The Unjustified Use of a French Video in Lundahl (2022s): Who is Diane Vibert? What is She Saying? What is her Expertise?
Kevin R. Henke
October 7, 2022
When discussing the requirements for this debate, I stated in several emails to Mr. Lundahl that I wanted everything in English. I don’t know French. While Mr. Lundahl can converse in several different languages, I’m only fluent in English. If he wants to debate me, he’s going to have to deal with my limitations and restrict his communications to English. In an email to Mr. Lundahl on February 28, 2022 (7:44pm Eastern US time), I wrote about my requirements for the debate:
“I expect you to use at least some peer-reviewed references and not just Wikipedia. I also don't want to watch videos. I only want to see written references in your response. Unfortunately, I'm only literate in English and I don't trust computer translators, so your references will have to be in English if you want me to be able to read them. I apologize for my language limitations. Also, as stated on my website, you're going to have to track down the references that I use and get your own copies. I will not violate copyright restrictions by sending you copies.”
Mr. Lundahl then replied to this email on March 1, 2022 (4:41am Eastern US time):
“I'm fairly fine with this, but if I give a reference in French, German, Latin, will you trust my translation for the quote?”
In an email from March 1, 2022 (8:24am US Eastern time), I agreed to his request:
“If you could just quote the French, German, Latin, etc. from the reference with your translation that would be great.”
In an email on May 16, 2022 (6:55 am Eastern US time), I further made it very clear to Mr. Lundahl that I only wanted our dialogue to be in English:
“If you haven't noticed we're conducting our dialogue in ENGLISH and not French or some other language. Write in English only!”
Later on May 16, 2022 (11:16am US Eastern time), I again emphasized in an email:
“Make sure that your essay has a decent bibliography and spelling that is consistent with the general population of the United Kingdom/Canada or USA (Our readers may not know French! Think of them and stick with English.)”
I further stated in another email on May 18, 2022 (2:15pm Eastern US time):
“You want people to be impressed by how you spell "career" and other words, but it would have an opposite effect with anyone from Idaho, Alabama or Australia that doesn't know any French and can't figure out why you can't use a spell check. You should realize that most Americans don't know any French. Spanish has largely replaced it as a foreign language in our high schools and small colleges (like the one I went to). Think about your readers and their needs. Don't expect them to figure out who Bishop Challenor is. That's rude.”
After all of these warnings and pleading, Lundahl (2022s) inappropriately sites a video by someone named Diane Vibert:
“Now, I would actually agree, the soul is not using the brain as a "personal digital assistant" ... rather soul and brain combine to form the thoughts we experience, with soul as ultimate cause of consciousness, and with brain as regulator of its interaction with the body, which - by the providence of God - makes for different qualities of consciousness, for instance, I was a few minutes ago in hypnosis, because I needed to rest and rewind in a cyber, where sleeping is not allowed. The altered brain state is a beneficial rest for the body and it feels differently from being fully awake. Thank you very much, Diane Vibert!“
Not only are Diane Vibert’s statements in a video, they’re only in French. As I stated before, I wanted all of our discussions in English and I didn’t want Mr. Lundahl using video references for the following reasons that I stated in Henke (2022fq):
“Unless videos are strictly scripted, participants are usually talking “off the top of their heads” and there’s too much risk that they might misspeak or misremember important details. Furthermore, videos often do not list their sources.”
As of October 7, 2022, when this essay was finished and posted, no English subtitles were available for Diane Vibert’s video. Because I and probably many of our readers do not know French, we have no idea what this video is saying. Who is Diane Vibert? How does she support Mr. Lundahl’s position on consciousness? What is her field of expertise and how is she qualified? For the benefit of our readers, why can’t Mr. Lundahl find an English and peer-reviewed article or book that better represents what he thinks? This is another prime example of Mr. Lundahl using improper references and ignoring the needs of our readers that don’t know French.