Reminder

[weswilson]

A simple reminder to people who believe:

• There has been no repeatable, double-blind test EVER performed that has shown ANY degree of psychic phenomenon exists.


• There is a one million dollar prize for anyone who can demonstrate any paranormal ability to a scientifically improbable margin. This does not mean you have to get everything right... just that you have to beat the odds of doing it randomly. No one has ever gotten close to claiming this prize.


• Charlatans and thieves have commonly used psychic powers and ghosty beliefs to rob people of their income or offer them false comfort during their times of grief.


• Supporting the belief in these kinds of things, while seemingly harmless, provides additional prestige for those who may rob your friends and loved ones. It additionally encourages people who actually want to seek out the esoteric and bizarre. If one crazy thing is accepted by your family, then why can't other crazy things be true.


• Anecdotal evidence, though compelling from a friend or family member, is not guaranteed to be true. For every person close to you who believes something compelling, I'm sure I could find another who believes something you would never accept. You're being hypocritical if you accept one set of beliefs at face value, but put another to scrutiny.

It's fun to dream of the bizarre and odd. I LOVED "In Search Of" when I was a kid, but as adults we should know better. I continue to find people who are willing to accept any crackpot theory, while dismissing scientific evidence as dishonest and untrustworthy.

Let's perform an experiment. Let's break the wing off a plane and have a psychic surgeon fix it. Now... you have a choice. You can fly on the plane repaired by scientists, or the one repaired by psychics. Who would you trust? Why? Let's put your CHILDREN on that plane, while you get to stay on the ground. Does your answer change?

I know the answer most people would choose. But I find it odd that when it comes to the simple question of whether psychic powers exist or not, those same people who would want a scientist to fix their airplane are willing to doubt the scientist who says he has found no evidence to support any degree of psychic behavior. Either you trust psychics or scientists... there is no evidence to support the claims of both. Choose wisely.

Comments

[badkalla.livejournal.com]

Consider the story of this israeli guy.

[weswilson]

Neat... The science of rocketry FTW! :)

[porovaara.livejournal.com]

I've found the perfect phrase for someone who harbors these sorts of faiths.

A simple:

"Why do you believe what you believe?"

Usually when they realize it is "I just do." Their position softens somewhat.

[weswilson]

Yes, but more often then not I get a story of a loved one having gotten positive results. Rarely will people fess up to just believing.

[brodycatsmouth.livejournal.com]

Uh-oh, who have you been debating with?

[weswilson]

I saw a poll in a friend's journal. In it, 50% believed in witches, 50% in ghosts, and 50% in ESP. 35% believed in UFOs. 15% believed in vampires.

The real kicker is that only 80% believed in dinosaurs. 70% in darwinism (although I find that title a misnomer. It makes believe in scientific theory sound equivocal to belief in creationism).

I don't think people are stupid for believing in this stuff... hell, I believed in it as a child, too. But we're in an information age, and people continue to ignore the information that fights with their belief. It's stupid to KEEP believing.

[brodycatsmouth.livejournal.com]

I believe in witches. They'd cry religious intolerance against the Wiccan religion if I didn't! ;)

[pickmansraven.livejournal.com]

You read my mind. ;)

[slfdstrx.livejournal.com]

Ah, my man Mulder. I want to believe.

Of them all, I'd give UFOs the best chance of maybe, possibly, actually ever making a real appearance, if only because the odds of us being the only folks in the whole wide universe just seem ridiculous. The whole jump-drive/hyperspace/FTL thing would take some work, though.

I just had my every few year freakout about the whole "space" and "universe" and "where does it end?" thing a couple weeks ago. I got better.

[badkalla.livejournal.com]

I see no reason to not think there are civilizations in other star systems. However, the large amount of theoretical and empirical evidence physicists have regarding the speed of light barrier makes the possibility of FTL look pretty darn slim. Having FTL technology would certainly situate other lifeforms at a somewhat higher place the technological ladder than us, that's for sure.

[ex-debgirl0.livejournal.com]

here here!

[travlr1.livejournal.com]

I believe in Crystal Light. Because I believe in me.

Though, I would have to say, that since a plane has no soul or psyche, that a psychic surgeon wouldn't be able to fix it. And a scientist couldn't fix it, either, but they could probably tell you how it works. Personally, I would fly on a plane repaired by mechanics. I don't trust psychics, scientists, religious zealots, cult leaders, political figures, or hot dog vendors around planes. (However, I have to tell the people who don't believe in dinosaurs to stop driving their cars RIGHT NOW. Gasoline is witchcraft!)

[weswilson]

I'm sorry... but mechanics are not an option. You must either choose psychics or scientists. I feel safe knowing that you would probably choose the scientists, even if they aren't airplane mechanics.. :)

[travlr1.livejournal.com]

Right, well, I would have to choose the quantum mechanics scientists... they could maybe put the broken wing in a Schröedinger's box or something... but it's a sort of 'mechanics' I guess...

[fotojournalist.livejournal.com]

you know what's funny? last night i was thinking about this past weekends trip to Boston, and being surrounded by all that history and tragic death and horrifying deaths, be it the Boston massacre, or the mafia, or bunker hill, or Indians, etc. (also thinking about when i visited Rome AND Paris with the plague and all of Rome's 'fun' deaths).

I have ALWAYS been terrified of ghosts. and the dark.

for some stupid reason it only hit me till last night that these places i have visited would be in CONSTANT attack by ghosts and what not just for the sheer mass of terrible things that have happened there. In nighttime AND day.

and yet, i saw/have not seen one. not one tiny little thing.
and we were even staying in a really old hotel in the middle of the historic area.

not sure why i came to this realization just last night, but i did.

i am not saying i am STILL not going to be scared out of my pants of the dark and possibility that something is following me up the stairs at night, so that i have to break out into a run until i get into the light, but I know it is stupid irrational shit that i have had my whole life and just won't go away that fast ;)

[weswilson]

I've lived in a couple of houses that people said were haunted. I've had a Ouija board freak me out. I've pondered whether I really saw that UFO as a child, or if I just made it up to be cool. I understand what it's like to think something else is out there. I just don't know how anyone can take themselves seriously when they dismiss science in favor of conjecture.

I think we're hardwired to be fearful. I think fear was a very good motivator in our genetic pattern, keeping us safe from things even before we were able to understand how dangerous they were. If you're afraid of the dark, those nocturnal cats will have a hard time finding you in your cave by the fire. I think that seeing something fearful out of the corner of your eye is useful for evolution as well. If you're constantly jerking your head back and forth trying to see what's in the corner of your eye, then you'll see more than if you're confident you are fine. It's nature... simple nature.

I went on a ghost tour in New Orleans and even bought the book published by the tour company. I bought it for their pictures of ghosts... which were, of course, nothing but orbs. As a photographer, I'm sure you've had plenty of dust motes interfere with your flash photography, and yet no one seems to put two-and-two together on this whole orb phenomenon. Baffling, I tell you.

[seamusmoon.livejournal.com]

I used to enjoy telling people my house next to Dominos was haunted because it was easy to believe since it was noisy at night when the wood settled. I even had a story about a girl who was killed in the basement back in the '70s. I found that most people bought it or at least humored me when I talked about it. Of course, I didn't believe a word of it but that's never stopped me from f'ing with people's heads. ;)

[idav5d.livejournal.com]

Ha! I found your example funny because 1.) I spent most of my adult life as an airplane mechanic and 2.)as a magician/entertainer/mentalist kinda guy, I do a pretty decent psychic surgery. I never thought of combining the two. I may have a new niche!
Chicken gizzards and hearts work best for evil tumor-like masses BTW.

[weswilson]

Did you read the article about the Texan who raped his rapist stepson with the wrench, too?

[idav5d.livejournal.com]

Um.. no Wes.. I missed that one. I sometimes catch CNN, but almost never watch SNM...

[weswilson]

The reason that I ask is that the wrench icon you were using was posted in the fark forum discussion the story.

http://forums.fark.com/cgi/fark/comments.pl?IDLink=3325955

[idav5d.livejournal.com]

Nope, I've had that one for a couple of years now... I usually reserve it for posts where I dish out mechanical advice, but this one seemed special.

[poonariffic.livejournal.com]

Hey now, we can't expect that we are the only lifeforms in the galaxy. Not sure about UFO's (as mentioned in comments), but there is something out there.

That said, Wtf @ the dinosaur and darwinism stats from that poll!

[weswilson]

I assume, when I hear the term UFO, that the person is referencing the idea that alien life forms have visited earth, not that they exist or that there are actual flying object that are unidentified.

[poonariffic.livejournal.com]

Yeah...not a UFO believer.

[orangecone.livejournal.com]

James Randi FTW!

[weswilson]

oui

[porktruck.livejournal.com]

Agreed. I used to think pro wrestling was real...when I was six. Yet to this day I know full grown women and men who go to psychics, fortune tellers, tarot card dealers, what have you.

[weswilson]

I still hope to see some evidence that some of this is real... but till I do, I'm not going to make any guesses.

[porktruck.livejournal.com]

Bizarre things happen. My grandmother passed away last year. We went to the funeral. When we got home we had a message on the answering machine. It was an automated computer voice explaining that a 911 call had just been received from our home at 2:22 pm. This was just about the time that we were putting her coffin in the ground. Side note: her birthday was 2-22. No follow up call from 911 after that, and of course we were graveside in Philadelphia at the time this call was supposedly made from our house. Grandma J reaching out from beyond to communicate? Coincidental glitch in the 911 system with accompanying coincidental lack of follow up from police? Who knows?

How you could ever put this kind of thing up to some sort of scientific test is beyond me.

[mokitty.livejournal.com]

K Wes. I feel much more enlightened now.

[weswilson]

Have I aligned your chakras?

[mokitty.livejournal.com]

You, sir, are allowed nowhere near my chakras!! Align your own chakras!

[weswilson]

Ommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[seamusmoon.livejournal.com]

I generally avoid confronting people about such ridiculous things but when I am forced to discuss it I usually try to find their point of cognitive dissonance and expose it. It doesn't change their mind, but it gives them something to chew on.

Once people get to the point of only accepting evidence which supports their opinion and rejecting (without analysis) all evidence that opposes it as flawed or corrupt, there is very little chance of getting any sort of useful information pushed through that wall so I don't even try. I just nod and smile and tell them some outrageous story that I've invented in hopes that they will pass it along so that some day down the road I can hear someone else tell it back to me. It's kind of a "meme boomerang" effect I like to play with.