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Skeptics, atheists, science nerds, and fans of magic...


dowmagik

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Through the years, I've noticed that 12oz has a fair amount of atheists, skeptics and science nerds, so I wanted to pass along this information...

 

In July there's a conference in Vegas that is held by James Randi, I'm sure a lot of you are familiar with Randi, if not - look him up, he's an amazing magician and more or less responsible for the modern skeptic "movement". TV Shows like Penn&Teller's BS and Myth Busters owe a lot to Randi for popularizing skepticism. Remember the Miracle Springwater guy?? It was Randi who, years ago, exposed him for being a total fraud.

 

Anyway, the conference is called The Amazing Meeting 7, and is July 9th-12th. It isn't cheap, but my wife and I will be going this year for our first time, and are pretty stoked. We're only going for the July 11th day, mostly because we aren't ballin outta control, but also because that day has all of the speakers we want to see.

 

If anybody is seriously interested, hit me up, we found a hotel for 3 nights for a TOTAL of ONLY $79 and I'd be glad to pass the information along. At a little over $26 a night for a hotel, you can't afford not to go.

 

TAM7 homepage: LINK

 

Speakers: LINK

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Hahaha, "most rational gathering on the planet". I like it.

 

 

I do believe that in many ways I may be considered a sceptic. I reckon in my later years I might end up marketing myself as a public speaker that goes around disproving conspiracy theories.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm a big fan of Penn and teller, I have seen them perform 3 times since I was a kid, and I have to agree- sometimes their show does twist rationality in order to prove their points.

This however is few and far between, and I would say 90% of the time they are on the up and up, and the twisting is done more as show filler than any bad intentions.

 

 

James Randi is a god among men,

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  • 2 months later...
Unfortunately, Penn and Teller are iconoclasts, not skeptics, and enjoy slaying sacred cows rather than finding truth. They twist and spin facts they can find to make their own suspect conclusions that hardly differ from those they are criticizing. Case in point: the Gandhi episode.

 

there were some valid pionts made in the gandhi episode.

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there were some valid pionts made in the gandhi episode.

 

Which ones? My memory is fading, but I remember them mentioning that in his early writings he made many disparaging or outright racist comments about Africans. From those writings, they concluded that Ghandi was a racist, but they failed to mention his later writings that disown his earlier views on race.

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  • 3 months later...

Had a philosophy professor once go on about the irrational idea and scientific impossibilty of there being a god, and of course, the arguments flew. I didnt say anything, so he asks me,

"Mr. Rad, prove to me that theres a god!"

to which i responded,

"Prof. Ical, prove to me theres not!"

..point being it doesnt matter if there is or not--its all based on faith. If you have faith theres a god, good for you. If you have faith that theres not, cool! I dont know why so many people get so aggravated about the subject................

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The most rational conclusion one can come to is that they don't know anything.

 

Knowledge is based on observations and what one observes can be skewed by inaccurate machines or a poor understanding of the thing they are studying. Science is completely based on theory, something that it shares with most religions despite what both camps will tell you (I'm not implying that science and religion is at war, although some think so).

 

The concept of fact is a misnomer in and of itself.

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