Skeptics

This is again an old topic, but it keeps coming up for me when I read or hear certain folks in the media.

To blindly accept and blindly reject, are both forms of blindness.

If others are similar to me, it’s a way of dealing with fear, of avoiding feeling the fear. It comes from hope, again as a way to avoid feeling fear and discomfort. It comes from identification with a certain identity, which appears solid and real as “me”. It comes from beliefs, from taking certain thoughts as true and reflecting a reality “out there”. It comes from velcro, from sensations attached to words and images, creating an sense of reality, solidity, charge and likes and dislikes. It’s a way of reinforcing belonging to certain groups, for instance hard nosed skeptics, or those who have “seen behind the veil” (new age etc.). Each of these are slightly different ways of pointing to the same.

This came up for me again when I saw that NRK (the Norwegian broadcasting company) has another TV series where the host clearly sets out to dismiss certain things, rather than seriously investigate to find what’s really there. Of course, others do the same only in reverse – accepting certain things without really looking into to to see what’s there. And many do look into it seriously and in a more sober way, to find what’s really there.

One of the topics of the TV series was sensitivity to electromagnetic radiation. It’s an interesting topic because the nocebo effect most likely plays a role for many. And it is true that research into possible mechanisms, and connections between radiation and health, haven’t come up with anything conclusive. Still, that doesn’t mean something more may be going on that it’s worth exploring further.

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– blindly believe/reject, both blindness
– create identity around it
– belong to a certain “in” group, either hard nosed skeptics or those who have seen behind the veil

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draft…..

This is again an old topic, but it keeps coming up for me when I read or hear certain folks in the media.

To blindly accept and blindly reject, are both forms of blindness.

If others are similar to me, then it comes from fear and/or hope, from identification. It comes form beliefs, and velcro (sensations attached to words and images, creating a sense of charge.) Each of these are slightly different ways of pointing to the same.

It’s a way of dealing with fear, of avoiding feeling it. It’s a way of reinforcing a certain identity. It’s a way of reinforcing belonging to certain groups, for instance hard nosed skeptics, or those who have “seen behind the veil” (new age etc.).

This came up for me again when I saw that NRK (the Norwegian broadcasting company) has another TV series where the host clearly sets out to dismiss certain things, rather than seriously investigate it to find what’s really there. Of course, others do the same only in reverse – accepting certain things without really looking into to to see what’s really there.

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