Well, all this is interesting to me, anyway, and that's what matters here. The Internet is a terrible thing for someone like me, who finds almost everything interesting.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
The Atheist Experience: very pro-unicorn
This is an excerpt from the Atheist Experience TV show, episode #361 - an even older show than the last one I posted, by some years, I think.
The hosts are Ashley Perrien and Keryn Glasser. I don't think either is still hosting the show, and that's a shame, since Keryn does such a great job here. (I think she's still an alternate, though.)
Keryn talks about being pro-unicorn. Well, lots of people enjoy fantasy. That doesn't mean it's real. (Note when Ashley interjects the Death Star. That's so stereotypical, it's funny.) At any rate, if you like unicorns, if you like fairies, if you like witches, maybe you understand where Keryn is coming from. You can enjoy those things, while still understanding that they're just fiction.
I don't want to be sexist, but this is why diversity is such a good thing in the atheist community. And yes, we need more black and Hispanic atheists, too. It's not that your race or your gender has anything to do with atheism. It's just that we all bring diverse viewpoints to the table.
Maybe you'll identify more with Keryn than with Ashley or Matt or Russell. Or maybe you'll just enjoy her lively description of being pro-unicorn.
2 comments:
Anonymous
said...
I don't think she actually believes in unicorns. They often use the unicorn or dragon examples to demonstrate that the burden of proof rests with the person making the claim. If I said I saw I unicorn then it's up to me to prove the it exists rather than for you to prove it doesn't exist. I think that is what she was trying to say.
No, of course she doesn't, Anonymous. She's talking about loving fantasy - fiction. In fact, she says right out that she doesn't believe in unicorns.
And yes, the burden of proof lies with the person making a claim, not with the person who doesn't believe it. But actually, I don't think that was the point she was making here.
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The general root of superstition is that men observe when things hit, and not when they miss, and commit to memory the one, and pass over the other. - Sir Francis Bacon
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Speculation is perfectly all right, but if you stay there you've only founded a superstition. If you test it, you've started a science. - Hal Clement
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The government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion. - Treaty of Tripoli, passed unanimously by the U.S. Senate and signed by President John Adams (1797)
I don't doubt the sincerity of dowsers, but even after we've demonstrated that they can't produce results that are any better than chance they'll still go away believing in their abilities... It is like the mother whose son is caught shoplifting on tape. She wonders why someone would want to frame her child by producing a fake video. - James Randi
During many ages there were witches. The Bible said so. The Bible commanded that they should not be allowed to live. Therefore the Church ... imprisoned, tortured, hanged, and burned whole hordes and armies of witches, and washed the Christian world clean with their foul blood. Then it was discovered that there was no such thing as witches, and never had been. One does not know whether to laugh or to cry. - Mark Twain
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2 comments:
I don't think she actually believes in unicorns. They often use the unicorn or dragon examples to demonstrate that the burden of proof rests with the person making the claim. If I said I saw I unicorn then it's up to me to prove the it exists rather than for you to prove it doesn't exist. I think that is what she was trying to say.
No, of course she doesn't, Anonymous. She's talking about loving fantasy - fiction. In fact, she says right out that she doesn't believe in unicorns.
And yes, the burden of proof lies with the person making a claim, not with the person who doesn't believe it. But actually, I don't think that was the point she was making here.
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