Skeptopia

Ah, it’s so satisfying to speak to a reasonable person about their unreasonable belief and not only make them see that their belief is foolish, but make them laugh as well.
I was really on my game today. Actually, I wasn’t. I was having a crappy morning and was feeling really, to use a fun Australian word, stroppy.

When a customer entered and began looking through the gold and silver charms (I work in a jewellery store, those of you not in the know) for ‘zodiac charms.’ Fortunately, the other sales girl served her and the woman was spared my subtle disdain for her request. We don’t have any zodiac charms, by the way. After the customer left empty handed, I said snidely to my co-worker, “I guess we don’t cater to that particular brand of superstition.” To which she, a reasonable, free-thinking girl, replied, “I don’t know, I kind of believe in that stuff. Everything I’ve ever read tells me that I’m definitely a textbook [insert zodiac sign here]“

I took a deep breath and began my little rant. First, I said I used to believe in it as well, so I understand, but that I’d found reasons that made the whole thing completely ridiculous to me. Then I said that while these had changed how I saw it, there was no reason I thought that they needed to change how she saw it and she could take or leave it. But then I said why I thought it was a bit silly. I said it all with a sense of humour and without preaching.

I stayed away from using any of the usual “oh, those statements are so general they apply to anyone” which is, itself a terrible argument unless you first explain confirmation bias and I remember how specific I thought they were when I believed. I stuck to statistical studies and explained how tests of accuracy always failed. I then explained that the whole thing is based on the idea that the Earth is the centre of the universe and that the stars are all a fixed distance away, which we all know is incorrect. Then I blew it all away by explaining that the one thing that held my belief the longest, I ended up disproving myself.

At the end, she laughed and then said with a smile, “Yeah, when you put it that way, I guess it is a bit silly.” To which I responded, “It can still be fun to read about it, don’t let me take that away from you if you still think it’s fun, but for me, it’s just kind of pointless. I’d rather read about actual psychology and astronomy rather than some doddering old ancestor of the two.” She laughed again at this.

“After all, it’s not like it really harms anyone. It’s not like ear-candling.”

She looked puzzled,”Ear candling? What on Earth is that?”

“Oh boy,” I laughed, “don’t get me started…”

A while back I created a little wedding video and posted it on YouTube.

I had been disappointed at the lack of angry or confused Xians telling me I was immoral or whatever, and now I’ve finally got one! He’s posted twice, even! And he uses bad logic and false facts to support his ridiculous conclusions! He seriously made my morning.

Of course, I didn’t make the video to upset anyone and I’m grateful to the people who have been supportive with their comments, which are lovely. But I’m glad to have stirred someone up enough to say something completely ignorant and narrow-minded. I hope some other commenter (preferrably a fellow Xian) will put him in his place about what a ‘tard he is.

I especially like the bit about it being ‘naturally impossible to produce offspring from such a union.’ Ha, ha! Have I got news for him!

Created by Train Horns

I would like to note that I only realised after the test that the sound was not coming out of the computer speakers, but the earbuds sitting on the desk that I had neglected to unplug. I could hear the noise coming from the tiny earbuds, not the actual computer speakers. My hearing is freakishly acute.

Edit: Test #2, earbuds unplugged: sound clearly audible. Feels like a bug is burrowing into my brain. Afterward, I click on a YouTube clip and realise my computer’s volume is on the lowest setting. I raise the volume and decide to try again.

Test #3, volume at 50%: The sound is like a dentist’s drill. It makes my eyes sting and I have to click away almost instantly to keep from getting a pounding headache.

Conclusion: High frequency noises are a horrible torture for me. You know those high frequency thingies people have to keep mosquitos and other pests away? I can hear those. You know that high pitched noise that televisions and monitors give off? I can hear that too. I am a freak. If I enter a business using one of these torture devices I will noisily complain that they are driving away perfectly good customers such as myself, who happen to have better than average hearing for their age.

Ok.

I’m NOT pregnant. I took a test yesterday and there was only one little pink line, so I know FOR SURE that I am NOT pregnant. The oven is empty; there is no bun.

It is important to establish that so people don’t feel left out of the loop.

However, I am married.

First comes love, then comes marriage, then….well, you know, the hubby’s all ready for that proverbial baby carriage.

I, however, am not ready. Nope. Not really ready at all.

But I’ve started thinking about it.

I still look at babies, especially toddlers as really short, stupid people, or hairless but maladroit monkeys. I can’t hold a conversation with one, therefore, I’m not entirely sure what I’m supposed to be getting out of the exchange. But there are days when I look at those cute little critters with their big eyes and their total fascination with the world and I think, “Man, I want one that looks like me!” or “It’s so small, I NEED ONE!” or “BABY! WANT! NOW!”

However, I don’t think I’m ready. For starters, I haven’t done any research.

So, I go to Amazon and I start looking at pregnancy books. What To Expect When Your Expecting. The Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy. Ok, cool, but a little dry. Further down the list: Spiritual Midwifery, HypnoBirthing, The Baby Name Wizard: A Magical Method for Finding the Perfect Name for Your Baby and worst of all Belly Laughs: The Naked Truth about Pregnancy and Childbirth by Jenny McCarthy. Not to mention all kinds of “methods” and “truth about the…” pseudoscience and for some reason, about a million prenatal diet and fitness books.

So, when I see a title like The Thinking Woman’s Guide to a Better Birth I get excited. It looks great, it sounds great. But I’ve been tricked before. What pseudoscience is lurking behind that beautiful cover and flattering title?  It’s telling me that I’m a “Thinking Woman”, something I’m sure all mothers want to be. And who doesn’t want to bring a child into the world under better conditions? But “Better” by whose definition? I can’t help wondering if it’s full of fear-mongering misinformation and twisted figures.  It proposes to help you make informed decisions about birthing methods and practices, but is there an agenda? The author is herself a promoter of Lamaze, which, according to my relatively skeptical mother is complete bunk. But who am I to believe, my mother or this supposed expert?

I know I have the skills to properly weigh the evidence and do my own research, but it’s hard to know where to start. Where to find any actual studies on whether or not natural birth is any better for a baby or mother? How do I wade through the agendas and ideologies and find the right books for me?

So, this is what’s going on in my head lately. This whole thing has opened up a skeptical can of worms and I am having a hard time finding a good list of EVIDENCE BASED pregnancy, chilbirth and parenting books that don’t cherry pick or depend on meta-analysis.

If you know a good place to start, let me know. I need at least an Associates Degree in in Pregnancy before I’ll feel even remotely ready.

The time came and went for a comprehensive guide to my TAM6 experience, so now, I will talk about what I learned and what I gained, five months on.

I think I summarised my feelings about the convention in my previous post but five months on, I no longer feel as…well…ranty.

TAM6 kind of turned me off from the whole “skeptical movement” for a while.  Offering another set of answers is not the best way to steer people away from nonsense. Instead, trying to promote the skills that lead people to skepticism in the first place is possibly more effective.

But that’s my husband’s rant.

TAM6 made me realise that what TAM gives to me is a sense of belonging. I have a strong emotional attachment to the skeptical community and the sense of family it brings. It’s like church camp used to be.  At TAM5 I was excited about the idea of rubbing elbows with famous people. At TAM6 I just wanted to have a good time. I met some famous people but I felt less like a fan, and more like a colleague. I realised that the celebrities aren’t as interesting as some of the less famous people who do interesting work. And more interesting than them? The people who are, like me, fans of skepticism who make skepticism part of their daily lives. I enjoyed TAM, but in the following months I’ve moved away from skepticism as a major part of my life. (However, recently I’ve found a reason to resurrect it.)

So yeah. Not a detailed thought provoking post, but a post. At long last.