The Power of Belief with James Randi

[Gjhone]

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I never thought being an atheist is such a huge crime. Sometimes it makes me think theists like you are 100 times worse than most atheists.

noypi, sayon ra kaayo ako pasabot,....ayaw mo cge pagarpar. molihay raba dayon..

[Gjhone]

arang arang pa ninyo si lady gags. ang iya post karon about na sa hostage crisis....hahaha...atyest atyest.....

[hitch22]

I (and perhaps some others) sincerely want this thread to be about skepticism, not atheism. There's a very thin line dividing the two, and perhaps once in a while the discussions will drift there...but I'll try to avoid it as much as possible. After all, we already have a thread for atheism.

Going back to the topic. I think the scope of skepticism should not be limited to supernatural claims. It should also cover other dubious claims, ranging from alternative medicines, too-good-to-be-true gadgets (like gas-saving devices), too-good-to-be-true marketing ploys (like MLM), etc. People get scammed in a lot of ways and skepticism can play a role in creating awareness. Sometimes, certain cults operate in ways that are harmful too (Remember Kool Aid). That's why I don't take a bumper sticker phrase like "Let's just respect each other's belief" and run with it. No. What do you do with cults then? What do you do with propagating beliefs that are harmful? Respect it? People should think smarter than that. Life is not bumper stickers and platitudes and hallmark cards.

Although self-help books are not necessarily harmful, I'm quite skeptical about authors of mumbo jumbo or "stating the obvious" books...people like Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer, Norman Vincent Peale...just to name a few. I know some people here are fans of *cough* Robert Kiyosaki *cough*. Anyway, buy their books if you find them useful.

There's one book I've read that covers a panorama of all these mumbo jumbos. It's entitled "How Mumbo Jumbo Conquered The World - A Short History of Modern Delusions" by Francis Wheen. And of course, James Randi Educational Foundation is a great resource to check if anything you've just bought was worthless...

[pinoy_09]

^^Funny, while I was on lunch, I heard a commercial on "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" on the radio.

[Crimson_Viper]

anybody who has evidence of their GOD, there's $1,000,000 waiting for you. what are the GOD DELUSIONS waiting for?

you cannot bribe my faith.!




ALLAH-AKH-BAR.!

[ad_dur]

Ang belief gud meaning perception sa usa ka tawo. Tungod sa ka open minded sa mga tawo daghan na kaayo kanya kanya pag-tuo. This are the unbelievers who starts their branch of christian belief. Tapos ang mga humok ug mga ilong maayo permiro ma membro .. I believe their is a GOD & I'll stick being a straight Roman Catholic.

[hitch22]

^^Funny, while I was on lunch, I heard a commercial on "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" on the radio.

Kiyosaki's a good writer, no doubt. And you can take some of his points home too. I mean, if you didn't know that being a businessman is better than being an employee or passive income is easier than active income (stating the obvious), then those eye-openers would indeed be useful.

One thing Kiyosaki's better at, though, is "salesmanship." He gets you started with "If You Want To Get Rich, Don't Go to School". And like a good fisherman, he reels you in with facts that you would nod to. It's called making a connection. He'd first paint a picture of what your dreary working life looks like. And you'd go: "Yes, that's my drab life. This guy could read my mind. He's Killing Me Softly with his song (no pun intended )." Then after he's got your attention, he'll tell you he's been in a worse situation...he'll tell you his story about his own bankruptcy and debts and how he and his wife had to sleep inside his car because they had no place to stay. And you'd go: "Wow. My life's not as bad as that. If he could turn around from that situation, I'd better listen to what he has to say." At this point, he knows he has you from HELLO.

And so, he'll lead you from there and shows you a diagram of the four types of people based on how they earn income: Employee, Self-Employed, Business Owner and Ultimate Investor. He'll tell you where you belong and why it sucks to be you. He'll tell you what rich people do...in general terms of course. Things like: investing ("Oh, I never knew they did that") and financial literacy....at this point, you'd say financial what?

He'll explain to you some basic financial facts. Do you know what an assets is? An asset is something that puts money into your pocket ("Wow. How does he know these things?") If you buy a car, that's not an asset because cars depreciate in value ("They do? I never knew").

And he'll go on and on about these things. And you're hanging in there, excited to get to the meat of this "Get Rich" plan. And with only five or so pages left, you'd probably think that the secret isn't that complicated. But by the end of your reading, the secret that's revealed is to get a financial education...and that's going to be covered in his seminars and his other books and his board game.

Because you're now sold to his Killing Me Softly song, you want to know the sequel. "Hey, I spent money on his first book and I agree with everything he said. I want to get with this program, so I can be financially free like him."

If you want to know what usually happens when people really go through the whole shebang of Kiyosaki-mania (instead of just being happy with his books), watch this video: Road to Rich Dad | Marketplace...watch it in your free time, of course.

Oh, and every time the word "Secret" is deployed cheaply, that's when my skeptical antennae goes up. I don't like to mention the book *cough* the The Secret by Rhonda Byrne *cough*, because I might offend its fans.

Of course, I wouldn't be a skeptic if I don't say this: DO NOT BELIEVE WHAT I SAY. THINK FOR YOURSELF.

[orcgod]

uy, shout out to my main man Santopaps, Teoding, YB, Siodenz, and all my evolve primate istoryans, lets watch this nice docu, grab your popcorn and soda

NOVA | Ape Genius

we should learn what our cousins have been doing this 21st century. enjoy!

[SioDenz]

uy, shout out to my main man Santopaps, Teoding, YB, Siodenz, and all my evolve primate istoryans, lets watch this nice docu, grab your popcorn and soda

NOVA | Ape Genius

we should learn what our cousins have been doing this 21st century. enjoy!

Unya nlan ko tan aw ana kay di pa pwedi

By the way, unsay main Point nimu aning imu gi share na Vid? pwedi i summarize para naa sad mi rason para mu tan aw jud?

[hitch22]

NOVA | Ape Genius

we should learn what our cousins have been doing this 21st century. enjoy!

orc, you have some very informative videos. I'm not saying this to offend theists (I hope not to be misunderstood), but it would be unfortunate if prejudices/emotions cloud people's judgments and therefore prevent them from finding out what the link is all about.

The NOVA link, however, is usually un-viewable outside the U.S. You'll have to watch this in Youtube (search: Ape Genius).

Having said that, I would have to admit that Creationism is one subject that skepticism deals with. This has nothing to do with being anti-religion. There are misguided fundamentalist Christians who want to foist this idea into the science classes. And this is wrong...to say the least.

Pope John Paul II had acknowledged Darwinian Evolution as "more than just a hypothesis" because of the rigorous tests and amount of evidence that backs it. The Evangelical Christian, Dr. Francis Collins, is also a defender of Evolution. Mature religious people understand that both science and religion belong to different domains.