[Vision2020] Highly religious people are less motivated by compassion than are non-believers

[Paul Rumelhart]

Thank you for your kind rebuke, but I did read the entire post.  I get 
that you wanted Chas to look at the study before being critical of it.  
I wouldn't mind hearing his take on the details as well.  I'm telling 
you that being skeptical *before* you look at a study is proper and is 
not foolish or arrogant.

Both you and Mr. Hansen indicated I needed to be more "honest".  What, 
exactly, do you think I'm lying about?

The word "skepticism" has gotten a bad rap lately.  It doesn't mean that 
a person is completely against an idea, it just means that there is now 
a bar that the idea or study has to get over.  Assuming they do this, 
then the person who was previously skeptical could now become one of the 
study's main proponents.  I would blame the AGW community for the 
co-opting of "skepticism" into a dirty word, but they would just blame 
me for Not Being a True Skeptic or some such nonsense.

Paul

On 05/02/2012 10:00 AM, Art Deco wrote:
> This should be three first things on your to-do list:
>
> Reading Comprehension
> Read Entire Post Before Making An Ass of Yourself
> Honesty
>
> w.
>
>
> On Wed, May 2, 2012 at 9:47 AM, Paul Rumelhart <godshatter at yahoo.com 
> <mailto:godshatter at yahoo.com>> wrote:
>
>     When did people start conflating skepticism with arrogance and
>     foolishness?  It should be the default outlook when anyone tells
>     you anything that is in any way surprising.
>
>     Paul
>
>     ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>     *From:* Art Deco <art.deco.studios at gmail.com
>     <mailto:art.deco.studios at gmail.com>>
>     *To:* vision2020 at moscow.com <mailto:vision2020 at moscow.com>
>     *Sent:* Wednesday, May 2, 2012 9:19 AM
>
>     *Subject:* Re: [Vision2020] Highly religious people are less
>     motivated by compassion than are non-believers
>
>     It's not enough to express skepticism without giving reasons.  Any
>     fool can do that.
>
>     If you want to exhibit more than arrogance, criticize the
>     experimental design of the multiple studies cited.  Such design
>     are open to criticism as is any early experimental works on
>     particular subjects.  In this case the lack of clear and precise
>     definitions make unclear what is being measured.
>
>     However, as with many pioneering experimental work, the results
>     are suggestive.  Now the methodology needs to be refined, and
>     further, broader experiments pursued with more care and rigor. 
>     That's how science works.  In the case of social and behavioral
>     sciences, the struggle for clearer definitions and results is much
>     more difficult than in the physical sciences because of the number
>     of variables involved and the difficulty of isolating the
>     variables.  That doesn't mean, however, that the search for
>     knowledge in this area should be abandoned.
>
>     w.
>
>     On Wed, May 2, 2012 at 8:57 AM, Donovan Arnold
>     <donovanjarnold2005 at yahoo.com
>     <mailto:donovanjarnold2005 at yahoo.com>> wrote:
>
>         Yes, Chas, it seems far-fetched that such values could be so
>         easily quantified and measured with any scientific accuracy or
>         validity.
>         Donovan Arnold
>
>         *From:* Chasuk <chasuk at gmail.com <mailto:chasuk at gmail.com>>
>         *To:* Donovan Arnold <donovanjarnold2005 at yahoo.com
>         <mailto:donovanjarnold2005 at yahoo.com>>
>         *Cc:* Art Deco <art.deco.studios at gmail.com
>         <mailto:art.deco.studios at gmail.com>>; "vision2020 at moscow.com
>         <mailto:vision2020 at moscow.com>" <vision2020 at moscow.com
>         <mailto:vision2020 at moscow.com>>
>         *Sent:* Tuesday, May 1, 2012 8:33 AM
>         *Subject:* Re: [Vision2020] Highly religious people are less
>         motivated by compassion than are non-believers
>
>         The study looked at generosity and charity, and tried to
>         determine the motives behind those behaviors. It decided that
>         the highly religious were driven towards acts of generosity
>         and charity less often by empathy and compassion than were the
>         non-religious/less religious. I'm skeptical that such a
>         determination can legitimately be made.
>
>
>
>
>
>     -- 
>     Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)
>     art.deco.studios at gmail.com <mailto:art.deco.studios at gmail.com>
>
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>
>
>
>
> -- 
> Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)
> art.deco.studios at gmail.com <mailto:art.deco.studios at gmail.com>
>
>
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