It sounds like you are dismissing my theories before I’ve even spoken them. Why should I explain further? What purpose would it serve?
No, he’s dismissing your theories because you refuse to explain them.
Look, I’ve got nothing against you. But then, I’ve got nothing for you either. You’re just this guy on the internet, right? You say you have some proof of psychic phenomena from your personal life. Well, why should I believe you? Maybe you’re lying. Maybe you’re crazy. Maybe you’re stupid. Or, maybe you really have had a genuine psychic experience. At best, there’s only a 1 in 4 chance that you’re not full of shit. I could take what you say on faith, of course. But if I’m going to believe you, why shouldn’t I believe the Time Cube guy? Or the young Earth creationists? Or the people who say that Jews drink the blood of Christian babies on Passover? How am I supposed to distinguish between the people who have some sort of actual knowledge, and the cranks, freaks, morons, and monsters? That’s where the scientific method comes in. Atomic theory seems about as likely as psychic projection, except that atomic theory produces predictable, repeatable results, and psychic projection does not. Sure, there’s a possibility that we simply haven’t devised an experiment refined enough to replicate the phenomenon. But until we do, or until we devise some other system of verifying the objective truth of psychic phenomenon, can you see why it would be utterly stupid of me to accept that psychic powers exsist based on nothing more than your word?
I’m not refusing anything. I decline to explain them. If you are going to pretend this is a fair, logical debate, kindly use the proper words.
Interesting, that you bring up such obviously egregious examples. Kind of like how, in that other thread, celebrity psychic Sylvia Brown was presented as a “typical” psychic, when clearly she is well outside the norm, even for charlatans and hucksters.
I’ve met quite a few people who claim to have psychic ability, and you know what? NONE of them are professional psychics. (Well, except that group of psychics I discussed earlier…but that was a unique event.) The do not use their psychic ability (if that’s even what it is) for profit, they do not build a career around it. In fact, some of them are occasionally tormented by it. Think of it this way – you may have the talent as an artist, but decide to go into law enforcement instead. What does that mean? Nothing, really. We all must choose The Path that is correct for us, and sometimes the hardest part is finding The Path in the first place.
Yes, it would be stupid of you to accept my statements on faith. However, I am not trying to prove anything, change people’s minds, etc. All I am doing, is presenting my OWN personal belief, my own experiences, and all that I ask is for people accept, absent all other factors, that at least I believe in these type of things.
And I’m not even granted that liberty. :rolleyes:
Ok, so he’s dimissing your theories because you decline to explain them.
better?
still makes you on the loosing end of this one.
When has anyone said you did not believe in psychic phenomena? I have a premonition that this request will be unfulfilled, but can you show me a post where you were denied the liberty to *believe *that you are psychic?
Hang about. First of all KGS says we have to prove he said he believed in psychic phenomena, now he is asking for us to prove that we said he can’t believe in psychic phenomena? WTF?
Are you for real?
2 a : to show or express unwillingness to do or comply with.
4 a : to refuse to undertake, undergo, engage in, or comply with
{bolding mine}
Far more “rational,” of course, to believe that scientific processes should conform to some unscientific method. 
Oh, he may not know it, but KGS is all about refuse. I suspect he is made of it. At the very least, he is full of it.
I’ll refer you to reply #109:
I don’t see why it’s even necessary to answer those questions. In fact, I get the feeling – perhaps an irrational one, perhaps not – that his intent is NOT to understand why I believe what I do, but to entreat me into revealing intimate, personal details about myself, just so everyone can attack and belittle them.
Look, I’m not stupid. I’ve been on the SDMB long enough to know that ANYONE who claims to have “psychic ability”, or even acknowledge the existence of such powers, is immediately beset with hostility, derision, and ridicule. Frankly, I don’t know why I let it go this far – there is no possibility of reasonable debate on the topic, because we are totally not on the same page.
Give me a fucking break. “Decline” and “refuse” have completely different connotations. Don’t twist my words, the media’s already cornered that market.
You know what’s interesting? NOBODY has commented on my Barry Bonds analogy. Why is that?
In fact, it’s enlightening to see what things I say are belittled, twisted around, and deliberately misinterpreted, while other things I say are completely ignored.
Why is that? Please explain, and use small words if you feel it’s necessary.
I’m on page 3. where are you?
This one?
Well, let’s look at it. when Bonds is judged “good” witha .333 average, he is not being measured against his ability to swing a bat that hits a ball a certain distance, he is being measured against his ability to swing a bat at a ball that has been thrown with the express purpose of making him swing where the ball is not. It is not simply a matter of skill, but a matter of skill in both swinging a bat and outguessing a pitcher–a pitcher who is in “the same league” as Bonds. If Bonds was hitting .333 against a practice pitching machine, he would not be in the league. Is Bonds’s fielding average below .90? Is he known for poor throwing skills? Does he run bases like an old woamn with hip dysplasia and rheumatoid arthritis? Bonds is considered a good ball player because he does a large number of things successfully the overwhelming number of times he attempts them. On those occasions when he is less successful, he is competing against active personal forces working against him.
Your analogy (with its 1/3 success rate) only works if you are also claiming that there are psychic forces out there attempting to interfere with your abilities–a proposition that you have not advanced prior to this time.
Given the fact that your analogy sucked eggs, you should probably have been thankful that no one did respond to it until you made it an issue.
Tom gets mean!
( You need practice 
)
omg its sotru becuase ur right and we are REPRESSING UR BELEIFS!
It’s because if you reduce psychic phenomenon down to something that’s comparable as a professional baseball player, it loses much of the supposed utility it has. Do crime investigations or personal decisions depend on whether Barry Bonds hits this next pitch? No, because he’s an entertainer. It’s also because it’s a stupid claim that misses the point entirely: we can still establish that Barry Bonds is better than baseball than some schmoe, even if he isn’t perfect. He clearly has a better batting average than some guy you drag off the street. Psychics simply don’t perform better than controls. Baseball is largely subjective, but it is certainly possible to break it down into a number of variables (batting, fielding, speed, reaction time) and assess them. This is what science is about–taking complex situations and breaking them down or modeling them in experiments. Get it?
No, I am only advocating that psychic ability cannot be held to the same high standard that scientific method demands. It is a skill, not a force.
Look, if I were to predict the future with 33% accuracy, you’d be impressed, wouldn’t you? (Not that I’m claiming I can do that. I can’t.) And frankly, demanding such tricks as, say, guessing a number between 1 and 100, or guessing what kind of fucking coin is on my desk…well, that’s not remotely possible. And I never claimed it was.
Remember, I am NOT the one who started the “Ask the Psychic” thread. Lord Ashtar was. If you want to know why he thought he was psychic, why he believed he could cold read people over the Internet, go ask him yourself. Leave me the hell out of it.
O.K. Explain it to me step by step. I still do not see where you have been denied the liberty to believe anything at all. These are your words. Justify them.
Despite repeated requests you have failed to show one instance where you have been met with hostility, derision and ridicule because of your beliefs. As tomndebb pointed out, it is your behavior that is suspect, as well as your inability to construct even the simplest of arguments. When pinned into a corner your strongest rebuttal has been “I could but I just don’t care” or “I just don’t want to take the time.”
Don’t try to twist glee’s words into some kind of attack. Just answer his question. How can you distinguish a psychic ability that is “elusive” and “rarely reliable” from chance?
His on-base percentage is considerably higher than 33. As to his batting average, where .400 is the gold standard, and the average adult male would approach .000 against major league pitchhing, .333 is damn good.
And that’s what psychic ability boils down to. Entertainment, nothing more. Whether it’s done for a laugh, or “entertaining” the notion that higher forces exist beyond science. To take it any further, to base your life around such notions, is folly. (Not that there’s anything inherently wrong with being foolish…it’s your life, after all.)
Controlled studies AGAIN??!? Can we leave that straw man alone, please? He needs a break.
Yes, I get it.
The tricky part about assessing psychic forces, however, is that…and this is just a hypothesis, not a statement of fact…as I see it, the forces that direct psychic ability are different for EVERYONE. It’s all directed by the patterns that catch our eye, the rhythms that match our personality. Yes, there are basic platforms – chakras, auras, the third eye, all that stuff – but beyond that, you basically make your own rules. The only thing required, is whether or not it works for YOU. Whether or not, it produces direct results that apply to YOUR life. That’s it, nothing else is required.
Now…do you see why I get defensive, when people demand that I “explain” my beliefs? Because, it’s nobody’s fucking business. Yeah, maybe I get triggered, start acting like an asshole without even realizing it. Maybe I make stupid predictions and get P3WND when they don’t work out the way I planned. Doesn’t matter, it’s my own fucking life and I’ll live it the way I want, damn the rules.
Hey, I’m human and I’m flawed. You can accept that statement on faith, can’t you? Or do you require a cite?
:rolleyes:
You’re not even reading my words, are you? You’re just projecting what you want to believe, your own hidden demons.
In that sense, we are a lot alike. No wonder we can’t communicate properly.