Thanks for joining me!
Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton
It’s Not Funny, It’s Animal Cruelty
There are days when I come to believe that society is going to hell in a hand basket. Some of the things I see on social media makes me wonder what people are actually thinking when they post. In this instance, I’m referring to a short video that seems to have gone viral of a man on the street giving a cat a kick down the sidewalk. No, I’m not going to link it because it’s awful. He leans down to stroke the cat, then, suddenly boots the cat several feet down the walkway. He thinks it’s funny.
Do I Actually Need Another Site to Hold Debates/Discussions?
Gretchen, over at SkepticReview wants me to create an account over at something called “letter.wiki”. It’s a place, to allow people want to have a debate or discussion, can talk to each other, in a blog post format ( actually, a “letter” to the person you’re responding to on a particular topic. It’s a great idea, and Ive been thinking about creating an account there. Then, I thought differently. My thought is how this would, in any way, drive traffic to this blog. It may, but I need more information.
Talking Past One Another
I don’t know about anyone else, but lately, it seems that no matter the topic when I’m having a discussion with another person, it appears we end up talking past each other. It’s as if one of us is avoiding whatever is being discussed entirely. Not that the other person replies talking about dishwashers when I have brought up microwaves – they’re both appliances – but they have entirely different functions, and even pretending we’re talking about the same thing sometimes gives me a headache. When this occurs, I try to think of the possibilities as to why and I always seem to settle on at least three: The other person has no idea what I’m talking about; I haven’t been stated clearly enough what I’m getting at; They’re completely disinterested in what I have to say and only bring something up related, to mollify me long enough to walk away.
Why Do Some Consider “Skepticism” a Dirty Word?
I’ve written in these pages that I believe that everyone is a skeptic. I think that’s true without exception. No matter the walk in life, there are people that are skeptical about many different subjects and it has nothing to do with religious belief or those of us that are non-religious. We all certainly have our own biases, as individuals or in certain groups, but that doesn’t nullify skepticism. In fact, /i would challenge anyone to find a person that isn’t skeptical about something, whether it is Bigfoot, or Ancient Aliens, or anywhere in between, we all have our doubts about something we read or hear about at one time or another.
Can You Be ‘Too Skeptical’?
Is it possible for someone to be “too skeptical”? Or as I have referred to it as being “hyper-skeptical”? I’m not sure simply because my understanding is that someone that is too or hyper-skeptical is someone thst questions everything, even the most simple, obvious of assertions. I’ve never met anyone like that. I’m not saying that person doesn’t exist, just I have no experience in interacting with anyone like that. I’ve certainly met people that were, in areas, more skeptical than I am, but then, I may have been the same with them. Is there a line to be drawn or is it just a personal perception that we may have of another person? I tend to lean toward the latter.
Religion and Skepticism: A Dissent.
In a recent post by my good friend Gretchen, she utilizes John Loftus’ book, An Outsiders Test for Faith as an example of how we should apply skepticism, to faith, which is one of several definitions proposed in an earlier post. I’ve read the book, the video she embedded I’ve also viewed before. What I want to ask here is what constitutes an outsider? Is it that a person was once a believer, and is now an non-believer that they are an outsider and are therefore qualified to make a determination as to what is true or not true to any religious belief? Is it possible to have any objectivity having been a believer in the past and now questions the beliefs of others?
A Lack of Skepticism in Academia?
People are becoming more skeptical everyday. Not that those people would necessarily claim to be skeptics in any definition of the word, but all any of have to do is talk to our colleagues, friends, and neighbors to get a sense of where we are now in our trust of what we hear or read. A perfect example is the [trust in the media], which is at an all-time low in the United States. This should be concerning for everyone, since this is the way that we receive news about our government, society, and the world. When people become skeptical the news, we have a problem. These people that produce and report on affairs of the day have the widest reach into our everyday lives and when we become unable to trust what we’re being told, that should not only be a wakeup call to the media themselves, but for us as well.
Social Media is a Treacherous Path
I’ve been wondering, since I wrote [this post] as to whether who I follow on any social media platform says anything in particular about me. I don’t think it means anything though other than in the meta. For instance, following someone that I perceive as smart doesn’t necessarily mean I am smart, it just means, that I find what that person has to say is interesting. But I do think our digital relationships, when it comes to political or social issues does say something about us as individuals probably more than we’d like to believe.
Social Media: Engaging the Unknown
I’ve changed, somewhat, who I follow on social media, specifically Twitter. I’ve come to the acknowledgment of myself that I follow too many partisans and what I’d like to use Twitter for is to actually learn something that may be beneficial. I like to learn, to have to actually think about a topic I may never have considered before, instead of blindly accepting a view that I had always accepted as true, to have another person, someone that has an expertise in whatever field, challenge me to consider a different point of view that’s based on facts, determined by research in that same field.
consskeptemp.wordpress.com 