The Skeptics’ Guide to Equestria 60 members · 79 stories
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onlyanorthernsong
Group Admin

I intend this to be an ever expanding list of skeptical resources. I understand that not everyone here is atheist/ agnostic /secular, but it seems like most of the vocal members are so many but again not all of these links cast a skeptical eye on religion.

I hope that I can accomplish the main goal of these links, which is is to provide you with resources on skepticism and how to think skeptically.







http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Main_Page

If i start somewhere it is rational wiki. This great wiki not only refutes all kind of religious nonsense but also woo from new age, anti vax types, conspiracy theorists, anti-GMO hysterics,and other peddlers of nonsense. great sense of humor as well.





http://wiki.ironchariots.org/index.php?title=Main_Page

If you find yourself arguing with an apologist or religious person on just about any religious point, you should always have a window open with ironchariots on it. it is THAT good.





http://www.talkorigins.org/

talk origins is THE encyclopedic no holds barred resource for any argument you may have with evolution deniers.








http://www.streetepistemology.com/#videos

this is how to talk to believers 101. And I do not mean just religious ones. Always ask questions and engage in socratic dialogue. The endgoal is to get believers in woo to admit/ realize that they have adopted their positions because of emotion not reason. We live in a society that publicly praises and prizes reason and evidence. And thus believers in woo, particularly those willing to talk about it , tell themselves and others that their fatih is a " reasonable faith" that has evidence backing it. Those of you who recognize my name probably recognize it because I recently wrote a blogpost refuting another blogpost written by a man who claimed that science proved his religion! And while that guy is certainly an extreme case, just about every believer in religion and or woo I have engaged with in my life has been willing to engage with me precisely because they think they have evidence and facts and logic on their side.. Getting them to realize that they came to believe in woo because of emotions and or wishful thinking not because of the supposed evidence they Marshall is key, if they actually realize this, that may be the best chance they get to reevaluate their belief. Just about everyone who no longer believes in woo but once believed in woo ( including myself in both the case of the UFO mythology and Christianity) quite clearly remembers the moment when they first realized that they believed in the woo because it fulfilled an emotional desire not because of evidence. And just about all of us recall that moment being the beginning of the end.

and on that note.







" Why I am no longer a christian" by evid3nc3

You may have read my own deconversion story, but my favorite thing to show any religious person about atheism/agnosticism ( yes beyond even the books of Hitchens/Dawkins/Dennett/Harris et al) is this incredible and incredibly personal series of videos recounting in the first person, the deconversion of an evangelical christian. One of the rhetorical weak points i see time and time again that skeptics fall into is that they never explain WHY people believe in religion. The overwhelming majority of people throughout the history of time have been religious, and when we remain silent on that issue, it is easy to infer that we just think that we are that much smarter that everyone else, which plays into the stereotype of the unbliever as arrogant.

This video series explains on the other hand the psychological origins of religion from the point of view of a believer and then slowly methodically and above all kindly explains how the believer came to see those mechanisms for what they actually were and dismantled them allowing him to break the spell. I recommend everyone to clear out a couple of hours and watch these. you will NOT be disappointed!




Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality Often referred to as " the greatest fanfic of all time" but it is so much more! Apart from a thumping good story, it is really a course in Logic in disguise. AS mind expanding a read as anything you will ever read. I personally learned about " belief in belief" and Sagan's " dragon in the garage" thought experiment from this fic.

Written by the founder of Less Wrong.

on that note... the community can be problematic at times ( it is full of the kind of people who want to upload their brains into AI's) but the less wrong sequences are always useful study material.





The Skeptics annotated bible is precisely what you think it is . Bonus koran and book of mormon!




Qualia soup. and also theramin trees Just about anything these two put up in their respective channels is well worth watching.


The Illustrated book of bad arguments Learn to recognize and avoid logical fallacies with this witty, wonderfully illustrated free online booklet.

Walabio
Group Admin

4635413

¡This is excellent outstanding work, oh onlyanorthernsong!

4635413

I second the recommendation on QualiaSoup/TheraminTrees. Their video "betting on infinity" isn't just a fantastic takedown of the "Pascal's Wager" argument, but also a superb audiovisual experience in its own right. I actually bought the tune from the video. ^^

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