I have to admit I have a more personal reason for my reaction...I had the chance to talk with Penn, and told him about the work I'm doing in China to set up a skeptical/Humanist organization. I barely even got the chance to mention China, than he started ranting about how he went to China once many years ago, and had a bad experience there, so he will never go there again.
And that was it...end of discussion.
Zero interest in what's going on in China these days, particularly in regards to promoting skepticism (which is, after all, the focus of TAM); and an entirely emotional response based on a personal experience, without any curiosity about whether things have changed, or willingness to consider changing his opinion.
That highlighted for me something he said during the Q&A...the frank admission that his beliefs could be wrong, and based on emotion or ignorance...yet he nevertheless adheres fervently to those beliefs, and preaches them wherever he goes.
This attitude is, to me, the antithesis of what TAM is about; and unless he is being presented as an example of how not to be a critical thinker, I really don't understand his relevance to the rest of the conference. The cynical (not skeptical) side of me suspects he is there more as a big name to get people to come to TAM, rather than as someone who's actually expected to contribute something meaningful. As an attraction to raise money, he's a big draw, certainly...not only for those who will go to TAM to see/meet him, but also for all the extra money JREF gets for things like auctioning the chance to have lunch with him at his home.
