I've been rantinga about the following for years -- on the semantics of terms like "multiverse" etc. Seems Durham has issues with this as well:
By far my favorite pseudo-discovery of science was this past year, when scientists asserted they had discovered "another universe". If you think about this, it's hilarious if only on a semantic level. Any idiot knows that the word "universe" means everything, everywhere. You can't have more than one EVERYTHING. Parallel universes may exist in the same physical space, but they are part of everything, even then. No, what these childish oracles are really saying is this: "We're saying we discovered a whole other universe because we're rather embarrassed that we have been saying for years that we have been able to quantify, map and assert that our universe is finite." In other words, its all a diversion from the fact that THEY WERE WRONG AND THE UNIVERSE IS MUCH BIGGER THAN THESE SHALLOW LINEAR THINKING PRIMATES THOUGHT.
Yes, yes, a thousand times yes! Be still my beating heart!
I'm just going to jump around in non-linear anti-structure fashion and post tidbits from his article. Like this:
Some things just are. And because one chooses not to believe in a certain thing does not confer non-existence upon it. I don't know why people can't get that through their head.
Now before some "smock jockey" gets all smarmy and all, thinking that "Pink unicorns don't exist or do they just because I choose not to believe in them?" get real. That said, note Durham said "some" and use your head, we all know what he's talking about.
(I love the term "smock jockey" -- new one for me. I'm going to be using that one.)
Back to universes and UFOs and such:
To simply dismiss the unknown because you haven't personally experienced it is an arrogance that is both pathetic and poignant at the same time. As an example, ask yourself this: how many credible, sane eyewitnesses does it take to convict someone of murder in this country? One? Two? Hundreds of thousands of people have seen UFO's, the majority of whom were sane, credible and some were trained observers. Yet this is discarded out of hand. This makes no sense. None. Let me say again: simply because you choose not to believe in something does not confer non-existence upon it. Things just may not depend on your belief to exist. Imagine that. And even if UFO's are not machines from another world, no scientist would say that there are no unidentified objects seen in the sky, no matter what they were. UFO means: unidentified flying object. It doesn't mean: Holy crap this is an alien ship. I simply means no one knows what it is.
Yes, of course. WE all know that. Problem is, skeptoids have been using, of late, a new weapon in their guerrilla war, and that's the meme that "everyone really knows when we're talking UFOs we mean little green men from outer space." No, we don't. A whole hell of a lot of so-called "believers" don't. I don't. But the pathological skeptic does, or worse, pretends they he/she does, in order to marginalize the UFO phenomena and with it, all its witnesses, investigators, thinkers, researchers and "experiencers." By doing so, there is no need for seriously and honestly looking into the subject. Why bother? It's all just "little green men" fantasy.
