Has Skeptiko gone completely wacko?

Just made a small visit to Skeptiko for the first time in a long time. I don’t really recognize it’s intellectual roots anylonger. What happended with real sceptical debate on research articles, discussing power of statistical evidence in Ganzfeld experiments, and other paranormal research and new alternative ideas about consciousness and the grand meaning of things?

Now it’s all about antiscience/right wing science rather than intellectual curiosity and honesty. I’m particulary disappointed in the intermingling of paranormal science and clima skeptism. One debatter even used the word ‘socialism’ in this context, as a reason clima change believers wants to cut emissions.

Just made a small visit to Skeptiko for the first time in a long time. I don’t really recognize it’s intellectual roots anylonger. What happended with real sceptical debate on research articles, discussing power of statistical evidence in Ganzfeld experiments, and other paranormal research and new alternative ideas about consciousness and the grand meaning of things?

Now it’s all about antiscience/right wing science rather than intellectual curiosity and honesty. I’m particulary disappointed in the intermingling of paranormal science and clima skeptism. One debatter even used the word ‘socialism’ in this context, as a reason clima change believers wants to cut emissions.

I visit once in a while. I don't know why. The abandonment of any sort of rational discourse seems complete.

They seem happy, though.

Linda

I visit daily and post occasionally.

Doing so I often wonder if my stroke is having an increasingly negative effect on my brainpower as it seems that I cannot follow conversations anything like as well as I used to. It seems to me like the ‘head’ has been amplified while the ‘heart’ has been demoted. 

It reminds me of General Wesley Clark saying that ‘they’ had been taken over by a group of ‘extremists’. In this case it’s more one guy that imposes himself on the forum that has pushed many people out. My attempts to push back are met with no support. Is it a reflection of society in general? In some ways I think it is.

It's maybe worth noting that a deliberate decision was made at one point for Skeptiko to move away from scientific discussion of psi (and even to remove the archived scientific discussions, though they were later restored).

I don't follow it very closely, but it's noticeable that nearly all the discussion is in threads about the interviews, and very few of those are on what I would call parapsychology. K9! still sometimes posts some psi news and resources, but seems to be pretty much a lone voice there.

For me, there have been several points at which I noticed obvious shifts. Some were instigated directly by the site owner. But others were a shift in topics discussed, driven by forum members. My primary interests in this context are the nature of consciousness (emphasis on direct experience), and parapsychology. Much of what is covered there nowadays is either 'out of scope' or at best tangential to my interests.

But that's fine, it doesn't have to conform to my needs or expectations. Let it be what it is (or has become).

Aren't all existential forums concerned with how one chooses to see the world rather than dealing with how it actually is?

We are discussing a science forum, aren't we?

Aren't all existential forums concerned with how one chooses to see the world rather than dealing with how it actually is?

For all the time I have been interested in falsifying the materialist worldview I have believed this was about ‘data’ and the conclusions one can derive from the ‘data’ and how we might gain new ‘data’. Yes - there will be subjectivity in the interepretation of the ‘data’. But with ever more ‘data’ being harvested e.g from Sam Parnia’s Aware studies I have (probably self-deceived) been believing that there will be convergence in our collectively interpretation of the ‘data’ either towards accepting/rejecting ‘the paranormal hypotheisis’ - independently whether one is among the Evil socialists (pun intended) or one is among the ‘send her home’ political wing.

Yes I choose to believe the majority of the discussions here are about how the world actually is - with the pieces of the puzzle we have available.

For all the time I have been interested in falsifying the materialist worldview I have believed this was about ‘data’ and the conclusions one can derive from the ‘data’ and how we might gain new ‘data’. Yes - there will be subjectivity in the interepretation of the ‘data’. But with ever more ‘data’ being harvested e.g from Sam Parnia’s Aware studies I have (probably self-deceived) been believing that there will be convergence in our collectively interpretation of the ‘data’ either towards accepting/rejecting ‘the paranormal hypotheisis’ - independently whether one is among the Evil socialists (pun intended) or one is among the ‘send her home’ political wing.

Yes I choose to believe the majority of the discussions here are about how the world actually is - with the pieces of the puzzle we have available.

And with made up puzzle pieces which is in the case of Skeptiko rather evident.