Fortean, Synchromysticism, Cryptids, UFOs in the fringe, Mad Scientists, . . .
There is a Yeti in the back of everyone’s mind; only the blessed are not haunted by it. ~ old sherpa saying
Showing posts with label JREF. Show all posts
Showing posts with label JREF. Show all posts
Monday, May 19, 2008
Two New BF Threads on JREF
This one's called "Bigfoot Found!" and guess what, no really, guess. . . they're mocking Bigfoot! Hard to believe I know.
This makes something like sixteen threads about Bigfoot on the JREF.
http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=113609
But wait, that's not all. There's another one: "Moneymakin'! The BFRO Bigfoot Expeditions Thread."
http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=113816
Sunday, March 2, 2008
15 BIGFOOT THREADS ON JREF, AND COUNTING!
Updated 5/19/08
Every time I think I have all the Bigfoot threads down from the JREF, I find that I've missed one or two. So here they are. Be sure to check for updates, because no doubt there will some!
Bigfoot Found!
Montana Bigfoot Hoax
Bigfoot in West Virginia
3 Toed SC Bigfoot
Bigfoot on video? Memorial Day 1996
Man accuses Bigfoot of sexual assualt
Another Bigfoot Video
Bigfoot - The Patterson Gimlin Film
Creekfreak’s Bigfoot hair samples and other non-photo related claims
Bigfoot is real I have the proof
Bigfoot: The Invisible Variety
Government Bigfoot cover-up
Native American myths/traditions support Bigfoot? A critical look
(actually, in spite of the context of this thread being on a chronic skeptic forum, it's an interesting thread at times.)
Bigfoot - the Skookum Cast
Juvenile bigfoot captured on game cam?
I Saw Bigfoot Kissing Santa Claus
Suppose Bigfoot was real and I had the proof?
As I've commented before, for a subject that invites ridicule from the skeptic crowd, they sure spend a lot of time discussing it.
Every time I think I have all the Bigfoot threads down from the JREF, I find that I've missed one or two. So here they are. Be sure to check for updates, because no doubt there will some!
Bigfoot Found!
Montana Bigfoot Hoax
Bigfoot in West Virginia
3 Toed SC Bigfoot
Bigfoot on video? Memorial Day 1996
Man accuses Bigfoot of sexual assualt
Another Bigfoot Video
Bigfoot - The Patterson Gimlin Film
Creekfreak’s Bigfoot hair samples and other non-photo related claims
Bigfoot is real I have the proof
Bigfoot: The Invisible Variety
Government Bigfoot cover-up
Native American myths/traditions support Bigfoot? A critical look
(actually, in spite of the context of this thread being on a chronic skeptic forum, it's an interesting thread at times.)
Bigfoot - the Skookum Cast
Juvenile bigfoot captured on game cam?
I Saw Bigfoot Kissing Santa Claus
Suppose Bigfoot was real and I had the proof?
As I've commented before, for a subject that invites ridicule from the skeptic crowd, they sure spend a lot of time discussing it.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
JREF Complains About "Censorship" at Cryptomundo
Some members of the JREF are complaining about what they see as censorship from Cryptomundo.
What I love is the typical response of the faux skeptic, when they are ignored, and that is the “it’s obvious woos/Bigfoot believers/UFO witnesses etc. fear what skeptics have to say” routine.
Read about it here.
What I love is the typical response of the faux skeptic, when they are ignored, and that is the “it’s obvious woos/Bigfoot believers/UFO witnesses etc. fear what skeptics have to say” routine.
Read about it here.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Bigfoot Threads: 10, and counting . . .
I stopped counting after ten -- ten threads (that I counted, may be more, or, not) on JREF. I missed this one the other day about Bigfoot on Mars.
Bigfoot Kisses Santa: More Bigfoot Threads on JREF
As if five, or however many it is, Bigfoot threads on the James Randi Forum aren't enough, here are three more that have cropped up recently:
Creekfreak’s Bigfoot hair samples and other non-photo related claims.
Native American Myths/Traditions Support Bigfoot? A critical look
I Saw Bigfoot Kissing Santa Claus
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Pinning Down
But what about the people?! . . .
I always want to pin down the chronic skeptics and others who flat out don't “believe in” Bigfoot.
I understand the genuine skeptical perspective of wanting evidence. But it’s also here we get into trouble. For plaster casts of footprints, reports and recordings of tree knocking and screams, grainy, fuzzy video and photos, and tantalizing but inconclusive results from hair samples are debatable, they are evidence. Not proof, but evidence. And as open to debate as they are, (for crying out loud, just take a look at the three or four Bigfoot threads on the uber faux skeptic forum JREF) those things are evidence.
There’s one kind of evidence that isn’t accepted, and that’s anecdotal evidence. The refusal to accept anecdotal evidence as valid has seeped from the infrastructure of scientism (you can’t prove anything with an oral report of an encounter from a witness in a lab) to the rest of the culture. Skeptics of all varieties, and even some who should know better, accept the idea that anecdotal evidence is really not evidence at all. It's not valid.
This stubbornly smug stance forgets that, without anecdotal evidence to begin with, there’d be nothing to go out and investigate in the first place. Observation is a much a part of science as anything else, and yet, the observers and their reports are rejected.
Even that’s beside the point. The point is, I want those who reject the idea Bigfoot exist to address the fact of witness stories.
What do they think of the people with stories to tell? Not just one or two cases, but several dozen, at least. Story after story of Bigfoot encounters. And yet the faux skeptic plods on with condescending explanations of how humans get scared in the woods, how under stress we mistake an elk or bear for a Sasquatch, how we’re influenced by other tales of Bigfoot and that’s what our belief systems make us think, etc.
How can anyone genuinely keep this up in the light of hundreds of witnesses? Allowing for the usual disclaimer of hoaxers, liars and the mentally ill (that last a very small percentage I’m sure) we still have a huge amount of data in the way of witness reports.
I always wonder what one of these skeptic types would do if their spouse, child or close relative or friend said they saw a Sasquatch. Believe me, if I saw a Sasquatch, and my husband insisted, with persistent smugness, that I was misidentifying a known animal, or I was fearful of the big dark woods, etc. I’d leave him. (And, in fact, I know personally someone who did divorce over not being believed in regards to UFOs )
After awhile, the insistence we "make things up," to quote skeptic Michael Shermer, really shows itself to be the flimsy excuse it is for not paying attention.
When faced with the reality of people’s -- fellow human beings -- experiences, I think it would be difficult to keep up the “you just mistook a bear you were scared you’re a liar were you drinking?” routine. That would be a real test, to step outside of the walls of scientism and really listen for a time. What do you hear in these stories, what do you see when the person you're sitting across from is telling you their story?
Observation. Listening. Hearing. For some, that's as scary as encountering a Bigfoot.
I always want to pin down the chronic skeptics and others who flat out don't “believe in” Bigfoot.
I understand the genuine skeptical perspective of wanting evidence. But it’s also here we get into trouble. For plaster casts of footprints, reports and recordings of tree knocking and screams, grainy, fuzzy video and photos, and tantalizing but inconclusive results from hair samples are debatable, they are evidence. Not proof, but evidence. And as open to debate as they are, (for crying out loud, just take a look at the three or four Bigfoot threads on the uber faux skeptic forum JREF) those things are evidence.
There’s one kind of evidence that isn’t accepted, and that’s anecdotal evidence. The refusal to accept anecdotal evidence as valid has seeped from the infrastructure of scientism (you can’t prove anything with an oral report of an encounter from a witness in a lab) to the rest of the culture. Skeptics of all varieties, and even some who should know better, accept the idea that anecdotal evidence is really not evidence at all. It's not valid.
This stubbornly smug stance forgets that, without anecdotal evidence to begin with, there’d be nothing to go out and investigate in the first place. Observation is a much a part of science as anything else, and yet, the observers and their reports are rejected.
Even that’s beside the point. The point is, I want those who reject the idea Bigfoot exist to address the fact of witness stories.
What do they think of the people with stories to tell? Not just one or two cases, but several dozen, at least. Story after story of Bigfoot encounters. And yet the faux skeptic plods on with condescending explanations of how humans get scared in the woods, how under stress we mistake an elk or bear for a Sasquatch, how we’re influenced by other tales of Bigfoot and that’s what our belief systems make us think, etc.
How can anyone genuinely keep this up in the light of hundreds of witnesses? Allowing for the usual disclaimer of hoaxers, liars and the mentally ill (that last a very small percentage I’m sure) we still have a huge amount of data in the way of witness reports.
I always wonder what one of these skeptic types would do if their spouse, child or close relative or friend said they saw a Sasquatch. Believe me, if I saw a Sasquatch, and my husband insisted, with persistent smugness, that I was misidentifying a known animal, or I was fearful of the big dark woods, etc. I’d leave him. (And, in fact, I know personally someone who did divorce over not being believed in regards to UFOs )
After awhile, the insistence we "make things up," to quote skeptic Michael Shermer, really shows itself to be the flimsy excuse it is for not paying attention.
When faced with the reality of people’s -- fellow human beings -- experiences, I think it would be difficult to keep up the “you just mistook a bear you were scared you’re a liar were you drinking?” routine. That would be a real test, to step outside of the walls of scientism and really listen for a time. What do you hear in these stories, what do you see when the person you're sitting across from is telling you their story?
Observation. Listening. Hearing. For some, that's as scary as encountering a Bigfoot.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Craig Woolheater on Hostile Deniers
A good entry by Craig Woolheater of Cryptomundo, about those “skeptics” or those in denial about Bigfoot. Woolheater gives a lot of talks on Bigfoot; and while he has overwhelming positive responses, there are the more hostile ones as well.
One point that struck me was the following, where Woolheater discusses the anger and hostility of one skeptic, which seemed to go beyond just disagreement:
I’ve experienced this many times myself. (This weird anger has, in a couple of cases, gone so far as these kinds of so-called “skeptics” harassing me, “cyber stalking” me, threats, etc.)
It’s a highly interesting phenomena, this over the top hostility that often comes with discussing “fringe” topics.
One point that struck me was the following, where Woolheater discusses the anger and hostility of one skeptic, which seemed to go beyond just disagreement:
My friend was perplexed by the anger displayed by someone who was obviously highly-educated, yet extremely unreasonable.
I’ve experienced this many times myself. (This weird anger has, in a couple of cases, gone so far as these kinds of so-called “skeptics” harassing me, “cyber stalking” me, threats, etc.)
It’s a highly interesting phenomena, this over the top hostility that often comes with discussing “fringe” topics.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
"Invisible Bigfoot" thread on skeptic forum
Aside from a fantastically long running thread on Bigfoot on the JREF (James Randi Educational Foundation) forum, (for those who don’t know, uber “skeptic” site) there’s another thread about Bigfoot over there. This one’s titled:
Bigfoot,the Invisible Variety.
Bigfoot,the Invisible Variety.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
From the BlogSquatcher: Bigfoot Epistemology
Another good post from the BlogSquatcher, this one on a Bigfoot Epistemology. Blogsquatcher (for I don’t see a name anywhere on the blog) has given us a list and definitions of the types of Bigfoot “beliefs” and researchers. Of the Bigfoot is an ape theory he writes:
I think Lisa Shiel and some others would agree.
BlogSquatcher has parsed the “paranormal bigfoot” theories into distinctive categories. Instead of the sort of catch all “paranormal bigfoot” he’s divided these ideas into Paranormal, Inter-dimensional, UFOs, etc.
It’s clear from this post and others the BlogSquatcher knows his or her stuff.
Bigfoot is an Ape – These folks follow from the earliest investigators, notably John Green and Grover Krantz. They hold that bigfoot is a real creature somehow related to modern apes. They have almost universally held to scientific materialism in their writing. The difference between them and Extreme Skeptics is their exposure to and openness to evidence. Note that this viewpoint doesn’t spring from physical evidence. This is the crowd that supports the idea of bigfoot descending from Gigantopithecus, without any real physical evidence to support this theory (beyond the size of bigfoot).
I think Lisa Shiel and some others would agree.
BlogSquatcher has parsed the “paranormal bigfoot” theories into distinctive categories. Instead of the sort of catch all “paranormal bigfoot” he’s divided these ideas into Paranormal, Inter-dimensional, UFOs, etc.
It’s clear from this post and others the BlogSquatcher knows his or her stuff.
Monday, July 23, 2007
One Long Thread
It goes without saying that skeptwoos don't "believe" in Bigfoot; that BF doesn't exist. Paranormal or flesh and blood. So why has there been an active thread since July, 2005, about BF on the JREF (James Randi) forum? It boggles the mind. I don't have the patience or desire to get involved, but if you're so inclined, you can join the fray here.
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