Why do "skeptics" troll on Bigfoot Forums?

[I AM THE BLOBSQUATCH]

The answer? IMO, many of these people aren't skeptics at all. In reality, many of them are DEEPLY FASCINATED by the possibility of this creature and many DO believe in BF, but don't want to be thought of as crackpots or kooks, so they are hedging their bets by hiding under the mantle of "skeptic". In reality, if Ketchum's paper and the competing study are released and prove BF to be a REAL animal, no one will be happier than some of these clowns. It's just like many of those so-called "atheists"; why are they so angry? Because they WANT to believe in God, but are afraid to. Same thing here. Ever notice how ANGRY some of these "skeptics" get when you engage them in debate? If what people choose to believe in(God, BF) is silly and not real, then why don't "skeptics" just let folks believe what they want? Don't get me wrong, there are some TRUE skeptics, and that's fine, to each his own, but WHY, WHY, WHY if they are SOOOOOO intelligent, would they waste time in angry argument with people who believe in "fairy tales"? Anyway, that's just one man's opinion. Your thoughts?

[Kel]

The answer? IMO, many of these people aren't skeptics at all. In reality, many of them are DEEPLY FASCINATED by the possibility of this creature and many DO believe in BF, but don't want to be thought of as crackpots or kooks, so they are hedging their bets by hiding under the mantle of "skeptic". In reality, if Ketchum's paper and the competing study are released and prove BF to be a REAL animal, no one will be happier than some of these clowns. It's just like many of those so-called "atheists"; why are they so angry? Because they WANT to believe in God, but are afraid to. Same thing here. Ever notice how ANGRY some of these "skeptics" get when you engage them in debate? If what people choose to believe in(God, BF) is silly and not real, then why don't "skeptics" just let folks believe what they want? Don't get me wrong, there are some TRUE skeptics, and that's fine, to each his own, but WHY, WHY, WHY if they are SOOOOOO intelligent, would they waste time in angry argument with people who believe in "fairy tales"? Anyway, that's just one man's opinion. Your thoughts?

Methinks your fatal error here is over-generalization, IATB. I haven't seen MOST skeptics get "angry" at all, except occasionally in response to a slam from a "believer". Not at all. Same with Atheists ~ I know plenty of perfectly happy (and unencumbered) Atheists, though I think that's a topic unrelated to Bigfoot.

I do agree most skeptics here are hopeful BF will be proven. Who wouldn't think it's cool to learn we have a relation among us that managed to dodge the trappings of humanity? Skeptics simply require more proof than "trust me" because they haven't personally seen BF. Yet that doesn't make one a "closet believer". And that also doesn't mean one can't or shouldn't be interested in following the search for answers.

You obviously are a believer. Do all believers agree BF come out of UFOs, travel an underground web of tunnels, use Mind-speak and block cameras with their EMF waves? We already know true believers debate the "human vs animal" issue. There's also constant in-fighting among different believer groups.

So why be so black and white about either side? I think you'd agree there are troll idiots on both sides, so I will guess you are not always fully reading the context of comments that offend you.

[NobleSav]

The most extreme skeptics are some of the moderators over there at that forum. They can't stand it when you challenge their reasoning, and can't handle any critique of opinion. It's the most divisively administrated forum I've ever experienced. The mod's are intent on gathering, compiling those that share their viewpoints, and getting rid of those that don't. It's a battle over there between skeptical and believing admin's, and they administrate accordingly. End Result......Bigfoot Forums constant battle ground, with productive/interesting discussion, and evidence sharing is severely limited.

I'm glad this forum opened up, I'll be here, rather than there, from now on.

[SasquaiNation]

The most extreme skeptics are some of the moderators over there at that forum. They can't stand it when you challenge their reasoning, and can't handle any critique of opinion. It's the most divisively administrated forum I've ever experienced. The mod's are intent on gathering, compiling those that share their viewpoints, and getting rid of those that don't. It's a battle over there between skeptical and believing admin's, and they administrate accordingly. End Result......Bigfoot Forums constant battle ground, with productive/interesting discussion, and evidence sharing is severely limited.

I'm glad this forum opened up, I'll be here, rather than there, from now on.

It's really too bad that the forum you mentioned is moderated that way. Biases should not get in the way of moderating a forum at all. The mod's job is to see that the T&C are followed and that comments are posted in the appropriate thread.
Banning people or deleting comments simply because a person has a differing opinion is childish in my opinion.

[Some@$$hole]

Skeptic: definition... a person who questions the validity or authenticity of something purporting to be factual.

Questioning does not mean blindly shaking your head at what's obviously right in front of you.

I cant speak for some of the more militant close-minded skeptics, the serial contrarians who call themselves skeptics that you are referring to. I speak for those like myself who question because we want the truth and we won't blindly follow or believe based on the faith of others.

I'm a skeptic because I require proof, but that doesn't mean I will disrespect or get angry with someone who's views I disagree with.

Oh and telling an atheist that they are angry because they want to believe in God is like telling a Christian that they are angry because they want to believe in Allah. It's offensive to them, I don't recommend it.

Cheers

[Woodwose]

....the more militant close-minded skeptics, the serial contrarians who call themselves skeptics that you are referring to....

I'd call them 'debunkers' as they give legitimate and objective scepticism a bad name.

For there to be a healthy and informative debate regarding something like Bigfoot you need people to look at evidence with a certain degree of scepticism. I would go even further than that and say that if you aren't sceptical about evidence then you can't claim to be objective.

Rather than polarising the issue by dividing people up into believers and sceptics I prefer to think that we are all on a sliding scale with regard to the plausibility of Bigfoot's existence. A few people are closer to being absolutely convinced it does or doesn't exist, whilst I think most of us can be found somewhere in between veering one way or the other depending on which particular case is up for consideration.

[StankApe]

g

[I AM THE BLOBSQUATCH]

Skeptic: definition... a person who questions the validity or authenticity of something purporting to be factual.

Questioning does not mean blindly shaking your head at what's obviously right in front of you.

I cant speak for some of the more militant close-minded skeptics, the serial contrarians who call themselves skeptics that you are referring to. I speak for those like myself who question because we want the truth and we won't blindly follow or believe based on the faith of others.

I'm a skeptic because I require proof, but that doesn't mean I will disrespect or get angry with someone who's views I disagree with.


Oh and telling an atheist that they are angry because they want to believe in God is like telling a Christian that they are angry because they want to believe in Allah. It's offensive to them, I don't recommend it.

Cheers

I'm talking about many of the angry atheists. Obviously, not u. Not offending ANYONE. The question is why do angry so called skeptics TROLL, NOT why real, open minded yet skeptical fols who are interested in the subject post here

[mark_boy]

Skeptic: definition... a person who questions the validity or authenticity of something purporting to be factual.

Questioning does not mean blindly shaking your head at what's obviously right in front of you.

I cant speak for some of the more militant close-minded skeptics, the serial contrarians who call themselves skeptics that you are referring to. I speak for those like myself who question because we want the truth and we won't blindly follow or believe based on the faith of others.

I'm a skeptic because I require proof, but that doesn't mean I will disrespect or get angry with someone who's views I disagree with.

Oh and telling an atheist that they are angry because they want to believe in God is like telling a Christian that they are angry because they want to believe in Allah. It's offensive to them, I don't recommend it.

Cheers

Completely agree.

Everyone would love bigfoot to be real! Skeptic or not, I know I would!

I think the most damaging thing in bigfoot research is the partisanship - splitting people off into different camps - 'skeptic / believer, pro-kill / no-kill, ape / human, paranormal / non-paranormal'. Surely there should be just 2 - Objective and fruitloops.

[Woodwose]

As to the OP there are of course the simple attention seeking trolls. They clearly get some fulfilment from flaming forums and sitting back to enjoy the stir they cause. They are easy enough to spot and ignore.

Otherwise I think that people will often deal with the unknown in one of two ways: abject denial and abject rejection. The fear of the unknown is so powerful that many people will go to great lengths to convince themselves that they know the truth rather than allow any aspect of their reality to be even remotely ambiguous.

Trolling forums with their vitriol is a way of convincing themselves that they are right.

[StankApe]

g

[BurdenOfProof]

People can be interested in a subject without believing in it. Stop crying troll when someone shatters your dream of the magical forest man.

[I AM THE BLOBSQUATCH]

People can be interested in a subject without believing in it. Stop crying troll when someone shatters your dream of the magical forest man.

Lol. Do you feel this was directed at you? Ur right, of course, you can have an interest in what you don't believe, and As I said before, there are real skeptical but open minded folks who like to post on these forums. Healthy, respectful debate is cool. But SOME people come on here to TROLL and I'm wondering why those folks would waste their time! I posited my theory and opinion and others have done so with theirs. No one can "shatter my dream" because I think this is REAL. I will listen to thoughtful, intelligent debate from those who disagree, as I do with everything from religion to politics. What I WON'T do is get into name calling and other forms of stupidity with people from ANY side of the debate. Understand? And P.S., if you have interest in a subject, but don't believe in it, why not debate someone who DOES instead of insulting them?

[I AM THE BLOBSQUATCH]

as an atheist i can answer your second question: It's because we are trying to stop the spread of ignorance and have people grow beyond the middle ages. It's tim to put these silly superstitions to bed and evolve as a scientific society.[/quote]

That's fine. You have a right to believe what you want to, of course, as do I. I used the atheist example drawing on personal experience with dozens of friends, co-workers, et al. My point is I would never go on an atheist forum and start trolling, calling people stupid, or silly. If an atheist wanted to have a respectful debate, I'm game, but trolling on a site for which the subject matter has NO validity to you is a waste of time and energy!

[Anon]

Stank Ape is a closet bleever.

[Some@$$hole]

Skeptic: definition... a person who questions the validity or authenticity of something purporting to be factual.

Questioning does not mean blindly shaking your head at what's obviously right in front of you.

I cant speak for some of the more militant close-minded skeptics, the serial contrarians who call themselves skeptics that you are referring to. I speak for those like myself who question because we want the truth and we won't blindly follow or believe based on the faith of others.

I'm a skeptic because I require proof, but that doesn't mean I will disrespect or get angry with someone who's views I disagree with.


Oh and telling an atheist that they are angry because they want to believe in God is like telling a Christian that they are angry because they want to believe in Allah. It's offensive to them, I don't recommend it.

Cheers

I'm talking about many of the angry atheists. Obviously, not u. Not offending ANYONE. The question is why do angry so called skeptics TROLL, NOT why real, open minded yet skeptical fols who are interested in the subject post here

Sorry if I came off as defensive. Didn't mean it that way. Wasn't actually offended, was just conversating.

[I AM THE BLOBSQUATCH]

No problem, my friend! Sorry if I offended you!

[StankApe]

g

[Anon]

You're still a closet bleever.

[TKW]

There are plenty of believers that get angry, it is not all one sided. In mythology, BF is right up there and as such i am sure we get plenty of youngsters who find this creature fascinating thereforre when viewing some of the replies, you are of course going to get idoiots (on boths sides of the field). And comparing religion to Bigfoot is unfair - there is after all a scant chance that BF is real.

[GT3Paul]

Someone mentioned here in this thread that the moderators are part of the problem over there. 100% agree. I got banned for the first time EVER in a forum. I got a penalty point once in a car forum(where you get 20 points and you get an official warning) But I just asked a so called expert there why everyone in the BF world is covered by a Non Disclosure Agreement. Being a scientist for 30 years I know there are some occasions where the NDAs are necessary, but in this case, its the worst case I have ever seen for protecting scientific information. So I asked. The next thing I know I am getting warned by the Mods, and then when I said it was just plain silly for a warning via PM, they escalated it to Steve Kulls and the next thing you know I am banned for ever. Now I find out that He isnt even involved with BFF any more!!! I wonder what mod he got in a snit with?
That forum is what I would call an "outlier" because its not the usual case for forums. Its the strangest weirdest forum I have even been a part of.
Just as another example some member named Kings Canyon PMed me because he/she liked one of the posts I made. So we struck up a quick friendship. After about 40 Emails back and forth, I find out he/she is not what he/she claimed to be because he/she didnt want anyone to know he/she hung out on a BigFoot forum. Her/his spouse was involved in an official job and he/she was worried about their jobs. I told this person they were being a bit paranoid and then this person sent me a nasty
email washing her hands of me forever.
The Point is there are some STRANGE people over there, including management.
My advice to you is you have too much to do to worry about that forum, your too worthy to spend time over there. Shawn gave us this place to hang out so lets be friends and forget about that place. There are some DAMN good Bigfooters over here and you will find out how good just by getting to know them.

[*****]

Ridiculous forum administration over there. I was banned myself after cutting loose on one of the admins over there who basically stalked me and my posts for a year. Whatever, pure comedy to me. That forum really is worthless anyway, good to have a new place to share viewpoints without trying to avoid the 'bad cop.' LOL

[Starz]

It's the same as a Ford Enthusiast spouting off on a Chevy Forum. EGO. Someone somewhere on the internet was WRONG and it must be corrected ROFL

Most of the hard feelings come [IMO] from skeps or self appointed debunkers shoving in without being asked to in giving their opinions. Then getting defensive cause they get called on their lack of field experience. [shrugs]

Since BF requires time in the bush it's either time for those folks to get a new hobby or shut up.

You either own a Chevy or a Ford an wrench on it or you don't...[continue analogy] nothing theoretical about it.
Same should be applied to Bigfootery. It's be the same for someone quarterbacking the replacement of a truck transmission...you weren't there, you have no idea of tools or modifications an never got dirty.
Feel free to shut up an go away.

Just cause you for instance were a fluid hydrologist doesn't mean your knowledge translates over to SA fuel injection systems or using nitro. But ego reigns regardless.

[StankApe]

g

[GT3Paul]

Starz
sorry I cant agree. My main forum I hang out at is a Porsche forum. Yea we get the Ford GT guys there ocassional Ferrari guys and plain trolls(Corvette guys)
but the moderators dont hunt you down because you dont agree with them or one of their friends.
Again a weird place filled with weird people, not at ALL like a car forum

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