We Don't Need the Pity of Morons

Enraged is the only emotion I can feel when a blithering, knuckle dragging mouth breather like Dean Radin writes a self contradictory column, holds it out as a solid argument, then offers up pity for those who don't buy into his BS. Take your pity sir and shove it far enough in until you can taste it.

1 Example:

Compassion for Skeptics

Just to name 1 jawdroppingly obvious logical fallacy, he completely misses and misunderstands the whole point of James Randi's million dollar prize. Let me explain, and if you are reading this Mr. Radin, read slowly and a few times so that you can put the words together into coherent thoughts before responding with another one of your pathetic straw men.

James Randi FREELY ADMITS that his $1 million prize is a publicity stunt that is not meant to be taken as scientific proof of anything at all. Scientific proof would require replicability, which the prize stunt does not require. Theoretically, you could go in, win the prize on random chance luck, then fail miserably at any sort of replicability thereby failing to prove your hypotheses to the satisfaction of scientists. You'd still get the money, the publicity, and the bragging rights that come with it.

You argue that Mr. Randi freely admits that scientific proof would require replicability, therefore his prize must also. You obviously have not looked into the prize rules, because the standards are not the same as what science would require, yet you somehow twist and turn the words so it seems as if the JREF is requiring far more than it is. The JREF prize asks for a single performance under agreed upon conditions that would eliminate the possibility of chicanery. This isn't science. It's a stunt to raise awareness about how reliable your claims are. Your explanations of why you won't engage in the test are very telling indeed.

Your entire column totalling up the cost of a ridiculously in-depth study of the paranormal (conveniently totalling more than $1 million!) is a laughably silly red herring as well. The JREF does not require anything even remotely close to the kind of proof you have argued would be necessary. In fact, if you WERE to look into the actual rules, you would see that it very clearly states that you and the JREF would come up with an agreed upon result that would prove your contentions under controlled settings. If you meet that result, you win.

You are correct that winning the JREF prize will not prove anything scientifically. It's telling though that you similarly refuse to follow up your questionable studies under controlled settings with a variety of experts, including Skeptics. You seem to crave scientific acceptance above money, so why not actually remove doubt?

Skeptics wait for proof. You haven't provided it to an acceptable degree. We're asking that you provide it. It's not rocket science here. Just do it again under settings that eliminate the possibility of cheating or bias. We're not saying you are wrong! We are saying that you haven't provided acceptable proof to support YOUR CLAIMS! We didn't make a claim. We simply didn't accept yours based on the fact that your methods aren't transparent or convincing.

Understand that history has shown that when true scientific standards are required, any "proof" of paranormal activity disappears. It has happened each and every time, and logic would lead us to believe that it would similarly happen if your studies were exposed to rigorous standards. Prove us wrong. Go ahead, I dare you.