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Dude
SFN Die Hard

USA
6891 Posts

Posted - 06/11/2005 :  20:30:00   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send Dude a Private Message
Seriously Storm, if you want to consider the unevidenced claim that a ghost set off your smoke detector, you have to also consider the idea that it could also be filthy's cosmic hypno-toad setting it off.


Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson

"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin

Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth
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Dude
SFN Die Hard

USA
6891 Posts

Posted - 06/11/2005 :  20:31:41   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send Dude a Private Message
You know, I like the cosmic hypno-toad idea better than ghosts.... If the phrase were mine originally I'd consider registering the <Church of the Cosmic Hypno Toad> over at ULC


Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson

"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin

Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth
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Dave W.
Info Junkie

USA
26022 Posts

Posted - 06/11/2005 :  20:55:14   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Dave W.'s Homepage Send Dave W. a Private Message
All Glory to the Hypnotoad.

(It's a Futurama character.)

- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too.
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Dude
SFN Die Hard

USA
6891 Posts

Posted - 06/11/2005 :  22:51:27   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send Dude a Private Message
hehe... Ok, now I remember that episode. Kinda hurts my brain to remeber it...


Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson

"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin

Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth
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filthy
SFN Die Hard

USA
14408 Posts

Posted - 06/12/2005 :  03:16:55   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send filthy a Private Message
It would appear that a new, Futurama DVD is going to be released in August. I'm not sure if this is all new or a selected re-hash of some episodes.

Hey Dave, thanks for the Hypnotoad (All hail the Hypnotoad!) page. Great!

Re: Joe Nickell; I've been reading him off and on for years. This guy studies hard and rigorously tests his hypothesis, even to the extent of firewalking (he did that and, unbeliever that he is, came through it unblistered. I looked for a link on that, but couldn't find one. It happened a long time ago).

But I have this itch in the back of my mind that I've had an on-line converstaion with him and it's been bugging me ever since this thread opened. Kil or Atomic might know: Did he ever visit the old forums?

Or am I merely getting driftier?


"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)

"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres


"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude

Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,

and Crypto-Communist!

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Kil
Evil Skeptic

USA
13477 Posts

Posted - 06/12/2005 :  09:53:24   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Kil's Homepage  Send Kil an AOL message  Send Kil a Yahoo! Message Send Kil a Private Message
quote:
Filthy:
But I have this itch in the back of my mind that I've had an on-line converstaion with him and it's been bugging me ever since this thread opened. Kil or Atomic might know: Did he ever visit the old forums?

Or am I merely getting driftier?


If you did, it wasn't here at SFN. I met him at the CFI West. I have an autographed copy of Secrets of the Supernatural. Nickell, to my thinking, is the most thorough investigator of paranormal claims I have ever read. I like that he delves into the history, and does forensic investigations that would actually rule out things like faulty smoke detectors, if that were the case…

Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.

Why not question something for a change?

Genetic Literacy Project
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filthy
SFN Die Hard

USA
14408 Posts

Posted - 06/12/2005 :  11:39:58   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send filthy a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Kil

quote:
Filthy:
But I have this itch in the back of my mind that I've had an on-line converstaion with him and it's been bugging me ever since this thread opened. Kil or Atomic might know: Did he ever visit the old forums?

Or am I merely getting driftier?


If you did, it wasn't here at SFN. I met him at the CFI West. I have an autographed copy of Secrets of the Supernatural. Nickell, to my thinking, is the most thorough investigator of paranormal claims I have ever read. I like that he delves into the history, and does forensic investigations that would actually rule out things like faulty smoke detectors, if that were the case…


Thanks Kil.

I dunno. It might be one of those tricks the mind plays on us now and again. Sure wish I could remember exactly. Better yet, I should keep a journal of these things.


"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)

"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres


"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude

Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,

and Crypto-Communist!

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Storm
SFN Regular

USA
708 Posts

Posted - 06/12/2005 :  14:54:09   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Storm's Homepage Send Storm a Private Message
Orifinally posted by filthy

quote:
. Nickell, to my thinking, is the most thorough investigator of paranormal claims I have ever read. I like that he delves into the history, and does forensic investigations that would actually rule out things like faulty smoke detectors, if that were the case…



cough cough... bullshit...cough cough
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Dave W.
Info Junkie

USA
26022 Posts

Posted - 06/12/2005 :  15:49:59   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Dave W.'s Homepage Send Dave W. a Private Message
Storm, if you're going to call Nickell a liar, more than your opinion is necessary.

- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too.
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Dude
SFN Die Hard

USA
6891 Posts

Posted - 06/12/2005 :  16:06:27   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send Dude a Private Message
Ohhhh can I play?

I have one!

quote:
any claim made by Storm



cough... cough.... bullshit! cough.... cough....



Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson

"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin

Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend

Sweden
9688 Posts

Posted - 06/13/2005 :  05:39:15   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Send Dr. Mabuse an ICQ Message Send Dr. Mabuse a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Storm

Orifinally posted by filthy

quote:
. Nickell, to my thinking, is the most thorough investigator of paranormal claims I have ever read. I like that he delves into the history, and does forensic investigations that would actually rule out things like faulty smoke detectors, if that were the case…



cough cough... bullshit...cough cough

Kil wrote that quote, not filthy.

Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
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"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse

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Storm
SFN Regular

USA
708 Posts

Posted - 06/13/2005 :  08:51:11   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Storm's Homepage Send Storm a Private Message
Kil wrote that quote, not filthy.

Oh...sorry... I still meant what I said....

In Investigating the Paranormal by Tony Cornell...He says this about Modern Skeptics especially those at CSICOP...

quote:
The growing band of modern skeptics exemplified by the "Comittee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims for the Paranormal(C.S.I.C.O.P) points with relish and derision to the absence of any scientific explanation for psychical effects. CSICOP claims to be scientific but the tenor of its publications displays, as do some of its members,such ignorance about the subject that the scientific status of its claims and investigations is altogether suspect.

quote:
The articles,lectures,and TV shows produced by CSICOP members display a contemptuos attitude. Several thousand years of human experience are dismissed as superstituous nonsense,the result of illusion,hallucination,delusion,or fraud.It lacks the open-mindedness required to investigate any subject scientifically.

quote:
"Presumptious" and "patronizing" are the best words for those who insinuate that some of Britians outstanding scientists,philosophes,and scholars who have been active members of the Society for Psychical Research must have been fools, or must have lacked the intelligence which CSISCOP members attribute to themselves

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Kil
Evil Skeptic

USA
13477 Posts

Posted - 06/13/2005 :  08:51:58   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Kil's Homepage  Send Kil an AOL message  Send Kil a Yahoo! Message Send Kil a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Dave W.

Storm, if you're going to call Nickell a liar, more than your opinion is necessary.


My take on this is that Storm is not calling Nickell a liar, though Im sure she thinks that he is. No, what she is saying really saying is that I am full of shit.

And considering the source, I take that as a complement from one who rules in every possible explanation, no matter how speculative, for an anomaly that will lead to her own confirmation bias with no regard for a truly honest investigation. In Storms world, natural explanations and extraordinary explanations are equally valid. She completely fails to understand that because some occurrence may remain a mystery in terms of absolute proof, the nod must go to the more mundane explanation if there is one, given that the extraordinary explanation has never been verified and may not be valid.

In other words, things that we know happen and her speculations are equal. This view is antithetical to critical thinking. A skill that remains elusive to Storm. Simply put, she just doesn't get it.

Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.

Why not question something for a change?

Genetic Literacy Project
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Dave W.
Info Junkie

USA
26022 Posts

Posted - 06/13/2005 :  09:22:32   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Dave W.'s Homepage Send Dave W. a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Storm

In Investigating the Paranormal by Tony Cornell...He says this about Modern Skeptics especially those at CSICOP...
quote:
The growing band of modern skeptics exemplified by the "Comittee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims for the Paranormal(C.S.I.C.O.P) points with relish and derision to the absence of any scientific explanation for psychical effects. CSICOP claims to be scientific but the tenor of its publications displays, as do some of its members,such ignorance about the subject that the scientific status of its claims and investigations is altogether suspect.

So, Tony Cornell seems to disagree with Maurice Townshend, who seems to disagree with CSICOP only about the utility of investigating the paranormal with the expectation of positive results.

And the folks at CSICOP don't "relish" the absence of scientific explanations for "psychical effects," many of them are actually dismayed that people believe in such things without evidence. That's not derision, it's disgust at the flim-flammers out to shake empty the wallets of the gullible.
quote:
It lacks the open-mindedness required to investigate any subject scientifically.
Cornell's just got a "holier-than-thou" attitude which neglects the fact that after 100-plus years of investigation, the paranormal proponents have little to show for their work. Doesn't matter how open-minded one is if a thing to be investigated does not exist.
quote:
"Presumptious" and "patronizing" are the best words for those who insinuate that some of Britians outstanding scientists,philosophes,and scholars who have been active members of the Society for Psychical Research must have been fools, or must have lacked the intelligence which CSISCOP members attribute to themselves
Unfortunately, history is full of outstanding scientists, philosophers and scholars who have been completely and utterly wrong about things outside their fields of expertise. Ignorance is ignorance, regardless of how intelligent one is.

- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too.
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Valiant Dancer
Forum Goalie

USA
4826 Posts

Posted - 06/13/2005 :  09:29:54   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Valiant Dancer's Homepage Send Valiant Dancer a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Storm

Kil wrote that quote, not filthy.

Oh...sorry... I still meant what I said....

In Investigating the Paranormal by Tony Cornell...He says this about Modern Skeptics especially those at CSICOP...

quote:
The growing band of modern skeptics exemplified by the "Comittee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims for the Paranormal(C.S.I.C.O.P) points with relish and derision to the absence of any scientific explanation for psychical effects. CSICOP claims to be scientific but the tenor of its publications displays, as do some of its members,such ignorance about the subject that the scientific status of its claims and investigations is altogether suspect.

quote:
The articles,lectures,and TV shows produced by CSICOP members display a contemptuos attitude. Several thousand years of human experience are dismissed as superstituous nonsense,the result of illusion,hallucination,delusion,or fraud.It lacks the open-mindedness required to investigate any subject scientifically.

quote:
"Presumptious" and "patronizing" are the best words for those who insinuate that some of Britians outstanding scientists,philosophes,and scholars who have been active members of the Society for Psychical Research must have been fools, or must have lacked the intelligence which CSISCOP members attribute to themselves





This Tony Cornell?

"Cellphones "killing off ghosts"

http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2001/10/15/world/worghost&sec=world

LONDON: Mobile phones are killing off ghosts, a British expert who has spent years researching the occult said yesterday. Tony Cornell, of the Society for Psychical Research, told the Sunday Express newspaper that reports of ghost sightings had started to decline when mobile phones were introduced 15 years ago."

Sorry, Nickell shows the lengths of his investigation. He appears to start off open-minded to the possibility of ghosts but also mindful of the nature of humans. Cornell has a pre-concieved notion that ghosts have certain characteristics which have yet to be proven.

Cthulhu/Asmodeus when you're tired of voting for the lesser of two evils

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