Let’s get started already.

skeptblog — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 19:25:22 +0000

The initial post is not what this blog is all about, but why not start with an example of what I see as a problem within our society. People often make baseless claims and statements without the evidence to support them, or even a reputation from previous successes. Yet these same people make millions feeding off of some of the vulnerable and less critically minded neighbors of ours. They are able to flex their media muscles and gather flocks of followers whenever they make an appearance. They can make statements which would rewrite our knowledge of science without a shred of evidence. Even when faced with volumes of contradictory evidence, these people will stand tall and tell you that only they know the truth, which fortunately is on sale today.

I think that there is a problem in our society and I want to find a way to fix it. Everyday people should know how to spot when someone is performing a cold reading under false pretenses. They should realize that they can get better medicine from their doctor than they can from the guy between the cell phone ad and the beer commercial. They should be able to take apart a fallacious argument and see when they are being presented with a logical fallacy.

I do not, however, know what needs to be done to fix these things. That is what this is all about. This is documentation of a journey for both myself and maybe society as well.

I am a skeptic, but I still have to learn what to do with that.

Why wait for tomorow when you can know it today!

skeptblog — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 15:27:16 +0000

The world is going to end in 2000. Oh, uh..I mean, the world is going to end in 2001. Wait, 2002…that’s what I meant…2002 is …what? It didn’t. Oh. 2003 is when it is going to end. That’s what I said back in 2000!

I will never be able to understand how people can get away with making predictions about the coming year and never get embarrassed about their poor guesses. This is the time of year when all of these insights are given to the rest of us. Those of us that cannot see the future or hear the voices have to flock around those that can. How could we imagine trying to live through this year without knowing what is going to happen. We all read the last page of the book first, right?

Let’s look at one of these soothsayers for a moment.

Televangelist Pat Robertson recently announced what is going to happen to us over the next twelve months. Oil prices are going to go up. There is going to be violence in the world. The stock market is going to crash…but that isn’t till 2009 at least. Pat also says that god told him who is going to win the election…but don’t worry. He isn’t going to spoil it for the rest of us.

If we look at some of the other warnings that Pat has been able to give us of before, we will see the millions killed by last year’s terrorist attacks. We will see the horrible Pacific Northwest tsunami of 2006. We will also take note of the blowout re-election of President Bush.

Well, to be fair I have to take back the terrorist attacks. We were spared from that one because since Pat warned us when god told him of the attacks, we started praying and “God in his mercy spared us”

http://hamptonroads.com/2008/01/pat-robertson-predicts-violence,-recession-2008

SkeptBlog

Let’s get started already.

Why wait for tomorow when you can know it today!