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Dave W.
Info Junkie

USA
26022 Posts

Posted - 11/08/2004 :  11:53:59   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Dave W.'s Homepage Send Dave W. a Private Message
Just for "official" clarification, H. is correct that he's the one who created the poll, I just acted as an intermediary in getting it posted as an actual poll. Please see this thread.

And I guess we've learned that I need to put the author's name in the poll from now on...

- 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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Wendy
SFN Regular

USA
614 Posts

Posted - 11/08/2004 :  12:01:32   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Send Wendy a Yahoo! Message Send Wendy a Private Message
Research ideally should be pure and not subject toward proving something true, or debunking it. Naturally it almost always is.

When I read the question, I was responding completely literally. I believe benefit can result from proving a truth OR debunking a myth. It is my opinion that the proposed research into miracles would (and should) be completely unbiased. The bias (presuming to debunk) was entirely mine. I believe tremendous benefit could result from such research.

Ricky's interpretation is more subjective, I think. I would agree it is more noble. Because of my occupation, and my advanced age , I try to read only what is written on the lines, not in between them. Anyway, I have caused enough off-the-topic discussion. Sorry everyone!

Millions long for immortality who don't know what to do on a rainy afternoon.
-- Susan Ertz
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard

USA
4574 Posts

Posted - 11/08/2004 :  14:21:24   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send H. Humbert a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Wendy
Anyway, I have caused enough off-the-topic discussion. Sorry everyone!


Honestly, this poll is only as useful as the discussions it generates. New viewpoints aren't "off topic," they're welcome. Heck, even the wording of "alternative medicines" has been a jumping off point for some discussion in this thread. It's all good.


"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 11/08/2004 17:58:21
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Cuneiformist
The Imperfectionist

USA
4955 Posts

Posted - 11/08/2004 :  17:46:08   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send Cuneiformist a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Ricky

You should not do research in order to accomplish a goal, but instead to learn more about our universe and the laws that govern it. This is why I do not think you should ever do research in order to debunk something to a greater extent.


Right, sort of. But you should have a hypothesis when you test something: "I propose to show what effect, if any, magnetic charms have on healing broken bone", even if you're sure the answer will be in the negative (i.e. "magnets don't do jack shit when it comes to healing bone fratures").

So I read (as Wendy did) "which of these untrue things is so pervasive in society that only via a good scientific spankin' is it going to be knocked down a bit..."

But you're right, HH, that if a thread generates discussion, it's a good thing. As long as the Masons don't come into the dabate as looming antagonists ready to take over the world with their phallic monuments...
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard

USA
4574 Posts

Posted - 11/08/2004 :  18:01:19   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send H. Humbert a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Cuneiformist
But you're right, HH, that if a thread generates discussion, it's a good thing. As long as the Masons don't come into the dabate as looming antagonists ready to take over the world with their phallic monuments...


Ah, yes. I hate that. But we will never be able to stop the Masons. They control everything you know, even the internet.


"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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Ghost_Skeptic
SFN Regular

Canada
510 Posts

Posted - 04/06/2006 :  00:22:35   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send Ghost_Skeptic a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by filthy

I have the same problem with bigfoot as I do with the Loch Ness hogwash: where are the corpses? With Bigfoot (and all the other wannabes), there has been no roadkill and none found in the forests. And never any evidence of a burial.

Then the question arises: are there enough resources in the habitats to support a viable population? In the confines of Loch Ness, no. Not for numerous, very large fish-eaters. In the North Woods, also no, unless Bigfoot might be a browser like a deer. There is no evidence to support the existance of a population large, primate browsers. There is no scat nor even bits of hair caught on the brush that could be tested.




I voted for Sasquatches because I think they just might exist and I want them to exist. I tend to agree that someone should have found some physical evidence by now, however they may be very rare. I haven't tripped over any Elk remains in the woods and they are fairly numerous west of here. (Perhaps any carcasses near hiking trails are removed since they would be bear magnets) On the other hand my wife found a Grizzly skull on an ill advised camping trip in the Swan Hills area of Alberta (she and her first husband had just immigrated from Germany and didn't know about the Grizzlies in that area). As far as food resources, the woods and even the praire supported a large population of large omnivores (Grizzly Bears) before they were nearly all shot.

I find it interesting that that there are tales of similar animals in the Himilayas (Yeti), China and Australia (Yowie). Did the first Homo Sapines in Europe or Asia encounter somthing like this and they now persist as a myth? Perhaps they are the mythical versions of the Neanderthals, becoming grown bigger and hairier with each retelling.

My wacky Sasquatch theroy is that they are Aliens on a Nature holiday on a primitive planet. They are not allowed to make be contact with us, but a few of them canot resist scaring the hell out of some hapless humans. This would explain why they are so elusive and don't get hit by cars. There is no scat because they use pandimensional porta potties.

"You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. / You can send a kid to college but you can't make him think." - B.B. King

History is made by stupid people - The Arrogant Worms

"The greater the ignorance the greater the dogmatism." - William Osler

"Religion is the natural home of the psychopath" - Pat Condell

"The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the supreme being as his father in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter" - Thomas Jefferson
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend

Sweden
9688 Posts

Posted - 04/07/2006 :  06:20:11   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Send Dr. Mabuse an ICQ Message Send Dr. Mabuse a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Ghost_Skeptic
I find it interesting that that there are tales of similar animals in the Himilayas (Yeti), China and Australia (Yowie). Did the first Homo Sapines in Europe or Asia encounter somthing like this and they now persist as a myth? Perhaps they are the mythical versions of the Neanderthals, becoming grown bigger and hairier with each retelling.

Why not? It sounds as plausible as any other theory that doesn't invoke the supernatural.

Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3

"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse

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