The question of political / conspiracy theory content

I just visited Skeptiko... Apparently Alex is deleting the spirituality section as well and when asked if he would explain what the new Skeptiko is going to be about he responded "I just did... [podcast] 357 [the one about Pizzagate]". Without spirituality, it seems like Skeptiko has completed its transition into a place where only CTs, politics and the mandatory religious bashing are allowed. And with it getting fully "stuck on" CTs, I see it as equivalent to the subforum that is being requested... That is exactly what Skeptiko is going to be within a year, just give it enough time for the hardcore conspiracists to arrive and settle in the ruins.

To my mind the ideal solution would be one that allows people to discuss as wide a range of subjects as can reasonably be linked to psi, but also to give people some reassurance that the main focus will remain on psi, and that things like conspiracy theories and politics aren't going to take over and crowd out psi in the same way as has happened at Skeptiko. And also to ensure that the inclusion of conspiracy theories and politics doesn't increase the burden of moderation on the good people who are giving up so much of their time to work on the site.

I like the idea of an invitation only political forum...though at that point that wouldn't it basically be liberaparolado? Or, as E. Flowers noted, what Skeptiko itself is to become?

On openly accepting some things versus dismissing others - Lots of ideas are dismissed even within the proponent community depending on who you talk to. Parapsychologists aren't united on NDEs, magick, astrology, etc. There are a good many materialist parapsychologists, perhaps even winning plurality in the field.

Likely even more debate on a variety of unrelated topics.

To me what makes parapsychology interesting is the academic rigor and philosophical grounding of proponents ranging from Sheldrake, Radin, Morhroff back to Albert Einstein & Bohm if not further back to Myers, and on the philo side including Henri Bergson, Stephen Braude, William James, Whitehead, all the way back to ancient yogis, shamans, and Neoplatonists.

I just visited Skeptiko... Apparently Alex is deleting the spirituality section as well and when asked if he would explain what the new Skeptiko is going to be about he responded "I just did... [podcast] 357 [the one about Pizzagate]". Without spirituality, it seems like Skeptiko has completed its transition into a place where only CTs, politics and the mandatory religious bashing are allowed. And with it getting fully "stuck on" CTs, I see it as equivalent to the subforum that is being requested... That is exactly what Skeptiko is going to be within a year, just give it enough time for the hardcore conspiracists to arrive and settle in the ruins.

Well, looks like I can delete that shortcut...

I just visited Skeptiko... Apparently Alex is deleting the spirituality section as well and when asked if he would explain what the new Skeptiko is going to be about he responded "I just did... [podcast] 357 [the one about Pizzagate]". Without spirituality, it seems like Skeptiko has completed its transition into a place where only CTs, politics and the mandatory religious bashing are allowed. And with it getting fully "stuck on" CTs, I see it as equivalent to the subforum that is being requested... That is exactly what Skeptiko is going to be within a year, just give it enough time for the hardcore conspiracists to arrive and settle in the ruins.

In such a scenario, I would advice Alex to change the name of the podcast / forum to "Infowarrico".

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As for conspiracy theories... We cannot avoid them completely for the two reasons:

1) real conspiracies do happen, and ignoring this fact won't help;

2) some conspiracy theories are notably better than the most, and do deserve some intellectual contemplation (that's why 9/11 Truth and JFK Assasination, as well as Deep Politics analysis in general, have some genuinely rational thinkers like David Ray Griffin in their ranks).

Yet I would also agree that many - not all, but many - conspiracy theories are indeed sheer nonsense ("global depopulation agenda", Pizzagate and many others fit this description neatly).

And, as I once said on Skeptiko, looking into them is like walking on a thin ice - every step should be taken very carefully.

So, I think that providing them a special subsection is good choice - this way, we will allow conspiracy controversies to become a legitimate subject of debate (which they should be) without allowing them to spread across the whole forum and dominate it (which has happened on Skeptiko, and which we should prevent).

Discussions going into conspiracy controversies should be transferred to the relevant special subsection, with exception of the ones which are directly related to the main topic of the forum. Such directly related, and thus allowed beyond the special subsection, conspiracy controversies should be:

1) organised and (temporarily and/or partially) covert misdeeds of the paranormal skeptics, such as sTARBABY scandal, Randi's Alpha Project, Guerilla Skepticism on Wikipedia, etc.;

2) corruption and repression in science and medicine - for example, Big Pharma's buying of medical doctors and scientists, attacks on cold fusion / LENR research, etc.

Such is my opinion.

Has anyone asked Alex to make a Conspiracy Theory subforum on Skeptiko?

He seems dedicated to providing a safe haven to various alt-left/right ideas and may amenable?

BTW, speaking about Skeptiko. On the "Consciousness and Science" subforum - one which is not being closed, apparently, I saw this message on every thread:

(You have insufficient privileges to reply here.)

Does it mean that "Consciousness and Science" is also on its way to the Memory Hole?

BTW, speaking about Skeptiko. On the "Consciousness and Science" subforum - one which is not being closed, apparently, I saw this message on every thread:

(You have insufficient privileges to reply here.)

Does it mean that "Consciousness and Science" is also on its way to the Memory Hole?

Ah yeah C+S is apparently also scheduled for deletion.

Another act, that, in my opinion, should be performed, is separation of the "Other Stuff" subcathegory from the "Related Topics" subsection - it should become a subsection of its own, with its own subcathegories.

And, if we do make a subcathegory related to conspiracy theories there, I think, to name it "Deep Politics" will be more appropriate than "Conspiracy Theories".

In my view, we should also make a "General Politics" subcathegory there. "General Politics" and "Deep Politics" topics can and should overlap and interact, but still be limited to these two specific political subcathegories ("standard" and "conspiracy-related" one).