About RIT

Dear Independent Thinker:

Are you alarmed at the rampant irrationality and lack of critical thinking in society today? Are you disturbed at most people's unwillingness to think for themselves? Are you skeptical of the status quo?

So are we and we're trying to do something about it!

Resources for Independent Thinking is a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan nonprofit educational organization that provides information to help people think for themselves and increase their critical thinking skills.

We've got some accomplished independent thinkers to help us. Our Advisory Council includes maverick psychiatrists Thomas Szasz and Peter Breggin; humanist Paul Kurtz, iconoclastic writer Alan Bock; prominent psychologists Philip Zimbardo, Carol Tavris, Paula Caplan, Diane Halpern, and Robert Cialdini; Andrea Millen Rich, Former President of the Center for Independent Thought; and philosopher Richard Paul, Director of the Foundation for Critical Thinking. Others advisors we are indebted to are the late Steve Allen, Joan Kennedy Taylor, and Robert Anton Wilson.

We're betting that you're interested in events, tapes (soon to be CDs, and publications that would give you opportunities to develop your critical thinking skills, learn more about ways to encourage critical thinking in others, or just hear some "maverick" speakers. Critical and independent thinking are, of course, ongoing processes, not end-states.

We "warn" you that we don't have a "party-line." Our writers and speakers sometimes disagree with each other. You won't agree with all of them. I don't agree with all of them! But critical thinking requires dialogue and exchange of different, sometimes clashing ideas. Listen, read, weigh the evidence, and make up your own mind.

Here's how you can benefit from our programs and publications.
You'll learn about
• strategies for applying critical thinking methods to your everyday life
• techniques for thinking critically about specific areas, i.e., authority, religion, the media, gender
• resources for encouraging children, students, or others to be critical thinkers
• avoiding belief traps that limit your options
• sensible self-help ideas based on psychological research (not pop-psych platitudes or pet fantasies)

In spite of the irrationality of our society, there's a lot of information out there that can help people be more rational and critical. We're trying to make this information available to more people. Check out our book recommendations and links and read our essays and editorials. We think you'll like what we have to offer.

Cordially,

Sharon Presley, Ph.D.
Executive Director

RIT Advisory Council

Steve Allen [1993-2000], humorist and writer
Barbara Cottman Becnel, author, The Co-Dependent Parent
Alan Bock, Senior Editor and Columnist, Orange County Register
Barbara Branden , author, The Passion of Ayn Rand
Peter Breggin, M.D., psychiatrist, author, Medication Madness
Paula Caplan, Ph.D.,psychologist, co-author, Critical Thinking about Research on Sex and Gender
Robert Cialdini, Ph.D., psychologist, author Influence: the Science of Persuasion
Gary Emery, Ph.D., author, Own Your Own Life
Charles Hamilton, New York City
Diane Halpern, Ph.D., author, Sex Differences in Cognitive Abilities
Robert Kephart, [1993-2004] Publisher, Libertarian Review and Audio Forum Cassettes.
Paul Kurtz, Ph.D., Founder, Center for Inquiry, former Editor, Free Inquiry
Richard Paul, Ph.D., Director, Center for Critical Thinking
Andrea Millen Rich, Former President, Center for Independent Thought and Laissez Faire Books
Joyce Shulman, Ph.D. and Lee Shulman, Ph.D., psychologists, co-authors, Subliminal: New Channel to Personal Power
Norman Solomon, author and journalist, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting
Thomas Szasz, MD. psychiatrist, author, The Myth of Mental Illness
Carol Tavris, Ph.D., psychologist, author, The Mismeasure of Woman
Joan Kennedy Taylor [1993-2005] author, Reclaiming the Mainstream: Individualist Feminism Rediscovered and former National Coordinator of the Association of Libertarian Feminists    
Carole Wade, Ph.D., psychologist, co-author, Critical and Creative Thinking
Robert Anton Wilson [1993-2007], author, Prometheus Rising
Michele Wittig, Ph.D., Psychology Professor, California State University, Northridge
Philip Zimbardo, Ph.D., Professor, Stanford University, co-author, The Psychology of Attitude Change and Social Influence; The Lucifer Effect
Ofer Zur, Ph.D., psychologist, Zur Institute