fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2732 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2732 ⌋

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"being into a lot of woo-woo nonsense - I feel like if someone is going to be in homeopathy, ancient aliens and the healing power of reiki, for example, they're not going to be pleasant to deal with on a lot of issues that call for logic and reasoning "

You know, even my most down to earth friend, even my friend who works as a theoretical physicist for frickin' CERN in Switzerland has had experiences they cannot explain. As a consequence, both of them believe in ghosts.

Other friends of mine are perhaps not so down to Earth in general, but find comfort in practices I don't necessarily believe in - such as religion, and yes even 'woo woo' practices like Reiki.

I may not believe in the paranormal, but just because someone else does believes does not make them unworthy as human beings. None of this makes my friends incapable of rational thought. People have individual experiences that shape their lives, experiences you weren't privy to. Surely people can believe what they wish and find comfort in life where they want, so long as it doesn't harm anyone.

To be honest, it sounds as if people are better off without you judging their lives.

Having experience you can't explain is just life... and it's completely different than being into a bunch of woo woo things that have little basis in reality.

As for the idea that it doesn't harm anyone? Belief in unproven nonsense harms plenty of people. Look at the anti vaccine movement, which is only the tip of the iceberg of people spending time and resources on medical treatments that don't work, thereby negatively affecting their own health or the health of their children. Look at the people who spend money they can't afford on psychic readings. Look at the heartless charlatans who claim they can contact the dead and therefore con grieving people out of their money.

I'm okay with judging people like that, and while they might be worthy human beings, it doesn't mean they make great friends... which is what the anon was talking about.

What you appear to be saying is that my friends, i.e. people who have had experiences they chose to deal with in their own way and do not push their beliefs on others, are synonymous with charlatans who prey on the vulnerable, and people who make medical decisions based on fear as opposed to scientific evidence.

There's a world of difference there.

My point was having a belief in the paranormal does not make you an irrational human being. It certainly doesn't make you a financial predator, or someone who advocates what is tantamount to child abuse.

Personally, I enjoy people being different and having different experiences in my life. Every single friend I have is wonderful, generous and loyal and they all have wildly disparate beliefs on these subjects. And yet we all get on well. *shrugs*

*Although obviously charlatans and anti-vaccine people exist, it doesn't mean that everyone ever who believes in something you think is 'woo woo' falls into those or similar categories.

Er, no. The very first sentence of my comment was: "Having [an] experience you can't explain is just life... and it's completely different than being into a bunch of woo woo things that have little basis in reality."

I underlined the part you missed for emphasis.

DA

it doesn't mean they make great friends...

How does being open and/or vulnerable to idea that there is something else out there mean someone, across the board, wouldn't be a good friend (which is essentially the judgement OP is making)? That, to me, is a very illogical statement.

Everyone has their vices. Everyone has their blind spots. You might as well say that people who buy into the latest dietary fads are universally bad friends.

(Also, please don't lump the anti-vaccine movement in with new-age beliefs, I agree with you that the anti-vaccine movement is very dangerous but it's also not the same thing as the rest of what you're talking about.)

There is a pretty big difference between someone simply believing something that's unproven and someone acting on a set of beliefs in such a way that it harms others.

This.

I have friends who are die hard atheists who mock anything that is even remotely 'woo woo' - scientists and non-scientists alike. I also have friends who are into homeopathy (which I personally think is junk). In terms of religion I have Hindu friends whose families decide important dates based on astrological predictions, and I have Christian friends who believe God has affected their lives in the here and now.

Personally, I am a very level headed, down to earth, straight forward person who will be one of the first people to call 'bullshit' on something I think is junk or badly thought out. But I am also an agnostic who is open to spirituality, who has dabbled in astrology and Tarot and who has seen a psychic and had their predictions come true.

Why am I saying all this? Because it sounds like that if I had OP's attitude I wouldn't have chosen not to be friends with most of these people, despite the fact that they are all lovely, kind, intelligent, interesting people. And it sounds like OP would also not be friends with me. Which, you know, I'm fine with. But in general, I choose not to cut people out of my life just because they have different spiritual beliefs to me - it's the way they act otherwise which is the deal breaker (and should be for everyone).

I don't really believe in that flaky supernatural stuff. I find it a bit obnoxious, especially when people assert it as scientific fact or something, or do something that is blatantly harmful (like opt for ~natural herbal healing~ instead of taking their kid to the hospital for his cancer).

But for the most part, I just don't get why it would bother someone to the point of not wanting to be their friends. I mean, I don't have to "respect" astrology to respect a friend who happens to put some weight into it. Being into flaky stuff doesn't mean you're stupid, and doesn't even mean you're gullible (since a lot of these are old traditions and folklore). Even if I think it's bullshit, my friends are hardly the first people, or last people, to believe in this stuff, and if it isn't harmful or doesn't dominate their lives in an unhealthy way, who cares? Why does it affect me if so-and-so arranges their apartment all feng shui, or plans their wedding on a day that the stars tell them is good?

Like, of all the deal breakers there are for friendships. :P But then again, if someone was really nuts about this stuff, calling exorcists to purify their house, rejecting real medicine and science, spending all their money consulting scam artist psychics... that friendship just sounds a bit high maintenance lol

[ SECRET POST #2732 ]

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