Open-minded Skepticism

Hi, Mike--my turn to welcome you and admire your fish. I was on South Cape Cod Beach last week watching surfcasters throw 2 and 3-foot bluefish back...Their freezers were full, they said. The bastards. What you believe can change your body. Those changes can impact you and the world around you dramatically. Surely you don't mean that literally: we are regularly treated here to the misinterpretation of factual evidence.I agree with MrHambre that facts are socially/culturally determined.Whose perceptual apparatus and mindset should be used to determine which "facts" are cast in concrete? Sadly, we lack an heroic "Objective Man" and have to settle for a consensus arrived at by best methods and efforts, all of them falling short of the Glory of Fact.

Even scientists of great integrity can disagree about the interpretation of apparent facts.For your EvC bestiary:I'm a strong atheist who experiences what religious folk would consider mystical transports. I figure, meh, temporal lobe bonus. I could be wrong.And an evilutionist, of course.What makes a fact a fact, Mike?

Nobody wants your surrender, Mike. We just want to challenge your ideas. The more vigorously you defend them, the better.When a poster gets a bunch of challenging posts, we call it a dog pile: anyone here any length of time has enjoyed that disheartening experience.Fresh perspectives are not just welcome here, they're vitally important.Don't go away mad. Don't go away at all.