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He links me stuff like this bogus website that actually link to seemly credible sources.

I'm just having a hard time trying to tell him that some of these sources aren't credible or are flawed results.

http://www.activistpost.com/2013/09/22-medical-studies-that-show-vaccines.html

Like this: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21058170

Then claims, "Oh look, it shows this can cause autism. Vaccines cause autism."

So, I've run into a kind of rough patch with the whole "vaccines and autism" debate. I'm unable to properly explain to someone what sources are credible and what aren't. Also, I'm unable to clarify how one actual scientific source can be more credible than another.

A few of my friends are 100% Conspiracy bogosity drones. They read on the internet that "Vaccines cause autism" in an actual scientific source, and use it to say, "Here, it does."

If I point them to another source that debunks this, their claim is "What makes that dismiss the scientific claim that says it does?"

I need some help in constructing a critical thinking set and guidance on how to explain why I believe the common scientific and accepted documents and papers in science, out-weight the links they hand to me after performing some Google-Fu.

At this point, it's getting confusing to me myself. I stopped by to see if Shane or anyone could explain it better.

Approximately 5 years since the last Bogosity video episode!

This one must REALLY be big!

Or have you completely given up on the video series of Bogosity?

I pester, because I care. <3

I couldn't stop laughing. I really want a couple of these. When I get the money, I'm totally buying some.

(To clarify, not because I think it's funny, but because I actually plan on calling myself a Doctor.)

It won't be anytime soon though.

Probably somewhere between the Bogosity Episode 10 and Valve's Half-Life 2: Episode 3.

[DO]

It wouldn't make too much sense, considering there are several Scooby-Doo episodes that actually DO have psychics and ghosts.

That's weird, because it's the thought of future nonexistence that makes me want to live.

Same here. I've always found it odd when people say things like, "If there's no afterlife, then people will harm themselves or do stupid things, or won't want to live." That makes no sense.

How will the nonexistence after death be any different than the nonexistence before birth?

You've experienced living, thus, the concept of dying is a confusing one. You didn't worry about these things when you were nonexistent before you were born.

The most important part about asking about something like this, is to tell us the state in which your friend resides. Always mention the state when asking for advice of this nature.

Secondly, I probably don't have any useful advice about this, but I had a similar experience. Someone decided it would be hilarious to play a joke on me, and call the cops and told them I was going to kill myself. They escorted me to a hospital, where over and over again, they told me that I "wouldn't be charged" and I told them, "I don't have insurance for any of this, I'm not here by choice." They kept saying "It's okay, you won't be charged." I basically had blood exams and sat in a room for 5 hours because some psycho lady in the next room needed a translator.

Anyway, long story short, they sent me a bill for a little bit under the amount you stated. I ended up having my father's lawyer friend take care of it. It mysteriously vanished.

I know that's horrible advice... But if they have a friend in the family who is a lawyer, ask them about this, and maybe they can resolve it and make the bill "vanish" as my lawyer was able to.

It's almost 2 years... and there's still not another Bogosity episode. I propose that Bogosity is indeed bogosity.

However, if you make an episode about Bogosity being bogosity, then does that mean it's no longer bogosity?

Feel free to shuffle this thread somewhere else, or lock it or whatever you may wish to do with it. I'm just poking my head in to the forums to pry for a status update on the series. =P

I hope all is well.

[way]

Dunno. All I know is, xkcd rules!

Agreed. I like xkcd way more than I like Penny Arcade. In fact, I don't even like Penny Arcade. (I mean, a couple were probably funny, but it's not something I think is hilarious or read often.)

I'd seriously consider going to the dean or some other school administration and informing them of what she is doing. She should not be trying to teach other concepts except what for what she's SUPPOSE to be teaching.

Also, give her Shane's book.

"Why do we even have newspapers?" --My daughter

So domesticated pets who can't go outside yet have something to potty train with so the carpet doesn't get messy, duh!

Homeopathy?
James Randi dropping dead from a sleeping pill overdose.

Actually, the guy I was arguing with on YouTube in his comments section, in which I made a post about on this forum.. Actually argues that all the "sleeping pills" (IE. Pills with nothing in them) he had been taking, was the cause of his current cancer.

The guy stopped responding to me by the way when I asked him, "Who was the child who died from homeopathic medicine by mimicking James Randi? Could you link an article or Google search terms?"

The cross in the black hole is a reference to a specific image, namely this one:


It was, I believe a picture of a black hole taken by the Hubble Telescope.  It's the nucleus of Galaxy M51.  The cross is created by two dust lanes passing around it and blocking out some of the ionization around the black hole itself.  So essentially this is an image taken out of its context, zoomed in, and then cropped down so that the fundies can claim that this black hole, which just happens to be holding a galaxy together was created specifically to tell them that Jesus loves them.  I just can't fathom that kind of arrogant solipsism

It makes more sense than the laminin.

I actually thought at first, that the creator of the video, MGK, was trying to shove the logo in as to make it seem like he was making the video on behalf of the website. (Even though it was clear that nobody even cared about his video over there in the first place.)

I too would believe that if someone posted a logo at the beginning of a video, that it would seem like they were trying to represent or speak on behalf of, that person in the logo, or use the logo to fuel that they have some more "you should take this video seriously because I'm from this website" type of thing.

The Richard Dawkins thing is a good example. I wouldn't want creationists plugging Richard Dawkins into their videos about how there are no transitional fossils, etc. That would make people think that Richard Dawkins and the people at the website think the same thing.

If he wanted to plug the League of Reason in, he could put it at the end of the video, put it on the sidebar, etc.

I can't believe we're in the days of which the vaccines that have prevented me from getting age-old illnesses... are now being argued against.

Our society is going crazy.