Hey Sonny,
I have experienced many strange things in my lifetime that probably most people in the world would categorize as "paranormal". After doing some research on the topic I have come to another interpretation of the events that makes a lot more sense to me. I agree the Bullshit show is biased... it's entertainment. But there really is a lot of good science out there and that is what the show is based on.
Some great resources are:
Pseudoscience and the Paranormal, Terence Hines
Demon Haunted World, Carl Sagan
Why People Believe Weird Things, Michael Shermer
In Search of the Light, Susan Blackmore (this is more of a biography of a paranormal scientist)
The point is that those "ghost hunters" are not doing science at all, and when you are not doing real science it is easy to interpret things (and even nothing) however you want. Usually this corresponds with our presuppositions.
Notice that they never:
Calibrated their sensitive instruments
Tried to isolate the room from any external electromagnetic forces (turning electricity off, etc.)
Wore any special clothing to isolate themselves from the area
Meticulously mapped out and measured the room(s) into a 3D grid and took measurements from each point
Repeated the above measurements a set number of times for each point
Did a detailed study on any outside electromagnetic influences (power lines, antennae, etc.)
Fed the measurements into a computer to create a model to see if there really were any anomalous readings
Further investigate anamolous readings instead of automatically positing ghosts
I could go on and on. I'm not a scientist, but even I know there is more to paranormal investigation than randomly pointing an uncalibrated magnetometer around a room and looking for it to go off the charts.
And remember, when the "ghost hunters" find nothing out of the ordinary (that's to say, they are finding electromagnetic interference, but not in the way they expect) they then go back to another highly dubious detection method: finding Orbs in digital photography.
I won't even go into the sillyness of that, but suffice it to say that there is a very simple explanation for it - it might be fun for you to find that out for yourself.
So skeptics are not always skeptics just because they haven't experienced strange things. Many times it's because they have actually done research on this topic instead of relying on stories from a friend of a friend or from books/tv shows with equally bad anecdotal "evidence".
Cheers,
rem
Posts by rem
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53Even if you don't believe in God, do you believe that spirits exist?
by sonnyboy inhow do so many people have similar experiences in "haunted" places if spirits didn't exist?
how do ouija boards work?
i recently purchased one and...i now know why so many people fear them.
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rem
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The Skeptic's Worst Nightmare (S)
by Shining One incheck some of this out and you may see why there are two sides to the issues that are portrayed as so one sided here.
you will immediately smell the b.s.
emanating from the skeptic's book of bible stories!
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rem
>> One account by one source......
Didn't the paragraph before say that the "populace" witnessed it? Using your logic this would be many many sources. Paul just has to *claim* many people saw Jesus rise and for some reason you view each of those *claimed* witnesses as first-hand accounts. Where are their actual claims? All you have is second and third hand info many years after the fact which is no better than what you are criticizing.
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53
Even if you don't believe in God, do you believe that spirits exist?
by sonnyboy inhow do so many people have similar experiences in "haunted" places if spirits didn't exist?
how do ouija boards work?
i recently purchased one and...i now know why so many people fear them.
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rem
>> You must be a Penn & Teller fan.
>> I saw that episode of Bullshit, but they never explained why it didn't go off in all the rooms, all of which had electrical outlets.
You've got to be kidding me. You are kidding, right?
I saw that episode. In fact, I have it recorded. How do you get the idea that it didn't go off in all of the rooms? Nothing in the show suggested that. It looks like you are exaggerating a memory. If you are unconsciously exaggerating this mundane fact, how can you or anyone trust that you aren't exaggerating your other more extraordinary claims?
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15
New Book Exposing "Intelligent Design"
by AlanF ini thought some people would be interested in this, since the watchtower society has been gradually adopting (but not acknowledging the source) id-ish ideas for about a decade.. there's a new book out called creationism's trojan horse: the wedge of intelligent design (barbara forrest & paul r. gross, oxford university press, 2004).
it shows very clearly that so-called intelligent design (id) is nothing more than standard creationism masquerading as something new.
id is really just a jazzed up version of william paley's "watchmaker" argument, which in turn is a jazzed up version of the argument from ignorance -- "i can't imagine how that happened, so it didn't".
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rem
Thanks for the recommendation... it's now on my Amazon wish list! :)
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Penn & Teller, what do you guys think of them?
by Big Dog ini got turned on to penn & teller recently and have gone back and watched almost every episode of "bullshit!
" and i have to say i am pretty impressed.
anybody else here watch them, if so what do you think?
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rem
I think they are great, but it's probably only preaching to the choir. For instance, they had an episode on ghost hunters that I would love to have one of my buddies see, but it's just a little too over the top. Don't get me wrong, it cracked me up, but I just don't see it appealing to the unconverted.
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Debunking the Bible skeptics and Liberal Theologians
by Rex inrecommended reading for christians who want to debunk the alleged 'facts' and claims of the naturalist element: .
archer, gleason l., enclyclopedia of bible difficulties, zondervan 1982 .
brauch, manfred t., the hard sayings of paul, intervarsity 1989 .
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rem
Don't read the bible and think for yourself... just interpret the bible the way these people say you should. Oh yeah, and these interpretations are infallible and science is evil. Jesus hearts ignorance.
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Christian answers to the Atheist Bible: Presupposing your beliefs
by Rex inhere is a very insightful article from ken ham....at the end is my own testimony in capsule form.
when the person you talk to on creation insists that you leave the bible out of it, they are really saying the deck should be stacked one way.
(my note: you've heard it this way, "religion does not speak on science at all.
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rem
It's not possible to have an intelligent discussion with someone who doesn't even respect logic. Rex's dribblings would be funny if it wasn't so sad. rem
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Christian answers to the Atheist Bible: Presupposing your beliefs
by Rex inhere is a very insightful article from ken ham....at the end is my own testimony in capsule form.
when the person you talk to on creation insists that you leave the bible out of it, they are really saying the deck should be stacked one way.
(my note: you've heard it this way, "religion does not speak on science at all.
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rem
>> If an alleged 'fact' of science contradicts the Bible then all of the evidence isn't in or the presupposition is wrong to start with.
LOL What was it that Jesus said? Eye, rafter, needle, shut the hell up.
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Christian answers to the Atheist Bible: Presupposing your beliefs
by Rex inhere is a very insightful article from ken ham....at the end is my own testimony in capsule form.
when the person you talk to on creation insists that you leave the bible out of it, they are really saying the deck should be stacked one way.
(my note: you've heard it this way, "religion does not speak on science at all.
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rem
>> My experience is that evolutionists do much the same thing. They start out with the position that there is no creator other than pure chance and work to prop up that position. That is not science either.
I guess your experience is pretty limited because there are people who accept Evolution and believe in God. Whoah - there goes your whole presupposition argument! :)
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Christian answers to the Atheist Bible: Presupposing your beliefs
by Rex inhere is a very insightful article from ken ham....at the end is my own testimony in capsule form.
when the person you talk to on creation insists that you leave the bible out of it, they are really saying the deck should be stacked one way.
(my note: you've heard it this way, "religion does not speak on science at all.
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rem
>> My belief is built on the solid rock of the testimony and deaths of Christians from the very beginning of the church age. My belief is locked in by my daily communication and walk with my Lord and my God. My eternal soul is sealed by the Holy Spirit and He guides me in all things....
In other words, you belief is based on the shaky foundation of the testimony of ancient ignorant dead people and your imaginary friend.
rem