The future of skeptisim

[Saru]

The future of skeptisim

Click here to watch video - 48:50s

JREF panel discussion with Jamy Ian Swiss, Barbara Drescher, Tim Farley and Reed Esau.

[Shiloh17]

I'm not so sure about this..

[Frank Merton]

I must admit I didn't watch the whole thing; long-winded and self-congratulatory, even though I agree with them for the most part. I would deny that it is a movement, but don't much care either way.

To me skepticism is the golden Middle Way between cynicism and gullibility. It implies a willingness to accept ideas provided they are supported with reasonably good evidence and that counter-evidence is mostly refuted rather than rationalized. I don't think the serious skeptic "believes" anything, but holds working opinions with varying degrees of assurance based on the evidence.

The most important characteristic of a skeptic is the rejection of faith claims. These are just not acceptable, and personally when I see them I immediately know that what the person who uses this sort of claim has to say is not really worth considering.

[Skep B]

Weirdly, when I'm told about a faith claim. I can usually accept it a bit better.

In the sense that if this faith the person has allows them peace, and they arent hurting someone else, it's doing more good than bad. And it'd feel wrong to try and break something from someone who finds peace in an ideal. Because, to me, it's not the place of science to try and argue faith. We have enough with bigfooters, ghosters, and Ufology

[Frank Merton]

Weirdly, when I'm told about a faith claim. I can usually accept it a bit better.

In the sense that if this faith the person has allows them peace, and they arent hurting someone else, it's doing more good than bad. And it'd feel wrong to try and break something from someone who finds peace in an ideal. Because, to me, it's not the place of science to try and argue faith. We have enough with bigfooters, ghosters, and Ufology

If that's the truth. I so often feel that behind the "faith" is a miserable person trying to escape in a false peace. That religious peace give true peace to very few if any is demonstrated by the behavior of true believers in pushing and even forcing the belief on others.

[Skep B]

Well, that's what I mean by not hurting others.

I don't care if their peace is real or imagined. I just can't bring myself to worry about people at large that much.

Now, if they do i find, hurt people in one way or another, I'll seek them out, and I'll give them doubts. Maybe not enough to make them lose their faith, but enough to shut them up for awhile.

actually i shouldn't say that. Sometimes I'll straight up just try to break their faith

[Frank Merton]

There is no way to "refute" a faith claim short of being rude, and they know that. I think that is why they use it -- that and the fact that they have nothing else.

[Skep B]

I've found finding breaks within the logic of their faith does it, or more specifically, breaks between what they believe and the things Christ/Allah/God/ Floating turtle man w/ bullheadidon'tknowitsjsutanotherstupidentity actually said.

There's ways to break anything that people chose to believe