-=> On 02-26-98  19:03, Paul Andinach said to Ivy Iverson,<=-
-=>"About [1/2] Skeptics NOT al...,"<=-
-=> Quoting Ivy Iverson to David Bloomberg <=-
 
Hi, Paul;
 
 II> From my little "home" dictionary:  Skeptic n. A person who doubts
 II> or questions.
 PA> When you think about it, the dictionary doesn't define the most
 PA> important point: Doubts what? Questions what?
 PA> Everything?
 PA> Nothing?
 PA> Or only what seems to need to be questioned or doubted?
 
I think that is left up to the individual... whatever SEEMS to need
doubting.  The only problem is, everyone has a different "threshold of
doubt."
 
 DB> That doesn't mean whatever evidence might be brought forth is
 DB> automatically deemed as fake.
 II> To many, at least in the field of UFOlogy, it sure seems like it!
 PA> Another subtle difference people have trouble with:
 PA> "It might be fake, so it is fake."
 
Or, "If it CAN be faked, and _I_ don't think it's likely/possible, then
it's gotta be faked... so prove otherwise!"
 
 PA> "It might be fake, so it's safer to assume it is fake until
 PA> something turns up independently to support it."
 
 II> Ok, and how many people have found parts/objects which have
 II> fallen out of or off of airplanes?
 PA> How many plane crashes have there been since 1945? How many of them
 PA> have made it onto the news?
 PA> Repeat, substituting "flying saucer" for "plane".
 
"The media" knows all about airplanes and talks freely about them, and
when one crashes, it's usually a tragedy for many families.  When a UFO
crashes, it's buried by Uncle Sam... and don't think for a picosecond
that the Govt can't kill any story they want kept quiet!  (I was in
broadcasting, and I KNOW that when someone from the Govt - from the local
cop-shop to the military - calls on the phone and says, "Not a word about
such-and-such," NOTHING goes out on the subject, on the air, in print or
on the electronic wires... IT'S DEAD!
 
 PA> And, to address the other implication of the question:
 PA> Alien ashtrays notwithstanding, parts and objects aren't the only
 PA> proof.
 PA> We don't *need* bits of aeroplanes, because there's so much other
 PA> evidence that they exist.
 
But it's OK to seriously discuss airplanes in the media, but with few
exceptions, (like Art Bell), UFOs are definately on the "No talking"
list.
 
 II> ...  No, the majority of what _I_ have accepted as evidence is
 II> when personal friends, people who are NOT prone to spinning
 II> yarns...
 DB> You accept that as evidence. I have seen enough information such
 DB> that, while I doubt they are necessarily "spinning yarns," they
 DB> may be unwittingly telling a false story.
 
I consider that possability, however to me it does not seem too likely.
 
 PA> So you admit that the evidence on which you base your belief is not
 PA> actually sufficient?
 
If I were taking odds, my money would be on it being factual.
 
 DB> And if all we have is their word for what happened, that is
 DB> simply not good evidence for such an extraordinary claim
 DB> (especially when all the inconsistencies in so many of these
 DB> stories turn up).
 
 II> Inconsistancies, huh? How about the college professor set up the
 II> following activity during one of his classes: In the middle of the
 II> lecture, someone comes running into the room, yelling, "Help!
 II> Help!" followed a few seconds later by someone else holding a
 II> banana...
 II> ... NO
 II> TWO REPORTS WERE THE SAME, and OVER HALF reported that a real gun
 II> had been used and that the first person was shot dead!
 PA> You're agreeing with him again!
 
 
 
 PA> You've just stated that you accept that your belief in alien
 PA> visitors is mostly based on evidence that may be false, or at least
 PA> largely inaccurate.
 
ANYTHING is possible.  Some things are just more likely than others.
 
 PA> What's going on here?
 
That's what we are trying to figure out... isn't it?
 
 PA> ... "Vehemence is no guarantee of truth." - Isaac Asimov  
 
How true!
 
Catch oyu later... Keep l00king up!
   Ivy
 
 
 
... I don't believe intelligent aliens exist, especially humans.-Dr Who
 
                --
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