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Comic strip a conspiracy myth

Lord Tsukasa said:
This attitude is something that is seen frequently here and I would call it one of the largest logical fallacies in mainstream conspiracy debunking. While ranting, I'll add that I really think it's sad that someone calls themselves a "conspiracy debunker". Why? Because by doing that, you've aligned yourself with one side and whenever an event happens, you are instantly lashing out at all "conspiracy viewpoints" before you even examine the evidence. One someone becomes a "debunker" they are no longer a "skeptic", as they have lost objectivity. They become just as silly as people who immediately announce with conviction that something is a conspiracy before any investigation of the facts is done on their part.
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Uhm. Yeah, hint. It's not a fallacious argument when it's used as a supporting argument. (It's a very weak main argument though.)
 
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Context:

http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=5986535#post5986535
 
Lord Tsukasa said:
While ranting, I'll add that I really think it's sad that someone calls themselves a "conspiracy debunker". Why? Because by doing that, you've aligned yourself with one side and whenever an event happens, you are instantly lashing out at all "conspiracy viewpoints" before you even examine the evidence. One someone becomes a "debunker" they are no longer a "skeptic", as they have lost objectivity.
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That's a classic fallacy of the idealogue. You view skepticism as the refusal to reach a conclusion, which is erroneous. Skepticism is a process by which the evidence is assessed and a provisional conclusion is reached. Once that's been done, it's perfectly reasonable to defend that provisional conclusion. Debunking is the process of pointing out the reasons why others, having started out with the same evidence set, are unable to reach the same conclusion. If done properly it's an extremely valuable function, for two reasons. Firstly, identifying errors in others is a good way to avoid reproducing them oneself. Secondly, examining other people's arguments is a way of determining whether there are points of merit in them. As yet the first dominates, because the 9/11 conspiracy debunking movement has yet to find any points of merit in truther arguments, but we live in hope.

Dave
 
Yeah, this Freeman stuff is surreal. I try to explain it to people and they just don't believe me that there really are people who think it's valid and actually try it in court.
 
It's sort of "Alternative Law", in the same way as "Alternative Medicine". These people insist that they know better than the experts how reality actually is, and that the experts (the legal establishment, or organised medicine/Big Pharma) are simply trying to suppress the truth for their own nefarious ends.

Sometimes people get better even though they haven't had any effective treatment, which proves homoeopathy, or reiki, or reflexology or whatever, works. Sometimes people escape the full force of the law even though they have committed an offence, which proves the FOTL stuff works.

Or maybe the patient didn't get better, or the offender was jailed - well, obviously you didn't identify the correct similimum, or they would certainly have recovered, or you didn't say the right magic words, or they wouldn't be in jail.

Then they go further - you have the homoeopathic aggravation, where the patient getting worse is proof that the remedy is working, and jail being proof that the courts had no jurisdiction over the FOTL....

I seem to see a pattern here....

Rolfe.
 
The crucial flaw there is that I *always* plan for attacks by velociraptors.


. . . but that FEMA stuff, don't be silly. Complete waste of time.
 
NoZed Avenger said:
The crucial flaw there is that I *always* plan for attacks by velociraptors.


. . . but that FEMA stuff, don't be silly. Complete waste of time.
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Most of the people on SG seem to agree with you! One comment gave me this idea. LoLRaptors!


 
Gearing up for another year of TAM, let's remember what happened last year!


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So, what will our favourite felines find in fabulous Las Vegas this year? Is the volcano still there? Is Mr. Pinky still so touchy-feely? Will the Surfer Chick get her revenge? Find out in a few weeks!
 
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I'm moving to a new office today. All my stuff is packed, and there's not much else to do, other than make a comic, and leave early!
 
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