Eric Hovind "interviews" Dr. Phil Mason (Thunderf00t)

[Kuko 4000]

Personally, I think the guy made a perfectly fine question:

"But you're using your reasoning to validate your reasoning, don't you see a problem with that?"

...and Randi called it juvenile because he clearly didn't have a good reply. Up until that he was doing quite well and being nice. I have to say I was surprised that he didn't have a better reply to this fundamental question.

The fact is that valuing reason and evidence is ultimately no better than valuing blind faith or random actions, UNLESS, you define beforehand what you want to achieve. He could've simply explained this and it's implications clearly to the person asking the question, but it seems to me that Randi hasn't thought this through himself. I see this confusion on many fellow skeptics and believers as well.

There is no evidence that we should value evidence, unless we define beforehand what it is that we want to achieve.

 

[Dinwar]

Objectivists call this a pre-moral choice, and it consists of choosing between two options: to live or not. If you choose to not live, all bets are off--you can do whatever you want, because everything will eventually cease to exist. If you choose to live, however, you must satisfy the criteria established by our nature. We exist in reality, and reality is rational (anyone who argues otherwise on a device built based on scientific principles, and who survives based on evidence-based medicine, is simply being willfully ignorant). Thus humans, in order to survive, need to act based on reason and logic.

I'll agree that Randi answered the question wrong. He simply should have pointed to the nearest building, car, cell phone, laptop, wrist watch, or piece of clothing and said "There's my validation." All scientific, technological, engineering, medical, and other life-giving, life-saving, or life-affirming advancements have been made using reason and logic. Even the Medieval Christian saints agree with that. All mysticism and irrationality have given us is pain, suffering, and death.