c4ts
14th April 2003, 12:45 AM
...it's the big nasty pseudo-skeptic strawman!
From Randi's latest commentary:
In reference to this week's Commentary (4/4/03) I thought I'd comment about the concept of "preying on the weak" that you bring up.
There's a disturbing trend I see, even among people who claim to be skeptics. That's the thought that if people are foolish enough to pay for magic amulets, psychic advice, or advanced water, what's wrong with taking their money? After all, no one's forcing them to buy these silly things, so how is it wrong?
Of course, the same people would never think to blame a rape victim for dressing attractively, or the victim of a robbery for wearing a nice watch. Yet for some reason, committing fraud seems to be okay as long as the victim is somewhat gullible.
It bothers me to see otherwise intelligent people express these things. Fraud is fraud, whether the victim is intelligent or foolish. It's just plain wrong to sell a free energy device that doesn't work, even if the buyer thinks it does. If a person walks down a dark alley in a bad section of town late at night and gets mugged, perhaps he was acting foolishly, but it doesn't make the mugging "okay," Yet I constantly see skeptics argue that people who fall for scams or buy into paranormal bogustry are "just getting what they deserve."
So it's not just the bad guys who feel this way. An alarming number of "good guys" agree with them.
If you want to take sides, Zeno's paradox comes to mind. Either you're with justice and the other guy's against it, or you're with justice and the other guy's against it, so either side you choose is supposed to be right. Must have something to do with a misinterpretation of the words "woo woo."
From Randi's latest commentary:
In reference to this week's Commentary (4/4/03) I thought I'd comment about the concept of "preying on the weak" that you bring up.
There's a disturbing trend I see, even among people who claim to be skeptics. That's the thought that if people are foolish enough to pay for magic amulets, psychic advice, or advanced water, what's wrong with taking their money? After all, no one's forcing them to buy these silly things, so how is it wrong?
Of course, the same people would never think to blame a rape victim for dressing attractively, or the victim of a robbery for wearing a nice watch. Yet for some reason, committing fraud seems to be okay as long as the victim is somewhat gullible.
It bothers me to see otherwise intelligent people express these things. Fraud is fraud, whether the victim is intelligent or foolish. It's just plain wrong to sell a free energy device that doesn't work, even if the buyer thinks it does. If a person walks down a dark alley in a bad section of town late at night and gets mugged, perhaps he was acting foolishly, but it doesn't make the mugging "okay," Yet I constantly see skeptics argue that people who fall for scams or buy into paranormal bogustry are "just getting what they deserve."
So it's not just the bad guys who feel this way. An alarming number of "good guys" agree with them.
If you want to take sides, Zeno's paradox comes to mind. Either you're with justice and the other guy's against it, or you're with justice and the other guy's against it, so either side you choose is supposed to be right. Must have something to do with a misinterpretation of the words "woo woo."