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JohnOAS
SFN Regular

Australia
800 Posts

Posted - 01/17/2006 :  18:03:35   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit JohnOAS's Homepage Send JohnOAS a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Siberia
42! Or 666



Ahh, the members here are so sneaky! Another one trying to get multiple guesses. But tell me, do you mean:
A. 42! which is well above 1 million. 9! just squeezes in (362 880), 10! is no good. (3 628 880)
B. 42 OR 666 (bitwise OR), which is 698
C. 42! OR 666 (which I haven't calculated, but it too is well above 1 million anyway)

Disclaimer: I'm assuming all numbers "written" here are meant to be base 10. Any numbers I write down are also base 10, unless stated otherwise.

At any rate, none of your proposed answers are correct. (Or even spiritually aligned, as far as I can tell, but the batteries in my crystal set are dead).

John's just this guy, you know.
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R.Wreck
SFN Regular

USA
1191 Posts

Posted - 01/17/2006 :  19:10:46   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send R.Wreck a Private Message
Septicpsychic, I read your blog. You lied, then you lied again, then you lied some more. Not misinterpretations, but shit you completely fabricated. Very bad karma, skep. I wouldn't be surprised if Einstein refused to ever speak to you again.

You can do the honorable thing and correct your blog and admit your mistake. Or you can continue to be a loser. Your choice skep.

The foundation of morality is to . . . give up pretending to believe that for which there is no evidence, and repeating unintelligible propositions about things beyond the possibliities of knowledge.
T. H. Huxley

The Cattle Prod of Enlightened Compassion
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard

USA
4574 Posts

Posted - 01/17/2006 :  19:12:56   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send H. Humbert a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by marfknox
Especially funny for me ‘cause this holiday season a close friend of mine who is also a member of the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints (Mormon, but liberal Mormon) were having one of our conversations about religion. These conversations are always very friendly and very much for the purpose of understanding each other's unique point of view. But occasionally one of us will cross the line into preaching. He did so by asking me to seriously ask myself what it would take for me to believe in God and then meditate on that question and answer several times a day over the period of a week, and try to notice any occurrences that seem unusual, and then report back to him.
I'd just report back that "I asked god to prove his existence to me by sending 100 ft. tall squirrels to attack New York city. So far, nada."


"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes

"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman

"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard

USA
4574 Posts

Posted - 01/17/2006 :  19:16:58   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send H. Humbert a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Kil
I now feel that we have been had. Either she really is crazy or she only came here to make a point for her blog. Failing to do that, she went ahead with it anyway. And that makes her, as Dave said, a liar.
You two have a point there. I have a bad habit of attributing to "crazy" what can often be accounted for by plain dishonesty.


"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes

"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman

"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie
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marfknox
SFN Die Hard

USA
3739 Posts

Posted - 01/17/2006 :  19:59:20   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit marfknox's Homepage  Send marfknox an AOL message Send marfknox a Private Message
Crazy and liar? You guys' emotions are making you reactionary. I don't mean to defend Skepticpsychic, who has clearly misunderstood many criticisms from this discussion, and who has made a very false generalization on her blog about this forum (I'll get to that in a minute). But calling her crazy or a liar is both mean and jumping to conclusions that you can't be sure of.

Dude wrote: Uh huh....

Real mature, Dude. Real mature.

"Too much certainty and clarity could lead to cruel intolerance" -Karen Armstrong

Check out my art store: http://www.marfknox.etsy.com

Edited by - marfknox on 01/17/2006 19:59:49
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard

USA
4574 Posts

Posted - 01/17/2006 :  20:09:09   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send H. Humbert a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by marfknox
But calling her crazy or a liar is both mean and jumping to conclusions that you can't be sure of.
Right, perhaps she was waylayed by vandals who simply posted that article on her blog without her consent.

Seriously, what's your defense of her actions? She's just simple-minded and confused? Ok, we can add that as a third possibility.


"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes

"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman

"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie
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marfknox
SFN Die Hard

USA
3739 Posts

Posted - 01/17/2006 :  20:18:03   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit marfknox's Homepage  Send marfknox an AOL message Send marfknox a Private Message
Skepticpsychic

If you want to talk about other issues, then I strongly suggest you post in or start other discussions in other sections of this forum.

It seems you brought up this discussion with two purposes:

1.) Skepticism of Skeptics themselves (implied by what you titled this discussion)

I don't think anyone here would claim that they themselves or anyone else – including Randi – are free from personal bias. Of course everyone rationalizes from time to time. People who claim the label of “skeptic” don't approach every single issue with the same scientific rigor, either because they are lazy or prejudice. I think everyone here would agree with that. (If not, someone who disagrees with that, please say so.)

If we all agree that even people who call themselves skeptics and have the best intentions toward being true skeptics can make mistakes, then we're done with that topic.

Next!

2.) Do you have psychic powers?

Indeed, you are right to say that you never claimed to be able to do certain things (like number and tattoo guessing) that people here have asked you to do. I agree that those requests were inappropriate.

Let's assume that you could prove, using the scientific method, that some of the things you heard when you believed Einstein was talking to you were in fact sound physics, and that at your level of education, it is unlikely that you just knew that information. We still could not interpret that as Einstein talking to you because it could have just as well been any number of other causes, both natural and supernatural.

This is true for all of your experiences that you believe to be psychic in nature. No one is saying that you don't actually have these experiences. What is non-skeptical is to then make the conclusion that these experiences are evidence of physic powers.

Some people on this forum are hostile toward people who hold any kind of belief in the supernatural or paranormal. I am not one of them. There's a difference between belief and knowledge and I save my attacks for people who put the former before the latter and then use those beliefs as justification to hurt others.

There is actually a great deal of diversity among the membership of this forum, and I for one do not appreciate your harsh and ignorant generalizations of us in your blog.

"Too much certainty and clarity could lead to cruel intolerance" -Karen Armstrong

Check out my art store: http://www.marfknox.etsy.com

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marfknox
SFN Die Hard

USA
3739 Posts

Posted - 01/17/2006 :  20:25:15   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit marfknox's Homepage  Send marfknox an AOL message Send marfknox a Private Message
Humbert wrote: Seriously, what's your defense of her actions?

Confused and/or ignorant.

C'mon - does anyone here really believe she's crazy or a liar? Maybe if you use really broad definitions of those words. I don't see any indication that she isn't both high functioning (so not crazy) and truthful about things as she sees them.

"Too much certainty and clarity could lead to cruel intolerance" -Karen Armstrong

Check out my art store: http://www.marfknox.etsy.com

Edited by - marfknox on 01/17/2006 20:25:56
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard

USA
4574 Posts

Posted - 01/17/2006 :  20:26:07   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send H. Humbert a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by marfknox
Indeed, you are right to say that you never claimed to be able to do certain things (like number and tattoo guessing) that people here have asked you to do. I agree that those requests were inappropriate.
To clarify, these possibilities were provided to skepticpsychic after she requested ideas for possible tests that would prove she had psychic abilities. Since she was (and still is) very vague on what her powers actually are, there was no was to know that she would consider these "inappropriate." I mean, I'm not psychic. She is, remember?


"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes

"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman

"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie
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marfknox
SFN Die Hard

USA
3739 Posts

Posted - 01/17/2006 :  20:29:59   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit marfknox's Homepage  Send marfknox an AOL message Send marfknox a Private Message
Oh yeah, and one more thing to Skepticpsychic - Though I'm an atheist, for the sake of my Christian friends and family, I am also offended by your cavalier use of the term “Christian” when you are clearly referring to fundamentalists. Most Christians are not fundies. Many fight alongside skeptics, psychics and others in the battle for religious liberty. So how about showing them some respect?

"Too much certainty and clarity could lead to cruel intolerance" -Karen Armstrong

Check out my art store: http://www.marfknox.etsy.com

Edited by - marfknox on 01/17/2006 20:30:13
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard

USA
4574 Posts

Posted - 01/17/2006 :  20:30:03   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send H. Humbert a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by marfknox
I don't see any indication that she isn't both high functioning (so not crazy) and truthful about things as she sees them.
You didn't see the part where she admitted to having borderline multiple-personality disorder? She has outright stated mental problems. You can be mentally unstable and still use a keyboard. Look at BigBrain, who is also "truthful about things as he sees them."


"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes

"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman

"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie
Edited by - H. Humbert on 01/17/2006 20:43:53
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marfknox
SFN Die Hard

USA
3739 Posts

Posted - 01/17/2006 :  20:33:31   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit marfknox's Homepage  Send marfknox an AOL message Send marfknox a Private Message
Humbert wrote: You didn't see the part where she admitted to having borderline multiple-personality disorder? She has outright stated mental problems.

That's a hell of a slippery argument. We both know that "crazy" has a strong, negative connotation. It was used as an insult. Also, people with mental disorders are not necessarily crazy. I have an anxiety disorder that I have to regularly treat with a strict diet to keep in check; you gonna call me crazy too?

"Too much certainty and clarity could lead to cruel intolerance" -Karen Armstrong

Check out my art store: http://www.marfknox.etsy.com

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Dave W.
Info Junkie

USA
26020 Posts

Posted - 01/17/2006 :  20:43:51   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Dave W.'s Homepage Send Dave W. a Private Message
I don't see how this:
What I didn't know until I read their fine print that their biggest pet peeve is the dismal psychotic psychic, out there pretending to predict people's future, leading the world into hell. A great many of the forum members have personally vowed to take down every last psychic, as if we are child molesters or serial killers.
could be considered anything but a pair of outright lies, no less than the crap spewed by Pat Robertson about "God's wrath." The most charitable adjective might be "massive, willful exaggerations," but that would still make her statements about wanting to get "closer to the truth" lies, because she demonstrates the exact opposite.

marfknox, you said:
quote:
I don't see any indication that she isn't both high functioning (so not crazy) and truthful about things as she sees them.
Kil laid out for her how much traffic "psychics" get around here: a very small percentage of the number of posts written daily. That she can turn that into "biggest pet peeve" shows that either she knowingly lied about the SFN, or that she's got such big delusions of persecution that it's a wonder she's "high functioning." And if she didn't bother reading the posts, then she's lying by presenting herself as well-acquainted enough with the SFN to post accurate assessments of it. There are enough contradictions between her blog post and her posts here that she must be aware that she wasn't factual.

And, it's a perfectly rational act which she admits upfront. She wants to drive people to her blog to get it to make money. What better way than banking on the truthiness of an outlandish story of victimization than to report boring old facts? She's simply using the tool that the politicians, lobbyists and Pat Robertson have shown to be good at raking in the dough: sensationalism to the point of falsity.

Good grief, marfknox, as a regular reader of factcheck.org, you should know how that works.

- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too.
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard

USA
4574 Posts

Posted - 01/17/2006 :  20:46:52   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send H. Humbert a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by marfknox
I have an anxiety disorder that I have to regularly treat with a strict diet to keep in check; you gonna call me crazy too?

If you keep it in check, I don't see how I can. But the moment you start claiming you're a psychic because unknown entities send you "psychic warnings" in certain situations that provoke extreme anxiety in you? You bet I will.


"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes

"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman

"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie
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UncleJ
New Member

41 Posts

Posted - 01/17/2006 :  21:32:07   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send UncleJ a Private Message
Forgive me for butting in…

Skepticpsychic admits to hearing voices of famous dead people in her head

1) She could be lying

2) She could really be a psychic

3) She could be crazy (and yes the term “crazy” definitely fits in this case if 1 or 2 are not correct)

Did I miss any possibilities?
Which one is most likey?


"The Church says the Earth is flat. But I know that it is round. For I have seen the shadow on the Moon. And I have more faith in a shadow than in the Church." - F. Magellan

"I can't be a missionary! I don't even believe in Jebus!" - H. Simpson
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