recovering transcendentalists, or are there enough
people out there like me to start one?

In short, Transcendentally Tempted Anonymous is meant to be a support group, similar to AA, for recovering magical thinkers. Despite having indulged in magical thinking to the point of intoxication in the past, we understand that this is not healthy. Today we consider ourselves to be skeptics, realists, naturalists, and/or scientists, and we want to stay that way. Nonetheless, we continue to long for phenomena that transcend nature as understood by modern science. Our goal is to help each other to think clearly, critically, and skeptically, so that we can remain grounded in reality.

The name Transcendentally Tempted Anonymous derives from the title of a book by Paul Kurtz, The Transcendental Temptation. In this book, Kurtz argues that all human beings, even skeptics, are beguiled to some degree by the possibility of invisible worlds that transcend the world we know through science.

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