Quote:
Originally Posted by wolverinewolfweiselpigeon
Yeah, precisely this. I have friends who are always trying to tell me about their experiences in hopes I'll change my mind and despite my "just because it's unexplained doesn't make it supernatural"' outlook and become a believer.
One time a friend, let's call him Idiot, told me this gem:
Idiot had woken up in the middle of the night for no apparent reason. Since he was awake, he decided to go to the bathroom. As soon as he set foot on the floor though, Idiot realized there was a small pool of water formed near his bed. Idiot had no idea where the water came from, but was afraid of it, so went back to sleep. In the morning the water was gone. Idiot blamed it on a ghost.
Upon asking him questions about the situation, I found out that what Idiot did not mention was that the incident took place in the middle of winter (rain season) and he had a leaky roof. Spooky stuff. Spooky stuff indeed.
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Sounds like a familiar story.
But what's more upsetting is that people will latch on to a belief like that based on nothing more than having heard similar claims, and attributing their own experiences to those claims because it's easier than doubt. And when you have an entire society echoing claims they've heard, things become sort of a social truth that is applied to occurrences indiscriminately and void of critical thought.
That belief doesn't have to be ghosts. It can be anything and it's still the same. It can be a belief in the Candy Man. It can be a belief in a biblical god. It can be anything...
What's so disturbing is that whatever the most popular myths are, those that choose not to actually analyze the information they get and don't try to ascertain the truth of the claim are just as influential as someone who does. Only, they have more support.
I'm not worried about people believing in unsubstantiated things.
I'm worried about the kind of people that believe in unsubstantiated things actually affecting our world.