No skeptic, to my knowledge, ever made a major scientific discovery or advanced the welfare of others. Typically they sit by the side of the road with a sign that reads "You're Wrong" so that every passerby, whether an Einstein, Gandhi, Newton, or Darwin, can gain the benefit of their illuminated skepticism.
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Uhm. . . advances are made by skeptics. If there were none, we'd know a LOT less than we do now, because everyone would just say "oh, well, if you say so". (And I'm pretty sure that's not entirely what you mean, but that's your fault for choosing such a damned broad word.)
"...to my knowledge... "
Well there's your problem right there, Deepak. You're a muddle-headed faith-head spreading ignorance and stupidity. And you're wrong. There, I said it. I may be confirming your sweeping description of skeptics, but sometimes it's a valid observation.
Skepticism, for lack of a better word, is a good thing. It enables progress. The more you question, the more enlightened you can be about the world around you.
Putting aside the fact that major scientific discoveries have been and continue to be made by "skeptics", I'd like to know of any scientific discovery or advancement of welfare made by Deepak Chopra or his ilk*.
*Note: Making promises you can't keep, making proclamations about things you have no knowledge about, and leeching money from gullible and desperate people do not count as "advancing the welfare of others" nor "major scientific discoveries."
And what great advances has Deepak Chopra made? Well besides to his bank account.
From Wikipedia
Chopra is a contributor to the Huffington Post and in August 2005 he wrote a series of articles offering his solution to the creation-evolution controversy. He expressed support for Intelligent design without the Bible or the politics of religion. According to Chopra, Nature itself displays intelligence.[21] Chopra also offers a series of questions about evolution that he believes cannot be answered by science alone.[21][22] Science writer Michael Shermer, founder of The Skeptics Society and long-time critic of Chopra, posted a response.[23]
Chopra also believes Jesus was a fully enlightened teacher who possessed esoteric wisdom and may have studied Kabbalah.[24] In March 2008, Deepak and his daughter Mallika Chopra, did their first Christian radio interview with host Drew Marshall in which they discussed his book The Third Jesus.[25]
...
Chopra has been criticized for his frequent references to the relationship of quantum mechanics to healing processes, a connection that has drawn skepticism from physicists who say it can be considered as contributing to the general confusion in the popular press regarding quantum measurement, decoherence and the Heisenberg uncertainty principle.[32] In 1998, Chopra was awarded the satirical Ig Nobel Prize in physics for "his unique interpretation of quantum physics as it applies to life, liberty, and the pursuit of economic happiness".[33]
***sigh***
"Typically they sit by the side of the road with a sign that reads "You're Wrong", so that blah blah blah....."
I guess there are no skeptics anywhere. I have been traveling on roads for over a half a century; seen many signs. Not one of them said: "You're Wrong".
I guess "to my knowledge" is the sticking point of your argument....
Typical self-serving New-Age Guru-speak for anyone who doesn't buy into his bullshit. A person who has enough sense to be skeptical of him is thus portrayed to the faithful followers as unenlightened, unsophisitcated, closed-minded, etc., so they'll continue to unquestioningly swallow every new piece of crap he comes up with and spend money on his books.
Unfortunately I know a few people into him (and others like him), and NONE of them think for themselves. Just another cult.
Albert Einstein - Skeptic.
Charles Darwin - Skeptic.
Gandhi - um, not even a scientist.
Newton - Coin toss on this one.
Let's add
PZ Meyers - Skeptic
Carl Sagan - Skeptic
Johannes Kepler - A man of faith, but also a serious skeptic
Keep going? Painful fail enough?
If there hadn´t been any scepticism about the geocentric worldview,people would still believe that the sun as wellas all planets and stars orbit earth.
Hadn´t there been scepticism about the belief that diseases are caused by demons or your own sins, people would still die from diseases that today can be healed just by swallowing a few pills....
and so on ;)
If one were ever in need of some form of International Standard of Ass Backwardness to measure all other backwardness against, it would not be necessary to look any further than this.
Skeptics sit at the side of the road with conservative or downright regressive slogans on poles while, presumably, orthodox conformists go out there and achieve new, original things? Are you fucking insane?
Depends entirely what they're sceptical of, I suspect you mean God.
So you're only wrong.
Can he name one faith-based advance in science?
"No skeptic, to my knowledge, ever made a major scientific discovery or advanced the welfare of others."
How about all scientific discoveries in the past 200 or so years? Just saying.
Oh, Mr. Chopra. Once in a while you say something intelligent, and I gain a modicum of respect for you, but you never miss an opportunity to cancel it out.
All of the men you named were skeptics. Einstein was skeptical of traditional spacetime. Gandhi was skeptical of the right of Britain to control what was not rightfully its own. Newton was skeptical of the once-held fundamental distinction between the earth and the heavens. Darwin was skeptical of the fixity of species. Skeptics are the only ones able to change things for the better, because they are the only ones who don't take the truths of their era on faith.
Oh rly?
GALILEO! SRSLY! WHO DOESN'T KNOW GALILEO'S STORY OF SKEPTICISM OF THE SUN REVOLVING AROUND THE EARTH LEADING TO HIS PERSECUTION BY THE CHURCH?!
Sorry for all caps, but come on, how does one miss Galileo when thinking about:
"No skeptic, to my knowledge, ever made a major scientific discovery or advanced the welfare of others."
3 things lead to major scientific discoveries:
1. Inspiration
2. Curiosity
3. Skepticism
Um, as far as I know Einstein, Gandhi, Newton, and Darwin were not Christians. And skepticism is how the scientific method works, because if you didn't have healthy skepticism, then any idea anyone came up with would be equally as valid as all others.
@ Doubting Thomas --
Specifically:
Newton was a Christian, though not especially orthodox. Darwin started out as Christian, but ended up non-religious. Gandhi, of course, was Hindu (and quite involved with the religion -- he and Nehru collaborated in their attempts to rid religion in India of any hint of gay acceptance). Einstein wasn't quite an atheist, but not a classical theist either -- he might be described as vaguely Spinozan. (Culturally , of course, Einstein was Jewish, but he didn't consider this the same as being theologically Jewish.)
No skeptic, to my knowledge, ever made a major scientific discovery or advanced the welfare of others.
THOMAS ALVA EDISON, you ignorant motherfucker!
And people buy your books and bullshit?
Here's a few.
Skeptics didn't believe the world was flat.
Skeptics didn't believe that demons or devils made people sick.
"No skeptic, to my knowledge, ever made a major scientific discovery or advanced the welfare of others"
If not for the pioneering work by Alan Turing at Bletchley Park during WWII - specifically the decoding of Enigma-encrypted transmissions by the Nazis, the war in Europe would have lasted at least three more years, and at least 600,000 US troops killed.
Or could have even resulted in the Nazis winning the war. The world would have completely changed, as to what it is today.
You probably wouldn't exist, Deepak.
So you owe your very existence to a brilliant mathematician, and essentially the father of modern computing, Alan Turing.
Who was an Atheist.
HELLO? STUPID FUCK? EARTH TO DEEPAK! THE UPS MAN IS HERE... AND YES YOU HAVE TO SIGN FOR THE PACKAGE... ITS YOUR BRAIN! GOD SAYS YOU NEED IT MORE THAN HE DOES.
First of all, dimwit, SKEPTICS BY NATURE are the ones that MADE SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES AND ADVANCED THE WELLFARE OF OTHERS. If anyone of these world renowned genuises WERENT SKEPTICS... they would be bible thumping rosary toting dark age loving MORONS like you who believe that anything other than what the wholly babble says is WRONG and there is nothing out there worth knowing more about than what the bible says and they would take it at face value NEVER DISCOVERING the things they have.... DUH! You fail logic... FOREVER.
AND ON ANOTHER NOTE: EVEN YOU... AS A FUCKING CHRISTIAN ARE A SKEPTIC. CUZ ANYTHING THAT DOESNT FIT INTO YOUR WHOLLY BABBLE... DOESNT MAKE SENSE, ISNT REAL OR RIGHT, AND YOU REFUSE TO BELIEVE IT IF IT DIDNT COME FROM GOD. DOUBLE DUH! *makes you facepalm YOURSELF with her mind powers since she doesnt feel like facepalming herself over your idiocy* XD!!
Actually it is because sciencific claims are constantly in debate with skeptics that science as a whole continues to make progress as that is what motivates it beyond making an idea and keeping it forever. It also helps to filter out a lot of bullshit.
Eliminating or ignoring skepticim, or removing dissent simply because to you it is an inconvenience to your pet beliefs is what leads to stagnation and backward thinking however.
And no, "skeptics" (at least intelligent ones) don't just sit by the road with a sign saying you're wrong. They do their research, they compare findings, they examine your claims for logical inconsistencies or factual errors, and finding enough reason to remain skeptical, they then come to tell you you're wrong with a buttload of reasons why.
Considering you're the one who likes to abuse quantum mechanics to support your own ideas, I think I'll stick with the skeptics. You know, the ones who actually spend their lives studying how the universe works because "just so" answers aren't enough.
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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