Pseudo-Science Circus (original) (raw)

I’ve been on a few ghost tours, and there always seem to be a few people in the group who are True Believers, and I don’t mean fans of Marvel Comics. There’s definitely a major trend in entertainment toward paranormal investigation, but I’ve never had any particular interest in these shows.

At the same time, however, I don’t necessarily think there’s anything wrong with believing in ghosts. At the same time, however, I also feel that such beliefs can sometimes lead to people taking advantage.

I guess I feel that, if you’re going to claim there’s a science to such things, you should actually treat it like one. Take astrology, for instance.

I don’t believe in astrology no matter how you look at it, but I still have to have more respect for people who actually study star charts and all that than for the ones who just use really vague predictions that are going to fit a lot of people. Or with Tarot cards, people will insist that they can mean a lot of different things depending on your personal feelings or whatever.

Psychics who lead people on by reading body language and tone are certainly clever, but they aren’t making a valid argument for psychic powers being real. After all, if they were, why would you need to do all the misdirection and parlor tricks?

Along somewhat different lines, I don’t think people who consider themselves cryptozoologists and go out trying to find mythical animals are being taken advantage of, but there’s really no zoology involved, any more than saying “Bloody Mary” into a mirror is a valid scientific experiment. If they just considered themselves folklore buffs, I don’t think I’d have any particular problem with it. In fact, I’m right there with them on that. I love the idea of freaky ape-men in the Himalayas and giant aquatic reptiles in Scottish lakes. At the same time, though, I don’t think there’s any real science behind them, any more than there is to the unicorn or the manticore. I guess I’m just overly keen on actual proof. Why would ghosts, aliens, and sasquatches only appear to people who already believe in them? Well, unless they’re just messing with people, I guess.

This entry was posted in Conspiracy Theories, Fairy Tales, Magic, Monsters, Science, Urban Legends and tagged abominable snowman, aliens, astrology, cryptozoology, ghosts, loch ness monster, paranormal investigation, pseudoscience, psychics, sasquatch, tarot. Bookmark the permalink.