Is this forum dying?

Sadly hardly anything seems to be going on here any more I don't know why.

If this is indeed the fate of PSQ, I hope the founders can ensure that all the discussions we have enjoyed here are fully preserved. We surely want a better memorial than Skeptiko!

David

I've been following other subjects not covered so much in PSQ like the uap phenom in congressional hearings and the many oganizations investigating it as well as the simulation hypothosis, the non speaking autistic savants and telepathy and related paranormal phenomena, dmt entities and how they intersect. These areas seem to be at the forefront of where the action is which could lead to any kind of ontological shift in the broader culture and stand a chance of breaking through ridgid cultural barriers in any reasonable timeframe.

Sadly hardly anything seems to be going on here any more I don't know why.

If this is indeed the fate of PSQ, I hope the founders can ensure that all the discussions we have enjoyed here are fully preserved. We surely want a better memorial than Skeptiko!

David

I've noticed that a couple of long-time posters have gone quiet recently. I sincerely hope they're doing well.

I imagine that seekers don’t easily come across this site when searching on Google or asking ChatGPT for go-to places to discuss alternative interpretations of science and paranormal topics. The current audience probably consists mostly of people who crossed over from Skeptiko.com, with some members, like yourself, going back even further to the Mind-Energy forums. You and I had our first debates back there, though you may not remember me among the many excellent contributors at the time.

In any case, I don’t think the problem is a lack of interest in these topics. Rather, I believe the issue is that Psience Quest simply isn’t easy to discover.

I have wondered at times if we should try and get more interviews, which is probably the only way to get people to visit. Since we can send people questions that makes it easier to get people to agree I think, as podcasts and the like take up more of a person's time.

The forum format IMO is one of the best ways to discuss the subjects we explore, but most online discussion seems to have shifted to places that allow for much greater bias like Reddit's downvotes or the rapid fire comment sections of video-based media (Tik Tok, Youtube). There's also chat spaces like Discord but they don't lend well to easy access to past discussion.

I do feel it would be a detriment to have this place return to skeptic vs proponent debates being the focus, as I find the discussions between proponents who accept at least some aspect of the supernatural/paranormal to be more interesting.

Also would be nice to avoid trolls which we seem to still get from time to time....

All to say I do think this place fills a particular niche but being a niche makes it hard [to find] people who are the right fit. 

As sbu says... it can't be found... as it doesn't come up in search results... hence putting interviews on here won't bring in anymore traffic...

Google long ago demoted results from specialist forums.

Searching for sites containing data is getting less and less popular too, as many people seem increasingly happy to accept a potted AI answer.

As sbu says... it can't be found... as it doesn't come up in search results... hence putting interviews on here won't bring in anymore traffic...

Google long ago demoted results from specialist forums.

Searching for sites containing data is getting less and less popular too, as many people seem increasingly happy to accept a potted AI answer.

Oh my thinking was more if we, for example, interviewed Mark Vernon (the guy who does podcasts with Sheldrake) he would mention it to his followers and some of them might check this place out due to curiosity.

Same with Kripal or whoever else we might be able to get.

I agree people are not going to find this place via Google.

I've noticed that a couple of long-time posters have gone quiet recently. I sincerely hope they're doing well.

I imagine that seekers don’t easily come across this site when searching on Google or asking ChatGPT for go-to places to discuss alternative interpretations of science and paranormal topics. The current audience probably consists mostly of people who crossed over from Skeptiko.com, with some members, like yourself, going back even further to the Mind-Energy forums. You and I had our first debates back there, though you may not remember me among the many excellent contributors at the time.

In any case, I don’t think the problem is a lack of interest in these topics. Rather, I believe the issue is that Psience Quest simply isn’t easy to discover.

I must admit, I don't remember you from back then. Were you approximately as sceptical back then as you are now? I feel I have become progressively more sceptical of science and less sceptical of alternative ideas as time has gone on.

Is there any reason why this forum is hard to discover - is there anything the forum owners could do to correct that, do you think?

David

I must admit, I don't remember you from back then. Were you approximately as sceptical back then as you are now? I feel I have become progressively more sceptical of science and less sceptical of alternative ideas as time has gone on.

Is there any reason why this forum is hard to discover - is there anything the forum owners could do to correct that, do you think?

David

My position has changed a bit during my journey but that’s a sidetrack.

Search Engine Optimization is challenging, partly because Google's algorithms are not fully public.

However, Sciborg’s proposal has a double benefit:
First, YouTube could give Psiencequest wider exposure.
Second, the backlinks from YouTube to psiencequest.net would act as a positive signal to Google’s algorithms, potentially improving Psiencequest’s ranking for relevant keywords.

Hi,

I think that the problem is twofold:

1. Trends are changing, forums are not so popular as they had used to be like a decade ago or more... New communication platforms emerge, however quality is dropping. Specially on Tik-tok etc.

2. There is no breakthrough in parapsychology/science.... My impression is that it is moving in circles - all the sam stories, debates... Nothing new on the horizon...

I know I've personally stepped away just because it's better for my mental health. Pondering on the true nature of reality, survival, is all well and good but eventually it gets to you XD

I think MarcusF makes a good point about there not being much going on. I would raise as well however that a cultural shift has basically occurred. Once upon a time the internet as all about skeptics, anti religious people and something like parasychology, the idea of an afterlife, these were the hot button issues that brought attention from both sides. Where's all that energy now? People like Richard Dawkins have become culture war grifters, along with so many of the big skeptical voices of the past because dunking on religion stopped being profitable. Many others have moved on with their lives because what's the point of arguing with people on the internet all day. And then who's left? Some skeptics commenting on forums, making blog posts on obscure topics or diehards like Keith Frankish who are still repeating the same talking points they had 10 years ago. A shift culturally as well away from more hardline traditional religious beliefs to more universalist type ideas, as well as people experimenting with their own types of spirituality, has changed up the environment as well for how people look at skepticism and parasychology. 

Meanwhile on the other side of things parasychology is still chugging away in the background and big studies like Aware 1 and 2 have come and gone with NDEs still being in the same position they've been in for a long time, good evidence for their validity with people coming up with any number of ways to explain why they're actually nothing. 

As an aside, there's also so many other forms of discussion than just forums nowdays. Discord and reddit, the new hot button places to chat and talk about stuff like this. It's definitely not just this forum that's slowed down all the time, forums themselves are a dying art across the board. Slow march of time I suppose.