Re: [tips] Why don't we hear more about such things?

2010-10-21 Thread Michael Smith
H Jim.

No, you're not mistaken, that was me. The last part of my last post
was that the discussion of knowledge was actually tangential to the
belief thing as a belief.

Of course it was certainly nice to have the discussion about knowledge
and the various points of view presented

I note your empiricist concern of "unsubstantiated", but don't worry I
wouldn't go the whole epistemological route in a psych class.

--Mike

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Re: [tips] Why don't we hear more about such things?

2010-10-21 Thread Christopher D. Green

> *From:* Marc Carter [marc.car...@bakeru.edu]
> *Sent:* Thursday, October 21, 2010 9:22 AM
> *To:* Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)
> *Subject:* RE: [tips] Why don't we hear more about such things?
>
>  
> That's certainly how I learned it.  "Knowledge" is justified, true 
> belief.  One can have true beliefs, but without justification they do 
> not rise to the level of knowledge.  One cannot "know" something that 
> is false.

Well, that is certainly the traditional definition of knowledge, but 
everyone (who studies epistemology) also knows (yes, knows) that it is 
an inadequate definition. Consider the legion of Edmund Gettier-style 
counterexamples. Ex: I look out a window to my backyard. I see (what 
appears to be) an orange. In fact, unbeknownst to me, it is made of 
plastic, and it is only half an orange. Behind it, unseen by me, is an 
actual orange.

So we come to the question, do I "know" that there is an orange in the 
backyard?

Most people would say "no" because I am decieved about so many aspects 
of the situation. Nevertheless, I have a  belief (that there is an 
orange in the backyard) which is justified (by my observation) and which 
is true (there is indeed an orange in my backyard... I just can't see it).

For the original Gettier paper (Analysis, 1963) see: 
http://www.ditext.com/gettier/gettier.html
It is cited in virtually every epistemology text.

Chris
-- 

Christopher D. Green
Department of Psychology
York University
Toronto, ON M3J 1P3
Canada

 

416-736-2100 ex. 66164
chri...@yorku.ca
http://www.yorku.ca/christo/

==


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RE: [tips] Why don't we hear more about such things?

2010-10-21 Thread Marc Carter

Too true.  His paper was "The Fixation of Belief," not knowledge.  I teach that 
paper as "ways of coming to believe," but many texts use "ways of coming to 
know."

That's such a great paper.  Those guys were *smart*.

m


--
Marc Carter, PhD
Associate Professor and Chair
Department of Psychology
College of Arts & Sciences
Baker University
--




From: Bourgeois, Dr. Martin [mailto:mbour...@fgcu.edu]
Sent: Thursday, October 21, 2010 9:33 AM
To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)
Subject: RE: [tips] Why don't we hear more about such things?




Here's one thing that I believe (as opposed to know) contributes to the 
confusion: many research methods texts, when discussing C.S. Pierce's ways of 
fixing beliefs (e.g., authority, tenacity, etc.), refer to them as ways of 
knowing.

From: Marc Carter [marc.car...@bakeru.edu]
Sent: Thursday, October 21, 2010 9:22 AM
To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)
Subject: RE: [tips] Why don't we hear more about such things?





That's certainly how I learned it.  "Knowledge" is justified, true belief.  One 
can have true beliefs, but without justification they do not rise to the level 
of knowledge.  One cannot "know" something that is false.

So beliefs that are not amenable to empirical justification or sound deductive 
argumentation cannot be knowledge.

At least, that's how I was trained...

m

--
Marc Carter, PhD
Associate Professor and Chair
Department of Psychology
College of Arts & Sciences
Baker University
--


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Re: [tips] Why don't we hear more about such things?

2010-10-21 Thread Jim Clark
Hi
 
James M. Clark
Professor of Psychology
204-786-9757
204-774-4134 Fax
j.cl...@uwinnipeg.ca 

>>> Michael Smith  21-Oct-10 8:07 AM >>>
Of course all of this discussion of knowledge has very little to do
with my original context which was that the "God saved them" statement
is a statement of belief not an argument (despite the ensuing
'argument' which was at best tangential :-)  ).
JC
Sorry Mike, I believed/thought/knew (or thought I knew??) that you had written 
in a subsequent post that
 
"I think I would agree that the statement [i.e., "God saved them"] wouldn't 
count as a scientific
hypothesis, but not that it couldn't count as knowledge.
To say that assumes a scientific world view where the falsifiability
thing is king. It is conceivable, though, that one can have true
knowledge without such knowledge being falsifyable in the least."
 
Hence my concern about your (or someone else's??) use of the term knowledge 
(even more so the phrase "true knowledge") to refer to an unsubstantiated 
belief.
 
Take care
Jim

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RE: [tips] Why don't we hear more about such things?

2010-10-21 Thread Bourgeois, Dr. Martin
Here's one thing that I believe (as opposed to know) contributes to the 
confusion: many research methods texts, when discussing C.S. Pierce's ways of 
fixing beliefs (e.g., authority, tenacity, etc.), refer to them as ways of 
knowing.

From: Marc Carter [marc.car...@bakeru.edu]
Sent: Thursday, October 21, 2010 9:22 AM
To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)
Subject: RE: [tips] Why don't we hear more about such things?





That's certainly how I learned it.  "Knowledge" is justified, true belief.  One 
can have true beliefs, but without justification they do not rise to the level 
of knowledge.  One cannot "know" something that is false.

So beliefs that are not amenable to empirical justification or sound deductive 
argumentation cannot be knowledge.

At least, that's how I was trained...

m

--
Marc Carter, PhD
Associate Professor and Chair
Department of Psychology
College of Arts & Sciences
Baker University
--




From: Jim Clark [mailto:j.cl...@uwinnipeg.ca]
Sent: Wednesday, October 20, 2010 6:57 PM
To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)
Subject: Re: [tips] Why don't we hear more about such things?




Hi

Only by using the term "knowledge" in a quirky or loose way would it be 
possible to say one has true knowledge without some sort of rational or 
empirical justification (I'm not certain that falsifiability is the only such 
criterion one can use).  There is a discussion of this at

http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Epistemology

That is, in more correct usage, knowledge implies or assumes justification in a 
belief.  Without sound justification, beliefs do not qualify as knowledge, no 
matter how certain we might be about our unsubstantiated belief.  Indeed, isn't 
much of what we try to teach our students about how to substantiate beliefs 
(i.e., hypotheses) so that beliefs/speculations/hypotheses become sound 
knowledge about human behaviour?  If we start to admit any strongly held belief 
as being "true knowledge," irrespective of its justification, the discipline is 
really lost.  Of course, most people who do want to extend "truth" into a wider 
domain usually are quite restrictive about what beliefs they want to admit as 
true.

Take care
Jim


James M. Clark
Professor of Psychology
204-786-9757
204-774-4134 Fax
j.cl...@uwinnipeg.ca<mailto:j.cl...@uwinnipeg.ca>


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RE: [tips] Why don't we hear more about such things?

2010-10-21 Thread Marc Carter

That's certainly how I learned it.  "Knowledge" is justified, true belief.  One 
can have true beliefs, but without justification they do not rise to the level 
of knowledge.  One cannot "know" something that is false.

So beliefs that are not amenable to empirical justification or sound deductive 
argumentation cannot be knowledge.

At least, that's how I was trained...

m

--
Marc Carter, PhD
Associate Professor and Chair
Department of Psychology
College of Arts & Sciences
Baker University
--




From: Jim Clark [mailto:j.cl...@uwinnipeg.ca]
Sent: Wednesday, October 20, 2010 6:57 PM
To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)
Subject: Re: [tips] Why don't we hear more about such things?




Hi

Only by using the term "knowledge" in a quirky or loose way would it be 
possible to say one has true knowledge without some sort of rational or 
empirical justification (I'm not certain that falsifiability is the only such 
criterion one can use).  There is a discussion of this at

http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Epistemology

That is, in more correct usage, knowledge implies or assumes justification in a 
belief.  Without sound justification, beliefs do not qualify as knowledge, no 
matter how certain we might be about our unsubstantiated belief.  Indeed, isn't 
much of what we try to teach our students about how to substantiate beliefs 
(i.e., hypotheses) so that beliefs/speculations/hypotheses become sound 
knowledge about human behaviour?  If we start to admit any strongly held belief 
as being "true knowledge," irrespective of its justification, the discipline is 
really lost.  Of course, most people who do want to extend "truth" into a wider 
domain usually are quite restrictive about what beliefs they want to admit as 
true.

Take care
Jim


James M. Clark
Professor of Psychology
204-786-9757
204-774-4134 Fax
j.cl...@uwinnipeg.ca<mailto:j.cl...@uwinnipeg.ca>


The information contained in this e-mail and any attachments thereto ("e-mail") 
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Re: [tips] Why don't we hear more about such things?

2010-10-21 Thread Michael Smith
Thanks for the link Jim.

I would disagree that my previous post implies that one must use
'knowledge' in a "quirky or loose way". As your link shows, there is a
recognized position of irrational knowledge (irrational, of course,
without any pejorative connotation).
Although I'm not implying that the belief that 'God saved them' is
necessarily irrational. However, I don't think that not being an
empirical statement automatically invalidates a statement as being
knowledge.

I also disagree that the assumption of empirical justification is the
"more correct usage", rather it is the usage of term 'knowledge' in
the empirical tradition.

I agree that we do indeed (or at least should) " try to teach our
students about how to substantiate beliefs (i.e., hypotheses) so that
beliefs/speculations/hypotheses become sound knowledge about human
behaviour?" But that is simply because we are teaching psychology. (I
take exception, though, to the equating of beliefs with
hypotheses-in-the-empirical-sense).

Also, I don't think I implied that we should "...admit any strongly
held belief as being "true knowledge," irrespective of its
justification,..." to the field of psychology. If psychology is a
science, then of course it must use the rational-empiricist view of
knowledge.

>"Of course, most people who do want to extend "truth" into a wider domain 
>usually are quite restrictive about what beliefs they want to admit as true."
To me, this seems to be a swipe at any approach to knowledge that is
not empiricist. Empiricism is only one approach to knowledge and it
has its own problems and limitations.

Of course all of this discussion of knowledge has very little to do
with my original context which was that the "God saved them" statement
is a statement of belief not an argument (despite the ensuing
'argument' which was at best tangential :-)  ).

--Mike

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Re: [tips] Why don't we hear more about such things?

2010-10-20 Thread Jim Clark
Hi
 
Only by using the term "knowledge" in a quirky or loose way would it be 
possible to say one has true knowledge without some sort of rational or 
empirical justification (I'm not certain that falsifiability is the only such 
criterion one can use).  There is a discussion of this at
 
http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Epistemology 
 
That is, in more correct usage, knowledge implies or assumes justification in a 
belief.  Without sound justification, beliefs do not qualify as knowledge, no 
matter how certain we might be about our unsubstantiated belief.  Indeed, isn't 
much of what we try to teach our students about how to substantiate beliefs 
(i.e., hypotheses) so that beliefs/speculations/hypotheses become sound 
knowledge about human behaviour?  If we start to admit any strongly held belief 
as being "true knowledge," irrespective of its justification, the discipline is 
really lost.  Of course, most people who do want to extend "truth" into a wider 
domain usually are quite restrictive about what beliefs they want to admit as 
true.
 
Take care
Jim
 
 
James M. Clark
Professor of Psychology
204-786-9757
204-774-4134 Fax
j.cl...@uwinnipeg.ca 

>>> Michael Smith  20-Oct-10 6:14 PM >>>
Chris wrote
"Which is precisely why it doesn't count as a candidate for knowledge
(for anyone remotely sympathetic to Popper)."

I think I would agree that the statment wouldn't count as a scientific
hypothesis, but not that it couldn't count as knowledge.
To say that assumes a scientific world view where the falsifiability
thing is king. It is conceivable, though, that one can have true
knowledge without such knowledge being falsifyable in the least.

--Mike

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Re: [tips] Why don't we hear more about such things?

2010-10-20 Thread Michael Smith
Chris wrote
"Which is precisely why it doesn't count as a candidate for knowledge
(for anyone remotely sympathetic to Popper)."

I think I would agree that the statment wouldn't count as a scientific
hypothesis, but not that it couldn't count as knowledge.
To say that assumes a scientific world view where the falsifiability
thing is king. It is conceivable, though, that one can have true
knowledge without such knowledge being falsifyable in the least.

--Mike

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Re: [tips] Why don't we hear more about such things?

2010-10-20 Thread Christopher D. Green
Michael Smith wrote:
> >From my point of view, the "'God saved them' argument'"[is] simply a 
> >statement of belief (which, by the way, cannot be shown to be incorrect).
>   

Which is precisely why it doesn't count as a candidate for knowledge 
(for anyone remotely sympathetic to Popper).

Chris
-- 

Christopher D. Green
Department of Psychology
York University
Toronto, ON M3J 1P3
Canada

 

416-736-2100 ex. 66164
chri...@yorku.ca
http://www.yorku.ca/christo/

==


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Re: [tips] Why don't we hear more about such things?

2010-10-20 Thread Michael Smith
I don't know if Stephen actually intended to mock the psychics, but
Allen's response:
"Stephen rightly mocks the psychics" is I think innappropriate.
Because their world view (presuming the psychics believe they are
truly psychics) differs from one's own does not give one the right to
"rightly" mock them.

The fact that Dawkins loves to mock, belittle, use name calling, and
encourage disrespect of religion and religious people I think speaks
to his adolescent-like emotional maturity and should not be emulated.

>From my point of view, the "'God saved them' argument'" isn't intended
as an argument and does not lead to '"a brittle kind of
religiousness'". It's simply a statement of belief (which, by the way,
cannot be shown to be incorrect).

--Mike

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Re:[tips] Why don't we hear more about such things?

2010-10-20 Thread Allen Esterson
On 19 October 2010 Michael Britt wrote:
>Our minister/priest (whatever they call him) this past Sunday
>decided to discuss the "God saved them" argument during his
>Sermon… Religion, he said, is a journey and we do not have
>all the answers.

Chris Green responded:
>Michael Britt wrote:
>> Religion, he said, is a journey and we do not have all the answers.

>That's funny. I thought science was a journey and we didn't have all 
the
>answers. :-)


For the thoughtful religious person, the "funny" (meant of course in 
the sense of 'peculiar')* is surely superfluous. He or she may regard 
*both* that their particular sense of religion *and* that science 
conforms to that way of seeing them, each in their own sphere of 
relevance. From such a person's point of view the two statements are 
not necessarily mutually exclusive. (Whether they equally stand up to 
rigorous intellectual scrutiny in the terms expressed is another 
question, on which I have my own views (as do we all), best left for 
another day, and probably another listserv, one devoted to nothing 
else. :-) )

* 1936, Ian Hay, The Housemaster:
What do you mean, funny? Funny peculiar or funny ha-ha?
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/funny_ha-ha

Allen Esterson
Former lecturer, Science Department
Southwark College, London
allenester...@compuserve.com
http://www.esterson.org


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Re: [tips] Why don't we hear more about such things?

2010-10-19 Thread Dr. Bob Wildblood


>
>On 10/19/2010 8:22 AM, Michael Britt wrote:
>> Religion, he said, is a journey and we do not have all the answers.
>
>On 10/19/2010  11:06 AM Chris Green wrote: That's funny. I thought science was 
>a journey and we didn't have all the 
>answers. :-)
>
That's funny.  I thought that life was a journey and we do not have all the 
answers.

.
Robert W. Wildblood, PhD
Adjunct Psychology Faculty
Germanna Community College
drb...@rcn.com  

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Re: [tips] Why don't we hear more about such things?

2010-10-19 Thread Christopher Green


On 10/19/2010 8:22 AM, Michael Britt wrote:

Religion, he said, is a journey and we do not have all the answers.


That's funny. I thought science was a journey and we didn't have all the 
answers. :-)


Chris Green
York U
Toronto

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Re: [tips] Why don't we hear more about such things?

2010-10-19 Thread Beth Benoit
Allen,
I was so entranced by the quote you posted that I went to the original
article you posted (http://www.phil.cam.ac.uk/~swb24/reviews/Dawkins.htm).
 Fascinating stuff.  Thanks for posting it.  I'm printing it up to save.

Beth Benoit
Granite State College
Plymouth State University
New Hampshire

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Re: [tips] Why don't we hear more about such things?

2010-10-19 Thread Michael Britt
Great quote Allen.  Thanks.

Michael

Michael Britt
mich...@thepsychfiles.com
http://www.ThePsychFiles.com
Twitter: mbritt




On Oct 19, 2010, at 10:10 AM, Allen Esterson wrote:

> "It is a good question whether the Wittgensteinian account [previously 
> discussed] chimes very well with the self-understanding of believers, 
> and whether it matters if it does not. It has consequences for one 
> problem that troubles Dawkins, which is the extent to which even 
> atheists seem drawn to ‘respect’ the attitudes and beliefs of religious 
> people. Why should anyone ‘respect’ the belief that there is a china 
> teapot orbiting the sun? It is just dotty, and there is an end of it. 
> But if we see a religious tradition as a record of a culture’s ongoing 
> attempts to cope with fear and hope, life and death, gain and loss, 
> then it becomes a candidate for respect, just as much as the other 
> poetry and songs of our ancestors."


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Re: [tips] Why don't we hear more about such things?

2010-10-19 Thread Allen Esterson
Mike Britt started his thoughtful post:
>I think most of us try to stay away from the
>science vs. religion thing, but I might as well jump in...

I really didn't see my post as yet another pot shot in the science vs 
religion skirmishes. (At this point nowadays I'm supposed to say that 
I'm sorry if anyone felt offended by what I wrote, I didn't intend to 
do so, not to mention that no animals or trees were hurt in the course 
of my writing and sending the post, and I must remember not to leave my 
TV on standby tonight.)

I'm fascinated by the phenomenon of giving thanks to God for some 
peoples' lives being saved, whereas others have lost their lives (in 
the same, or corresponding circumstances) despite there being as much 
prayer devoted to them.

Watching football (soccer to you lot :-) ) on TV one sees players 
crossing themselves as they come onto the pitch at a substitution 
(especially South American and African players, and perhaps to a lesser 
degree Spanish and Italian players). Obviously their teams sometimes 
win and sometimes lose, and the guy crossing himself every game must 
sometimes have bad days and sometimes good ones. And as far as I know, 
those who regularly have mediocre games don't cross themselves any less 
than their more talented colleagues – now there's an idea for a study 
which could win an Ignoble Prize. :-)

Obviously the players know this, but it makes no difference. So surely 
something else must be going on other than a belief that God is going 
to give them a special boost that day. But what is it?

I'll finish with a quote providing a way of looking at religion 
historically that I think is food for thought for atheists and 
agnostics, from the philosopher Simon Blackburn in a review of Richard 
Dawkins's book of essays *A Devil’s Chaplain: Reflections on Hope, 
Lies, Science, and Love*:

"It is a good question whether the Wittgensteinian account [previously 
discussed] chimes very well with the self-understanding of believers, 
and whether it matters if it does not. It has consequences for one 
problem that troubles Dawkins, which is the extent to which even 
atheists seem drawn to ‘respect’ the attitudes and beliefs of religious 
people. Why should anyone ‘respect’ the belief that there is a china 
teapot orbiting the sun? It is just dotty, and there is an end of it. 
But if we see a religious tradition as a record of a culture’s ongoing 
attempts to cope with fear and hope, life and death, gain and loss, 
then it becomes a candidate for respect, just as much as the other 
poetry and songs of our ancestors."

http://www.phil.cam.ac.uk/~swb24/reviews/Dawkins.htm

Allen Esterson
Former lecturer, Science Department
Southwark College, London
allenester...@compuserve.com
http://www.esterson.org

-----------------
Re: [tips] Why don't we hear more about such things?

Michael Britt
Tue, 19 Oct 2010 05:23:04 -0700

I think most of us try to stay away from the science vs. religion 
thing, but I
might as well jump in...

The explanation of 'God saved them" always seems to come up whenever 
anything
"miraculous" occurs after a tragedy and it has always bothered me 
because of
course, one could always wonder why God didn't save other people who 
died or
why God allowed the terrible event to occur in the first place.  I 
heard the
"God saved them" argument so many times in the Catholic church that it 
was one
of the reasons I became an Episcopalian.  Our minister/priest (whatever 
they
call him) this past Sunday decided to discuss the "God saved them" 
argument
during his sermon and  he said this kind of thinking "makes for a 
brittle kind
of religiousness" because the opposite argument (why did God allow this 
to
happen) makes just as much sense.  His opinion was that he didn't know 
why the
tragedy happened or whether God was involved at all.  Religion, he 
said, is a
journey and we do not have all the answers.  That's a definition of 
religion I
can live with.

Michael

  Michael Britt
mich...@thepsychfiles.com
http://www.ThePsychFiles.com
Twitter: mbritt



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Re: [tips] Why don't we hear more about such things?

2010-10-19 Thread Michael Britt
I think most of us try to stay away from the science vs. religion thing, but I 
might as well jump in...

The explanation of 'God saved them" always seems to come up whenever anything 
"miraculous" occurs after a tragedy and it has always bothered me because of 
course, one could always wonder why God didn't save other people who died or 
why God allowed the terrible event to occur in the first place.  I heard the 
"God saved them" argument so many times in the Catholic church that it was one 
of the reasons I became an Episcopalian.  Our minister/priest (whatever they 
call him) this past Sunday decided to discuss the "God saved them" argument 
during his sermon and  he said this kind of thinking "makes for a brittle kind 
of religiousness" because the opposite argument (why did God allow this to 
happen) makes just as much sense.  His opinion was that he didn't know why the 
tragedy happened or whether God was involved at all.  Religion, he said, is a 
journey and we do not have all the answers.  That's a definition of religion I 
can live with.

Michael  

  
Michael Britt
mich...@thepsychfiles.com
http://www.ThePsychFiles.com
Twitter: mbritt




On Oct 19, 2010, at 4:04 AM, Allen Esterson wrote:

> Stephen Black wrote on the 33 rescued miners:
>> Four psychics the government had hired to help
>> find them said, "Forget it, they're all dead."
> 
> 
> "Regardless of how it happened, the miners--and many faithful 
> viewers--are thanking God for their survival.


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Re:[tips] Why don't we hear more about such things?

2010-10-19 Thread Allen Esterson
Stephen Black wrote on the 33 rescued miners:
>Four psychics the government had hired to help
>find them said, "Forget it, they're all dead."

Stephen rightly mocks the psychics, but he could have gone on to give 
credit for the survival of the all the miners where it ultimately 
belongs: :-)

"Regardless of how it happened, the miners--and many faithful 
viewers--are thanking God for their survival.

" 'I was with God and I was with the Devil, they fought me, but God 
won. He took me by my best hand, the hand of God and I held on to him I 
never thought for one minute that God wouldn't get me out of there,' 
said Mario Sepulveda when he emerged from the mine this morning."

http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/7027154-chilean-miners-families-thank-god-for-rescue-prayers-for-miracle

Allen Esterson
Former lecturer, Science Department
Southwark College, London
allenester...@compuserve.com
http://www.esterson.org

---
From:   sbl...@ubishops.ca
Subject:Why don't we hear more about such things?
Date:   Mon, 18 Oct 2010 19:40:17 -0400
The chief engineer at the mine in Chile where 33 miners were
just rescued, describing how hopeless the situation seemed at
first:

"[He] remembers the early, gloomy days of the search, when
initial drilling failed to find any trace of the men. Four psychics
the government had hired to help find them said, "Forget it,
they're all dead."

http://tinyurl.com/2a3te78

Stephen



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[tips] Why don't we hear more about such things?

2010-10-18 Thread sblack
The chief engineer at the mine in Chile where 33 miners were 
just rescued, describing how hopeless the situation seemed at 
first:

"[He] remembers the early, gloomy days of the search, when 
initial drilling failed to find any trace of the men. Four psychics 
the government had hired to help find them said, "Forget it, 
they're all dead."

http://tinyurl.com/2a3te78

Stephen

Stephen L. Black, Ph.D.  
Professor of Psychology, Emeritus   
Bishop's University   
e-mail:  sblack at ubishops.ca
--

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