Sasquatchery Grouping

[Yuchi1]

IMO, there are four basic camps of people associated with this endeavor:

 

You have those individuals that have experienced a personal encounter with these beings and are able to reconcile with themselves that what they experienced was indeed a real event by means of supporting evidence left behind as a result of the incident. In other words, they know and they know that they know.

 

Next, are those that think they may have experienced an encounter but because of a lack of supporting evidence they often have nothing but their own memory visualization to rely upon. This group is often some of the more ardent enthusiasts as they seek validation from a variety of sources to help substantiate their experience as being genuine. People in this class often have sightings (while driving, etc.) that they cannot easily corroborate with other forms of evidence.

 

Then, there are more or less casual observers of this endeavor who while interested are not inclined to pursue the endeavor with any degree of skin in the game. They often associate with BF groups but in more of a cheerleader role or one of more an agnostic position.

 

Finally, come the skeptics whose fear of losing face precipitates a mocking mentality fraught with negativity. Unfortunately, they often gravitate to places where others of the same mindset habitate but

end up simply carping among themselves and losing all appearances of relevance.

 

I have yet to meet a skeptic that had also experienced a personal encounter. On one outing, a skeptic was in our company and while not belligerent or caustic, he made it clear he felt we were all full of

bovine caca. That is, until that evening he observed two of these beings at <50 yards through a set of Gen III NV binoculars. His transformation was immediate and complete.

 

The gist of the matter once you have that encounter, there is no longer any doubt. If you aren't actively seeking such, to which group do you belong?

 

 

[Midnight Owl]

After I had my first close encounter, I wanted to share with anyone that would listen to me, but quickly grew tired of the wise cracks and strange looks folks gave me.  I then turned to various Bigfoot interest group forums and once again freely shared, but again came under fire from a substantial number of folks.  Over time, I have reached a point where I really didn't care very much with sharing, but still enjoy a good one on one dialog with someone that has an open mind and genuinely interested.

 

I pretty much just watch from the sidelines on BFF and stay away from the rude skeptics line of fire... 

[Guest Cryptic Megafauna]

Depends on what filters you have, the groupings you list say as much about your filters as any filters others may be using who are posting here.

There may be a group you did not anticipate.

On the other hand I can make all inclusive groups that are a catch all but are not very informative or relevant.

Live or dead, male or female, smart or dumb, gullible or delusional, real or unreal, fantasy or deception.

Perhaps you may care to join multiple groups at different times and under differing conditions.

It is theorized our personalities are composed of multiple selves that are administered by a "mature" self that is sometimes hijacked by a juvenile or threatened, punk rocker, or other self when stimuli bring on the other self and it subverts the mature self.

 

Kind of like the role playing here!

 

Then an Admin comes along (the mature self projection) and if things are too capsized re-asserts control.

 

Or perhaps the Admin is taken over by a juvenile self, depending on the stimuli, and you get an escalation of adolescent or punk rocker behavior,

 

It's all a merry-go-round at any rate.

 

I wonder if Bigfoot is the projected mature self? 

Care to speculate?, or take control with your own "mature self" and are you sure? 

 

Perhaps my stimuli was too much.

 

 

 

Edited September 16, 2016 by Cryptic Megafauna

[Yuchi1]

The filter I try to employ hereabouts is the one with BS on the face of the dial.

[Twist]

No offense Yuchi1, but I see a thread like this as only a breeding ground for more arguing, labeling, and finger pointing.  This forum is about the discussion of Bigfoot, not the discussion of the players on this forum.  This is a breeding ground for Knower/believer vs. fence sitter vs Skeptic.  

 

This is just an observation on the thread, not you as a poster.  That being said, given recent posts by you, its a way to draw lines in the sand due to your beliefs of who have and have not been run out of the forum by other posters.  

Edited September 17, 2016 by Twist

[Yuchi1]

Twist, it's the attitudes and beliefs of the players that make a forum go, either forward or downward. Such is at the core of everyone's commentary and to try and separate it from discussion of the endeavor is IMO representative of a passive/aggressive defense mechanism.

 

As a previous poster stated, the reception given is why no further commentary is rendered. The extraordinary claims requiring extraordinary proof mantra is a red herring as the topic of discussion is in and of itself, extraordinary.

 

IMO, if you want a healthy flow of new experiences and ideas, dispense with the pecking order of who is the better expert as there are no experts in this field. 

[Old Dog]

15 hours ago, Twist said:

No offense Yuchi1, but I see a thread like this as only a breeding ground for more arguing, labeling, and finger pointing.  This forum is about the discussion of Bigfoot, not the discussion of the players on this forum.  This is a breeding ground for Knower/believer vs. fence sitter vs Skeptic.  

 

This is just an observation on the thread, not you as a poster.  That being said, given recent posts by you, its a way to draw lines in the sand due to your beliefs of who have and have not been run out of the forum by other posters.  

 

You can't have a discussion of the subject without the discussion of the players.  Human personality and personal bents on a subject are always going to come into play, that's just the way things are with humans.  If people have been run out of the forums then maybe this wasn't for them in the first place.  Believer or skeptic, you have to have the conviction of your beliefs.  If you don't have that then you will get run over every time.  I come here for information and discussion about a subject that fascinates me and I'm interested and involved in.  I don't necessarily come here to engage with  extremes of either side, but sometimes that happens.  By their actions, the players on both sides insert themselves into the discussion by their actions on the forums, so I call that fair game.  If a certain person is just too overbearing for me to take, I just use my ignore option and move on.  You can't separate the subject from the players....they won't let you.

 

 

LOL, just noticed, I've been here for six years and am classed as a new member.  Interesting.  And that doesn't count the years on BFF 1.0

Edited September 17, 2016 by Old Dog

[sheri]

It seems you can't have any discussion of bigfoot without arguing, labeling and finger pointing. Frankly I used to get after my kids for behaving that way.  I had an encounter, and like Midnight Owl I wanted to share it with everyone. You get tired of people making fun of you or treating you like your crazy.  You find yourself looking for others who have seen these creatures also. I have no desire to prove anything to anyone. It's not my problem if someone has not seen one. I don't go out looking for them anymore,  I am not comfortable out in the woods by myself, and we just bought property in east Tennessee, 18 acres that's mostly wooded. LOL. I don't post much, but I do like reading the threads.

[gigantor]

Yuchi1,

 

I think you bundled all skeptics into one group, which is incorrect.

 

I'm a skeptic, but agree that the possibility of BF being an extant species is real and there are many who feel the same way. We go out and do field research, create databases to gather and mine data, do some statistical analysis, pay attention to new developments, etc.

 

Yet after doing all of that, come to the conclusion that there is no conclusive evidence. It doesn't mean we've closed the book on BF, just that we don't have enough to conclude it exists yet.

 

I think your antagonism towards skeptics is unhealthy and counterproductive. It reveals insecurity in your position.

 

You should acknowledge that is it reasonable to be skeptical without demonizing members like me. I think we contribute much to the community.

 

 

[BigTreeWalker]

Yuchi1, you also skirted around one other group. The ones that have seen and recognize the supporting evidence, as you call it, and accept it for what it is: the passage of another creature in the forest. You don't have to see it to know it has passed that way. 

[norseman]

I guess that would be the group I fall in BTW.

[Patterson-Gimlin]

I am a skeptic who wishes the creature did exist. I spend a lot of time in the great outdoors. I really like gigantors perspective.

He is a lot more diligent than most skeptics are. I study the evidence and lack there of and have concluded the possibility of existence is highly unlikely.

[NCBFr]

Can you change groups in this game?  I think I started in 2 and evolved to 1 after multiple encounters and homework on sites like BFF.

[Yuchi1]

I am in no way insecure about these beings and not antagonistic toward skeptics/skofftics as you shouldn't hate people because of their ignorance and lack of applied experience. I do get to a degree of frustration with those parroting the same echo chamber platitudes as they only focus the light on their own irrelevance.

 

The sin lies not in being ignorant rather, in being content with staying ignorant.

[gigantor]

^^^ I don't want to be ignorant, please tell me how I can be enlightened. What should I do to overcome my ignorance.

 

I'm willing to overcome it, please help me!