I have to admit that I am a little confused by the article below. It makes Ufology a lot more cut and dried than it actually is. Most people are in the middle -- like myself. I don't claim to be a ufologist or scientist. I do have theories based on things I have witnessed and research I have read, but I am not religious about them. Basically I think the article (like most such articles), exaggerates the amount of nut cases actually involved in Ufology. I am not saying there aren't good points in the article because there are, but once again the myth that Ufology is over-flowing with nutcases is being put forth. Quite honestly of all the people I have come across in ufology the amount of people I think are truly nutty I could probably count on one hand. Yes, some people have beliefs that they hold onto far too tightly, but there are scientists who do the same.
To go a bit beyond the article there are groups like the Raelians that not only build a religion around Ufology, but also science. They claim to have cloned humans and yet nobody says they are denigrating science, it is only the Ufology aspect they concentrate on.
All and all, Steve makes some good points and I am not trying to trash his article, but I do think we should keep things in perspective. Nobody blames science for spawning Scientology. People realize there are nuts and they come up with their own ideas. Anyone who would want to broadly paint Ufology as nutty because of a few kooks is probably a debunker and would come up with something else to discredit even if there wasn't a single nut on the tree.
2 comments:
Lesley,
I have to agree with you. After all, who accredits direct experience? While the article bemoans divisiveness, it stirs up divisiveness by a non existent standard of accreditation created by the author in listing those individuals whom he personally accredits? While I don't dispute the contributions ( good or ill) of those he cites, to a large extent,this is simply a misspent and didactic wedge of an ill founded and unjustified valuation, the choice being A or B...his view or the inference that we are all ignorant nut cases. To paraphrase Gertrude Stein..Ego is Ego is Ego. Degree or no degree, the result is the same. You dont need a test for this. A little humility goes a long way...
Best Wishes
Bruce D
Lesley (and Bruce) I share much of those same thoughts. I get nervous when others start to talk about what kind of people "get to" be involved with UFO research, or maybe UFO exploration is a better term.
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