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ljbrs
SFN Regular
USA
842 Posts |
 Posted - 12/15/2001 : 19:08:02 [Permalink]
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Then again, nobody with any brains ought to ignore information which has been carefully and objectively collected over a lifetime, so the new information would need to be carefully considered in order for it to be accepted by a true skeptic.
So, I take it all back. One should consistently be objective, but one should never ignore the complete evidence (pro and con).
ljbrs
"The only real way to reconcile science and religion is to set up something that is not science and something that is not religion." (H.L. Mencken) |
| Edited by - ljbrs on 06/12/2004 12:52:32 |
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Tim
SFN Regular
USA
775 Posts |
Posted - 12/17/2001 : 09:05:24 [Permalink]
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Man, I've marched with liberals, ranted with conservatives, placated authoritarians, and I've gotten loaded with libertarians. And, yes! I am very biased, (toward my own opinions, if they serve me well at the time). As for the anarchist through to the US conservative, if any of them have a good idea, I'll be happy to jump on their bandwagon, too. Does that make me open minded, issue oriented, reasonable, or genuinely caring? Or, does that make me naive, indecisive, vapid, or absolutely insane? Other than the 'don't cares' I'm sure there's a whole bunch of opinions on that, too. Whoops, sorry--The "don't cares' have a valid opinion, too.
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tergiversant
Skeptic Friend
USA
284 Posts |
Posted - 12/31/2001 : 13:25:21 [Permalink]
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quote:
I voted *no bias* because a true skeptic would not pre-judge anything, but would question and evaluate everything before making up his/her mind. Otherwise, just what would the word *skeptic* mean?
ljbrs    
"The only real way to reconcile science and religion is to set up something that is not science and something that is not religion." (H.L. Mencken)
"Nihil curo de ista tua stulta superstitione."
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Mr. Spock
Skeptic Friend
USA
99 Posts |
Posted - 03/09/2002 : 17:20:59 [Permalink]
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I voted "liberal," not because it describes my outlook 100%, but because most of the most prominent skeptics (Shermer, et.al.) profess liberal "leanings." Perhaps, though, if we venture outside academia, more varieted outlooks among skeptics become more pronounced.
I, too, believe that we need to define what we mean by each ideology to unerstand the issues involved, vis a vis skepticism. My favorite rough model (learned in 1st semester POLYSCI) is:
EQUALITY |-----------------------------
(liberals)| (socialists)|
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FREEDOM | ORDER |
(libertarians)| (conservatives)|
-------------------------------
What I like most about this model is that it shows where the differences really tend to show themselves: Conservatives value freedom, but only insofar as it promotes social order; liberals do the same, but only insofar as it promotes equality. Libertarians believe that we can achieve a tolerable amount of order and equality as long as freedom is maximized. Of course, this is an over-simplification, but the model demonstrates at least a few important points:
1) Most people fall somewhere in the middle of this continuum. However, while we all have our political leanings, of course, we tend to paint the other side in terms of the extremes.
2) There ARE real conflicts of interest in political life, no matter how one particular philosophy, which claims to settle all differences, looks good on paper. The appropriate skeptical response, I believe, is to ackowledge one's own proclivities and subject them to serious scutiny: I think that this is already the case insofar as none of the skeptics that I have encountered seem to be ideologues. "Isms," even skepticism itself, are fodder for further questioning; not self-evident truths.
I'm just brainstorming right now, so I welcome any feedback.
--Mike
"When did ignorance become a point of view?"
--Dilbert |
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Mr. Spock
Skeptic Friend
USA
99 Posts |
Posted - 03/09/2002 : 17:28:42 [Permalink]
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OOPs, my bitchen' visual aid got messed up in the transmission. Imagine a square, with the liberals in the upper left, representing maximum devotion to equality. Below them, on the lower left, are the libertarians, representing maximun freedom. Across from them, on the lower right, are the conservatives, representing maximum order, and above them, on the upper right, are the socialists. I hope this makes some sort of sense, without being too reductionistic.
"When did ignorance become a point of view?"
--Dilbert |
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tergiversant
Skeptic Friend
USA
284 Posts |
Posted - 03/12/2002 : 11:29:13 [Permalink]
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quote:
OOPs, my bitchen' visual aid got messed up in the transmission. Imagine a square, with the liberals in the upper left, representing maximum devotion to equality. Below them, on the lower left, are the libertarians, representing maximun freedom. Across from them, on the lower right, are the conservatives, representing maximum order, and above them, on the upper right, are the socialists. I hope this makes some sort of sense, without being too reductionistic.
My favorite visual aid is the 2D political spectrum "Nolan" graph, with economic liberty on one axis and civil liberty on the other.
From http://www.self-gov.org/results.shtml
"Government is not reason: it is not eloquence; it is FORCE! Like fire, it is a DANGEROUS servant, and a FEARFUL master." -- George Washington
Edited by - tergiversant on 03/12/2002 11:31:30 |
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Deborah
Skeptic Friend
USA
113 Posts |
Posted - 03/30/2002 : 10:12:58 [Permalink]
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I'm in the process of developing an activist's information source on the internet so I've been doing some research on the matter and I bought a few books on different topics...anyway..I have this book titled Cyberpolitics. It's very interesting. Basically, they profile internet users and internet activists against the general public. On average, internet activists are about 12% less Republican than the general public. It seems that we, internet users and internet activists are more anti-goverment when it comes to personal and private issues, social issues etc.., but we don't seem to hold a significantly different view when it comes to regulating of business , help of the needy and things like that.
Gen Public Int User Int Activist
Age 42.7 36.6 32.8
Gender
Male 49.0 59.4 71.8
Female 51.0 40.6 28.2
Race
White 81.8 82.2 77.1
Other 19.2 17.8 22.9
All of this info is from the book, Cyberpolitics.I find that this is good info to understand when we are discussing political issues here. Our presence represents a very small portion of the general population so when you put a poll up on this site, the results are going to be skewed and bias.
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Tokyodreamer
SFN Regular
USA
1447 Posts |
Posted - 03/30/2002 : 12:07:59 [Permalink]
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What are the percentages? People who call themselves Republican?
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Sum Ergo Cogito |
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Deborah
Skeptic Friend
USA
113 Posts |
Posted - 03/30/2002 : 15:41:58 [Permalink]
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No. The percentages are reflective of a study they did to determine political interests of internet users and internet activists to the general public. I could have said 12% more democratic than the general public. One of their hypothesis was the the internet population would be conservative, Republican types. That is why they stated 12% less Republican.
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Tom Morris
New Member
United Kingdom
10 Posts |
Posted - 05/05/2004 : 13:25:20 [Permalink]
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| Classic liberalism / libertarianism is a fine idea, although I think that a minimal 'safety net' welfare considerations is quite a reasonable idea. |
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ljbrs
SFN Regular
USA
842 Posts |
Posted - 05/29/2004 : 18:40:55 [Permalink]
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Actually, I am pro Capitalism, but am a liberal in everything else.
ljbrs |
"Innumerable suns exist; innumerable earths revolve about these suns in a manner similar to the way the seven planets revolve around our sun. Living beings inhabit these worlds."
Giordano Bruno
(Burned at the stake by the Roman Catholic Church Inquisition in 1600) |
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ljbrs
SFN Regular
USA
842 Posts |
Posted - 06/01/2004 : 18:31:06 [Permalink]
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"Nihil curo de ista tua stulta superstitione."
Je ne comprends pas.
ljbrs
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"Innumerable suns exist; innumerable earths revolve about these suns in a manner similar to the way the seven planets revolve around our sun. Living beings inhabit these worlds."
Giordano Bruno
(Burned at the stake by the Roman Catholic Church Inquisition in 1600) |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
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ljbrs
SFN Regular
USA
842 Posts |
Posted - 06/12/2004 : 13:36:22 [Permalink]
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Thanks, Dave W.
I studied Latin many, many years ago (and won't tell how many years that would be), but I got part of it and was stuck on an important word. The post which contained that message has been deleted, so I will leave it at that. Since I have never, ever been religious, the statement is incomprehensible if it is intended to in any way relate to me. I suppose that "Capitalism" is a cuss word in some people's minds. I suppose it was a "put down" but it missed its mark.
Thanks again, Dave W.
ljbrs |
"Innumerable suns exist; innumerable earths revolve about these suns in a manner similar to the way the seven planets revolve around our sun. Living beings inhabit these worlds."
Giordano Bruno
(Burned at the stake by the Roman Catholic Church Inquisition in 1600) |
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