Thursday, July 22, 2004
NZ SKEPTICS DO REAL SCIENCE NOT!
This extract came from NZ skeptic Vicki Hyde whose blurb tells all "[Hyde is the] founder member of the New Zealand Spaceflight Association and is author of Godzone Skies Astronomy for New Zealanders". The ever so bright Hyde has produced a flyer (Download - CLICK) for the NZ Skeptics on UFOs. Read it nothing bright inside, what got me rolling over in fits of laughter was how her numnut mind (surpose scientist) jumps from the odd to the out right absurd and back again. Have a look at this (page 2).
LETS START HERE!
How is the evidence for UFOs or alien abductions any better than the evidence for Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy?
THEN UNCLE CARL
[Finding evidence for extra-terrestrial intelligence] would be an absolutely transforming event in human history. But, the stakes are so high on whether it's true or false, that we must demand the more rigorous standards of evidence. Precisely because it's so exciting. That's the circumstance in which our hopes may dominate our skeptical scrutiny of the data. So, we have to be very careful. There have been a few instances in the [past]. We thought we found something, and it always turned out to be explicable... Carl Sagan
THEN THIS!
Things to do
Try faking a UFO photograph and show it to friends to see their reaction.
Spend an evening near an airport and watch the lights in the sky to see how hard it can be to judge size and distance.
Santa Claus -> Tooth Fairy -> Rigorous Standards -> Faking -> Airport Light.
NoVicki not tonight, I'm off to bed too cold at the airport. Oh dear!
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This extract came from NZ skeptic Vicki Hyde whose blurb tells all "[Hyde is the] founder member of the New Zealand Spaceflight Association and is author of Godzone Skies Astronomy for New Zealanders". The ever so bright Hyde has produced a flyer (Download - CLICK) for the NZ Skeptics on UFOs. Read it nothing bright inside, what got me rolling over in fits of laughter was how her numnut mind (surpose scientist) jumps from the odd to the out right absurd and back again. Have a look at this (page 2).
LETS START HERE!
How is the evidence for UFOs or alien abductions any better than the evidence for Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy?
THEN UNCLE CARL
[Finding evidence for extra-terrestrial intelligence] would be an absolutely transforming event in human history. But, the stakes are so high on whether it's true or false, that we must demand the more rigorous standards of evidence. Precisely because it's so exciting. That's the circumstance in which our hopes may dominate our skeptical scrutiny of the data. So, we have to be very careful. There have been a few instances in the [past]. We thought we found something, and it always turned out to be explicable... Carl Sagan
THEN THIS!
Things to do
Try faking a UFO photograph and show it to friends to see their reaction.
Spend an evening near an airport and watch the lights in the sky to see how hard it can be to judge size and distance.
Santa Claus -> Tooth Fairy -> Rigorous Standards -> Faking -> Airport Light.
NoVicki not tonight, I'm off to bed too cold at the airport. Oh dear!
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