Three Year Anniversary

Happy Anniversary everyone! Congratulations on maintaining this forum and database for so long!

I know this probably sounds a bit crap but as my use of iPads has increased, I’ve tended to post and write less (not just here) as it feels more of an effort to type longer posts. Is it just me?

Is that aimed at yours truly, Dave ?

Not aimed, tim ... just making the point that interesting articles can be highlighted in posts to make sure that people don't get the idea that such links or references are banned here. Fair use is allowed but I've always found the definition of fair use somewhat elusive so I try to limit my quoting to a few lines from a big passage, hoping that those few lines illustrate my point.

I know this probably sounds a bit crap but as my use of iPads has increased, I’ve tended to post and write less (not just here) as it feels more of an effort to type longer posts. Is it just me?

Not just you. There used to be a saying "I'm all thumbs" which indicated clumsiness but these days, being all thumbs is required and it doesn't suit my old thumbs unfortunately. I much prefer a proper keyboard although the iPad and phone autofill sometimes helps except when it guesses wrong. So, yes, I tend to wait until I'm back at my computer whenever possible.

Happy 3 years!

[Laird]

Or have we exhausted the discussion of these subjects? I must say that I have not been posting for several months because I feel I don't have much more to add that I have not said at length in the past. But I call in regularly and hope to find some new gems of information which might spark the embers.

I'd suggest that there are two main potential approaches to the forum in this respect by regulars such as yourself, Kam:

1. There has far and away been enough research posted to definitively justify the conclusion that psi and survival - the two mainstays of parapsychology - have been well and truly demonstrated, and, once one has (justifiably) reached this conclusion, then there is not much more point in posting to and reading such forums. That (justified) conclusion is, so to speak, the end of the road.
   
2. Though there has been far and away enough research posted to definitively justify the aforementioned conclusion, the subjects of psi and survival in their details are fascinating in and of themselves, regardless of whatever conclusions can be drawn from them, and those details are effectively endless. Thus, there will never be an end to the sort of juicy details about the specifics and details of cases of and research into psi and survival that a regular of the forum might want to discuss that s/he would never contemplate leaving.
   

I shamelessly admit that I fit more into #1 than #2. I have reached my conclusion, and am for the most part dedicating myself to the continued administration of this forum only (a) so that others have a good basis for coming to the same conclusion, rather than because I particularly wish to delve into the sorts of details suggested by #2 (although on occasion I certainly do!) but also (b) so that those who subscribe to #2 have a decent, hopefully long-term, venue in which to pursue it.

Your thoughts?

Not aimed, tim ... just making the point that interesting articles can be highlighted in posts to make sure that people don't get the idea that such links or references are banned here. Fair use is allowed but I've always found the definition of fair use somewhat elusive so I try to limit my quoting to a few lines from a big passage, hoping that those few lines illustrate my point.

I don't think anyone thought that, Dave. I've had interesting articles/interviews deleted (on here) even with links but the rules are as they are, that's the way it is and I understand why.

I'd suggest that there are two main potential approaches to the forum in this respect by regulars such as yourself, Kam:

1. There has far and away been enough research posted to definitively justify the conclusion that psi and survival - the two mainstays of parapsychology - have been well and truly demonstrated, and, once one has (justifiably) reached this conclusion, then there is not much more point in posting to and reading such forums. That (justified) conclusion is, so to speak, the end of the road.
   
2. Though there has been far and away enough research posted to definitively justify the aforementioned conclusion, the subjects of psi and survival in their details are fascinating in and of themselves, regardless of whatever conclusions can be drawn from them, and those details are effectively endless. Thus, there will never be an end to the sort of juicy details about the specifics and details of cases of and research into psi and survival that a regular of the forum might want to discuss that s/he would never contemplate leaving.
   

I shamelessly admit that I fit more into #1 than #2. I have reached my conclusion, and am for the most part dedicating myself to the continued administration of this forum only (a) so that others have a good basis for coming to the same conclusion, rather than because I particularly wish to delve into the sorts of details suggested by #2 (although on occasion I certainly do!) but also (b) so that those who subscribe to #2 have a decent, hopefully long-term, venue in which to pursue it.

Your thoughts?

My thoughts are that I wish I could say that I have reached a conclusion. As we have discussed previously, I continue to have this debilitating fear of death which is what prompted my "obsession" with these subjects at an early age, although I strongly deny that such a fear has led to wishful thinking or confirmation bias - if anything the opposite because I seek certainty and that can never be found. So I have, over the years, developed a personal philosophy which is based on evidence (such as that presented in this forum) but is yet open to modification or even a completely different conclusion. So far, the arguments of sceptics (and I am sad to see that the forum seems to have lost some of the more thoughtful sceptics) have not been convincing in that I see a faith-based devotion to materialism similar to that of any religion. When people ignore evidence they can't claim to be open-minded or evidence-based. 

So I will continue to visit these pages in the hope that some article or philosophical dialogue furthers my understanding. 

Just to hark back to the Skeptiko comments (above). After that mention I popped over there to take a look and, OMG, what a mess! It is like Trump Town over there. Maybe I just looked at the wrong posts but even people whose opinions I used to respect are aboard the CT bandwagon big time. I'm so glad that I was banned when I criticised the direction they were taking.

Just to hark back to the Skeptiko comments (above). After that mention I popped over there to take a look and, OMG, what a mess! It is like Trump Town over there. Maybe I just looked at the wrong posts but even people whose opinions I used to respect are aboard the CT bandwagon big time. I'm so glad that I was banned when I criticised the direction they were taking.

Its insanity.  Not sure why I post as much as I do there, but I think its an unhealthy compulsion; a guilty pleasure if you will.

[Laird]

Its insanity.  Not sure why I post as much as I do there, but I think its an unhealthy compulsion; a guilty pleasure if you will.

Hey, I understand the compulsion, which - if I might suggest - in some sense feels like a responsibility: to publicly present a counterpoint to a political position with which one disagrees on a public platform both to which one has access and on which one has regularly participated. In a sense, it feels that remaining silent on such a platform would be tacit endorsement of the alternative position, right?

In any case, that suggestion matches my frame of mind in the days and weeks (months even?) in which I engaged in "political warfare" on Skeptiko, however, I withdrew on principle when it became clear that the moderation "team" (a team of one, essentially) was so utterly biased that I was banned for purported offences which didn't come close to the offensiveness of the offences committed by those whose political views were more favourable to the moderator. I am not willing to participate on a forum whose moderator is so twitchy on the ban hammer towards folk like me who disagree with his views whilst turning a blind eye to the worse behaviour of those with whom his political views align.

Several others with a similar perspective left around the same time, for similar reasons, and so, Skeptiko has become, and is becoming, more and more of a haven for those with "conservative"/"right wing" views. Even if I were in no danger of being banned again for frivolous and biased reasons, I would still not return there simply for that reason. Its moderation team (of one) has shifted the political balance of the forum to the right, and I don't care to engage on a forum with that right wing a bias.