Michael Shermer - Why People Believe Weird Things - Part 4/11

[lcarrillo23]

You humans have no idea.

[jjobie]

"DUMBFUCKISTAN!!!" LOL...

[I1KonArtis1I]

conspiracy theories are for the uneducated.

[ThisBoyTV]

Thanks for posting this series CFIOntario. Would love to be involved with your organization/society in some way.

[pillsareyummy]

@signatureinthecell Stephen C. Meyer is a Creationist fool...

[pillsareyummy]

@signatureinthecell "Comment Pending Approval!" I went to your site, and watched the video. And sure enough, there wasn't too many comments, and they were positive regarding your side of the debate. Or more simply, 'you're full of shit'. All, or at least most, videos posted by creationist are censored, gee I wonder why? You, like your buddy Stephen, and his Discovery Institute cohorts, all love bullshit and censorship. Weasel...

[watercup123456]

@pillsareyummy Lying retards SHOULD be censored and NEVER given the time of day to vomit their nonsense and have an opportunity to influence others.

Otherwise I hate shermer he's a dumb fucking asshole who wouldn't believe real things if they were in front of his face.

[pillsareyummy]

@watercup123456 Only fools believe things without evidence....

[watercup123456]

@pillsareyummy You don't need belief when you have evidence.

But that doesn't matter if evidence is ignored.

[pillsareyummy]

@watercup123456 He doesn't ignore good evidence. If the evidence was good there would be no need to be skeptical. Although, I feel that he uses too many of the same tired examples concerning UFOs or other phenomena, in the end, there is no good evidence for any of the phenomena he discusses.

[watercup123456]

@pillsareyummy You used words that nailed it exactly "there is no good evidence for any of the phenomena he discusses."

For any of the phenomena HE DISCUSSES. It is easy and convenient to discuss the cases of known fraud, etc., etc, but it is not so easy to discuss incidents and issues not so clear cut.

The kind of debunks the guy gives are so childish and non-scientific, its amazing he gets any time at all. Rebuttals amount to simple tired dismissals. Does the guy actually WORK?

[pillsareyummy]

@watercup123456 I'll agree that he uses cases that 'may' not be representative of a given phenomenon (UFOs for example). However, with that being said, you have to remember that most of the public isn't educated in rational/skeptical thinking.Thus, it's better to talk about known frauds, since it allows people to understand 'why' we need to be skeptical in the first place. However, he has stated, that although some cases have no known answers, one must address the prosaic explanations first...

[watercup123456]

@pillsareyummy He isn't bothered by the fact that particles seem to know where to go and what to do at quantum levels despite our attempts to "trip them up", even though it freaks the fuck out of quantum physicists. He may not be hip to "spooky actions at a distance" but I have done enough research to know we're either missing something really small or something really fucked up in reality is going on and BOTH philosophies of "gods" and "not gods" has failed us.

[pillsareyummy]

"...be bothered by the fact that particles seem to know where to go..." Shermer has stated (as well as others in psychology),and I agree with him/them,that the reason why QM 'may' be so strange and counter intuitive, is simply due to the fact that our brains aren't wired to make intuitive sense of certain realms (like QM). As far as the God debate is concerned, well, in an age of Islamic fundamentalism, Intelligent design, etc,we need all the 'Shermers' we can get. 

[watercup123456]

@pillsareyummy QM is strange and counter intuitive because our brains are not wired to make intuitive sense (of certain things).

In the industry, we call that a "cop out".

To me, our brains seem specifically wired to intuitively have a sense of that world, as we've been able to posit its existence and having concluded it does exist, figure it out in some ways.

Also, the problem to me doesn't seem to lie with our brains; it lies in the spooky observations made while gathering data.

[pillsareyummy]

@watercup123456 "To me, our brains seem specifically wired to intuitively have a sense of that world," Yes, however most of our intuitions are wrong. As a matter of fact, it was that very reason for why science was born out of the 'Enlightenment'.  Most of what we now understand, whether it be Cosmology, Physics, Biology, Neurology, ect, was very counter intuitive. It was only through using the scientific method that we began to really understand nature (with much still to learn).

[watercup123456]

@pillsareyummy I probably shouldn't say that world.. I guess that, despite how it can be wrong, insight is one of those things that in it being wrong, yet still can be correct, it has this paradoxical nature. I feel like, I guess with me, given the knowledge base (I/we) have today, that intuition is better able to make those inferences (perhaps than it was able to in the past). I just know how today I, given my knowledge, can use that with intuition to come to logical outcomes that pan out...