From: fudley (fuddley@fastmail.fm)
Date: Sat Dec 31 2005 - 15:13:34 MST
On Sat, 31 Dec 2005 "Eliezer S. Yudkowsky" <sentience@pobox.com> said:
> I too am disturbed by the apparent fact that parapsychological
> results pass every standard test of science - and yet the same
> results vanish, like tiny sparkling droplets of dew evaporating
> in the searing light of the morning sun, as soon as someone
> tries to use exactly the same precognition protocol to double
> their money in the lottery.
Yes, just become a billionaire through the lottery and the debate is
over, I was wrong and psi is real. We all know that will never happen,
but why? The fact that these standard tests you mentioned work
remarkably well everywhere EXCEPT parapsychology where they always fall
flat on their face leads me to conclude that the problem is not with the
tests but with the skill and integrity of the tester.
Of course real science is not immune from fraud and incompetence as the
recent Korean stem cell cloning scandal shows, but it is the exception
not the rule as in parapsychology. And it’s not that surprising when you
think about it; after all, if one had a great natural aptitude for the
art of experimentation it is very unlikely they’d ever decide to go into
the field of parapsychology in the first place, not when there is real
science that can be done.
John K Clark
--
http://www.fastmail.fm - Or how I learned to stop worrying and
love email again
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