Science Forums 2

[CraigD]

Originally Posted by Moontanman

I'm bright and shiny

Originally Posted by Thunderbird

I guess I'm not to bright.

Looks like there’s a need to trot out some basic bright principles, as, in a manner typical of the movement, we seem to be violating them from the get-go!

Bright in this context must be used as a noun, not an adjective. I am a bright (or, if I chose to explicitly identify myself with the website-supported movement, a Bright, with a capital B). I do not profess to be a bright person, as in smarter than the average person.

A person with tested intelligence so low as to be considered legally handicapped can be a bright, while a person with genius-level tested intelligence can be a super.

Being a bright means I have a world view devoid of the supernatural – in everyday terms, I don’t believe in God, gods, ghosts, etc. If I were to encounter a god or a ghost, this world view would lead me to attempt to explain it in natural terms – for example, as a psychological effect, such as a dream or hallucination, or a natural phenomenon external to my body.

Someone who is not a bright is a super. Being a super means that one has a world view including the supernatural – he believes in God, gods, and/or ghosts, etc. Belief in the supernatural implies the belief that some experiences or phenomena cannot be explained in natural terms – for example, miracles which are caused by an entity able to affect, but not be affected, by the physical universe.

As the current 20% in the poll indicates, some people reject the bright/super classification scheme, accepting neither noun as applicable to them, or objecting to the making of such a distinction.

Approached very analytically, who is and who is not a bright can be a very difficult question. For example, one can argue that a person who believe in the Genesis creation account literally, but feels that science will eventually reveal the truth of it, might be considered a bright, while someone who believes that quantum uncertainty makes certain data unknowable might be considered a super. However, kept on an intuitive level, to borrow the form of a famous quote, I can’t tell you exactly what a bright or a super is, but I know one if I see (well, actually, have an honest conversation with) one.