The Fortean/paranormal/conspiracy thread

[Loki]

Would you consider someone who uses flouride free toothpaste, not through any allergy or sensitivity but because of things they have read online on various sites, to be a tin foiler out of interest?

It'd be a big red flag for me. The fluoridation of water supplies is one of the greatest, and by that I mean most potent public health achievements of the last century. The evidence as to its efficacy is unassailable. Of course, I'm sure you could find stuff online that casts doubt on it, but then I can find websites that are full of how Captain Kirk and Mr Spock were gay lovers, but that doesn't make it true.

 

The internet is not a level playing field of competing viable sources of information. If lizardavenger63 posts something on the Bob Dean forum about how his aunt once saw President Obama feasting on the corpses of children, that doesn't hold the same weight as a peer-reviewed article in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

 

I read a wonderful quote the other day from someone saying that science deals in facts. It totally doesn't. It deals in systematic observation and experimentation, and peer review and consensus.

 

not taking any one person or sources word for it... happily puts mercury in peoples mouth... I read some things which said it was bad for you

Yeah, so dentists don't put mercury in people's mouths; they use a mercury alloy. Big actual physical scientific difference. If your source for what dentists do is the same as for how dangerous fluoride is, then you're taking the wrong person's word as gospel.

 

---

 

The problem you'll always encounter, Mr Icke, is that as long as your posts are full of "I heard... apparently... [insert incorrect or muddled factoid]" then most people will immediately dismiss your opinion. You need peer-reviewed posts, mate.

 

 

Oh, and also:

 

I just don't feel it is rational for people to constantly think the best of people in power and give them the benefit of the doubt when seemingly all the evidence is to the contorary (sic)

Nor do I, and I don't know anyone either in real life, or on this forum, who does. Scepticism is healthy; paranoid schizophrenic delusion, not so much.

Edited August 1, 2014 by Loki

[Surf Digby]

If your source for what dentists do is the same as for how dangerous fluoride is, then you're taking the wrong person's word as gospel.

Gospel is such an odd word, in that it's used to denote something as being unchallengeably true. The Gospels of The Bible are just four people's versions of an event, some of who weren't even there and didn't directly know the people involved (so their "Gospel truth" is little more than folklore), and they don't even corroborate each other.

[Guest]

If you work on the assumption that they're written by who they say they are...

Matthew - one of the apostles

Mark - Interviewed Peter

Luke - Interviewed at least Paul, probably more

John - one of the apostles

 

And, yeah, they corroborate each other. They corroborate each other so well that there's discussion about origin documents. Give them a read.

 

(I know, I know there's serious academic debate about authorship of the four, but nostalgia nonxe seemed to be talking about the "traditional" authors)

[King Coconut]

If you work on the assumption that they're written by who they say they are..

...then you also have to work on the assumption that the laws of physics didn't apply 2000 years ago.

 

If this (or any other of the clearly made up things in the gospels) were confirmed by even one of the many contemporary writers there might be a discussion worth having. Until then, it doesn't matter who wrote the gospels. You have to prove the authenticity of the bible before you can use it to prove the authenticity of anything else, let alone itself.

[Guest]

We've had the discussion before so I won't go into the full thing again. I know what you're saying (though, obviously, I think you're wrong), I'm just trying to dismiss one of the bad arguments made.

[King Coconut]

Yeah, but you haven't actually successfully dismissed anything. Every word of nonce's post is still at least equally as valid as yours, if not more, because you start with an assumption that you can't validate.

[Guest]

An assumption he seemed to be working under, as I mentioned in my original post. If he wasn't, then I've misunderstood him and you're right, what I said isn't relevant. And I'm fairly comfortable about derailing the suggestion that the gospels don't corroborate each other. There was brevity and simplicity in what I said, to be sure, but that was in an effort not to derail a thread too far. In that same spirit, I'll leave it there.

[King Coconut]

I'd say the gospels fit nicely into the paranormal, and thus, into this thread. But you're right; we've had this discussion before and we don't want to bore everybody.

 

One more thing I will say though, is that you didn't derail the suggestion that the gospels don't corroborate each other. You simply stated that they do, which doesn't count for much. Especially when they flat-out contradict each other in parts.

[Surf Digby]

What's the black eyed child ghost thing that's managed to be front page news for three days all about?

 

http://www.theguardian.com/media/mediamonkeyblog/2014/oct/03/daily-star-sunday-sport-black-eyed-ghost

 

Surely it's a bit early to be setting up a Hallowe'en prank?

[HarmonicGenerator]

http://www.buzzfeed.com/patricksmith/everything-you-need-to-know-about-black-eyed-ghost-children?s=mobile#u943ri

 

That link seems to summarise it all quite neatly.

[SpacedNSpangled]

Here's one. 

20,000 miles of wiring missing when the Twin Towers were attacked  in Sept 2011.

 

That's 20,000 miles thats from here to australia twice almost. 

 

I have never wired a building but if any of you have would it just "hang there" like a swing on a rope? or when collapsed like a set of conkers and shoestring? 

[Chest Rockwell]

What are you on about?

[Undefeated Steak]

What are you on about?

 

Fucking conkers on a shoestring? 

[Devon Malcolm]

Considering we're a humble wrestling forum, we do pick up our share of tinfoil hat pillocks, don't we?

[King Coconut]

I thought it was deliberate up until that post. Poor fella.