Plutarck said:
We need an excorcism! There are waaaaaay too many ◊◊◊◊◊◊◊ threads that are possessed by the Evil Demon of Pointless Syllogisms!
We must EX-COR-CIIIII-IIII-III-III-IZE THE DEEEE-MONS! Can I get a WIIIIITNEEEESSSSSSSS!?!?!?!?!?!
"I'm just new here but I'm stricken by the fact that certain people....you know who they are, and so do they.....have, in effect, hijacked this forum. They don't share any of the values expressed by the sponsoring organization. Its one thing to debate, but its another to babble, start with a conclusion and try to make all the facts fit to support it.
Read Randi's notice at the top of each topic, wherein he cautions against debating with unreasonable people as being a waste of time.
Much of what is posted by these people reminds me of a great item by Scott Adams of "Dilbert" fame:
"You are Wrong Because:
For, your convenience, I have checked the brain malfunction(s) that most closely resemble(s) the one(s) that you recently exhibited on the topic of: (fill in the blank)....."
He then goes on to list a number of them: "Amazingly Bad Analogy", "Faulty Cause and Effect", "Total Logical Disconnect", and give examples of each.
I am awaiting Scott's permission to share the whole of it with you...it is from his book "The Joy of Work."
Trying to follow the logic of the insane will drive you insane, and, dissipate your energy in the meantime, as Randi notes.
Once you identify someone with one of these brain disorders, it is best to ignore them and have a real discussion of the facts (note Randi's refusal to continue with "S&S" in another section.)
"Thinking is the hardest work of all, that's why so few of us engage in it."---Thoreau
"A conclusion is the place where we got tired of thinking."---unkown to me
"We see and hear what we expect to see and hear."----Thoreau
Oh, another Scott Adam's point from "You are wrong" that is particularly relevent here:
"Circluar reasoning---example: I'm correct because I'm smarter than you. And I must be smarter than you because I'm correct."
---me, in another thread.
Of course this post didn't mention any names, but I got, not unexpectedly, a vitrupetive response comparing me to Stalin, Hitler, etc. How did he know to whom I was referring?
They hate to be ignored. There is a way to exorcize the demons.....its the ignore button. I see that more and more of the reasoning people here have been driven to it.
"Living well is the best revenge."---Oscar Wilde
"Clowntime is over."----Elvis Costello