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 Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2008 11:46 am Post subject: The weak point of skepticism (my experience) |
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I>m a skeptic. I don>t believe in God, in chiropractice, in
astrology, in Barak Obama, in megavitamins, you name it, I don>t
believe in it. But consider the following scenario. You are in an
English class at college, and your professor gives you the following
assignment: Write a story where a person believes something that
nobody else does - and yet the person is correct. This might require
a lot of imagination, but can it be done?
To be more specific, imagine a man walks into a police station to tell
them a crime story. The cop at the desk asks him to sum up the story
in one sentence. The man says "OK, I>m being drugged by unknown
people in my own home.".
How would the policeman react? Would he ask for details on this
story? Well I tried the experiment, and the policeman immediately
phoned my relatives. He locked the door to the police station so that
I would stay there until my relatives showed up.
In other words, by just uttering one sentence, you can convince people
you are insane.
And yet like I said - remember the English assignment. If you really
had to construct a story where something like this was true - could
you do it?
And if you could, what does this say about skepticism? |
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HardySpicer
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| Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2008 5:47 pm Post subject: Re: The weak point of skepticism (my experience) |
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On Nov 3, 12:46 am, EVILEXI...@lycos.com wrote:
[quote]I>m a skeptic. I don>t believe in God, in chiropractice, in
astrology, in Barak Obama, in megavitamins, you name it, I don>t
believe in it. But consider the following scenario. You are in an
English class at college, and your professor gives you the following
assignment: Write a story where a person believes something that
nobody else does - and yet the person is correct. This might require
a lot of imagination, but can it be done?
To be more specific, imagine a man walks into a police station to tell
them a crime story. The cop at the desk asks him to sum up the story
in one sentence. The man says "OK, I>m being drugged by unknown
people in my own home.".
How would the policeman react? Would he ask for details on this
story? Well I tried the experiment, and the policeman immediately
phoned my relatives. He locked the door to the police station so that
I would stay there until my relatives showed up.
In other words, by just uttering one sentence, you can convince people
you are insane.
And yet like I said - remember the English assignment. If you really
had to construct a story where something like this was true - could
you do it?
And if you could, what does this say about skepticism?
[/quote]
The problem with this argument is that it is something that probably
isn>t true in the first place.
Somebody could say they saw a UFO and they may well have seen
SOMETHING.Thre could be witnesses even.
That is different from somebody saying that they "feel' the presence
of God. The person standing next to him may have felt nothing.
One is observable whilst the other is a feeling or a faith. If there
was a God then he/she would reveal themselves available to everybody
and not just a few.
It is therefore more logical that the person just has a feeling and
nothing more. Besides, look at all the major religions and some cults.
They all rely on belief that one person gets "enlightened" and writes
down or speaks some great words of comfort to many. This is not proof
of a God.
Hardy |
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george
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2008 7:22 pm Post subject: Re: The weak point of skepticism (my experience) |
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On Nov 3, 12:46 am, EVILEXI...@lycos.com wrote:
[quote]I>m a skeptic. I don>t believe in God, in chiropractice, in
astrology, in Barak Obama, in megavitamins, you name it, I don>t
believe in it. But consider the following scenario. You are in an
English class at college, and your professor gives you the following
assignment: Write a story where a person believes something that
nobody else does - and yet the person is correct. This might require
a lot of imagination, but can it be done?
[/quote]
Two words explain much of your dilemma.
Belief and insanity.
Sceptical thought involves logic and science |
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Bob Casanova
Guest
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| Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 4:01 am Post subject: Re: The weak point of skepticism (my experience) |
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On Sun, 2 Nov 2008 03:46:46 -0800 (PST), the following
appeared in sci.skeptic, posted by EVILEXISTS@lycos.com:
[quote]I>m a skeptic. I don>t believe in God, in chiropractice, in
astrology, in Barak Obama, in megavitamins, you name it, I don>t
believe in it. But consider the following scenario. You are in an
English class at college, and your professor gives you the following
assignment: Write a story where a person believes something that
nobody else does - and yet the person is correct. This might require
a lot of imagination, but can it be done?
To be more specific, imagine a man walks into a police station to tell
them a crime story. The cop at the desk asks him to sum up the story
in one sentence. The man says "OK, I>m being drugged by unknown
people in my own home.".
How would the policeman react? Would he ask for details on this
story? Well I tried the experiment, and the policeman immediately
phoned my relatives. He locked the door to the police station so that
I would stay there until my relatives showed up.
In other words, by just uttering one sentence, you can convince people
you are insane.
And yet like I said - remember the English assignment. If you really
had to construct a story where something like this was true - could
you do it?
[/quote]
Sure; fiction isn>t restricted to the probable.
[quote]And if you could, what does this say about skepticism?
[/quote]
Skepticism is unwillingness to accept without evidence.
Should it be something else?
--
Bob C.
"Evidence confirming an observation is
evidence that the observation is wrong."
- McNameless |
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Guest
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| Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 4:48 am Post subject: Re: The weak point of skepticism (my experience) |
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On Sun, 2 Nov 2008 03:46:46 -0800 (PST), EVILEXISTS@lycos.com wrote:
[quote]I>m a skeptic. I don>t believe in God, in chiropractice, in
astrology, in Barak Obama, in megavitamins, you name it, I don>t
believe in it.
[/quote]
THAT isn>t skepticism, that>s just plain negativity! |
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Bryan Hussein Olson
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2008 3:09 am Post subject: Re: The weak point of skepticism (my experience) |
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EVILEXISTS@lycos.com wrote:
[quote]I>m a skeptic.
[/quote]
Most people who say that are wrong.
[quote][...]
To be more specific, imagine a man walks into a police station to tell
them a crime story. The cop at the desk asks him to sum up the story
in one sentence. The man says "OK, I>m being drugged by unknown
people in my own home.".
How would the policeman react? Would he ask for details on this
story? Well I tried the experiment, and the policeman immediately
phoned my relatives. He locked the door to the police station so that
I would stay there until my relatives showed up.
In other words, by just uttering one sentence, you can convince people
you are insane.
[/quote]
Chalk one up for the policeman.
--
--Bryan |
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Tom Morris
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2008 3:23 am Post subject: Re: The weak point of skepticism (my experience) |
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On 2008-11-02, EVILEXISTS@lycos.com <EVILEXISTS@lycos.com> wrote:
[quote]I>m a skeptic. I don>t believe in God, in chiropractice, in
astrology, in Barak Obama, in megavitamins, you name it, I don>t
believe in it.
[/quote]
What reasons have you got to suggest that Barack Obama does not exist?
--
Tom Morris
<http://tommorris.org> |
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