I remember back in the 70s one of the reasons I thought there might be something to ESP was that Star Trek said so! 

advocatus - 29 December 2010 11:59 AM

I remember back in the 70s one of the reasons I thought there might be something to ESP was that Star Trek said so! 

Yeah, ESP has had a long, deep history in SF over the years. I understand the pull: for many years it was considered fringe science, and it’d be cool and interesting if it were true. (Maybe someday it will be, but through complex technology and not biology).

This is the problem with fiction generally, though. We tend to take it too seriously.

Do you think that threads like this will ever dull the shine that the celebrated ones wear?  Do you think that Hollywood TV news shows will ever be taken off the air?  Do you think that masses of people will ever choose to learn about the latest findings in the big autism/vaccination debate, rather than learning the latest about the celebrated ones.  Or am I just being uncool by expecting such a cultural turn?

I met a few minor celebrities when I was young, it wasn’t really a big deal people, they are just people.  Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the movies and music as much as the next person, I just think that they get too much attention.

A lot of skeptics are achieving celebrity status.  A lot of celebrities are coming out as skeptics.  Adam Carolla, Seth Macfarlane, Ian McKellen, and Penn Gillette have come out as atheists.  I realize many others are nipples deep in woo, but still, celebrity does not necessarily equate to idiocy today.

Some celebs outting themselves as skeptics/atheists/humanists/etc.?  Add James Randi and some magicians (like Penn), Steve Allen (passed), Queen’s guitarist Brian May (an astrophysicist), Greg Graffin (a paleontology professor, author, punk rocker) and Bad Religion, Howard Stern, Richard Dawkins?, Joe Nickel?, Dr. Phil McGraw, Mehmet C. Oz, M.D., F.A.C.S., The Doctors TV show (Dr. Jim Sears, Dr. Travis Stork, Dr. Lisa Masterson, Dr. Drew Ordon), ...

Maybe Alex Trebek?, Lisa Kudrow?, maybe someday Suzanne Somers?, maybe Oprah Winfrey, maybe some other journalists (they act like celebs sometimes), meteorologists (aren’t they scientists), ...

The weird celebs being Shirley Maclaine, Dionne Warwick, Madonna (and her Quabbalah), Tom Cruise (It’s the psychs man, watch out for the psychs!), Kirk Cameron, Mel Gibson, John Edwards, Montel Williams and Sylvia Browne, Jonathan Frakes (he did a bad documentary about alien visitation, non-fiction), ...

I think the scale is out of balance, tilting toward the weird though.