Cavalcade of quotes

For a change of pace, and because I've been taking myself much too seriously of late, today's entry is ...

(DRUMROLL)

... the Top Five Negative Quotes about Michael Prescott!

I have scoured the Web for these choice comments. I do the Googling so you don't have to.

First, at position #5, a late entry:

A non-entity, a nobody, someone who is colossally ignorant, without debating skills ... just ignore him. He’s nothing. He’s a nobody. He’s a loser and a defeatist.

- Aussie afterlife aficiondo Victor Zammit, unhappy with my criticism of some seances he attended   

Next, straight from the "Loons" folder of my email account, and coming in strong at #4:

Your writing shows you up as the derivitive [sic] mental eunuch you are....  your predictable rubbish (that's your books by the way) is embarrassing. I can't believe you are even published. Maybe your crap is exciting or well written to a lonely 35 year old that still lives with his parents, but I actually find the fact that you are published, offensive.

-  deranged bookstore clerk emailing from Scotland    

At #3, an observation admirable for its pithiness:

What an utter idiot. Really - I quite despise him.

- socially challenged JREF participant commenting on my defense of replicability in psi experiments   

In the #2 position, we have a tie! Two comments from the same thread, posted by different participants:

The guy is either very stupid, or a bold [sic] faced liar. I didn't read much further into his essay.  All in all, it's a complete joke.

- militant Objectivist ticked off about my essay "Shrugging Off Ayn Rand"

And ...

If ever you want an example of a "brain-washed cultist". There's one. This Mr "Nobody liked me" is a complete social metaphysician- and a loser.

- another Randian pod person, contributing the closing comment in the above discussion

(DRUMROLL)

And the #1 negative quote is ...

I set out here to rebut the accusation by Michael Prescott, at
http://michaelprescott.freeservers.com/FlimFlam.htm. I spent some two hours gathering the material, made brief notes, and then realized that I was wasting far too much time picking off fleas.

- humbuggery expert James Randi, irritated at criticism of his book Flim-Flam

(Cue APPLAUSE, CHEERS, MUSIC.)

Thank you, thank you. And now for a special treat, two honorable mentions.

Honorable mention #1:

He [Prescott], and I'd guess Zammit as well, are on about a high-school level of emotional control.... Prescott could have taken the high-road but instead comes off really spiteful and weird.

- Near-death and the Afterlife Bulletin Board participant and amateur psychologist unimpressed with my satirical efforts

Honorable mention #2

I corresponded with Prescott directly by e-mail yesterday.  He was cordial, polite, and well-spoken.  But he did continue to defend his belief in spsychic [sic] phenomena, citing me to several sources where it had been demonstrated "scientifically." I wrote back that there existed no such proof, and that the Rhine studues [sic] had been the best they had until they were discredited.  And where are the schools, the academic disciplines, the repeated demonstrations in laboratories?  Therefore, I refused to even check the sources he provided, as I consider the issue to not even possess the minimum level of evidence required for further enquiry.

- intellectually adventurous participant in above-mentioned Objectivist discussion of my "Shrugging" essay

I admit that the second honorable mention is not that negative about me personally, but it is such a good example of the mindset of the hardcore skeptic ("I refused to even check") that I felt it deserved to be included.

You've been a great crowd. Thank you again, and good night!

(APPLAUSE, THEME MUSIC, FADE OUT)

Comments

[Claudia]

Michael! Omg that's awful and funny! Sorry! This is why I could never be a writer, I don't have a thick skin, I'd be crying all the time.

What mean spirited people, gosh.

[Matthew Cromer]

Wow.

I've not gotten anything nearly so nasty.

[J. Carson Black]

Good to know you've got a public! Okay, they're clammoring for your head, and dragging you through the streets in a tumbril, but still...they're calling your name!

[J. Carson Black]

Oops, spelled clamoring wrong.

Signed,

Gone Clamming

[Bob Wallace]

I've always found it odd that Rand's fans, who claim they are so rational, are so vicious and hateful. Years ago I opened up a Hatemail Page to post all the hatemails I've gotten from them and others like them.

People who are just as bad as her fans are those who post at FreeRepublic. Rand's fans can at least spell (usually).

[Althusius]

Ahh, don't you just love it when people vent their hatred of you in a completely stupid way?

Someone should tell them that they are doing nothing for their argument by cussing. It does give a little bit of strength to your position though.

[Michael Prescott]

>I've not gotten anything nearly so nasty.

It's not so bad when you consider that these are pretty much the only negative quotes I could track down. I was expecting more. I had wanted to do a Top Ten countdown, a la Letterman, but there weren't enough quotes.

>This is why I could never be a writer, I don't have a thick skin,

Thick skin develops over time. Some of these comments stung when I first received them, but now I think they're funny. After a while you learn that what people say really doesn't matter, and usually reveals more about them than you.

[Althusius]

Here, here.

[FlaSuz]

There was another one recently, I looked for it but can't find it. Whatever the topic was this guy came in a ranted, raved, fussed and cussed. I believe he was the first person to reply to the topic. MP, your only reply was something like, "Boy, those _______ extremists are pretty grumpy, aren't they"
Heh. That was my all time fave.

[Michael Prescott]

I forgot that one. Here it is:

"Mr. Prescott, you don't know shit when it comes to William Shakespeare! William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon wrote the plays, sonnets, and narrative poems by William Shakespeare."

This was posted by someone called BullshitDetector, though I doubt this is the name on his birth certificate. It was the very first comment on this blog entry.

[FlaSuz]

Yes, that's it! Wow that thread ended up being loooong, I don't think I read all of those replies. I guess that's the only reply Mr. Detector ever made on your blog? Bless his heart, he must be very busy keeping the entire internet straightened out for us all ;)

[SatyaMevaJayate]

Those comments are always expected fare from randi worshippers...

Their god has laid out the truth for them, so they con't be bothered looking at evidence...

But I am surprised that you don't have enough damining comments...

maybe you need to write a anti-darwinian book then you will get a spot in th hall of fame... as Richard Milton has...

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Michael,

As you know, I have my own list of names Objectivists have called me, and my site is called "Objectivist Living"!

Now even a friendly member has joined in with some graphics (woe is me!), all because the site has been called "Cockroach Corner" by the forces of evuuuul.

But I have one for you, Michael. There is a place on my site called Objectivism In Dark Places. You can read where the name came from here.

I am going to include a full set of links to your Objectivism and Rand commentary there - and hopefully intelligent discussion will follow. (I am a bit behind on this because my site got hacked and the databases were deleted. Fortunately I had some backups, but I migrated from phpbb to a proprietary forum software and company with heavy-duty security. It is still a bit of a headache to clean up as the backups were somewhat damaged by a program malfunction before the hack.)

Anyway, I don't know if you want to take this as an insult or homage, but you have been enshrined in a dark corner on my site.

Michael

[FloridaSuzie]

Hi MSK,
Good to see you around here again. I like your section In Dark Places. My favorite "name" on your list is "Low-level creep". Just think, you can climb the ladder to mid-level and then Top-level creep if you try very hard ;)