So, here I invite the opinions or a roasting from the dopers.
But note the following ground rules:
Ask or tell if you think he is a Liar or a Troll, and nothing else’s. I’m not going to get into any debates about the kumquat size brain he is showing.
I shall respond to belligerence.
Don’t ask questions, state your opinion and try to start a debacle…
Simple responses only, we need it for simple minds. No long, essay type questions, after all, we need to help Peter here. :dubious:
I just get the feeling Randi ran over his dog or something. He’s really feeling some compunction to punish the guy that’s overriding most rational thought.
Oh, and to fulfil the rules, 1) i’d say he’s lying at some points 2) you bastard, 3) and that’s clearly the truth of the matter 4).
So, I asked this Jewish freind of mine “How come Jews always answer a question with another question?” And he said “So why shouldn’t a Jew answer a question with a question?”
Maybe he’s just a victim of Randi’s self-righteous persona, which persons of taste and discernment find obnoxious and pointlessly self-congratulatory. The man makes a BHAD out of proving that things which probably cannot be scientificly examined at all cannot be scientificly proven. Gee, thanks. Don’t know why it is, but professional magicians seem to be frequently marked by a bitter skepticism born of the credulity of thier audiences. Meh, says I, whatsoever shall float yer boat.
But I am sure I am not the only one who would derive a schadenfreudian giggle out of seeing him fall flat on his face.
He’s obviously not telling the actual truth, but I doubt he’s conscious of it, so I wouldn’t call him a liar. I believe he really believes what he’s saying. I don’t know whence his pathological hatred of Randi flows, but powerful and lasting it is.
The saddest part was this: In response to the question “Do you legitimately believe that he will accept your application?”, he answered
Imagine the kind of person who actually believes this. He actually believes that Randi refusing one application from one random guy who can’t get a single person to agree with his interpretation of a not very important statement will cause Randi’s credibility to go “bang”. Imagine what it’s like inside his head.
I’m sorry, I can’t see anything funny in this. Sorry to bring down the thread.
Holding a single misguided belief would be one thing–but he’s repeatedly made false statements in the thread, including several nasty ones pointed at me as I attempted to clarify his position. I do think he’s probably insane, but he’s also perfectly willing to lie about minor points in order to maintain his central delusion. The fact that he considers these lies unimportant does not make him any less of a liar.
As someone else suggested, he may have started the thread in order to increase traffic to his site, and therefore increase ad revenues. If so, he’s contemptible.
Is a lie a lie if you actually believe it yourself? Frankly, I think he is delusional. I suppose that would put him closer to a liar than a troll, but given the effort he has gone to to file a challenge he would actually seem to believe the idiocy he’s been spewing.
You’re a festering wart for not giving us a wider range of choices in the first question.
I’ve been trying to convince him that Randi won’t lose any credibility if they just don’t think Peter’s right, but he seems incapable of even understanding this.
Peter: Aha! Randi is wrong! (also, he called me “delusional”).
People: Meh. We don’t think your method works.
Peter: Who gives a fuck what *you * think? (did I mention he called me “delusional?”)
People: Uhm, you do? You’re trying to spread publicity on him being wrong… kinda doesn’t work if we don’t believe your method.
Peter: Your judgement is wrong, and I cannot be bothered to correct it.
People: Uhm, ok. We still think you’re a loon.
And yet another reference in the thread to his website, clickthroughs to which will generate money for him. At some point does this cross over into rulesbreaking?
Personally I find that Randi can come across as an abrasive jerk, and Kramer was the wrong person to assist with the challenges. I mean you can imagine the sort of people they have to deal with, you’d need the patience of Job, and Kramer strikes me as having no patience at all.
That being said Peter’s obsession with Randi–25 years running IIRC–is pretty out there. Randi is just not that important in the greater scheme of things. I don’t think Peter’s a liar or a troll or even stupid, I just think he’s got a bizarre obsession which he probably doesn’t understand himself. He probably doesn’t get just how monomaniacal and overblown his outrage is. I have to say it’s pretty fucking weird, but what are you gonna do. No sense engaging it, just let it alone.
No doubt. Being right doesn’t equal being someone I want to share a beer with, and Randi seems like the sort I’d want to sit far, far away from at a social gathering. His emails to Peter almost made me want to side with Peter.
elucidator: That was too long for Peter, have a heart will you?
As I mentioned before on the other thread, I am beginning to agree with DMC:
I would have my doubts if he was only showing a short intro to his challenge, but he is linking to his website and I do have a beef when we are funding his beef.
oooh. A post of mine used for pitting, but I am not the one pitted.!
Liar, if not outright delusional. I first posted the quote in post #104 of that same thread. Observe how much he edited the quote down to reply in post #120.
When I pointed out his slippery quoting (post #132) he went off on some irrelevant tangent about how this misunderstanding of his is somehow Randi’s fault (post #145)
This is Cognitive Dissonance.
U SUK NOOB!
I think the above comments about Peter show he really is avoiding facing reality
