Digital Bits Skeptic

By ScienceReasonRationality.blogspot.com
Article ID: 1214

“What do I do when I see a ghost, feel the presence of a spirit, or make contact with an angel, demon, alien, Jesus, God or anything else?”

Whether you’re a skeptic or a believer, this should be the very first question that you should ask yourself before coming to any kind of conclusion.

You can’t start with a conclusion, and then work backwards to find supporting facts and evidence. You need to find the facts and evidence first, and then see what conclusion that information supports.

“What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the wish to find out, which is the exact opposite.” ~ Bertrand Russell

Let’s examine a few kinds of people In the world of faith and beliefs. Look at these categories and see if any apply to you.

Believer Type #1

You saw, heard and felt something considered supernatural, like a ghost. You’ve decided to absolutely believe in what you’ve just experienced as real. You might say, “I know what I saw, I know what I heard and I know what I felt. I know what I know. I wasn’t hallucinating nor was I delusional. I don’t know how to prove it but I know it was absolutely real! It was what it was! Period!”

You may have family and friends who share your beliefs. After all, that’s where beliefs usually come from. With the above confident declaration, you seek out other individuals who had the same or similar experiences. You also find articles and other “facts” and “evidence” that would support what you’ve experienced. When enough “facts” and “evidence” are gathered, you convince yourself further that such experiences are in fact real. These practices lead to self-delusion. This is what happens when you conclude something first, and then work backwards to find facts and evidence to support it.

Believer Type #2

You experienced the same supernatural experience as Believer Type #1, but you would not even find facts and evidence to support it. You silently remain in quiet faith and confidence, believing that what you’ve just experienced is in fact real. Therefore, no further inquiry is required, nor it has the need to be proven. Thinking in this way is what I call The Blind Faith Euphoric Syndrome.

Believer Type #3

You’re a believer, but you’ve never experienced the supernatural experience of Believer Type #1. However, you feel that if others are having such an experience, you don’t want to be left out. So you create an imagined experience. It’s so vivid in your mind, you start to believe in it yourself. Then you too feel special and receive the same special attention and special treatment as those who are qualified enough to be on “The Chosen” list.

Believer Type #4

You’re a believer, but you’ve never had the supernatural experience of Believer Type #1. However, you find the need to pretend such an experience to reinforce belief in others and yourself. Both you and Believer Type #3 are such an expert in this self-delusion that you bring new meaning to the words beLIEve and beLIEf.

There are other Believer Types out there, but I just wanted to define the more common ones. Regardless of your Believer Type, all of these approaches are completely wrong. Repercussions from these mental flaws are severely damaging the lives of many people.

Science, Reason, Rationality and Dopamine

No individual should start out as a believer in something. Rather, he should become a believer in something only after proper evidence is produced through responsible and rational science and reason.

Now, lets take a look at the right approach when someone encounters the “supernatural”, including an apparent ghost, spirit, angel, demon, alien, Jesus and God.

Dopamine, a brain hormone, is one factor responsible for supernatural experiences. In an experiment, two groups of people (believers and skeptics) were told to look at images of faces, non-faces, real words and non-words which were displayed quickly before their eyes. They were then told to determine what images were real faces, non-faces, real words, and non-words.         

The skeptic group picked out more real faces from non-faces, and real words from non-words. The believers group, strangely, saw faces and words even in non-face and non-word images.

Then the skeptic group was given L-dopa, a drug that increases the level of dopamine in their brain. The skeptics then picked out more non-faces and non-words, similar to the original results of the believers group. This experiment proves the higher the level of dopamine in your brain, the more supernatural experiences you are likely to have.

How do you tell fact and fiction, and safeguard yourself from other deluded individuals who may influence your thought processes?

You use the scientific method.

The scientific method is the best way to perform tests and experiments while preventing fraud and self-delusion.

The video below is an explanation of the null hypothesis, and how it produces the atheistic conclusion that “there is no such thing as God“. Use the null hypothesis along with the scientific method to analyze any of your supernatural and paranormal experiences.

Rationality is always better than religion. Provable ideas are always preferable to beliefs. Conclusions derived from scientific methods are always far better than religious beliefs that conclude first, then later look for supporting facts.

Other articles related to this topic:

• Tradition supports religion and unhealthy trust in authority
• Supernatural Nightmare Experiences and the Illusion of Prayer
• The Dyatlov pass accident and the fatal “unknown compelling force”
• What If You’re Wrong?
• Sleep paralysis - A personal account and analysis