Phil Plait, "Don't Be a Dick" (Part 1 of 3)

This speech by astronomer and atheist Dr. Phillip Cary Plait was given at the TAM8 Conference which took place from July 8-11, 2010. Phil Plait is the author of _Death from the Skies_ and is President of the James Randi Educational Foundation as well as creator of the online blog "Bad Astronomy," hosted by discovermagazine.com. He served for a decade on the Hubble Space Telescope.

This video was obtained at this web address:
http://vimeo.com/13704095

The topic of the speech pertains to effectiveness of approach when involving oneself in the discussions related to "winning the hearts and minds" of the great majority of humanity to critical thinking, atheism, and science. It is an offer of constructive criticism and an examination of not only the counterproductive effects of employing needless insults and hostility as a methodology but also of the proper orientation one must take to the process of raising consciousness and both engendering and cultivating a society capable of scientific reasoning.

The ironic note is that he mentions Skepchick Rebecca Watson having concurrently published writings on the same theme, though with a different trajectory. Watson presently is embroiled in petty inflammatory exchanges regarding her "elevatorgate" experience and is campaigning for a boycott against the pioneering atheist and accomplished biologist Richard Dawkins for simply not "getting it," as she wantonly declares. Instead of taking an educational approach to the matter to raise consciousness and advance both feminism and atheism, she has chosen instead to antagonize, divide, and ultimately damage the atheist community and its most prominent spokesperson... and has in effect alienated feminists and feminist efforts therein. This would appear to contradict a "don't be a dick" approach, of course, and, in fact, after Plait's speech came out, she and PZ Myers denounced it. In a later speech Watson even declared, "I realized I am, in fact, a dick, and I should just embrace it." So clearly she takes a different tact...

As Dr. Plait states in this lecture, we're already facing tremendous difficulties in overcoming the resistance of irrationality. So infighting and "cheap point scoring" simply and needlessly add to the already daunting challenges we face as a members of a movement to enlighten and empower other minds.

Whatistobe

Disclaimer: The maker of this video is in no way associated with Dr. Phil Plait, The James Randi Educational Foundation, www.randi.org, TAM conferences, or vimeo.com. This video is intended for information purposes only.

Highlights from Part 1:
"There's some alarming developments in the way skepticism is being done... The tone of what we're doing is decaying, and instead of relying on the merits of the arguments- which is what critical thinking is really all about, is what evidence-based reasoning is about- it seems that vitriol and venom are on the rise."

"How do you convince someone that they're not thinking clearly when they're not thinking clearly?"

"The message we're trying to convey is hard all by its lonesome, and it's even worse when we're trying to peddle this idea... of no magic, no afterlife, no higher moral authoritative father figure, no security, and no happy ever after... This is a tough sell."

Category:

Education

Tags:

• phil
• phillip
• cary
• plait
• bad
• astronomy
• don't
• be
• dick
• skepticism
• atheism
• agnosticism
• skeptic
• atheist
• agnostic
• critical
• thinking
• communicate
• communication
• communicating
• goal
• winning
• hearts
• and
• minds

[standauffish]

How is he an astronomer? Seems he is a full time PAID debunker that makes his living debunking others.

I guess selling books and speaking tours debunking UFO's paranormal activity and God is more lucrative than astronomy

Funny think is... Quantum physics is showing that Phil is full of crap. Do yourself a favor and watch "What the Bleep do we know"

"Practicing the art of skepticism what a joke. How many scientist with new ideas have been ostracized by their peers throughout history

[DwknsDnnttHtchnsHrrs]

@standauffish How an astronomer: he's got a PhD in astronomy, worked on the Hubble Space Telescope & STIS, worked for NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, continues to assist active astronomical work happening today. All you present, however, is ad hominem: his qualifications are not in question here but his message of effective conduct. That said, 1. astronomy is not quantum physics, so... 2. Debunking work is useful & worth paying for. 3. Religion has ostracized peers to death, science debunks

[bodhrangeek]

Wow. Got a live homeopathy retard up in the comments. lawl.

[DwknsDnnttHtchnsHrrs]

@bodhrangeek It was feeling a bit like a wall, just serving to receive a plaster of anti-Phil posters. I need only stand there and he not only comes up with my arguments for me but also tears them down- so thoughtful and generous of him. I have the feeling he just zeroes in on any video with Plait's name in the title and spams his anti-skeptic/ pro-homeopathy spiel, figuring to score a point

[DwknsDnnttHtchnsHrrs]

@Bandershot "Granted, I'm assuming..." Exactly. You assume and haven't asked me a word about my stance on anything, much less homeopathy, and you've now instilled in me a great disinterest. Since you'd rather blather than listen, I'll make this clearer: Plait's message in these videos has NOTHING TO DO with pseudo-science. It addresses concerns he has with the conduct of those paving the way for a new future. You'd know that if you'd actually WATCH the videos you comment on- and not be a dick

[raydredX]

@standauffish (+/-) "They tell you one thing just to proves that it's wrong tomorrow" Yep. That's called honesty, it's fine to admit you don't know rather than relying on absolute answers you either can't or don't want to prove wrong. NOT ONE theory is proven to be right. But they work better than everything else.

Albert Einstein was a cool guy, a physicist, not an ass. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Dishonesty is worse than both.

Or maybe you're just a trollfish.

[TheAtheologian]

@standauffish Oh, and if you want to hear my principles on the nature of reality and what is true in a philosophical setting, let me know, I was more operating under the principles you sue, namely the relativism of knowledge etc.

I also think it would be senseless of me to simply sit here defending him, as it is quite obvious that you should deny ideas that make no sense today, and change your mind tomorrow, if it then does make sense, not a second before.

[TheAtheologian]

@standauffish I can philosophically accept your factual relativism (barely) but the current knowledge and understanding of truth is that homeopathy and faith healing does not do anything beyond a placebo effect. And our only way to relate with the world is to accept the current best understanding, even if it turns out not to be true.

And as a scientist, it is his work to present and argue for the current best explanation for how the world works. This is "truth"; our understanding of the universe

[standauffish]

@TheAtheologian 'Truth' is relative. Today's truth is not the same as yesterdays truth and tomorrow we will find a new truth. To be arrogant and deny everything is just stupid and accomplishes nothing nor is it constructive. All it will do is antagonize and make people dig in to their ideas. Those debunk tactics will never change anyone's mind.

Just makes a laughing stock out of him, a 'scientist' who makes more money selling HIS religion of bunk than he can in his studied field

[standauffish]

@leconfidant That is the wisest comment I have seen on here. Refreshing and to the point

[TheAtheologian]

@standauffish No, you don't, you know of plenty of cases were people have gotten better due to their own bodies being awesome, and blaming it on something with a documented effect of nil. I'm sorry to be so harsh but I've had my monthly share of antu-science.

I'm pretty sure saying that new things should not currently be accepted as truths is the dictionary definition of skepticism.

Yes, it is good we have free speech, maybe we can actually manage to come to conclusions about truth.

[standauffish]

@TheAtheologian I know many cases where homeopathy and faith healing have helped where medicine failed

Phil is not a skeptic but a rabid debunker. He calls BS on everything just to hear himself talk.. and get paid for it by his mindless groupies

You cannot debunk a belief. If he feels so strong to get his anti religious message out, why not visit Iran and give a speech about the evils of Islam? Oh that's right... they might kill him Good thing we have free speech :~D

[standauffish]

@raydredX No thanks Main stream physics sucks eggs As soon as they tell you one thing they find new answers that prove they were wrong yesterday

Imagination is more important than knowledge" - Albert Einstein

Now THERE was a cool guy :D

[raydredX]

@standauffish What The Bleep Do We Know seem like an awful pile of bullshit from the first 20 minutes I've seen.

Do yourself a favor and watch "Lecture 1->10 | Modern Physics: Quantum Mechanics".

[A86]

@TheAtheologian - Well, I wasn't trying to criticize skepticism as I'm a skeptic myself. I was just criticizing the oversimplified view that all of the church has always been monolithically opposed to scientific discovery and that scientists welcome new discovery with open arms. Albert Einstein's new physics got quite a bit of resistance in the scientific community as did some of Darwin's theories originally. Unfortunately some scientists can be traditionalists instead of skeptics.