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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard
USA
3834 Posts |
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dv82matt
SFN Regular
760 Posts |
 Posted - 06/02/2006 : 03:57:31 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by beskeptigal
http://www.betterhuman.org
This is an excerpt from the book the ideas are based on:
http://www.betterhuman.org/Gravity%20Web%20Excerpt.htm
And I found the place from a link from this science oriented site:
http://www.daviddarling.info/
So have you all seen these sites before or are they new to everyone else as well?
I hadn't seen either of theses sites before. I must say I don't think much of the "betterhuman" site. It seems to be as bound up in mythology as the religion that it rails against.
The daviddarling site seems pretty good though. I've added it to my bookmarks. |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2006 : 05:09:33 [Permalink]
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That "Better Human" site strikes me as smelling somewhat like a cult. They imply they are close to understanding, well, everything, which is a whole damned lot of stuff to understand, in my humble opinion. (I was a piker by comparison, in my recent, unimpressing attempt in these fora to find some meaning in life from life's underlying principle of evolution.)
From the Better Human site:quote:
Meme attempts to completely, logically, and scientifically explain the universe around us, and to define purpose for us.
Atheists are capable of forming and joining cults, too. I smell something like one at Better Human.
I think a better approach is to hone one's critical and intellectual abilities, in an effort to have the tools to understand a reasonable (though still tiny) fraction of "everything," something that SFN helps me with.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
| Edited by - HalfMooner on 06/02/2006 05:18:58 |
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JohnOAS
SFN Regular
Australia
800 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2006 : 18:10:42 [Permalink]
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On the betterhuman site, I'm with the others. I've only given it afairly cursory perusal, but it smells more than a little fishy.
The paper on the "bether" was not particularly inspiring/convincing. The unnecessary mixing of scientific language and terminology with touchy-feely words sets off alarm bells for (perhaps only) me.
quote:
[/i]"Next let's draw a straight line from Bart to Angel and we'll call this the “courtship” line. Then we'll mark the point on the blanket located exactly halfway between Bart and Angel and we'll call this the “love” spot."[/i]
Riiiiiight.
As Matt said, the daviddarling one looks OK. You can't always hold people entirely responsible for what turns up in their banner ads/links.
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John's just this guy, you know. |
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Chippewa
SFN Regular
USA
1496 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2006 : 18:37:50 [Permalink]
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| Years ago I read "Deep Time" by David Darling. A very compelling, literally "big picture" book tracing time from the Big Bang into very distant futures. |
Diversity, independence, innovation and imagination are progressive concepts ultimately alien to the conservative mind.
"TAX AND SPEND" IS GOOD! (TAX: Wealthy corporations who won't go poor even after taxes. SPEND: On public works programs, education, the environment, improvements.) |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26020 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2006 : 19:19:58 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by beskeptigal
http://www.betterhuman.org
...
So have you all seen these sites before or are they new to everyone else as well?
The only reason I know of betterhuman.org is due to my having put together this huge post almost two years ago. I never did stick around to figure out what that site was all about, though. |
- 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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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2006 : 19:52:37 [Permalink]
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Dave, thank you so much for the link to the fulsome research you did on that guy. I guess my gut feeling was on the mark. Nice to know I can get it right now and then.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
| Edited by - HalfMooner on 06/02/2006 19:53:16 |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26020 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2006 : 20:14:19 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by HalfMooner
Dave, thank you so much for the link to the fulsome research you did on that guy.
'Twas all in a days' work.quote:
I guess my gut feeling was on the mark. Nice to know I can get it right now and then.
Hmmm... Perhaps you'd clarify these remarks? The way I'm reading them is that because "that guy" (coberst) was attracted to the betterhuman forums (posting only once, mind you), it says something about that web site as a whole. But coberst posted here on the SFN 178 times! I'm sure you didn't mean to imply that his posting at a particular Web forum had anything to do with the quality of that forum, but that's what it sounded like. |
- 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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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2006 : 20:25:20 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Dave W.
quote:
Originally posted by HalfMooner
Dave, thank you so much for the link to the fulsome research you did on that guy.
'Twas all in a days' work.quote:
I guess my gut feeling was on the mark. Nice to know I can get it right now and then.
Hmmm... Perhaps you'd clarify these remarks? The way I'm reading them is that because "that guy" (coberst) was attracted to the betterhuman forums (posting only once, mind you), it says something about that web site as a whole. But coberst posted here on the SFN 178 times! I'm sure you didn't mean to imply that his posting at a particular Web forum had anything to do with the quality of that forum, but that's what it sounded like.
No, I was just commenting upon my first impression of the Better Humans Website as "smelling" cultish.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
| Edited by - HalfMooner on 06/02/2006 20:26:12 |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26020 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2006 : 20:44:06 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by HalfMooner
No, I was just commenting upon my first impression of the Better Humans Website as "smelling" cultish.
That's what I was talking about. As a response to my link to the coberst "map," it implied that because he found Better Humans to be a good place to post, that it somehow strengthened the idea that Better Humans is "cultish." My point was that such an implication might also suggest that the SFN is 178 times more cultish because he posted here 178 times more than he did there.
(For those who are interested, I couldn't contain my curiosity, and discovered in the last minute or two that coberst is still actively posting to at least three Web forums, and now has his own Website. And beskeptigal, I'm really sorry about this hijack.) |
- 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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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2006 : 21:55:22 [Permalink]
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Again, no, since I got my "cultish smell" conclusion after examining the Better Human site briefly, but before I'd ever heard of coberst. I agree with your "guilt-by-association" caution, BTW.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
| Edited by - HalfMooner on 06/02/2006 23:38:51 |
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SeanSinjin
New Member
13 Posts |
Posted - 06/05/2006 : 11:13:48 [Permalink]
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Hi all,
I'd like to take this opportunity to clear up a few
misconceptions that have been circulating here on this forum. The
first and foremost is the unfortunate confusion between our
website, Betterhuman.org, and the completely unrelated
website BetterHumans.com. We are in no way affiliated with the
's' society, in fact, we actually 'oppose' their collective
because they truly are the definition of a cult in that
they promise the super-natural (immortality) to their members,
which is the core of virtually all cults or religions, and
which we at BetterHuman.org vehemently deny the possibility
of. I have a weblog entry that directly addresses our
concerns with their philosophies:
Link
The second point I'd like to make is to address the
frequent references to our organization as 'also' being a 'cult'.
It seems difficult to me that our site, which is dedicated
to the eradication of cults (which of course includes all
ethereal-based religions), could inadvertently be considered
a cult; especially in the light that we do not have any
mechanism for membership, and that we promote ideals that
strongly encourage individualism.
BetterHuman.org is a nothing more than a philosophy; we are
not a vehicle for recruitment. To cast us in the light of
a 'cult' seems a rather brisk prejudicial conclusion
without much insight into what we really represent. If facts are
more important to you than flippant hearsay, I would
encourage you to visit our website and read enough of the
literature there to truly understand that we are not a cult, that
our usage of 'we' is merely a euphemism for the human race,
and that 'everyone' is already a part of the paradigm of
BetterHuman.org. Our goal is solely to educate humankind
away from ethereal addiction, not to create a following.
Feel free to contact me via the website if you have any
questions or concerns.
Kind Regards,
Sean Sinjin
BetterHuman.org Authenticity Code:
bac70a82-de92-4f9b-a392-6425d31d883e
Link edited for readability - Boron10 |
| Edited by - Boron10 on 06/05/2006 12:47:52 |
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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard
USA
3834 Posts |
Posted - 06/05/2006 : 13:45:53 [Permalink]
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Thanks Sean. I was beginning to wonder if I had missed something on your website. I'm also impressed you are monitoring your website's mentioning on forums.
Guess I'll re-read the site and see why the above impressions differ from the one I had. I actually agree that religion will eventually fade and religious beliefs are an indication humans as a whole are not far along in our intellectual evolution.
I wasn't sure of some of the terminology. Memes, for example, wasn't the best title for that work in my opinion. But these were minor issues.
BTW, The Skeptic Friend's Network is a great forum if you choose to visit and chat with us more than once. |
| Edited by - beskeptigal on 06/05/2006 13:51:35 |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 06/05/2006 : 13:46:40 [Permalink]
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Thank you, SeanSinjin, and welcome to SFN! After that thoughtful defense of your site, I will need to go back and look more deeply than my admittedly brief previous perusal of "BetterHuman" allowed.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard
USA
3834 Posts |
Posted - 06/05/2006 : 13:50:33 [Permalink]
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Dave's post on Coberst was about Coberst. He used to post pages and pages on forum after forum. We all appreciated Dave's investigation of Coberst's posts all across the net.
I haven't seen a Coberst post in a while. |
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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard
USA
3834 Posts |
Posted - 06/05/2006 : 13:55:15 [Permalink]
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We'll see how many of our forum members who commented above find themselves defending the above posts or a bit red faced for following the leader. (Dave excepted as it is easy to see why he might have thought he'd already looked at the site and not bothered to look at the link in my post.) I would guess it's the gravity excerpt from the book that sparked dv's comment.
I can't remember your religious views, dv. I know we agree on a lot and disagree on some things. I would imagine any skeptic science oriented person still holding on to religious beliefs will indeed find fault with the betterhuman site. But I can understand your reaction to the gravity excerpt. I read the excerpt as one conceptualization of the Universe's composition. I didn't read it as woo woo or anything like that. But I will say again, some of the terminology used wasn't what I would have assigned to the concepts. |
| Edited by - beskeptigal on 06/05/2006 14:07:48 |
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