• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

CONNIE SONNE, Dowser

"breaking a fly on the wheel" means "taking a sledgehammer to smash a bug"?

I don't get it. :confused:
 
BillyJoe said:
"breaking a fly on the wheel" means "taking a sledgehammer to smash a bug"?

I don't get it. :confused:
Click to expand...

It means overkill doesn't it? Breaking on the wheel was a prolonged, agonizing method of execution where a person was strapped spreadeagle to a large wheel and every bone in their body broken one by one until they died. It was long, involved and particularly nasty. Since a simple swat would deal with the average fly, "breaking a fly on the wheel" implys massive, unnecessary overkill.
 
'Breaking on the wheel' is a horrific historical method of execution involving tying someone to a large spoked wheel and then methodically breaking all their bones...

Warning to those of delicate constitutions - this is not a pleasant article to read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breaking_wheel

It was slow, deliberate and painful, generally used for high-profile, 'spectacular' executions, and as such would be way over the top for merely killing a fly... hence 'breaking a fly on the wheel' means using excessive force and actions to achieve a very small goal of destruction - very much like the phrase 'using a sledgehammer to crack a nut' except even more extreme.

Clear? :)

ETA: Not quick enough, and also slightly disturbed on the level of expertise on display...
 
Last edited:
Ok! OK! I get it. I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition.:D
Back to the subject at hand, please.
 
whatthebutlersaw said:
"But howcome can someone who claims she is clairvoyant go for Portugal in her believing that Maddie is there, when she is not??
The answer is quite simple: IF I knew, that Maddie was NOT in Portugal anymore, I had NEVER went to Portugal the last time. But it was intended that I should go there. Things were going to happen, so I could go on with the case. You can call it the next step."

How convenient. By that logic no one ever has to be wrong again. A prize example of the level of self delusion involved.
Click to expand...

Definitely. She was probably meant to go to TAM, too, but she was not meant to live up to the challenge. But on the other hand, since she claims that she was "cheated", maybe she was actually meant to win, but her spiritual guides (whatever) were outtricked by Banachek.
Not a very reliable way of spreading information about the new world order. It probably just isn't meant to convince anybody.
 
steenkh said:
How does she know that she was not meant to fail?
Click to expand...

Now she knows that she was actually meant to fail since she .... failed!
However, when it was pointed out to her before the test:
http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=4352427#post4352427
http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=4356512#post4356512
she wouldn't even seriously consider the possibility.

For some reason it was considered rude to point out to CS that she was delusional before the test: http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=4364204#post4364204
(I guess that chillzero is very proud of herself!)

CS has learned absolutely nothing from failing the challenge - and it was perfectly clear from the very beginning that she wouldn’t. And we all knew, didn’t we?
http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=4375980#post4375980
 
dann said:
Now she knows that she was actually meant to fail since she .... failed!
However, when it was pointed out to her before the test:
http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=4352427#post4352427
http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=4356512#post4356512
she wouldn't even seriously consider the possibility.
Click to expand...
It does not seem that she thinks that she was meant to fail, because she accuses the JREF of fraud. This would actually fit with her conviction before the test that it could not go wrong.

For some reason it was considered rude to point out to CS that she was delusional before the test: http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=4364204#post4364204
(I guess that chillzero is very proud of herself!)
Click to expand...
Several people told here that we expected her to fail. The entire MDC is set up in expectation that the paranormal does not exist. It was the rude manner that you used that we objected to. You also expressed the point of view that the MDC has no justification because it will never convince the claimants that they are wrong. I believe that this is not the main intention with the MDC, and therefore this criticism was not justified in a thread about an upcoming test.

CS has learned absolutely nothing from failing the challenge - and it was perfectly clear from the very beginning that she wouldn’t. And we all knew, didn’t we?
http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=4375980#post4375980
Click to expand...
Yes, we all knew. But if she had not failed, we would have witnessed something unique, and I cannot see that it is wrong to expect the expected but hope for the unexpected.
 
steenkh said:
It was the rude manner that you used that we objected to.
Click to expand...

Except that, unlike CS, I was never rude. I simply said that Connie Sonne was delusional, which she was. And unlike most of you I did not wish her luck - based on the knowledge that luck has nothing to do with this. (And chance helping her win the challenge in spite of her lack of paranormal powers is not exactly impossible, but it would go against the intentions of the challenge, wouldn't it?)

You also expressed the point of view that the MDC has no justification because it will never convince the claimants that they are wrong. I believe that this is not the main intention with the MDC, and therefore this criticism was not justified in a thread about an upcoming test.
Click to expand...

There was a little more to it than that, Steen. I also pointed out that the MDC adds to the delusion of people like Connie Sonne since it makes them think that they not only have supernatural powers but also are about to become dollar millionaires.

Yes, we all knew. But if she had not failed, we would have witnessed something unique, and I cannot see that it is wrong to expect the expected but hope for the unexpected.
Click to expand...

We all know that the Earth is round (well, approximately). Hoping for it to be dicey is definitely wrong.
Did you actually hope that CS would win the challenge??? The members of this board never cease to surprise me.
 
dann said:
We all know that the Earth is round (well, approximately). Hoping for it to be dicey is definitely wrong.
Did you actually hope that CS would win the challenge??? The members of this board never cease to surprise me.
Click to expand...
We know that the Earth is round because there is positive evidence that it is so, but we do not know that psychic powers are non-existent in the same way, because it is impossible to obtain positive evidence for a negative of this kind.

Being a skeptic means that I consider it extremely unlikely that such powers exist, but I think it would be very interesting if it did. Hoping for CS to win the Challenge is perhaps a bit strong, but I definitely did not hope for her to lose it.
 
Well, I hoped for her that she would test herself before going to TAM. However, considering her delusion, I did not think that she would experience the 'conceptual breakthrough' necessary for her to spare the expenses.
As for your what-if question: I wouldn't even consider it interesting if psychics actually existed. They've been done to death in TV fiction already. By now you just know that a show will be boring if it contains references to this stuff.
I wouldn't even consider it interesting if somebody was actually able to fly like superman. Good for him, but it wouldn't affect my life.
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/720-what-if.html
PS Peter Pan isn't real either. Connie is, but her alleged powers aren't. Learn to live with the fact.
 
dann, you've put your finger on the point which most surprises me about the candidates, even ones who are posting here on other threads about their desire to participate in the MDC.
Well, I hoped for her that she would test herself before going to TAM
Click to expand...

They don't test themselves. Over and over again.
With friends, family, neighbors, strangers.
And yet, they are willing to pay out time and money, fair amounts of both in some cases, to travel across the world to be filmed failing to do what they claim.
Very strange.
 
pakeha said:
dann, you've put your finger on the point which most surprises me about the candidates, even ones who are posting here on other threads about their desire to participate in the MDC.


They don't test themselves. Over and over again.
With friends, family, neighbors, strangers.
And yet, they are willing to pay out time and money, fair amounts of both in some cases, to travel across the world to be filmed failing to do what they claim.
Very strange.
Click to expand...

Not really, if you consider their mindset...
 
Mindset or delusion, laca.
The thing to set off the alarms as far as I'm concerned is the attention/publicity preoccupations many show.
Are they cold-blooded opportunists or ardent believers?
In other words, a danger to the community or harmless cranks with an excentric hobby?
I can't make up my mind, obviously each case must be judged on its own merits but-
Would it be appropriate to include proof of a psychological evaluation in the requirements for the testing?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom