Originally posted by Kandinsky
Some of the most respected members on ATS are skeptics...Armap, Internos, Phage, Green Eyed Leo, Ziggystar60, weedwhacker etc...anyone in my 'sharp friends' list...and guess what? It's a well kept secret....skeptics LOVE to find incidents that can't be explained by ordinary means!
It is a shame the aforementioned thread, which by any objective measure shows something extraordinary, has degenerated in to yet another skeptics vs. believers argument. And it is unfortunate that here we are in yet another anti-skepticism thread, defending not skepticism but rather just critical thinking of this subject. Threads such as this and what the aforementioned thread has become do nothing to further our understanding of the phenomenon. It is divisive and forces us in to black and white roles that are not necessarily in keeping with reality.
Many of us here, including I think some of the more skeptical members, fall within what Greg Bishop calls the "excluded middle," existing within the large, deep shadows cast by the fanatical cynics on both sides. Many of us (myself included) are experiencers who are just trying to get a handle on what we saw. But we are neither skeptics nor believers, rather critical thinkers with a passion for this subject. What separates us from the extremes is that we are the ones with a genuine interest in the truth. We are drowned out by the cynical fanatics, the extremists, who's interest is in personal validation not the truth. That is, they want their pet theory to be proven right, by proxy proving them right. Threads such as this are born of a desire not for the truth, but to be proven right and wag it in the face of everyone who ever disagreed.
This genuine interest in the truth enables the excluded middle to say perhaps the most important words in this field, that is the admission, "I don't know." Because the truth is our interest, we are secure in this admission, and it is this admission that compels us to look for answers. The cynics are unable to do this, so desperate for validation they jump to conclusions that are not necessarily supported by the evidence. Because they already think they have all the answers they are not looking for the truth, but to support whatever pet theory they may have, and thus may be blind to whatever the ultimate truth may be.



