Michael Shermer: Why people believe strange things

lurmot Says:

Feb 8, 2012 - @TheSelfishAltruist "The skeptical scientific way". or put another way: I dis-believe this (skeptical) so I will find a way to disproove it (scientific).Its highly flawed and has a hell of a lot to answer for. Its no different from the religious dogmatism of the past that kept us in the dark ages. In fact it IS the new religion. Its just another beleif system.

PortCharmers Says:

Feb 8, 2012 - @lurmot No, Scientific scepticism includes one's own hypotheses as well. Just because it sounds like a good idea doesn't mean it's true, so I test it myself before I even send it out to the reviewers. That is the scientific method. Publishing any brainfart and leaving the disproof to the others (the esoteric method) is something different alltogether.

TheSelfishAltruist Says:

Feb 8, 2012 - @PortCharmers Yeh guess so. maybe cause he was just giving a lighthearted approach to a very complex issue.But I enjoyed the talk all the same, but I would say that being a 'skeptic' (a label I hate.. I prefer 'person living in reality')

TheSelfishAltruist Says:

Feb 8, 2012 - @lurmot And which belief system are you referring to? I am a science student, and when I do my lab projects I approach it with no belief or ideology. I do an experiment, analyse the data and thats it. At what point have I used a religion or ideology? In fact, if you study science nobody teaches us anything about politics, philosophy etc.. we are simply taught how to do science.As Shermer said, science is a 'verb', it is a method, a process. I disagree with your analysis.

TheSelfishAltruist Says:

Feb 8, 2012 - @lurmot I personally only disbelieve things based on evidence. Someone proposes an idea, and I review the evidence.Examples I can think off are homeopathy, aliens, and gods... all of these do not meet their burden of proof (in my opinion), and if they did i.e. aliens landed in my garden, Jesus returned, or a repeated experiment of homeopathic medicine by different researchers showed it working in the clinic I would believe.I am open minded, and I think all skeptical people are aswell.

lurmot Says:

Feb 8, 2012 - @TheSelfishAltruist I too expect evidence before I will truely believe something and even then its my firm belief that its a mistake to hold firm beliefs. I just think that the vast majority of modern science is unwittingly out to maintain the status quo and defends very rigid belief systems.We are having what I see as break throughs in areas such as quantum physics but essentially, most areas of science are staring at a few droplets of water in their hands and claiming the sea doesn't exist.

lurmot Says:

Feb 8, 2012 - @TheSelfishAltruist Take scurvy for example. Some settlers in greenland were shown the cure for scurvy (vit c) by the natives. They took this info back and the scholars and medical professionals said "nonsence, we need science not witch doctors" and it was another 450 years of people dying of scurvy before they tried it again. The same is happening now with cancer. There is a growing body of evidence that certain areas of nutrition can actually cure certain cancers.

aeternusero Says:

Feb 8, 2012 - Divining rods are funny, I have a hard time believing them. except that is how the older generation in my family would find water for wells on their property and did it for everyone else's , also

photopicker Says:

Feb 9, 2012 - I can assure you there is a lot more than meets the eye. I am a trained psychic and nothing here is contestable, that is I agree with Michael except for the dowsing rod. I had exactly 1 rod experience at Stones of Avebury '96. We hired a dowser. I bought the rods. We went to a set of stones. I stood between them held the rods and within a minute or two a massive surge of energy flowed through my chest area and the rods spun furiously. Several people witnessed this. It was a mind bender.

photopicker Says:

Feb 9, 2012 - I think it is a mistake to play the hand of the experienced by suggesting that the reason they believe something is because they are delusional, confused, uninformed, etc. I have several UFO sightings that are simply other worldly. There is simply no other reasonable explanation at this time. I am an engineer and trained psychic and before you bash psychic I can assure you that as an engineer I would have left immediately if there was nothing of real value. I trained for nearly 12 years.

photopicker Says:

Feb 9, 2012 - A little myth busting ... there is nothing all that amazing about Randi ... it's a myth but hey you are free to believe what you wish ... even if it's propaganda.

Exmech2 Says:

Feb 10, 2012 - @photopicker They are delusional. And you seem to willingly forget what the "U" in "UFO" stands for. Being an astronaut I can tell you that being an engineer doesn't shield you from making giant leaps of logic when viewing something you cannot identify.

photopicker Says:

Feb 10, 2012 - @Exmech2 Check out this video on You-Tube ... ECETI July 4th. Two videos of the same event. I was there with at least 60 other witnesses and this was the most mind bending phenomenon I have witnessed to date. Appeared next to Venus in the early evening sky and flew right over our heads at about 300 ft. This energy field pulsated ruby red to my eye but the video shows a wider color spectrum. It's tiny on camera due to the nature of image reproduction however it was large and amazing to witness.

photopicker Says:

Feb 10, 2012 - @Exmech2 There are two types of people; those who have experienced and those who have not. Those who have the least experience love to point fingers at what appears to be absurd statements by the experienced and believe me I have a bullshit radar that would put Shermer to shame.

Exmech2 Says:

Feb 10, 2012 - @photopicker "There are two types of people; those who have hallucinated and those who have not."- Fixed!

Exmech2 Says:

Feb 10, 2012 - @photopicker LMAO!!! You do realize th backdrop of your penlight is visible, right? I'll fix your sentence again: "There are four types of people; those who have hallucinated and those who have not, those that are blatantly lying, and those who are dumber than bricks and will believe anything"In which category do you belong?

photopicker Says:

Feb 10, 2012 - @Exmech2 re: I can assure you, everyone in any measurement field (aviation engine parts repair for me) knows full well the delay in computer processing time, and what is needed to get an actual measurement.Am I to assume you are no longer credible since being a repair technician in aviation is a leap of logic (and faith) far far way away from being an astronaut no? Not a wonder you think Shermer is brilliant. It's a step up in intelligence.Your turn :)

photopicker Says:

Feb 10, 2012 - @Exmech2 I am to assume that all four roles ... since they came from your consciousness are in fact elements and records of exactly where you are ... the dumber than bricks bit seems to fit best however.

photopicker Says:

Feb 10, 2012 - @Exmech2 You can't assault truth with ignorance. It's been done. I mean you can but what a waste of time and from those who claim to be insightful, wise, and all knowing ... snicker ...

Exmech2 Says:

Feb 10, 2012 - @photopicker LoL! Whatever!

Exmech2 Says:

Feb 10, 2012 - @photopicker I predicted you were going to say something really fecking stupid! Glad to see you don't disappoint.

photopicker Says:

Feb 10, 2012 - @Exmech2 You can't begin to imagine the kind of information I am sitting on. Few can comprehend the possibilities let alone relate to the experiences. By the way the proper word is fucking not fecking. It's not honey do you feel like fecking tonight. Glad we got that squared away. :)

Exmech2 Says:

Feb 10, 2012 - @photopicker Look, I have stuff to do tonight, little aspie. But if you message me on Sunday, I'll be happy to make you an evenings' entertainment. See ya then!lrn2astronaut

igorkrupitsky Says:

Feb 11, 2012 - The distance to the edge of the observable universe is about 46.6 billion light years. Not 13.7 billion light years. The space in the universe expands.