I’ve been enjoying the wacky true believerism and train-wreck logic that ivan astikov has displayed in this thread (in which his beliefs in alien visitations to earth, and consequent government conspiracies, are the peripheral topics at hand).
The question has arisen: Just how many people think (as I do) that ivan is full of shit?
It appears that guests can’t post those nifty BB code polls, so here’s an old fashioned set of response options:
A) Yes, ivan does for bullshit what Stonehenge did, for rocks.
B) Yes, ivan can be full of it sometimes, but he knows what he’s talking about, and sometimes makes very good arguments.
C) No, ivan is usually very clear-headed and factual.
D) No, ivan is one of the most widely read and most skillful debaters on the SDMB.
E) Other. (Please specify.)
Caveat: The thread you’ve linked is the only time ivan’s been on my radar.
Having said that, A. Appeals to authority and bluster do not an argument make. And ad homs toward everyone who disagrees with you, however politely, is a real quick way to land on my Pay No Mind list.
He seems to just generally be one of those credulous idiots who’ll believe anything you throw at him. He has that sort of “your religion is science!” attitude towards people with a skeptical outlook. So it’s basically just the “your precious scientific worldview won’t let you accept that bigfoot and aliens and psychics are real! I’m the open minded one here!” attitude.
I actually tried to pin down roughly where he falls on the credulous retard scale by asking him to give examples of any sort of woo or conspiracy theory he doesn’t believe, and he refused to name a single type of that thing that he didn’t believe in.
I don’t think this is incompatable. I don’t think the OP meant “stuff he knows to be wrong” by bullshit but rather just stupid beliefs.
In order for any of you to categorically choose option “A”, you first have to read this book called “Choosing Option A” by ivan astikov, then you can come back here and argue your case against why I chose D.
Otherwise don’t bother replying, I’m not going to make your case for you.
Meh. I think he’s like everyone else in regards to that particular subject. He has some beliefs that he can’t logically defend. Everyone does. But at least he knows what some of them are. Crazy people don’t generally know they’re crazy.
As to the charge of trolling put out by Shodan, I couldn’t say.