For Paul, Arouet, really, and porker

You aroused my curiosity. My question to you is, why are you on this forum?

[Cyrus Kirkpatrick]

Probably because (most) of the time their skeptical opinions are valuable to the discussion, otherwise we'd all just be patting each other on our backs and not being challenged. Better question is if you can't handle responding to or discussing the other side of the coin, why are you on Skeptiko?

[Paul C. Anagnostopoulos]

I find these conversations fascinating. I spend lots of time on the JREF forum, but the balance is quite different there. Here I learn about all sorts of parapsychology and paranormal topics that might never come up over there. And everyone here is friendly, so that's good, too.

~~ Paul

[XXII]

I dont think Gumpi was being confrontational Cyrus..

[Cyrus Kirkpatrick]

I'm sorry it just really sounded that way, I think a smiley face would have helped that post then.

[Arouet]

Like Paul, I find these topics interesting as well. And I much prefer to have conversations with people of differing opinions than I do with people who share my POV. That's why I don't spend that much time on JREF.

This forum has a good mix of intelligent people on all sides of the debate.
I'm learning pretty well every day, and the arguments made on all sides take some thought. The caliber of posting on this site is pretty high compared to some other forums. On all sides.

I also believe the best way to figure out how good my own views are are to have them challenged. I hate it when I know someone disagrees with me but doesn't tell me. And presenting my own views in a concise, clear way helps hone my argument skills which helps me in the real world too.

I first got onto these issues by starting to post on the Religion God and Theology subforum of the poker site I frequent. Had many many many atheist vs. theist discussions. Then I bought my first ipod and discovered itunes and somehow through following links got to a skpetic site. Skeptiko and SGU were among my first podcasts that I subscribed to and suddenly a whole new world opened up. I had never given much thought to any of these issues before that but immediately felt comfortable with the skeptical approach.

What I like about Skeptiko is that its purpose is to have skeptics and proponents discuss these issues. It makes for much better discussions.

[Bruce Siegel]

Originally Posted by Paul C. Anagnostopoulos

And everyone here is friendly, so that's good, too.

~~ Paul

You've got me curious, Paul. Are you saying that perhaps this group is a little friendlier than the JREF crowd? Or am I reading too much into that?

[Arouet]

There are some real good, polite, posters at the JREF.

There are also a lot of jerks.

There are some jerks here too (I've pointed them out in the past). But you also have to look at the size of the community. The larger the site, the more jerks there are going to be. Alex is also quick to ban posters that he thinks cross the line. The line is much closer here than at JREF (and several other forums I've been on for that matter!)

[porker]

I originally started listening as I was curious.

I stayed a subscriber as I found that it kept my mind opened and gave me interesting topics to look into (I won't say research as I rarely have really enough time to do so properly).

I lurk aroud here as the topics are interesting, thought provoking and the calibre of discussion often high.

Although I don't post as often as I might - often the discussions degenerate into the "belief/disbelief" argument that goes nowhere.

I find that the forums help keep my skeptical blade honed.

FYI,

- I find the GCP interesting although I still feel we might simply be seeing meaningless RNG artefacts

- I find NDEs interesting although they become markedly less so as soon as anyone makes a leap of belief and suggests they indicate anything other than a common set of experiences as the brain shuts down

- I suspect Penrose and Hameroff are on to something but I suspect that the eventual understanding will not be what they suggest (as is almost always the way)

- and I like Persinger and his work

- I don't understand why so few people here understand the idea of experimental control

[really]

All of what Arouet, Porker, and Paul have said.
Maybe you all are on to something and vicariously I'll see what you see.
Too find the objective truth.