In his years on the Ed Forum, Bill would occasionally mention his interest in Bigfoot. To my recollection it was an interest, in that he was not a proponent that Bigfoot was real. It was just something he had fun with, kinda like some Brits have fun with Nessie.
For those LNs taking this as a sign he was cognitively impaired, however, let me set you straight. Bill was what you would probably call a reasonable CT, in that he was an ardent defender of Gary Mack, and the authenticity of the Zapruder film.
In the eyes of some CTs, of course, this made him a LN.
RIP
Was Bill Miller a Bigfoot Believer or someone who just had an interest in it? Clearly, he did believe that Bigfoot was a real flesh and blood animal. That would put him in the rational ‘half’ of the Bigfoot believers. Just as he was, from what I heard, in the rational ‘half’ of the CTers.
Was Bill Miller cognitively impaired? He certainly did not appear to be cognitively impaired. But he did not have a skeptic’s mind set. It appears he put too much emphasis on what he remembers seeing and what others report seeing. Humans have unreliable perceptions and unreliable memories. He does attempt to use a scientific approach. Analyzing footprint casts. Analyzing film. But a true skeptic would conclude:
• Footprints can be faked.
• Photographs can be faked.
• Film can be faked.
• It is unbelievable, that no bodies have turned up, or a Bigfoot fatally shot. Yosemite Park, a small fraction of the wilderness, has a half dozen black bears killed each year in auto accidents. It defies belief that such an animal could year after year, over a huge range, avoid being run over by logging trucks or other vehicles.
• DNA technology has lowed the bar tremendously. No need for a body. Just find the scat from the beast and you will have compelling evidence. But, while bears do go in the woods, it appears that Bigfoot does not.
Have I said that Bill Miller was cognitively impaired? No. I’m just having a little fun with his beliefs. I believe his false beliefs have more to do with having the wrong ‘philosophy’, the wrong way of looking at the world, then being cognitively impaired. The wrong way of looking at the world causes more false beliefs than people being cognitively impaired.
