Quote:
Originally Posted by Willravel
Has your skepticism ever lead you to a conclusion that is generally considered to be incorrect? Say, for example, after researching the evidence you came to the conclusion that President Kennedy was not assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald.
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I have my own theory on the Kennedy assassination. In short, I think that Oswald, who was not particularly sympathetic to the US to begin with, was recruited by the Soviets to avenge the Bay of Pigs invasion attempt and public humiliation of the Cuban Missile Crisis, he acted alone on US soil, and that the US government intentionally muddied the waters and drew attention to themselves knowing that if people found out a Soviet agent killed the president, that they would want war. Occam's razor leads me to that conclusion based on an analysis of all the factors surrounding the assassination, investigation, and mishandling of evidence, and rational actor theory backs me up by predicting that those in power would want to avoid war.
I base my support of abortion rights, comprehensive and mandatory sex education, free contraception, and other things that conflict with mainstream religious attitudes on evidence rather than emotion.
Unlike the majority of people, I don't believe in psychic powers, ghosts, and the supernatural outside of religion based on a complete lack of evidence.
I can't really think of anything where I'm against a vast majority of people other than religion, and like I said, I don't consider that to be within the domain of skepticism or science.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Baraka_Guru
But this is not so. The Postmodernists reject that there are any right or wrong answers (ref: the rejection of grand narratives), and to them only truth is that there is no "Truth." This is why I ask. They seem to have a kind of skepticism. But many have problems with postmodernists in that their answer is that there is no answer, at least not one that we can all agree upon...nor even most groups for that matter. That drives people mad.
Anyway, postmodernism isn't about absolutes; it's about grey areas.
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That's what I meant. I don't confine things to grey areas, there is truth and it is attainable. I find it an obnoxious cop out that seeks to avoid having to commit to anything.
Quote:
Originally Posted by redsneaker
Has your skepticism rubbed off on anyone in your life? Was/is that your intention?
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My father died when my brother was 14 and I was 18, and I've been the role model and substitute father figure since then, so a lot of me rubs off on him. I discuss stuff with friends all the time, and I think that at least a few of them have started thinking a bit more critically from my influence. My mom listens to me and will at least search out evidence, but she is the queen of logical fallacies.