Re: Kevin Barrett's TRUTH fest with Jenkins and Bursill (corrected)

[James H. Fetzer]

Date: Tue, 30 Jun 2009 07:39:36 -0500 [07:39:36 AM CDT]
From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Kevin Barrett's TRUTH fest with Jenkins and Bursill (corrected)

For a guy trying to justify the inexcusable--leaving a false impression of
the certainty of the findings of a simulator test that has been severely
challenged--this is quite remarkable. Whether you did or did not violate
an obviously moral and intellectual obligation--not to mislead your host or
audience about the epistemic standing of the simulator test (the extent to
which its results should be taken as definitive)--has nothing to do with me.

This is really quite extraordinary and extremely revealing. Having been
caught with his pants down (figuratively speaking) in promoting what may
even (literally speaking) qualify as a form of disinformation (since, by
his own admission, he knew better), Ken Jenkins, the videographer of David
Ray Griffin, seeks to pass the buck to me for having raised the question!
The more we hear from you, Ken, the more apparent becomes your duplicity.

Quoting [e-mail]:

Jim,

In a message dated 6/29/09 6:07:39 AM, [e-mail] writes:

> Knowing full well that his simulator study was subject to possible flaws (as
> I had explained) and appeared to be seriously flawed (as Rob had explained),
> you had an intellectual and moral obligation to make that point clear to the audience.

Who died and made you the decider of obligations, moral or otherwise?
I have no such obligation, and no attempted guilt tripping or pseudo moralizing
on your part will successfully impose such obligation on anyone, certainly
not on me. You are not in charge of anything but your own choices and
decisions, and have no right or grounds to claim some moral high ground. You
may lust for tyrannical control, but you are not entitled to it.

Your self-importance, thinking your opinions have any special merit or
elite ranking that obligates anyone to mention them in any circumstance betrays
your egotistical arrogance and self delusions of grandeur. Jim, you are
just another person with your opinions, and have no right to order others
around or impose your will with your grandiose belligerence and false
moralizing. You are hereby busted to the rank of equal human.

Ken

[Thoth II]

quoting Ken: "Your self-importance, thinking your opinions have any special merit or
elite ranking that obligates anyone to mention them in any circumstance betrays
your egotistical arrogance and self delusions of grandeur. Jim, you are
just another person with your opinions,"

This is outrageous. Jim doesn't give "opinions" only, he has taught and researched critical thinking and applies it all the time to all issues, which is why I follow his work. These people either are intentionally not listening to his arguments or just unable to do so because they were not taught critical thinking skills.

These gatekeepers are the ones with illusions of grandeur, because essentially gatekeeping involves actively blocking people from discovering the truth. If that doesn't take arrogance to do, I don't know what does.