Until such things can be proven or disproven, all each of us brings to the table is our perspective. From skeptic through to believer. No matter how hard you believe in your position, you can't prove yours to be the truth, nor do you have enough information to disprove another's. Which is why I think we need to approach the topic respectfully.
The thing is people who are open minded about this are saying "let's see, I want to know", whereas there is a peanut gallery here that is saying "that's absurd, and entertaining that is absurd"
One is harmless, while the other is bordering on brash at times. At least, when it's repeated over and over to dissuade others from debating it further.
But that debate is good. Open discussion is good. Dissecting ideas is good.
Mocking topics or a debate as a whole is just poor form on a forum, where things are meant to be discussed.
Taking the cynical view is fine if you're up to fighting for your position making arguments. Circling back to "that's absurd because it just is" is some lazy debating. If it's so blatantly obvious that the idea of non-human activity going on is just fantasy, then winning that debate should be easy. But these posters resort to spitting on the game board, rather than playing. And that's what kills the productive discussion that's actually fun to read.
And at the end of the day, both sides are merely theorizing here. And believing 'harder' in your position unfortunately still isn't giving you the upper hand in terms of how the information stacks up for/against. And the only real, hard truth is just that.
Participate in the debate. If the believers need to be held in check in your view, then play the game and debate them. It's a perfect opportunity for that. But show some good sportsmanship and respect in doing it.
The air of judgment from some in that peanut gallery segment, while they themselves can't prove anything but only hypothesize and theorize all the same, is totally unnecessary though.
It would be nice to just scrutinize the information presented rather than make this a my beliefs vs your beliefs thing.
I just want to read more about what's trickling in on the topic, and debate/critique that without wading through "you're dumb and this is dumb" posts.
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