Thursday, April 4, 2013

The TED Controversy

     I'm a little late in discussing this issue, but I was so moved and inspired by a post by Craig Weiler on his blog, The Weiler Psi, that I wanted to share it here. http://weilerpsiblog.wordpress.com/2013/04/02/the-loud-and-clear-message-that-the-ted-controversy-is-sending/

     In a nutshell, TED, the organization whose slogan is "Ideas Worth Spreading," censored presentations given by Graham Hancock and Rupert Sheldrake and made accusations against them that were as untrue as they were dismissive and demeaning. When asked by Hancock and Sheldrake to support their accusations with evidence, TED essentially responded like a seventh grade bully.

     The whole story can be found here,

http://blog.ted.com/2013/03/14/open-for-discussion-graham-hancock-and-rupert-sheldrake/comment-page-25/#comments

and here,

http://www.grahamhancock.com/forum/HancockG5-TED.php
   
     What's so inspiring about this whole thing is the public outcry not only against the censoring of good ideas, but against the patronizing attitude that intelligent people need to be protected against theories that run counter to the currently accepted dogmas of science.

    Weiler's last paragraph sums up what's happening beautifully,

     "The wall that the skeptics have put up is like a shaky dam with a rapidly growing river behind it.  They     will hold sway for awhile, and it will look as though they are succeeding because so little gets past them, but it is an illusion.  The broad network of people supporting an alternative view of the universe, backed by solid evidence, is still growing and getting increasingly aware of its power.  Everything will be fine in Camp Skeptic until it isn’t.  Once institutions realize that taking sides in the debate is harming them more than helping, then, change will come swiftly and the sciences will be fundamentally altered forever."