ted@imsvax.UUCP (Ted Holden) (10/29/85)
This is from Chas Forsythe's latest: >I think the question was asked wrong, Ted. When mythology says, vaguely, >"Kronos ruled the heavens" why does that mean that the Earth orbited it? >Even so, your answer is really stupid. I think you're getting edgy. Scene at a bar, from The Wizard of Id Bung (the wino): "What you have to say makes perfect sense to me." Other paying customer: "In that case, let me rephrase it...." My answer sounds stupid to you Charles? Thank you, that's kind of a relief. I guess I won't have to rephrase it or anything like that after all. Sincerely, Ted Holden
pamp@bcsaic.UUCP (pam pincha) (11/04/85)
---------------------------------------------------------------- Notice: a bit of a long flame -- avoid if you wish. ---------------------------------------------------------------- In article <447@imsvax.UUCP> ted@imsvax.UUCP (Ted Holden) writes: >This is from Chas Forsythe's latest: > > >>I think the question was asked wrong, Ted. When mythology says, vaguely, >>"Kronos ruled the heavens" why does that mean that the Earth orbited it? >>Even so, your answer is really stupid. I think you're getting edgy. > > > > Scene at a bar, from The Wizard of Id > >Bung (the wino): "What you have to say makes perfect sense to me." > >Other paying customer: "In that case, let me rephrase it...." > > > My answer sounds stupid to you Charles? Thank you, that's kind of a >relief. I guess I won't have to rephrase it or anything like that after >all. > Dear Ted, Although I don't agree with how Charles stated his objections, I still must agree with the content. My biggest objections to the postings I've read, is that the "theory" is only vaguely formulated, has a questionable empirical base, and leaves little interest for those reading it to test it. Without the tests, it can't be anything but speculation -- which is useless in these discussions. The theory doesn't tie in with the evidence, nor does it explain any current gray areas of knowledge in the field (a major hallmark of a viable theory) and thereby present a clear re-evaluation of an overwhelming ammount the current interpretations. Unfortunately, I can only point this out, I don't expect my evaluation to be believed, for it is incrediable the stubborn will of people to maintain a belief in something *even when they know better*!! (For a good example of this I suggest reading a study by Barry Singer and Victor A. Benassi of the Department of Psychology C.S.U. at Long Beach .Their study was on the stubborness of people to beleive the contradictory over reality. The best report is in the Winter 1980/81 issue of the Skeptical Inquirer,under the title of "Fooling some of the people all of the time." A synopsis of their study, and another at Southern Illinois University by Scott Morris, is in Douglas Hofstader's Metamagical Themas - section 2,"Worlds in Collision",pp.91-114.) Well enough of this minor flame. I just wanted to state in a less derogatory way my objections to Ted's postings. P.M.Pincha-Wagener A P.M.Pincha-Wagener
csdf@mit-vax.UUCP (Charles Forsythe) (11/05/85)
In article <447@imsvax.UUCP> ted@imsvax.UUCP (Ted Holden) writes: >This is from Chas Forsythe's latest: That's "Lord Chas Forsythe" to you, bucko. >>I think the question was asked wrong, Ted. When mythology says, vaguely, >>"Kronos ruled the heavens" why does that mean that the Earth orbited it? >>Even so, your answer is really stupid. I think you're getting edgy. > > Scene at a bar, from The Wizard of Id Hmmmm. Ted supporting a point using a comic strip? I find nothing out of character here. >Bung (the wino): "What you have to say makes perfect sense to me." > >Other paying customer: "In that case, let me rephrase it...." Giggle. I read that one too. > My answer sounds stupid to you Charles? Thank you, that's kind of a >relief. I guess I won't have to rephrase it or anything like that after >all. Like I said, Ted. You're getting edgy. Maybe you need a vacnation. If you keep up this stressful life of molding reality into your bogus little theories, you'll have a nervous breakdown -- sort of a personal "catastraphic evolution" ne c'est pas? > Sincerely, Ted Holden Don't patronize me, you crackpot. -- Charles "Kill the Pope!!" Forsythe CSDF@MIT-VAX "I was voted poster child for retroactive abortion." "Let's abort some babies for fun!" -Chuckles Lurch Buckwheat Forsythe
rlr@pyuxd.UUCP (Rich Rosen) (11/05/85)
> Unfortunately, I can only point this out, I don't expect my evaluation > to be believed, for it is incrediable the stubborn will of people to > maintain a belief in something *even when they know better*!! > (For a good example of this I suggest reading a study by Barry Singer > and Victor A. Benassi of the Department of Psychology C.S.U. at > Long Beach .Their study was on the stubborness of people to beleive > the contradictory over reality. The best report is in the Winter 1980/81 > issue of the Skeptical Inquirer,under the title of "Fooling some of the > people all of the time." A synopsis of their study, and another at > Southern Illinois University by Scott Morris, is in Douglas Hofstader's > Metamagical Themas - section 2,"Worlds in Collision",pp.91-114.) > P.M.Pincha-Wagener Don't mean to quibble (I think Worlds in Collision is a title due to Velikovsky, and Hofstadter was satirizing this), but the full title is "World Views in Collision: National Enquirer vs. Skeptical Inquirer" (I may have gotten the publication names reversed), and it was originally found in the Feb. 1982 issue of Scientific American. It is positively EXCELLENT reading and should be REQUIRED reading for school children of sufficient age, ESPECIALLY for those who hold inane wishful thinking positions. (Not that, as the article points out, it is likely to help...) Hofstadter talks about some examples of how such silly mindsets develop, and how successful debunking occurs (as found in the studies you mention). -- Anything's possible, but only a few things actually happen. Rich Rosen pyuxd!rlr