Post by auntym on Feb 14, 2015 14:50:10 GMT -6
ufodigest.com/article/more-cliches-0213
UFOLOGY - Challenging More Clichés
By Nick Pope
February 13, 2014
In last month’s column I examined various clichés, tropes and often-repeated mantras, debunking a few myths and misconceptions, and probably upsetting a few people in the die-hard debunker and true believer camps alike. But the whole purpose of this column is to be provocative and to stimulate lively debate, so with that in mind, this month I intend to put some more claims under the microscope and see if they hold up to scrutiny. With apologies, as with last month’s column, this may make uncomfortable reading for some.
“Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m a skeptic myself.” If you’ve got skeptical credentials, it’s sensible to state them, and if someone like science writer Michael Shermer uses this phrase, and then goes on to tell you about his belief in something anomalous, that’s fair enough. But this statement, or a variation on the theme, is all too often trotted out by the most wide-eyed true believer who’s just about to tell you about their faith in some particularly dubious claim or sighting. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with being a believer, so there’s no need to falsely claim skeptical credentials, just to appear a little more discerning.
“I take a scientific approach to ufology”. Unless you routinely (and correctly) use phrases like “testable predictions”, “false-positives”, “confounding factors” and “falsifiable”, you probably don’t. What people who claim to take a scientific approach to ufology seem to be implying (sometimes correctly, sometimes not) is that their research and investigations are thorough. They may well be, but that’s not the same as scientific.
On a related issue, we have people who lie about or exaggerate their credentials when it comes to science. So we get two or three skeptical ufologists who are amateur astronomers, and not only do they misrepresent themselves as scientists, but they seem to expect their ufological peers to afford them the same respect as Galileo. Sorry, but respect has to be earned. One ufologist, who’s a college lecturer, misrepresents himself (or allows himself to be misrepresented) as a professor. Another ufologist, who’s a convicted drug supplier, once tried to bill himself as a “cultural historian”. Yet another ufologist, who runs an anti-Semitic blog and also claims that he once served in the military, would doubtless label himself as a “political analyst” if he thought he could get away with it. On this latter point, when any ufologist (skeptic or believer) claims to be ex-military, I strongly recommend that people verify their military background before even considering their UFO-related pronouncements.
“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence”. Yes, we know.
“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary investigation”. Yes, we know that too.
CONTINUE READING: ufodigest.com/article/more-cliches-0213
UFOLOGY - Challenging More Clichés
By Nick Pope
February 13, 2014
In last month’s column I examined various clichés, tropes and often-repeated mantras, debunking a few myths and misconceptions, and probably upsetting a few people in the die-hard debunker and true believer camps alike. But the whole purpose of this column is to be provocative and to stimulate lively debate, so with that in mind, this month I intend to put some more claims under the microscope and see if they hold up to scrutiny. With apologies, as with last month’s column, this may make uncomfortable reading for some.
“Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m a skeptic myself.” If you’ve got skeptical credentials, it’s sensible to state them, and if someone like science writer Michael Shermer uses this phrase, and then goes on to tell you about his belief in something anomalous, that’s fair enough. But this statement, or a variation on the theme, is all too often trotted out by the most wide-eyed true believer who’s just about to tell you about their faith in some particularly dubious claim or sighting. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with being a believer, so there’s no need to falsely claim skeptical credentials, just to appear a little more discerning.
“I take a scientific approach to ufology”. Unless you routinely (and correctly) use phrases like “testable predictions”, “false-positives”, “confounding factors” and “falsifiable”, you probably don’t. What people who claim to take a scientific approach to ufology seem to be implying (sometimes correctly, sometimes not) is that their research and investigations are thorough. They may well be, but that’s not the same as scientific.
On a related issue, we have people who lie about or exaggerate their credentials when it comes to science. So we get two or three skeptical ufologists who are amateur astronomers, and not only do they misrepresent themselves as scientists, but they seem to expect their ufological peers to afford them the same respect as Galileo. Sorry, but respect has to be earned. One ufologist, who’s a college lecturer, misrepresents himself (or allows himself to be misrepresented) as a professor. Another ufologist, who’s a convicted drug supplier, once tried to bill himself as a “cultural historian”. Yet another ufologist, who runs an anti-Semitic blog and also claims that he once served in the military, would doubtless label himself as a “political analyst” if he thought he could get away with it. On this latter point, when any ufologist (skeptic or believer) claims to be ex-military, I strongly recommend that people verify their military background before even considering their UFO-related pronouncements.
“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence”. Yes, we know.
“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary investigation”. Yes, we know that too.
CONTINUE READING: ufodigest.com/article/more-cliches-0213