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CSICOP evidence?

T'ai Chi said:
Where is CSICOP's evidence for the "rising tide of belief in the paranormal"?

http://www.csicop.org/si/2001-07/kurtz.html
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Type in a few words such as “polls”, “survey”, “paranormal beliefs” etc. in Google and you will find plenty of news pieces reporting surveys showing an increasing level of belief by the public in some form of paranormal phenomena.

But unless a CSICOP member reads this I suggest it is unlikely that you'll get CSICOPS evidence - why not drop an email to them?
 
Re: Re: CSICOP evidence?

...increasing level of belief by the public in some form of paranormal phenomena.
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In "some" form, sure. Other polls show the opposite.
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: CSICOP evidence?

Darat said:


And?
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And how could one make a blanket statement that there is rising belief in the paranormal when not all polls, or perhaps even the majority but we don't really know, show reports of a rising?

Often I'll see polls that show secularism, atheism, lack of belief in god(s)/supernatural, witchcraft, bigfoots, etc. is down. Down is not rising, unless you are standing on your head.
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: CSICOP evidence?

T'ai Chi said:


And how could one make a blanket statement that there is rising belief in the paranormal when not all polls, or perhaps even the majority but we don't really know, show reports of a rising?

Often I'll see polls that show secularism, atheism, lack of belief in god(s)/supernatural, witchcraft, bigfoots, etc. is down. Down is not rising, unless you are standing on your head.
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I haven't made any such blanket statement, my post was purely to help you perhaps find some evidence. Should I take it then that your view is that belief in the paranormal is going down?

Or did you just want to make a point that an article on CSICOP may not be supportable by evidence? If that was the case why not just come out and say that?
 
Am I confused, or are you, T'ai chi?

You said:

Where is CSICOP's evidence for the "rising tide of belief in the paranormal"?
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Then you said:

Often I'll see polls that show... lack of belief in... supernatural... is down.
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Well there you go then. A drop in the disbelief of the supernatural implies a rise in belief in the paranormal*.

David

*using paranormal and supernatural as interchangeable terms

PS I'm assuming you made a typo error somewhere - if so, and you can correct it, I'll delete/edit this post so it doesn't confuse anyone.
 
OOps, yes, I meant atheism is up, lack of belief is up, belief in bigfoot and warewolves is down.
 
I wonder if the tide is still rising.

If not, or even better, if the tide is decreasing, why not disband CSICOP? ;)

Nah, the tide will always be rising according to some skeptical organizations (amidst protets of: "We only wish that it wasn't.) methinks.

:)
 
T'ai Chi said:
I wonder if the tide is still rising.

If not, or even better, if the tide is decreasing, why not disband CSICOP? ;)

Nah, the tide will always be rising according to some skeptical organizations (amidst protets of: "We only wish that it wasn't.) methinks.

:)
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A very poor argument for the disbanding of CSICOP.

Surely if the tide is decreasing as you seem to be implying then it could be argued that is because CSICOP has had an affect and therefore whilst any belief remains in the irrational it should continue it’s succesful work ;) ?
 
This discussion remainds me of the elephant gun joke:

A man is walking in Times Square with an elephant gun.

Someone says to him " Why do you have an elephant gun, there are no elephants here? "

To which he replies: "See it works."
 
Darat said:

A very poor argument for the disbanding of CSICOP.

Surely if the tide is decreasing as you seem to be implying then it could be argued that is because CSICOP has had an affect and therefore whilst any belief remains in the irrational it should continue it’s succesful work ;) ?
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How do we know it wasn't decreasing before CSICOP came on to the scene? And is the tide still rising now, or is the tide getting bigger?

How is this stuff measured anyway, through polls or surveys of some sort?

And I'm not for the disbanding of CSICOP. Note the smiley.
 
T'ai Chi said:


How do we know it wasn't decreasing before CSICOP came on to the scene? And is the tide still rising now, or is the tide getting bigger?

How is this stuff measured anyway, through polls or surveys of some sort?

And I'm not for the disbanding of CSICOP. Note the smiley.
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And note my smiley - I was just pointing out a contra argument and I loaded it with "coulds" and "seems". Without delving into the matter and spending a lot of time about it I can only make suggestions about what is presented. I actually have no view on whether the belief in the supernatural is rising or lowering.

Have you found any solid evidence that supports the case either for or against a decreasing/increasing "tide of belief"?
 
No, I've not evidence to directly support the tide going in one way or the other. The polls I've seen over the years are about half and half, which would indiciate that the tide is level.
 
T'ai Chi said:
No, I've not evidence to directly support the tide going in one way or the other. The polls I've seen over the years are about half and half, which would indiciate that the tide is level.
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no, it simply indicated that the polls have been split.
 
Posted by Paul Anagnostopoulos

T'ai, just post "I don't like CSICOP." We know. Lots of people don't.

Perhaps you'd like to hang out here.
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Sacred cows at a board to promote critical thinking, Paul? You'd think that here, of all places, the idea of "question everything" would be welcomed.
 
Paul C. Anagnostopoulos said:
T'ai, just post "I don't like CSICOP." We know. Lots of people don't. Perhaps you'd like to hang out here:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/debunkingdebunkers/?yguid=59372778

~~ Paul
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Paul, I'm asking skeptical questions here and am enjoying the interesting feedback. Your response is a little confusing though.

I will not post what you want me to post, because I like CSICOP. But thanks for playing.
 
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