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Edited on Sat Oct-27-07 07:56 PM by Kutjara
...rather than the person making the paranormal claims. At least that's been my experience. Some acquaintance will say they've been to a psychic and that the psychic "knew" all kinds of things about them that "nobody could possibly know," and how do I explain that. I try to give them a crash course in "cold reading" techniques and direct them to watch or read James Randi, Derren Brown, Penn & Teller, or any of the other "magicians" who use these techniques to produce quite extraordinary "psychic" effects.
Inevitably, their eyes glaze over because I'm raining on their ghostly parade, so they just wait patiently until I've finished, and then pipe up with, "but they knew my dad's name was William and that my first cat was named 'Fluffy' and had one black paw. Explain that, Mr. Rationality." Suddenly, I'm having to dissect every moment of a "psychic reading" on the selective memory of someone who clearly wants to believe, and probably blabbed every detail of their personal life without even realizing it. It's about this time I start to think, "Hang on a minute. Why the feck am I the one on the defensive? Shouldn't Mr/Ms Psychic Friends here be thinking a little bit more critically about their experience?"
Of course, even if my arguments do penetrate a little, I still hear the, "Well, you have to admit science doesn't know EVERYTHING. Many things haven't been explained." It's pointless to try to tell them that, just because something hasn't yet been explained, doesn't mean it's either inexplicable or inevitably due to supernatural cause.
Don't get me wrong. I'm a firm believer in people believing whatever the hell they like. What I don't appreciate, however, is that my reputation as the resident skeptic among my friends, family, and workmates means that I'm the "go to" guy for every "unexplainable" incident they've every experienced. What I find most depressing is that people would much rather cook up a supernatural explanation for what they experience than a natural one. And of course, any admission on my part that I don't personally have an explanation for any given phenomenon is taken as cast iron proof of that phenomenon's supernatural nature. The phrase "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence," gets met with blank incomprehension. In many ways, the modern world is little different from a Medieval Village.
I learned a while ago that such discussions usually lead nowhere, so I just grit my teeth and change the subject. Rationality is boring and spooky spirits are cool. Cool beats boring every time.
Or maybe I just need to find less annoying family and friends.
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