Hello beautiful people!

Hi there people! 

I'm also coming over from Skeptiko, although due to the alt-right/conspiracy direction it took I haven't enjoyed or posted on it in a while. Had a browse the other day, saw Alex had done something silly and that this was the new go to forum (props to whoever set it up!) 

I'm an intellectual proponent of psi (if it was a more mundane/mainstream subject there would no debate, we all know that) but I don't walk around feeling like psi is real, if that's make sense? By this I don't mean that I consider myself to be an intellectual, just that I scientifically and rationally think psi meets the standards of scientific proof, but I haven't psychologically accepted it myself yet. It's not fully incorporated into my worldview.

Not yet a proponent of an afterlife, though I hope to be convinced, clearly *something* is going on there's though! 

Looking forward to debates, learning and offering my views, I hope this forum sticks to what its about now! 

Cheers!

Roberta

[Laird]

Robbie! Good to see you, man. Hadn't seen you on Skeptiko for ages - now I know why. Re the forum sticking to what it's about, there's a bit of a discussion about that going on, with a poll you can vote in if you're interested.

Welcome Roberta - seems like Laird knows that you are a man while I had assumed the "a" on Roberta suggested a woman's name. Anyhow, I'm one who agrees with your concerns about the direction Skeptiko was taking and I'm hoping this one will not follow suit.

Can't call myself an intellectual but I am a proponent and I hope your posts are not too far above my head.

Robbie! Good to see you, man. Hadn't seen you on Skeptiko for ages - now I know why. Re the forum sticking to what it's about, there's a bit of a discussion about that going on, with a poll you can vote in if you're interested.

Hey man good to see you too . Hope you're well! 

I've voted on it, I notice 'yes' is far ahead, just know it's likely political discussion will take over this forum too if you decide do to allow political poster (in my opinion anyway). 

Are you behind this forum?

Welcome Roberta - seems like Laird knows that you are a man while I had assumed the "a" on Roberta suggested a woman's name. Anyhow, I'm one who agrees with your concerns about the direction Skeptiko was taking and I'm hoping this one will not follow suit.

Can't call myself an intellectual but I am a proponent and I hope your posts are not too far above my head.

I am a man - and I'm glad you share my concerns! I hope this forum doesn't go in the sameness direction. 

I didn't mean to say I was an intellectual, I more meant that I accept psi in rational or logical/scientifically manner, have I psychologically accepted it? Not yet. 

Hope that clears it up - I do not consider myself to be an intellectual! 

May I ask what makes you a proponent? Always enjoyed your posts on Skeptiko.

[Laird]

Hey man good to see you too . Hope you're well! 

I've voted on it, I notice 'yes' is far ahead, just know it's likely political discussion will take over this forum too if you decide do to allow political poster (in my opinion anyway). 

Are you behind this forum?

Doing well, thanks, yes.

Well, amongst the proposals to be voted on if "Yes" comes up trumps is something like: "Allow political/CT discussion only in opt-in forums", so it could potentially be like a separate forum(s) which anybody who wants to avoid could totally ignore.

I am one of the nine founders of this forum, and one of its (currently three) moderating admins, yes. I'm also hosting the forum: as you know, I have a shared hosting account with "unlimited" domains, so my hosting it avoided anybody having to spend extra money.

We should catch up privately, I'll drop you an email if that's OK.

Doing well, thanks, yes.

Well, amongst the proposals to be voted on if "Yes" comes up trumps is something like: "Allow political/CT discussion only in opt-in forums", so it could potentially be like a separate forum(s) which anybody who wants to avoid could totally ignore.

I am one of the nine founders of this forum, and one of its (currently three) moderating admins, yes. I'm also hosting the forum: as you know, I have a shared hosting account with "unlimited" domains, so my hosting it avoided anybody having to spend extra money.

We should catch up privately, I'll drop you an email if that's OK.

No worries - I've PM'd you.

I am a man - and I'm glad you share my concerns! I hope this forum doesn't go in the sameness direction. 

I didn't mean to say I was an intellectual, I more meant that I accept psi in rational or logical/scientifically manner, have I psychologically accepted it? Not yet. 

Hope that clears it up - I do not consider myself to be an intellectual! 

May I ask what makes you a proponent? Always enjoyed your posts on Skeptiko.

Thank you. Yeah - I know what you mean about intellectualising ... I do it myself because I can't help it. I try to analyse and rationalise but I am sure that holds me back from going deeper into actual experiences. There's a difference between knowledge and knowing.

As for what makes me a proponent, it really boils down to William James's white crows. I think there is too much evidence, too many stories, too many anomalies for it all to be dismissed as deception or delusion. As James said, it only takes one white crow to prove that not all crows are black. Plus, of course, I'm pretty much in the idealist camp, philosophically, but I don't know if that is a consequence of trying to find a philosophy that allows for psi (which it does, of course).

[Ninshub]

Welcome Roberta! Great to see you here.

Hi there people! 

I'm also coming over from Skeptiko, although due to the alt-right/conspiracy direction it took I haven't enjoyed or posted on it in a while. Had a browse the other day, saw Alex had done something silly and that this was the new go to forum (props to whoever set it up!) 

I'm here too - even though I still moderate (and support) Skeptiko. I think we should focus a little more on what unites us, and less on what divides us. As regards 'alt-right', maybe we shouldn't focus on such a contrived expression. I mean, it doesn't mean right-wing, but something else. The whole question is what that something else is!

I'm an intellectual proponent of psi (if it was a more mundane/mainstream subject there would no debate, we all know that) but I don't walk around feeling like psi is real, if that's make sense? By this I don't mean that I consider myself to be an intellectual, just that I scientifically and rationally think psi meets the standards of scientific proof, but I haven't psychologically accepted it myself yet. It's not fully incorporated into my worldview.

Not yet a proponent of an afterlife, though I hope to be convinced, clearly *something* is going on there's though! 

I am with you, except that I think the concept of an afterlife seems to have some pretty solid evidence behind it. See Ian Stephenson, for example.

Looking forward to debates, learning and offering my views, I hope this forum sticks to what its about now! 

Yes - I hope that this will be a sister forum to Skeptiko. Remember that Alex has devoted years and considerable money (I presume) into providing the free forum which is SKEPTIKO. He has also put a shed-load of effort into creating all the podcasts.

David[/quote]