I think that needs reiterating: Ball picked on his VOICE, conjuring images in my mind of a petty, adolescent schoolyard bully. If one has serious ideas and serious intent it is incumbent upon one to present them seriously. Otherwise, why would one expect to be taken seriously?
I read that article. I had previously read two of his books that I had found facile and unoriginal (and very new-agey without a speck of the "professional" science you attribute to him), but it was that article that sent me from mild but easily forgettable irritation to outright dismissal. I have no time for someone who builds an argument against someone by including an attack on their vocal chords. The voice thing was, of course, just the tip of the iceberg, but is the best example of the thrust of that article.
And I am not that big a McKenna fan, though I find some of his writings and speculations interesting.
I am not trying to provoke here, only to emphasize that the attacks, by and large, on Martin Ball in that thread (which I cannot access for some reason) were not an attack on his ideas or his approach, but on his pettiness and condescension.
JBArk
JBArk is a Mandelthought; a non-fiction character in a drama of his own design he calls "LIFE" who partakes in consciousness expanding activities and substances; he should in no way be confused with SWIM, who is an eminently data-mineable and prolific character who has somehow convinced himself the target he wears on his forehead is actually a shield.