Hoffmeister
There is no spoon
Well I have to say today has been one of the most interesting days on this forum that I have seen in a long time. I have been reading the posts all day (sometime when I should have been working ) and have been enthralled by the skirmishes around Ted Philips and Louis Jarvis.
Here's the thing I have learnt today:
1. The Paracast has a real definite divide between the perspectives of its members on the topic of the paranormal.
2. To cater for these different perspectives, the show perhaps either needs to bring in another Co-host who asks slightly tougher questions (but in a polite manner) or have the current hosts do it themselves
3. The forum members who are being more skeptical of the guests, and posting some of these skeptical criticisms also need to remember that there is a proportion of listeners to the show who either
5. People who are less skeptical of guests need to not get so wound up by those who are being skeptical
6. Paradoxically, I think there might be people interested in this topic who will happily call Stephen Greer, or Alfred Webre a 'nut' or a 'wacko', yet will get upset when a guest such a Louis get labelled with the same tag even though his stories are almost as outlandish and have about the same amount of evidence to back them up.
Its these pitched battles on the forums that can often make the Paracast message board so good.
Perhaps the place will become even better if each time we right a message.... we all make an effort to 'stop', re-read it before we post, and think to ourselves "is there a way In could re-write this so that it will be less offensive/antagonising, and therefore promote a more mature and balanced conversation within the thread".
Peace
Here's the thing I have learnt today:
1. The Paracast has a real definite divide between the perspectives of its members on the topic of the paranormal.
2. To cater for these different perspectives, the show perhaps either needs to bring in another Co-host who asks slightly tougher questions (but in a polite manner) or have the current hosts do it themselves
3. The forum members who are being more skeptical of the guests, and posting some of these skeptical criticisms also need to remember that there is a proportion of listeners to the show who either
A) Don't like to question guests so much and just like to listen to their stories whether they believe them or not (and if they get enjoyment from that then why not?
B) Are interested in the people and personalities in the paranormal 'field' as much as they are the topics that the people are talking about, so don't much care about hounding them with demands for evidence
4. People need to not get upset by the tone that some people write their posts in, because getting upset by someone who you don't know, and who probably lives 100's of miles away from you, isn't healthy5. People who are less skeptical of guests need to not get so wound up by those who are being skeptical
6. Paradoxically, I think there might be people interested in this topic who will happily call Stephen Greer, or Alfred Webre a 'nut' or a 'wacko', yet will get upset when a guest such a Louis get labelled with the same tag even though his stories are almost as outlandish and have about the same amount of evidence to back them up.
Its these pitched battles on the forums that can often make the Paracast message board so good.
Perhaps the place will become even better if each time we right a message.... we all make an effort to 'stop', re-read it before we post, and think to ourselves "is there a way In could re-write this so that it will be less offensive/antagonising, and therefore promote a more mature and balanced conversation within the thread".
Peace