Who disgrees? Well the Experimntl Psychologists I studies under including Stuart Sutherland, one of the leading Psychologists in the country - "Educated at King Edward's School Birmingham and Magdalen College Oxford, where he read Psychology, Philosophy and Physiology, he took a First in Greats and went on to win the John Locke Prize in Mental Philosophy and a Prize Fellowship at his College."
Ahh...just this one?
I realise this is an appeal to authority, but it is one requested by yourself. If you don't see the flaw in this manner of debate it is not for me to point it out.
You might be right.
Your misunderstanding (deliberate?) of the term sceptic is getting tedious now.
I do not know why you jumped to this conclusion.
It has a specific meaning. If any scientist is presented with complling evidence that contradicts their personal view on the subject then they should perform more tests to confirm this position. If it consistently opposes their view then they have to concede that their opinion on the subject was wrong.
Nothing new to me here... did i contradict it? When?
Their scepticism is applied to their work, but they are free to believe whatever they wish, and to not apply scepticism to thiose beliefs if they do not wish to.
It is an assumption isnt it? I´m sure everyone is free to believe whatever they wish, but it is kind of fuzzy your premise that scientists does apply theirs skepticism just to their works. Perhaps you are wrong, skepticism is more a philosophy of life than a method of studying. Being skeptical and religious?? hmmm...
Which scientists do not do this omegablue? Why not fight your own strawman?
Skeptic scientists apply scepticism to their whole life...or not? If not...i need some light shed on this. As far as i know, if a scientist is skeptic, he is , and period. And if he is not, you can see it reflected in their works. But again, let me tell you, the skeptic type that i think its exagerate is the only type i am arguing against here. I mean, the skeptics which close their minds to new things, they are just defending a view of world, a materialistic one. They are not keen to new things and it is very hard for these poor souls to realize when they are using only their little and fading healthy skepticism side, or they are just using their creativity in order to keep believing that nothing "paranormal" exists and that mind is an epiphenomenon of matter and in some cases, a false phenomenon. You might well be a skeptic or a dogmatic one, i dunno, but up till now, i´m fairly convinced that you are a close minded type...am i wrong? I could be, but it is just my current impression. And tell me what is exactly my straw man?
The religious beliefs of a scientist do not make that scientist better or worse at their work.
Ahh nice, you think this way, but a handful of others dont. And as far as you are not the only skeptic person in the world, i have to realize first if you have such an oppinion.
Where do you get such information? What cycles existed before the Egyptians? What cycle are we currently undergoing?
And where on earth do you get the impression a "higher order" is involved?
Wishful thinking?
Wishful thinking hahahah spoken like a todd carrol avid reader and believer. As far as many great philosophers are wishful thinkers on this matter , so am I. The cycle we have right now: It´s the gradual but sure change on the scientific paradigm, from materialism to a more idealistic approach. The partnership between religion and science comes and goes, it has always been like that, and we are experiencing it again. Materialism is fading out gradually, and soon, either you and your dear skeptical convictions like it or not, they will be together again. Many scientists theorizes that it is due to the advent of quantum mechanics and its uncertainty, as well as the great number of paralels found betweeen QM and modern physisc in general, and eastern mysticism, ie, taoism, budhism and etc. This is a PHILOSOPHOCAL discussion. Although there is plenty of evidence that this is going on.
Again Einstein was talking about an area on which he had an opinion, but not the level of information we have today.
If i understand you right, you are diplomatically suggesting that perhaps Einstein was wrong? Perhaps, transpersonal experience is stupid anyways...is that it? Or are you just "being sceptical" and is not making any move but just doubting about everything? I think Einstein was giving his recipee of how a groundbreaker scientist shold be described. How to have the intuitive and fantasy driven mind to exercise creative thinking, a kind of thinking the close-minded skeptics always have abominated. Many many many today´s psychiologists and philosophers do agree with Einstein on this. I cant see a consensus about what "we learned in the last 30 years" that denies Einstein´s thoughts about it.
His genius in Physics does not make him any more correct in his religious opinions than anyone else.
I disagree. This is a confortable position for a skeptic person adopt because you simply deny that a genius in physics , a grounbreaking mind manages to change your skeptic world moved by the gift for fantasy and intuitive nature of mind. And of course being not atheist. Being a genius on physics and still telling that he believes in a cosmical god is not the same as me or you saying that. WHY DO YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND THIS? One of the best scientists of all the time warns you about the benefits of transpersonal experience and as well as the intuitive side being most important, and you simply state that this oppinion is not to be taken more seriously than any other oppinions just because it is outside PHYSICS. What a reductionist mind do you have , my friend.
Do you deny that atheist scientits have produced great work too?
Great work,...yes, some.... such as Richard Feynman. But scientific turnarounds, hardly. If so, let me know. But my attack is not on atheism, im an atheist, but i´m not materialistically skeptic anymore. I once was , but some experiences in my life opened my eyes to things that were always and obviously by our side, and inside, and i was too dogmatically blind about it, because my only tools for examining life was logic and scientific method. How i was wrong, friend. I observe many here on these forums being like me before. I used my creativity in order to formulate possibilities of debunking everything, like you and your friends here do nicely. Too blindly imo.
For reminding me as i were before , i think i cannot change your mind. You will only change your mind if you experience such things also. Take your time.
But I have to say I am getting a little bored with your mirepresentations of sceptics, atheists and Randi as they are all proving increasingly incorrect.
I dont think so, and many great professionals for every area of knowledge does not also. Materialistics are hardly right. Exagerated skepticism tend to blind people. You get the most confortable position of doubting , forcing people to elaborate materialistically validated experiments on things that do not belong to the material experience in order to accept their crackpot theories. Skeptics wont move their arses in search of any groundbreaking discovery. Atheism is not my target , again, i have to say that. My target is exagerated skepticism. I´m an atheist but i believe that we are completely dependant upon greater things, and perhaps greater conscious things that may be or not aware of our existance. A more "cosmical god" approach like Einstein and Spinozza. As we are just a cell of a giant being, giving it a little substance, life, and thus consciousness and as a gift, this being gives us back with existance and consciousness. As we are universes ourselves and our cells being universes the size of ours, if observed with the proper time and space scaling tools. A more budhist approach as a philosophy, not religion. Again, philosophy, not dogmatic and logically mechanicist theories.
During this conversation I have conceded that I might be incorrect in my opinions. I notice you have not.
Surprised i am. Because you always appeal to logic and rationalism even if it an essentially philosophical debate. So i might be wrong in my assumptions also, but one thing that i cannot conceive in a skeptic person, is the deyning of a given thing without having experience it!! This i can´t have as a healty skeptical approach. I confess i would get a little frustrated if i was wrong. But i would not be a fool to continue to deny it just for the sake of holding my point of view. I find myself reconsidering about my personal beliefs on and on, but one thing wont go away: that we can experience different and at least equally real worls of consciousness through "mystical" experiences.
Your own opinions are starting to appear as dogmatic as unchangeable as the attitudes of your imaginary sceptics
They are not unchangeable. But they are changing , changing towards the emptyness and blindness of dogmatic skepticism. And these are not immaginary, how can you say that? I dont know how.
I have suggested how the universe may work. You have made bald assertations of how it does work.
It appears to me the other way around. I do not know how the universe works , i just make speculations, as any person could do. No one can explain how the universe works. The only thing that i affirm is that different realms of conscioussness exist, by FACT. By the empirical fact of PERSONAL experience. If everyone in the world, including Randi, meditate or have any powerful experience such as NDE, then we would have a common sense agreement and almost everyone would agree on changing our scientific paradigm. This, i think is FACT.
I have sonme questions about you:
1) What is your scientific training? (it is not an attack on your credibility)
2) Do you ever had any powerful transpersonal experience? If so, which one? Could you tell me that? And if yes, which were your impressions about it?
3) Do you think collective unconsciousness, alternative medicine, cold fusion and UFOS might be true or just bunk?
4) Do you know well enough about jung´s theories of archetypes and collective unconsciousness and synchroniticy for even speculate about the deep implications that it might have in our lives?
see you later