Science Says: Scientific Curiosity is Corrosive to Confirmation Bias
If that question hurt your brain, then you can see that this skepticism thing can go too far. But there is a sweet spot to Confirmation Bias.
Social Science
Are Personal Feelings of Guilt the Underlying Cause of Moral Outrage?
Could this righteous fight that we’ve all engaged in regarding Scientology, for all these years, have only been because we felt guilty and needed to re-establish our own moral identity after finding out how abusive Scientology had been?
Atheism 2.0 – Alain de Botton
In this short TED talk, Alain de Botton delivers a heavyweight performance. He builds a very workable connection between atheist and religious thought, presenting a way to extract the good from both for the future of society.
Reza Aslan Will Cover Scientology in His New Show: Believer
Atheists are really bad about understanding other human beings’ religious beliefs. They really don’t get the nature of belief at all, while being ruled by their own beliefs. All this is such giggily freaking fun for this TV show.
Information Disease
A broader perspective, a wider context, and an array of diverse sources of ideas and information are the cures for information disease.
The Insidious Cognitive Distortion That Fools You Into Thinking You Understand Someone When You Don’t
There is no substitute for being willing to see things from someone else’s perspective when you are in a disagreement or dispute with them.
Sam Harris on Atheists Appearing Just as Stupid as the Craziest of Religious Nutjobs
Along with Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett and Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris is considered one of the “Four Horseman” of New Age Atheism. He has a degree in philosophy from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in neuroscience from UCLA. He is also a practicing Buddhist. While avoiding the direct criticisms of atheism that I’ve laid out … Read more
In Defense of J Gordon Melton
I believe if an Ex-cultist is to fully graduate from his former cultic thinking and keep evolving and growing in a constructive manner after the cult, he should teach himself to listen to criticism, and carefully determine if there might be something true in it.
The Heartbreak of an Ex-Scientologist
When you’ve spent so much of your life supporting & defending all the good you’ve experienced in Scientology and you finally become aware of the people the leaders have harmed, there’s a heartbreak that occurs which, in the case of too many Ex-Scientologists, is not survivable. You trusted these leaders to uphold the ideals that … Read more
Congratulations to Rod Keller for Getting the Ultimate GET: Dr Eileen Barker of the London School of Economics Interviewed!
This is a person who has studied minority religions all her life, and who does not take any crap from anyone. She had ‘entheta’ books on her shelf and Church of Scientologists wanted her to take them down. “No”, she told them. And while happy to have their books on her shelves, she runs her … Read more
Principal Hypnotizes Students Without a License, Contributing to the Deaths of 3
This is a story that is directly related to Scientology because Scientology technology hypnotizes people in a very similar way to the techniques used by this Principal on his students – all without a license. Real hypnotists, as well as state regulators, understand the need for licensing: BECAUSE HYPNOSIS IS DANGEROUS IF YOU DO NOT … Read more
Hypothesis Testing
There’s a really good book, written by a former CIA analyst, called “The Thinker’s Toolkit”. This book contains 14 tools of structured analysis which can be used to help you figure things out. A structured analysis is a technique that police detectives, FBI agents, CIA Analysts, and others use to investigate something without letting emotions, … Read more
Discussion: The Limits of Science
1. Science is limited to what can be tested. 2. Do things exist which can not be tested? Examine Number 1 above. – Tell us whether it’s true. Ask yourself Number 2 above. – Tell us what you come up with. Start
What Scientology Is & Why You Should Care
The Church of Scientology is a fanatic, totalitarian para-military organization whose criminality and human rights abuses are being protected by the First Amendment in the United States.
To Fully Understand Scientology, You Can’t Use Scientology to Understand It
Sounds kind of circular, doesn’t it? Well it is. Most Scientologists are stuck in the circular trap of trying to use Scientology to understand Scientology. You can see them on the Internet, using an LRH reference to explain another LRH reference. For example: How do we know the reactive mind exists? Because we have engrams … Read more