The Psychology of the Skeptic

[ProfWag]

... Skeptics NEVER stop and consider how much they wreck lives, cause horrid psychological and emotional damage...

Yes, I, too, would be curious as to how skeptics wreck lives and cause horrid psychological and emotional damage.

[craig weiler]

Craig is right. I have never seen a skeptic stop and consider the emotional and psychological damage they cause.

All you need to do damage is have a highly creative and sensitive child and have an authority figure adult who they look up to tell them them that none of the psychic stuff is real. Presto chango, one wrecked life.

No one who is not highly sensitive themselves can really understand why this happens so quickly and does so much damage over such a long period of time. Those who are highly sensitive understand all too well.

[Craig Browning]

Craig is right. I have never seen a skeptic stop and consider the emotional and psychological damage they cause.

All you need to do damage is have a highly creative and sensitive child and have an authority figure adult who they look up to tell them them that none of the psychic stuff is real. Presto chango, one wrecked life.

No one who is not highly sensitive themselves can really understand why this happens so quickly and does so much damage over such a long period of time. Those who are highly sensitive understand all too well.

I'll take that a step or two further here. . . the number of talented kids, such as I, that were forced to suppress their abilities when younger and even walked through exorcisms and other insane rituals for chasing the devil out of the poor child rather than seeking understanding and more importantly, nurturing the child and helping them understand their abilities, how to use them, etc. How it was in times very long ago and yet, known and still practiced within a handful of "family" groups.

[Arouet]

yeah, I HATE when skeptics put people through exorcisms and other insane rituals for chasing the devil out! We really need to get them to stop doing that!

[ProfWag]

All you need to do damage is have a highly creative and sensitive child and have an authority figure adult who they look up to tell them them that none of the psychic stuff is real. Presto chango, one wrecked life.

Or, conversly, if that adult was right then presto chango, at least one saved life, and maybe more...

[craig weiler]

ProfWag,

Or, conversly, if that adult was right then presto chango, at least one saved life, and maybe more...

My experience, plus other people's, most of which come from personal experiences that people relate to me on my blog, is that people fare much worse when they are psychic, but grow up with a skeptical outlook. Many report migraine headaches, depression, anxiety and other mental health issues. These issues tend to lessen or go away when these people accept their psychic ability as real. The internal conflict can be quite harmful.

[ProfWag]

ProfWag,

Or, conversly, if that adult was right then presto chango, at least one saved life, and maybe more...

My experience, plus other people's, most of which come from personal experiences that people relate to me on my blog, is that people fare much worse when they are psychic, but grow up with a skeptical outlook. Many report migraine headaches, depression, anxiety and other mental health issues. These issues tend to lessen or go away when these people accept their psychic ability as real. The internal conflict can be quite harmful.

Fair enough since I don't have the personal experience angle with this one.

[NinjaPuppy]

yeah, I HATE when skeptics put people through exorcisms and other insane rituals for chasing the devil out! We really need to get them to stop doing that!

I wouldn't say that it's skeptics that do this, it's believers. And... it's more common than you think.

[Craig Browning]

yeah, I HATE when skeptics put people through exorcisms and other insane rituals for chasing the devil out! We really need to get them to stop doing that!

Taken out of context, but I believe you know that. I was referring to how society suppresses and torments young people that show actual gifts.

That book I keep bringing up is but one source that shows how children were raised in "psychic homes" -- in environments in which such abilities were recognized early on and nurtured rather than punished, which is the more common thing in our "christian" world.

[Arouet]

Actually, the context was the damage that skeptics do and the example you gave had nothing to do with skeptics.

[craig weiler]

Trying to teach a psychic child that they don't really have a gift is a form of exorcism. It is as much based on belief as what the church does.

[meryem]

Most skeptics to me appears like close brains to accept argument against their most loved and close to heart belief. They without giving a single thought to what believers are saying tend to speak their hate for the psychics to feel themselves happy with the pleasure over it...

[Arouet]

Do you think generalizing a large group of people is open minded?

[Jayhawker30]

I might call it efficient.

Then again, so was the holocaust...

[Craig Browning]

Do you think generalizing a large group of people is open minded?

Hmm... how open minded are you when you meet someone claiming to be a Psychic?

I know I meet such claims with great suspicion and I am a working psychic.

We're human beings and as such we put up walls quickly when certain types of issues or people enter our environment. The first time I got on a plane following 9/11 and saw Muslims boarding as well you better believe I had some high drama going on in my head. . . I still do even though I can dismiss such bias with a bit of logic. . . I've had far more pleasant and fun encounters with Islamic folk than not. . . I tend to be far more afraid of WASP that put on airs of honesty and supposed purity.

When I meet a "skeptic" in today's world I have to take them with a grain of salt in that the majority that embrace that title haven't a clue as to what it really means let alone how it is being used as an antheme -- a cover-all POV for those that encourage Atheism to the extreme but are unwilling to accept that they are Baptist when it comes to their actions.