Randi: I am a Bright. (Still)

[BillyJoe]

Looks like we've not persuaded him....

I am a Bright (http://www.randi.org/jr/121203jref.html)

We can but weep.
Still, I haven't seen any steam building up over this.
But then again my interest is absolutely zero.
I wonder whether there will be any propaganda at TAM2

BillyJoe

[Rolfe]

It sets my teeth on edge and makes me want to go surf somewhere else. But I can't be bothered having another argument about it.

Rolfe.

[BillyJoe]

Rolfe,

Yes, I think you're right. Perhaps we should let it die a natural death. However, I was hoping that Randi had thought it through and dropped this silly idea. Seems he hasn't. :(

BillyJoe

[Suew0]

Randi didn't actually say it this time - he was just quoting people who wrote to him (unless I missed something).

[BillyJoe]

Sue

Originally posted by Suew0
Randi didn't actually say it this time - he was just quoting people who wrote to him (unless I missed something). Yes, I must slow down my reading (don't get as much time these days - no excuse of course). Nevertheless, he still seems to be trying to kick it along a bit whenever he gets the chance. Let's see how long he takes to mention that word again.

BillyJoe

[T'ai Chi]

I'd love to know how to do things like be able to keep a tally of the number of times, for example, the word "Bright" is used in many publications. That way, we could monitor its use over time and see if it is spreading; analyzing various numbers statistically to see if it is catching on.

This would be interesting to do with any meme I think.

[DrMatt]

Originally posted by T'ai Chi
I'd love to know how to do things like be able to keep a tally of the number of times, for example, the word "Bright" is used in many publications. That way, we could monitor its use over time and see if it is spreading; analyzing various numbers statistically to see if it is catching on.

This would be interesting to do with any meme I think.


Okay, I'll say it, just to stir things up a bit.

I'm a Bright. :D

[Beleth]

Originally posted by T'ai Chi
I'd love to know how to do things like be able to keep a tally of the number of times, for example, the word "Bright" is used in many publications. That way, we could monitor its use over time and see if it is spreading; analyzing various numbers statistically to see if it is catching on.It'd be cool to compare the spread of this meaning of the word "Bright" versus, say, the spread of the new meaning of the word "santorum."

[Walter Wayne]

Originally posted by Beleth
It'd be cool to compare the spread of this meaning of the word "Bright" versus, say, the spread of the new meaning of the word "santorum." And see which word the young earth creationists hate more.

Walt

[Phil]

The Charge of the Bright Brigade

by AlPhil Lord Tensiltown

Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of the Creduloids
Rode the six hundred, or more.
"Forward, the Bright Brigade!
"Charge for the guns!" Randi said:
Into the valley of the Creduloids
Rode the six hundred, I'm thinking there were more.

"Forward, the Bright Brigade!"
Was there a man dismay'd?
Not tho' the soldier knew
No one had blunder'd:
Their's to make reply,
Their's to reason why,
Their's not but to do and lie:
Into the valley of the Creduloids
Rode the six hundred, or more.

Dowsers to right of them,
Psychics to left of them,
Astrologers in front of them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of the Creduloids,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred, at least.

Flash'd all their sabres bare,
Flash'd as they turn'd in air,
Sabring the Yellow Bamboo-ers there,
Charging an army, while
All the world wonder'd:
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right thro' the line they broke;
Edwards and Sylvia
Reel'd from the sabre stroke
Shatter'd and sunder'd.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred, or more.

Homeopaths to right of them,
Christians to left of them,
Alien abductees behind them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
While horse and hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came thro' the jaws of the Creduloids
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred, or more.

When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wondered.
Honor the charge they made,
Though no longer called the Bright Brigade,
Noble six hundred, I'm pretty sure there were more.

[!Xx+-Rational-+xX!]

We skeptics need a term like bright to show how smart we are compared to all the idiots out there!

[The Central Scrutinizer]

Originally posted by !Xx+-Rational-+xX!
We skeptics need a term like bright to show how smart we are compared to all the idiots out there!

How about if we refer to these super intelligent people as "Central Scrutinizers"?

[UnrepentantSinner]

Phil that was absolutely inspired.

[T'ai Chi]

Bright.

The opposite of which isn't necessarily dull or stupid or dim or idiotic, but rather Dull or Stupid or Dim or Idiotic.

[MRC_Hans]

I am a Blight too!

Oh, he said bright......


Hans

[BillyJoe]

DrMatt,

Originally posted by DrMatt
Okay, I'll say it, just to stir things up a bit.

I'm a Bright. :D Nah, you can't fool me. I saw that smilie.

:D:D Bright :D:D

BillyJoe

[Jeff Corey]

Originally posted by DrMatt

Okay, I'll say it, just to stir things up a bit.
I'm a Bright. :D

Matt's a bright?
But, according to my Webster's, "matt (or mat)" is a dull finish.
Or is that Finnish? Polish that up a bit and it may get brighter.

But seriously, that term leaves me less than lukewarm, whoever Luke is. I'd prefer "I'm a Bight" (because I know the ropes), or even, "I'm a Matt."

[Mercutio]

Originally posted by Jeff Corey

Matt's a bright?
But, according to my Webster's, "matt (or mat)" is a dull finish.
Or is that Finnish? Polish that up a bit and it may get brighter.

But seriously, that term leaves me less than lukewarm, whoever Luke is. I'd prefer "I'm a Bight" (because I know the ropes), or even, "I'm a Matt." Bight me.

:D

[Hannibal]

I'm Bright and so is my wife!

[BillyJoe]

"Bright" is an oxymoron.

[Jeff Corey]

Why not "swift"? It's faster than a speeding pullet.
No, that's Superchicken.
Oh, well, I still think "bright" is cumbersome.

[Hexxenhammer]

I like "none". As in if you were asked what your religion was in multiple choice form, the last choice would be "none of the above".

[RSLancastr]

Originally posted by Jeff Corey
Oh, well, I still think "bright" is cumbersome. Cumbersome? Maybe.

Pretentious and gag-inducing? Definitely.

[RSLancastr]

Originally posted by !Xx+-Rational-+xX!
We skeptics need a term like bright to show how smart we are compared to all the idiots out there! It is this kind of self-serving, smarmy attitude ("we are smart, everyone else is an idiot") which I believe the term "bright" will conjur up to many, and make them even less likely to consider a skeptical viewpoint.

[Soapy Sam]

Better right than bright.

[Jeff Corey]

"Better right than left out in the cold overnight."
Benjamin "Big Ben" Franklin.

[BillyJoe]

Should have been: "Better right than left.......out in the cold overnight."

[BillyJoe]

The word appears again in this week's Commentary - again quoting someone else......

Frequent contributor Matthew H. Fields of Ann Arbor, Michigan, points out the quality of our Forum members:


A follow-up on Serdar Yegulalp's comment on Steven E. Cerier's piece: Yegulalp wrote: "Artists should be among the people helping us move out of the dark ages, not keeping us in them." In the Arts section of the JREF on-line forum, I note that some pretty astounding artists are active in skeptical, rational, optimistic, humanistic, Brightistic activities.
Including, I might add here, Matthew H. Fields, classical composerÂ…. Maybe the idea is to prove to us that, somewhere out there, there ARE converts to The New Religion.

BillyJoe

[Globert]

1. filled with brighteousness

[Jeff Corey]

I'd rather be a swift.
Fast.
Butt not halfast...

[BillyJoe]

Yeah, halfarsed

[Soapy Sam]

Better left than right out in left field... I think.

[BillyJoe]

Grasping at straws now......

Reader Vikram Paralkar.....I have been a bright for as long as I can remember. I thought it was "Bright"

Reader Ricardo Guzmán of Monterrey, México, writes:
I want you to know that here in Mexico you can also find "brights" (I don't like that designation but it is a way in which we identify our world-view).... No capitalization here either AND he doesn't like the designation although he qualifies this.

In any case two mentions of "Bright" (or "bright") in this weeks Commentary.

[Jeff Corey]

A modest proposal. Use "Swift" instead.

[CFLarsen]

I still like Paulie the Greek's "Illuminati". There's a certain...ironic quality to it.... :)

[Jeff Corey]

Originally posted by CFLarsen
I still like Paulie the Greek's "Illuminati". There's a certain...ironic quality to it.... :)
As long as it isn't "psironic".
But, you knew I was going to say that.

[phildonnia]

Originally posted by T'ai Chi
I'd love to know how to do things like be able to keep a tally of the number of times, for example, the word "Bright" is used in many publications. That way, we could monitor its use over time and see if it is spreading; analyzing various numbers statistically to see if it is catching on.

This would be interesting to do with any meme I think.

(Sigh) Do a search for "Bright" on Google. The debated usage has reached #2.

[Kopji]

Bright translated to German is "hell"

Perfect.

[BillyJoe]

Not a single mention of that unmentionable word in this weeks Commentary.

Perhaps we are winning.

We can but hope,

BillyJoe

[BobM]

It'd be cool to compare the spread of this meaning of the word "Bright" versus, say, the spread of the new meaning of the word "santorum."

The word "santorum" makes me kind of nauseous now. What cruel revenge to do that to someone's name.

[Jeff Corey]

Originally posted by BobM
The word "santorum" makes me kind of nauseous now. What cruel revenge to do that to someone's name.
So it's "A frothy mixture of..."? What? And what do they have against the Senator?

[Hexxenhammer]

Originally posted by BobM


The word "santorum" makes me kind of nauseous now. What cruel revenge to do that to someone's name. The bigoted jerk deserved it. The current campaign is to get Savage's definition to come up first in a google search instead of the senator's website.

Edited to add: It's currently #3.

[Hexxenhammer]

Originally posted by Jeff Corey

So it's "A frothy mixture of..."? What? And what do they have against the Senator?

This should explain it:"If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual (gay) sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything," Santorum said in the AP interview, which was published Monday.

From CNN (http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/04/22/santorum.gays/)

[BillyJoe]

Well, we were spared any mention last week but sadly there is another mention of that word in this weeks Commentary.....

Brazilian reader Gustavo Bastos Salles writes us about a TV appearance that got his attention recently:


A man, who I knew was a magician, although I did not know his name at that time, was performing… It was quite a surprise when I discovered that Lipan [Jr.], the magician . . . was doing that famous trick where cotton is introduced into an empty large pot, and some strange objects (bones, toys supposed to be voodoo dolls) are extracted from the pot by handling. This number can be very impressive to those who believe in black magic, contact with the dead, witchcraft, and so on — this kind of nonsense.
In fact, what surprised me was not the number of objects (I have seen this before, and besides I am a Bright), but the flavor of Lipan's performance. With the presenter's help, Lipan imitated the gestures and the speech of a psychic but did it with a lot of sarcasm. Indeed, his intention was to discredit a lady who has been doing the same trick under the claim of paranormal powers. After the presentation, Lipan pointed out that everybody had seen that there was nothing inside the cotton (he used sealed packages, opened and checked by the audience), and that the pot was empty. He pointed out that there was no supernatural power involved in the show and assured us that is wrong to deceive others using this kind of trick. What a prodigy!! Congratulations to Lipan and SBT [the Brazilian network]!

The sad part is that presentations like this one are almost nonexistent. I mean, more often TV channels include in their schedule programs about occultism, chromotherapy, homeopathy. Probably, Lipan's performance had been featured only because the producers thought that it would attract a good number of viewers. I'll not be surprised if in the future the same program presents a long interview with a person who proclaims herself a gifted psychic.Okay, Gustavo Bastos Salles joins the blacklist.