Mapman - I want a piece of that. There's gold in them hills!
Drasin's descriptions of Ideological Skepticism don't remind me of scientists, but they DO remind me of people who are dogmatic or doctrinaire, and there are plenty of those around. My suspicion is that the scientific community has FEWER people that meet that description than the general public. But of course that is a speculation.
And finally to the topic that will send this thread over a cliff...
Bryon
05-12-12: GeoffkaitI agree with this, Geoff. And I too find it regrettable, because it shuts down the exploration of ideas. But I will reiterate that I do not believe that Drasin's descriptions of Ideological Skepticism describe Al. Although he and I have never met in person, I can say with absolute confidence that he is open minded. I have personally presented a number of "mystery experiences," in threads like this, this, this, and this, and in each of those he demonstrated abundant open mindedness. Others can report similar experiences. So your choice of target was poor, IMO. Moving on...
I think it would be a fair statement to say, however, that many of the "arguments" presented in Zen and the Art of Debunkery actually do apply to many of the debates on audio forums, especially those concerning controversial tweaks, like the directionality of fuses or fuses in general.
Drasin's descriptions of Ideological Skepticism don't remind me of scientists, but they DO remind me of people who are dogmatic or doctrinaire, and there are plenty of those around. My suspicion is that the scientific community has FEWER people that meet that description than the general public. But of course that is a speculation.
And finally to the topic that will send this thread over a cliff...
I suspect the arguments presented in Zen and the Art of Debunkery are probably intended to represent those who feel threatened - or feel that the scientific community is threatened - by something that cannot be explained, like UFOsAgain, I agree. More importantly, UFO's exist! Whether they contain little green men is another question. But the documentation of UFO encounters is vast and incontrovertible. For a recent book that compiles the official testimony of dozens of military pilots, commercial pilots, radarmen, commanding officers up to the level of General, and others, see Leslie Kean's recent book. To the uninitiated, it's shocking. Most of the Ideological Skeptics I know won't read it! :-)
Bryon