Phil Plait: "Don't be a dick" and changing minds

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Wednesday August 18, 2010 · 3:41 PM PDT

2010/08/18 · 15:41

I'm a skeptic and have been following (although not actively participating) that community for years.

I shed my religious beliefs when I was about 20 years old. A few years after that I discovered James Randi and randi.org

Then came Phil Plait. A huge star on the skeptic scene with his wonderful science blog "Bad Astronomy" (which is actually good).

The skeptic community is full of delightful people who have many names and faces you'd recognize. Unfortunately they are among the most despised people on earth. As unbelievers they are considered by a majority of Americans to be unfit for public office. Fortunately skeptics are more often ignored than accosted.

But skeptics don't want to be ignored. They want to change the world and as such, sometimes, they can be dicks.

NorthAndEast

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Tuesday August 17, 2010 · 8:34 AM PDT

2010/08/17 · 08:34

I don't think I need to summarize the hubbub about Net Neutrality (NN) and the panic now ensuing regarding Google and Verizon.

But I wanted to write this diary to follow up and clarify an un-panicked comment I made last week in a related thread.

In short: don't sweat it. A great change is coming that will sweep you off your feet.

NorthAndEast

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Saturday February 13, 2010 · 6:51 AM PST

2010/02/13 · 06:51

To summarize: I am too ignorant to write an informed diary on Kos, therefore am too ignorant to vote responsibly.

And I'm afraid I'm in the majority.

Every time I think about the concept of me voting I think through issues and often hit dead ends. The dead end is where ignorance or fear grips me. Either way, I need to do some research. Do you know how many issues there are? Lots. I don't have time for all that research.

And I often have opinions I'd like to write about here on Kos. I'll write a whole diary, read it and delete it without publishing. I do this because it dawns on me that just one expert on the topic could probably rip me to shreds. How dare I have an opinion on most everything. I do have 2 areas of expertise, but they don't come up much on Kos. That leaves about 9 billion areas of which I'm not competent to form an opinion.

Read on to read my chilling conclusion.

Poll

40 votes Show Results

How would you overhaul the system?

40 votes Vote Now!

How would you overhaul the system?

same-old, same-old

1 vote

rule by an elite

1 vote

meritocracy

2 votes

meritocracy with democratic firings

0 votes

monoarchy with you as King/Queen

2 votes

military junta

4 votes

anarchy

0 votes

Borg-style co-operative

1 vote

Smurf-style co-operative

4 votes

do as Sweden does

6 votes

rule by polling

0 votes

Sarah Palin as supreme overseer

3 votes

publicly funded elections

16 votes

Is it time for dialog with the Right?

NorthAndEast

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Thursday January 14, 2010 · 2:26 AM PST

2010/01/14 · 02:26

I was heartened to read a diary today from someone who visited Free Republic. On that site they reported reading comments from conservative Christians disgusted with Pat Robertson.

On a different subject, I have never understood how "Teabaggers" don't seem as disgusted with Wall Street as we progressives are. They really should be - even by their own mantras. How can they not see that? And with Pat Robertson's latest insanity, this is a second commonality progressives have with the right.

Is it time for progressives to reach out?

NorthAndEast

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Wednesday January 13, 2010 · 2:44 AM PST

2010/01/13 · 02:44

So the media is making a big thing about this. Or CNN is. Whatever.

Now I'm the first to admit that life is a curse, not a blessing; but that is why you gotta make the best of it. Stick it to nature for giving you this miserable existence.

Ergo, appreciate the good in the world, and live life to your fullest.

This is what dismays me about this post-avatar depression. Apparently this world is mundane and meaningless. Well, I don't know about meaning, but mundane? Fuck that. There is SOOOO much to marvel at in this world and in the universe.

NorthAndEast

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Sunday January 10, 2010 · 12:58 AM PST

2010/01/10 · 00:58

Giuliani said America never had an attack under Bush. But he meant to say America never had an attack since 9/11. But what he really meant to say (we may find out later) is that America had no major attacks since 9/11.

I love parsing words. It's fun and childish.

So does this mean that before 9/11, "it doesn't count" ?

I would assume that the POTUS had a job to protect America from Day 1 of his administration. But apparently it is only after a kick in the ass does he actually have to do his job. Is this the kind of leadership anyone wants? only to be reactive with zero fore-sight. Before you say "yes", consider a few other examples ...

NorthAndEast

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Tuesday November 17, 2009 · 11:16 AM PST

2009/11/17 · 11:16

Warm today. Warm yesterday. Sun shining. And I woke up. This is a diary.

NorthAndEast

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Tuesday October 06, 2009 · 12:11 PM PDT

2009/10/06 · 12:11

Yahoo Poll:

Are you more likely to vote for Stephen Harper after his hit rendition of a Beatles classic?

* (33%)Yes
* (67%)No

The issue isn't who they are voting for. The issue is whether singing talent is an indicator of good governance. Is this what national "talent" competitions have given us? People would actually let this affect their vote? I'm shocked and so disappointed.

Poll

164 votes Show Results

Are 33% of Canadians morons?

164 votes Vote Now!

Are 33% of Canadians morons?

Yes

45 votes

29 votes

No, all of them are.

11 votes

I wish I was Canadian

37 votes

I wish I was European

7 votes

I wish I was a smurf

35 votes

Don't hurt myself to hurt others.

NorthAndEast

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Sunday April 12, 2009 · 11:15 PM PDT

2009/04/12 · 23:15

I recently (well maybe a month ago) heard someone on TV whining about bailing out troubled home owners. Personally I don't have a problem with a bail out since it seems most people need help through no fault of their own. I don't consider that a selfish reason to back bail outs and I, personally, don't mind shelling out to help others.

But there are some who can't see the big picture when it comes to helping others and it is useful to give them a self-serving reason to help someone else. In response to one particular whiner on TV another person on TV gave a good self-serving reason to bail out other people. Empty houses lowers the value of your own house. Helping others, in the end, is self-serving.

This reminds me of the most important thing I learned at University.

Don't hurt yourself to hurt others. Or, more passively, don't allow yourself to be hurt by allowing someone else to be hurt.

NorthAndEast

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Saturday March 21, 2009 · 7:39 PM PDT

2009/03/21 · 19:39

Remember the good old days of a permanent Republican majority? The economy was booming, terrorists were kept at bay and the gays could be cured, Terri Schiavo must be saved, masturbation was wrong, and Jesus was for everyone.

That got me thinking of how in good times people have more time to fret about more trivial things; trivial things like how other people are living their private lives. Like the Hygiene Hypothesis (see Wikipedia) which describes of how our bodies might over-react to pollen if we've never been exposed to a grassy meadow. Thus, the comparison of conservatives.

NorthAndEast

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Monday January 08, 2007 · 5:19 AM PST

2007/01/08 · 05:19

It's thinking like this... that has really fucked our planet.

The writer, Edwin Feulner, believes that by increasing use of fossil fuels, we are bound to reduce their use. That argument doesn't even have face validity. Admittedly his argument is a little deeper than that, he cites the unspecified research cited by the World Bank (wow! now that is research you can count on!) that shows as people get wealthier, they hurt the environment less. He says "It seems that once people are earning enough to support their families, they're eager to improve their environment, too." Apparently Hummers and 10,000sqft homes with 9 foot ceilings are only for the poor. And he must also be dreaming of some sort of Utopia where the vast majority of the world's population live in such affluence. I love this leap of non-logic where he quotes Al Gore...

NorthAndEast

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Friday November 10, 2006 · 3:40 AM PST

2006/11/10 · 03:40

I am about to throw 2 analogies into a blender, thereby using a total of 3 analogies in this diary. Please indulge me and forgive me.

Turn the heat up slowly and a frog will let itself boil to death. Rescind democratic rights, principles and institutions gradually enough and people will submit themselves to oppression.

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Phil Plait: "Don't be a dick" and changing minds

Net Neutrality and my great prediction (fearless)

Turning my back on democracy

Is it time for dialog with the Right?

Post-Avatar depression

First get bit, then be shy

Everything is fine

33% of Canadians are morons

Don't hurt myself to hurt others.

Conservative Voters and the Hygiene Hypothesis

On Climate: an example of unrealistic thinking

It wasn't 1000 cuts...