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Skeptic Exchange is already a thriving community skepticexchange.org – rjstelling Jul 11 '10 at 11:03

see also: area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/6993/… – sth Jul 11 '10 at 11:44

Can we merge "Skepticism" into this proposal, perhaps? area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/6993/… – Tullo Jul 21 '10 at 6:58

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This proposal is now in the Beta phase — example questions are locked!

39 Example Questions (8 closed)

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up vote -2 down vote

added by user10102 Jul 13 '10 at 22:20

Too subjective - question includes assumption – Wikis Jul 15 '10 at 11:19

I disagree with Mark about presenting questions that include assumptions--those who think those assumptions are unfounded can point that out in their answer, but it's unreasonable to expect every question to be argued from first principles. However the question as phrased is too broad and vague: "open their minds" could mean almost anything, for example. Still, not off-topic in my opinion. – Skrivener Jul 21 '10 at 21:21

up vote -2 down vote

added by user12055 Jul 21 '10 at 12:18

up vote -4 down vote

added by Laura Jul 11 '10 at 12:55

Once again wth with all the 'not a good examples'... Leave a comment people! IMO this is an excellent question. It would be reasonable to expect that the fuller version would include references to some kind of evidence that 'skeptic' is seen as a negative term, and specificity for who the 'many' is, but it doesn't seem that you can go into that kind of detail just for these proposals, so this is fine by me. – Skrivener Jul 21 '10 at 21:33

up vote -4 down vote

added by Laura Jul 11 '10 at 13:02

closed as off topic by Al Morrison, Dolbz, platinumwolf, ceejayoz, EdSG Jul 12 '10 at 20:21

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

why is this off-topic? – Juan Antonio Jul 20 '10 at 8:39

Seconded--surely this is relevant given the number of claims alien visitation, and as a general skeptical request for education on a scienc-y topic. – Skrivener Jul 21 '10 at 22:19

a question about the existence of ET life is one thing, but who could do more than speculate about the appearance of these theoretical ETs? and what is the significance of their appearance? – danzein Jul 22 '10 at 0:30

One could in principle do "educated" speculations about the basic principles of life, and what life should look like in other planets. I don't think this is a good question anyway, but it's also not a great off-topic example either. – Juan Antonio Jul 23 '10 at 8:06

NaGE: so how would there be a definite answer presented? what kind of scientist could the community at large turn to for an authoritative answer? I can see a decent question that speculates about likelihood of it being carbon-based, or something else, but not so much over what it looks like. – mfg Aug 20 '10 at 12:35

up vote -4 down vote

added by Wikis Jul 12 '10 at 21:44

Because the forum states "opposes woo and pseudoscience" - not sure that is the case? – Wikis Jul 13 '10 at 7:34

I guess if something is classified as "woo or pseudoscience" (at least by skeptics) it's because they have already made "opposing arguments without necessarily dismissing" – Juan Antonio Jul 13 '10 at 7:39

@Juan - sounds then like skeptics define pseudoscience - whereas I thought it was someone posing as a scientist but without proof (that is, you can objectively identify it). Thanks for the reply. – Wikis Jul 13 '10 at 17:43

Generally I think skeptics would consider pseudo-science to be theories presented as rational and scientific by proponents but unsupported by the available evidence and/or rational argument. Woo is more of a catch-all for 'all that crazy shit.' ;) So yeah, opposed. – Skrivener Jul 21 '10 at 22:04

How this could be considered off-topic however I don't understand. Not a good example perhaps, but on-topic. – Skrivener Jul 21 '10 at 22:25

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up vote -4 down vote

added by Philip Painter Jul 15 '10 at 14:09

I guess you're getting "not a good example" votes because you have built a presupposition into your question. – Robert Harvey Jul 18 '10 at 16:27

Indeed, I agree with Mr Harvey's point. – Anonymous Jul 23 '10 at 12:49

up vote -4 down vote

added by Henry Aug 29 '10 at 0:06

Space Exploration is not a controversial subject, since it brought many scientific advances to mankind. Extra-terrestrial life search would be a better subject, since it raises more skeptcism. – Jader Dias Aug 29 '10 at 23:20

up vote -5 down vote

added by user10102 Jul 13 '10 at 22:08

	Are they resistant to that idea? – Anonymous Jul 15 '10 at 12:36
	I agree with user10636. I think the reasons are fairly well understood (or, at least, there are a good many plausible conjectures as to why people do this), aren't they? – BaldySlaphead Jul 15 '10 at 13:59

up vote -7 down vote

added by user9449 Jul 11 '10 at 11:16

closed as off topic by edgarhaydon, Aldo, Dolbz, Leo, Skrivener Jul 21 '10 at 21:22

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

	I'm thinking this is an excellent OT example, one that would be well placed in the meta-area of the eventual site. Most of us like to have a laugh at ourselves, but that's not relevant for the main Q&A area. – Skrivener Jul 21 '10 at 21:25
	so ? how many ? – Stefano Borini Aug 15 '10 at 18:42