On Fri, 2 Nov 2007, John Berry wrote: > The level of skepticism in this group even from the moderator makes it
Ah, I remembered! That's what first turned me off to Ron Stiffler and started my "chilly" attitude. He started demonizing the criticism of his stuff. He was calling it "skepticism," and also using "Skeptic" as if it was a dirty word. The word "skeptic" originally referred to a person who avoids certainty; who avoids leaping to either belief or disbelief, but instead wants to understand. "Skeptic" was an early word for "scientist." But then organized "skeptic" groups such as CSICOP and others managed to alter the word to mean something like "one who defends Science from hoards of crackpots." They weren't anything like scientists, but instead behaved more like soldiers or the police: totally certain of what's right and wrong, then going out to knock heads together. But to be a scientist is to be tenative. Truzzi resigned from the board of CISCOP over just this issue, and in later years tried to popularize the word "Zetetic," in place of the corrupted word "skeptic." He also coined a term for so-called "skeptics" who give lip-service to science but don't practice it: Pseudoskeptics. I started a Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudoskepticism So a skeptic is the same as a scientist. If you make it your duty to investigate even the taboo subjects while maintaining clear vision of both the supporting evidence and the flaws, unveiling the truth-tellers and the liars... then you my friend are a Skeptic. Nothing wrong with it. Call yourself a "scientist" if you don't like it. And it's totally different than being a Disbeliever or scoffer or "pseudoskeptic." Now suppose you post an honest criticism of my work, and in response I try to label you as a "skeptic." But that's a common scammer tactic! It's used to try to suppress dissenting voices. It also throws some fear into the audience, since it creates a witch-hunt atmosphere. To anyone who points out problems... WIIIIITCH WIIIIITCH! BURN THE WITCH! (No, SSSSSSKEPTIC! EVERYONE TURN AGAINST THE DISGUSTING SKEPTIC!) It's a bit subtle, so my audience will probably fall for the trick unless they're already familiar with it. It works like magic. All my critics are magically transformed into revolting Skeptics whose objections should be ignored. And any flaws in my work will turn invisible, since those few members of the audience who dare to point out flaws, also fear my labeling them as "Skeptics." In fact, this the same ploy also used by scoffers: suppressing criticism through fear, threatening to attach disgusting labels such as "crackpot" or "woo woo" to anyone who disagrees. It's a serious threat. If the Demonizing is successful and the disgusting label is attached, then the rest of the audience will turn against the labeled transgressor, be they "woo woo" or "skeptic" or "witch." (((((((((((((((((( ( ( ( ( (O) ) ) ) ) ))))))))))))))))))) William J. Beaty SCIENCE HOBBYIST website billb at amasci com http://amasci.com EE/programmer/sci-exhibits amateur science, hobby projects, sci fair Seattle, WA 425-222-5066 unusual phenomena, tesla coils, weird sci
