Looks like I can post about a bit of New Year's Eve "skeptic" (as opposed to actual skeptics) fireworks and narrow-mindedness.
I have apparently been blacklisted from posting comments at SkepticBlog,
one of the allegedly top blogs for alleged skeptics. Anyway, that's
what WordPress tells me when I try to post comments there.
Apparently, my last comment on libertarian and selective skeptic
Brian Dunning's latest blog post, trying to poo-poo the idea that
biopiracy exists (sorry, no links if you're going to blacklist me),
including a snarky aside about Dunning's upcoming court date on civil
and criminal fraud allegations, was too much.
I will, speaking of that, give you this link though, to a previous blog post of mine
about Dunning's legal woes and their connection to his libertarianism
and selective skepticism. I'll also give you this link to a blog post of mine about how I apparently had a comment on another post of Dunning's deleted a couple of months ago.
That said, Dunning's not the sole proprietor of the blog. In
fact, it's theoretically headed by his fellow libertarian and selective
skeptic, Michael Shermer, editor-in-chief of Skeptic magazine. So, any
"block" decision ultimately falls
And, just as Gnu Atheists are a reason I don't primarily identify
myself as an atheist, libertarian selective skeptics like Shermer,
Dunning, magicians Penn/Teller and many others who deliberately conflate
libertarianism and skepticism are another reason.
But, there's yet another reason.
More generally reasonable skeptics, like Daniel Loxton, have too narrow a definition of skepticism.
On this blog, I identify myself as a skeptical left-liberal (in
U.S. terms, at least, I'm a left-liberal). That is, I apply skepticism
to my own political stances and views. But, folks like Loxton don't want
to apply skepticism to politics, or even too much to psychology or
sociology, instead focusing on claims testable within the "harder"
natural sciences only.
And, in addition to that, folks like Loxton are generally thinly
informed on the history of Skepticism the philosophy. Were this not the
case, and they had a deeper grounding in Philosophy 101, they wouldn't
have such a narrow view of what "skepticism" is or should be.
That said, that's one blog to scratch off my reading list again. I
went back there regularly about two years ago because friend Leo
Lincourt said Shermer was posting less in the way of libertarian stuff
there.
Well, he started again, and Dunning made up for that in spades.
And, I didn't think I'd have anything to blog about more than a trip to Austin (nothing big) or Iowa caucus thoughts
This is a slice of my philosophical, lay scientific, musical, religious skepticism, and poetic musings. (All poems are my own.) The science and philosophy side meet in my study of cognitive philosophy; Dan Dennett was the first serious influence on me, but I've moved beyond him. The poems are somewhat related, as many are on philosophical or psychological themes. That includes existentialism and questions of selfhood, death, and more. Nature and other poems will also show up here on occasion.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
#Skeptic fail: #Dunning, #Shermer have blocked me at Skepticblog
Labels:
Dunning (Brian),
pseudoskepticism,
Shermer (Michael)
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