Magical Thinking and the Supernatural

Magical Thinking and the Supernatural

Introduction

• People generally seek proof before believing something.
• However, when it comes to the supernatural, ESP, psychic powers, and astrology, many people lower their standards for evidence.
• Belief is often driven by a desire to believe, with happiness derived from the act of believing itself.

The Freddie Fox Experiment

• Professor Robert Cavanaugh at Williams College conducted a test involving children aged four to six to study magical thinking.
• Children are paired and shown an empty box.
• They are told a fictitious story about a hungry fox named Freddie Fox living in the box.
• Researchers emphasize that it's just a pretense.
• Children are left alone for a few minutes.
• Results showed that most children begin to believe the imaginary fox might be real.
• When researchers reiterate there was no fox, many children maintain their belief.
• This demonstrates how beliefs can persist despite contradictory logic or evidence.

Magical Thinking in Adults

• While magical thinking is acceptable for children, it is concerning when adults engage in it.
• Examples include believing in communication with the dead, faith healing, and predictions from psychics or astrologers.
• Some individuals claim to be learning levitation, with historical evidence cited by institutions like Maharishi University.
• Others participate in fire walking, attributing success to mental focus, while science explains it through physics (poor thermal conductivity of wood).

James Randi and Exposing Pseudoscience

• James Randi, a former magician, dedicates his time to debunking paranormal and supernatural claims.
• He contributes to magazines like Skeptic.
• Randi exposed Uri Geller's spoon-bending as a magician's trick.
• The James Randi Educational Foundation offers $1,000,000 to anyone who can prove paranormal abilities under scientific testing.
• The test is simple: "If they say they can defy gravity, step over to the window there and step out. And if it if you don't fall, hey, you win. You win. It's simple to devise a test."

Alternative Therapies and Faith Healing

• Many people turn to alternative therapies due to dissatisfaction with conventional medicine.
• Examples include ozone gas treatments for cancer, bee stings for arthritis, and iridology.
• Faith healers like Benny Hinn attract large crowds, with some individuals claiming cures from cancer despite also undergoing conventional treatments.
• Voodoo practices in New Orleans are used for healing and hurting, with some scientists attributing its effects to the power of suggestion.
• The placebo effect: If you truly believes in the curse, your body may just shut down.

Therapeutic Touch

• Therapeutic touch is practiced in many medical centers, where nurses claim to feel and manipulate a patient's energy field without physical contact.
• Practitioners say they channel the healing energy of the universe through their hands.
• A nine-year-old girl, Emily Rose, tested therapeutic touch for her science project, revealing practitioners could not accurately sense her hand's position.
• Despite the test results, practitioners maintained faith in their skills.
• A test like Emily Rose claims would win someone \$1,000,000 from Randi.

The Placebo Effect

• The placebo effect demonstrates that believing in a therapy can lead to feeling better, even if the therapy is inert.
• A study where students were given a placebo pill and told it was either a stimulant or a sleeping pill showed that many experienced the expected effects.
• Example quotes:
  • "I felt great in the morning even though I had much less sleep than I normally did."
  • "It didn't change my sleep patterns. I thought it was a psychology experiment."
• The placebo effect has its limits and should not replace effective medical treatments.

Dangers of Magical Thinking

• Relying on magical thinking can lead individuals to seek alternative healers and ineffective treatments.
• Doctor Nicholas Gonzales treats cancer with unproven method such as coffee enemas, which concerns some medical professionals.
• Testimonies suggest alternative healers may discourage conventional treatments, potentially harming patients.

The Importance of Science and Skepticism

• Michael Shermer emphasizes the importance of science over pseudoscience for human survival and progress.
• He argues against relying on magic and spells in a world where medical science has significantly increased lifespans.

Channeling

• Jay Z Knight channels Ramtha, a 35,000-year-old warrior philosopher from Atlantis, charging people to hear his advice.
• Other channelers exist, like Jose Alvarez, who was coached by James Randi to fake being a channeler named Carlos.
• Carlos gave meaningless advice:
  • "All answers are right answers."
  • "It will be astronomical in nature."
• The Carlos hoax, exposed by Australian media, demonstrated how easily people can be fooled.
• Despite the deceit being revealed, many continued to believe in Carlos.

Predictions and Psychics

• Astrologers, psychics, and tarot card readers often fail when their predictions are tested.
• Psychic hotlines exploit desperate individuals, like Carissa Schilling, who spent thousands searching for her missing sister.
• Psychic sleuths like John Monty have been shown to provide useless or misleading information to police in missing person cases.
• There are limitations to what these hotlines can do, with one psychic noting:
  • "I don't feel her alive. You don't? No"

Cold and Warm Reading Techniques

• Astrologers use cold reading to make broad statements that are likely to resonate with anyone.
• They also use warm reading: say things that are true for everyone.
• Susan Miller's astrological readings use flattery and generic statements to appeal to clients.
• I.e. "Those three planets in Pisces makes you very intuitive."
• Bartel gave students a horoscope, previously used for a mass murderer, and the students believed most of it, highlighting susceptibility of people to believe general or vague predictions.
• Predictions can be harmful due to the nocebo effect.

Gulf War Syndrome and the Nocebo Effect

• The nocebo effect, where negative expectations worsen symptoms, may contribute to conditions like Gulf War Syndrome.
• The stress of war and publicity about poison gas may contribute to the belief that they are sick. (regardless of whether they are sick).
• That is, whether something's really there or not may be irrelevant and the belief system is at work.

Near-Death Experiences

• Many people believe in an afterlife, and near-death experiences (NDEs) are often cited as evidence.
• Pediatrician Melvin Morris studied children's NDEs, finding that they report similar experiences to adults.
• Morris attributes these experiences to seeing God, while others suggest hallucinations.
• Those similar experiences included:
  • Being in a tunnel
  • Hearing voices
  • Seeing a very bright light that made them feel safe
• Aeromedical scientist James Winery studies pilots who experience similar phenomena during high-speed maneuvers, attributing them to physiological responses to blood flow changes in the brain.
• Pilots experience convulsive type movements.
• Pilots experience euphoria.
• Winery finds explanations in hallucinations, not in seeing god.

The Comfort of Belief

• Many believers in the supernatural are unfazed by scientific counterarguments, prioritizing comfort and emotional satisfaction over empirical evidence.
• The real world is all we've got.

Conclusion

• Real wisdom involves distinguishing truth from falsehood, evidence from wishful thinking.
• While the real world may be mysterious and frightening, it also holds beauty, poetry, love, and the joy of honest discovery.