Positive Liberty

A very interesting comment to my posts (here, here, and here) on the Gold Leaf Lady (remember her?):

The problem I have with most skeptics is that if, say, a table floated in the air in front of them, they still would try to say that there are reasonable explanations for the table floating in front of them and that a table floating in front of them is not supernatural in origin (even if it appears so).

I have no way of knowing if this Katie person is a fraud or not. I have not witnessed anyone else spewing gold leaf materials from their skin. I do know from personal experience that there are things that go on in this Universe that I or others can’t currently explain.

In my opinion, you can be a thinking, open minded skeptic (such as I) on many purported paranormal phenom. But to say there is absolutely no such thing and/or try to debunk the entire genre on weak cases is not respectable. Unfortunately, I find too many skeptics travel that path far too often.

Not one of us knows anything, really, when it comes down to it.

I don’t think he quite gets the skeptical position right. Curiously, he does not bother to consider the alternative:

Confronted with a floating table, a skeptic says, “There is probably a reasonable explanation. Let’s do some tests and try to find one.”
Confronted with a floating table, a believer in the supernatural says (ultimately), “There can be no reasonable explanation. Give up on ever finding one. And believe in my particular dogma!”

If you don’t like skepticism, please at least consider how epistemologically poor the alternative is.

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