Psience Quest

(2017-09-26, 02:45 PM)Ninshub Wrote: [ -> ]No, I'm putting it on the people doing it.

I did start one thread on a Skeptiko podcast. But I won't be doing that again. Feck those bastards!!! Go team!

(2017-09-26, 02:45 PM)chuck Wrote: [ -> ]My guess is that even the podcast itself has maybe another year. Who really cares about it any longer? I haven't listened in ages. Alex should find some other avenue for his interests. Podcasting isn't really his forte. There are many who do it much better.

You're probably right, Chuck. He was good when he started off, some of the interviews he conducted were really well done. I don't know what's happened with him; he started 'behaving' (talking and writing in a funny sort of abstract way) differently for some reason. If he doesn't go back to his original, simple straightforward manner then I agree he needs to wrap it up and do something else.

(2017-09-26, 02:49 PM)chuck Wrote: [ -> ]I did start one thread on a Skeptiko podcast. But I won't be doing that again. Feck those bastards!!! Go team!

Commenting on a public podcast is one thing, transferring forum members-created conversations is another - why can't people just continue conversations in the forum where they occur?

(2017-09-26, 02:55 PM)tim Wrote: [ -> ]You're probably right, Chuck. He was good when he started off, some of the interviews he conducted were really well done. I don't know what's happened with him; he started 'behaving' (talking and writing in a funny sort of abstract way) differently for some reason. If he doesn't go back to his original, simple straightforward manner then I agree he needs to wrap it up and do something else.

Yeah. There was something there in the first couple of years that seemed to be lost after a while. A genuine curiosity? An innocence? Then he got swallowed up by the 2nd matrix.

(2017-09-26, 02:57 PM)chuck Wrote: [ -> ]Yeah. There was something there in the first couple of years that seemed to be lost after a while. A genuine curiosity? An innocence? Then he got swallowed up by the 2nd matrix.

I think he possibly re-invented himself but there was no need (IMHO)

(2017-09-26, 03:08 PM)tim Wrote: [ -> ]I think he possibly re-invented himself but there was no need (IMHO)

I don't think it was something that he did consciously. Deep diving into a lot of these subjects can change you for better or worse.

(2017-09-26, 03:10 PM)chuck Wrote: [ -> ]I don't think it was something that he did consciously. Deep diving into a lot of these subjects can change you for better or worse.

That's my guess even though I'm much earlier on that road so I wouldn't know myself.  Just seems logical that tumblers started settling into place as he felt he gained "knowledge".

I was attracted initially by the tagline "intelligent discussion on science and spirituality".  The recent path of the podcasts seem to be no where near that tagline.  Hence, my interest waned.

(2017-09-26, 03:42 PM)Silence Wrote: [ -> ]That's my guess even though I'm much earlier on that road so I wouldn't know myself.  Just seems logical that tumblers started settling into place as he felt he gained "knowledge".

I was attracted initially by the tagline "intelligent discussion on science and spirituality".  The recent path of the podcasts seem to be no where near that tagline.  Hence, my interest waned.

Well, to be honest most of the "intelligent" discussion took place on the areas of the website that Alex never visited and never posted. Which always kind of puzzled me. Now it makes sense. He just wasn't interested.

I never really found the podcast to be much of an intelligent discussion because even from the beginning Alex was so biased. But he did introduce me to a bunch of authors and subjects that I knew nothing about at the time I started listening. I'd been a materialist atheist for decades and then after moving to a new city found myself terribly interested in all the Skeptiko subjects.

I deeply researched a few of them including UFOs (still an interest) and some others. I'm not at all opposed to the ideas surrounding the UFO (or Others) phenomena as a control mechanism which can blend into all kinds of "conspiracy" theories. But I keep them in the "narrative" container and maintain my skepticism as much as humanly possible.

Alex operates in a mode where he "knows" and others "do not know" (Stuck on stupid). That's not a position from which one can really have open eyes onto the true nature of reality. 

I'm happy pruning and maintaining narratives that may or may not be true. I don't need to know the veracity of any particular narrative. Even so it is particularly hard not to have clear bias.

The tough thing about someone like Alex is that they perceive themselves to be "skeptical" and relatively free of bias. But he only maintains that position because he knows the truth and everyone else is stuck on stupid.

Far too often the line of reasoning seems to be "A lot of scientists have failed to apply the scientific method properly, therefore Science Is Wrong," and even sometimes "Science Is Wrong, therefore maverick scientists are right."

(2017-09-26, 04:44 PM)Chris Wrote: [ -> ]Far too often the line of reasoning seems to be "A lot of scientists have failed to apply the scientific method properly, therefore Science Is Wrong," and even sometimes "Science Is Wrong, therefore maverick scientists are right."

Don't want to be too critical, but I wouldn't really call what Alex does "reasoning" to any real degree. And I say that as someone who also is a neophyte to real logical reasoning. For Alex, a debate centers around:

1. Have they read the NDE researchers? No. I win.

2. Have they read the NDE researchers? Yes. Do they agree with me? No. I win.

3. You're stuck on stupid.

I'm not saying this as an attack on Alex. I'm quite sure that Alex is a kind person and a good family man. But he is also a public figure and one who obviously prides himself on his "debating" skills. So I think it is perfectly fair to dissect his public persona.