The Rise of Denialism
Skepticism is a good thing. It protects us from being hoodwinked and conned.
There is a particular brand of skepticism that goes a lot further though. It reaches into a form of extreme negative belief.
To avoid confusion I prefer to call this brand of faux skepticism - Denialism.
One of the hallmarks of this brand of belief system is that it attempts to shroud itself in the appearance of science.
However it is wholly unscientific and at best pseudoscientific in its approach.
True skepticism keeps its options open and is guided by the evidence. It does not have a fixed point of view.
It does not claim to have an absolute answer to everything.
Someone who can absolutely categorically tell you that UFOs do not exist is just as flawed in their thinking as someone who claims to know that we are being visited by aliens of various races in the absence of any compelling evidence to support it.
Absolute belief is absolute belief. The polarity of the belief is irrelevant -absolute belief either way is flawed and more akin to religious faith.
Much like someone who absolutely "knows" there must be an afterlife, someone who absolutely "knows" it to be impossible is also expressing a kind of religious thinking based on faith.
Negative faith is still faith.
Don't Bother Me with the Facts My Mind is Already Made Up
As I have said before I have an interest (albeit skeptical) in paranormal topics.
This seems to be an area where denialists seem to show up a lot.
As popular UFO lecturer (and nuclear physicist) Stanton Friedman puts it these people often have the attitude of:
"Don't bother me with the facts my mind is already made up."
These denialists will often look into any kind of event or report in a very superficial manner.
Quite often they will not even do the most basic of research.
After making their superficial assessment of the situation they will launch into a common set of strategies designed to fit the events into their core beliefs.
Scientific Pretence and Personal Attacks - the Denialist Modus Operandi
I believe that one of the reasons these people love engaging in this field is that it allows them to "pretend" to be scientific in an area of discourse where they know that they can get away with it.
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If they tried to use similarly flawed arguments in conventional scientific fields their logic would quickly be ripped to shreds and they would not receive the same amount of attention that they do in more fringe subjects.
I think they perhaps see those who are involved in the paranormal as easy targets to score points against. They may pretend that they are doing it to advance science or to stop people being duped but their actions often present a different image.
That is of someone who is wholly serving their own ego.
Denialists often make up ridiculous explanations that defy rationality - often these are just as unbelievable as paranormal explanations.
Similar assertions would get them laughed out of the real scientific community.
For example a UFO seen by multiple people performing impossible maneuvers in the sky must have been the planet Venus.
Since when does the planet Venus, or any celestial body (even a meteorite) perform the kind of aerobatic manoeuvres that even the most advanced (currently known) aircraft would be unable to perform?
This is typical of the kind of illogical explanation given by denialists.
They will also make ridiculous pronouncements to discredit people - sometimes even professionals.
For example they will say that air force pilots are not reliable at recognising objects in the sky, or that police officers are terrible witnesses.
They will do whatever they can to suggest that the witness was unreliable, either due to being mistaken or due to outright lying - even when there are multiple witnesses.
A more despicable form of this appears when they start performing character assassination on witnesses.
The Cash-Landrum Incident
One example of this is the Cash-Landrum UFO incident.
In this case three observers witnessed a UFO appearing to be escorted by helicopters at night when they were driving home.
You can read a nice summary of the case by Micah Hanks here.
The two main adult witnesses (Betty Cash and Vickie Landrum) got out of the car to look at the object and were beset with health issues throughout the rest of their lives as a result.
From the reports of the case it appears that the witnesses were exposed to some kind of radiation/chemical agent that lead to significant ill health and a lot of medical expenses throughout their lives as a result.
They even tried (unsuccessfully) to sue the government to help pay some of these expenses.
Some particularly despicable denialists suggested that this was a hoax concocted to make money and suggested that the witnesses had deliberately poisoned themselves to bring about a lawsuit against the government.
This determination was made without any kind of investigation or true examination of the facts and it still gets thrown around as evidence that this case was a hoax.
The absence of any obvious logic in this assertion or any actual evidence to back it up - e.g. toxicology evidence seems to be irrelevant to such armchair denialists.
They seem to think it is acceptable to make unfounded accusations against people merely because they had an anomalous experience that contradicts their fixed belief system.
Don't Know the Answer - Just Make One Up!
It seems many denialists are incapable of leaving any situation as being simply unexplained. They MUST give an answer and it doesn't matter how outrageous or unfounded that answer is.
In some respects this kind of absolute thinking is similar to psychotic disorders where delusional beliefs arise.
Most mentally well, rationally-thinking people would accept that they cannot know or explain everything that happens one hundred percent of the time.
Life is not that simple and you don't always have the information required to make such a definitive judgment.
Denialists seem to do this routinely though.
Conclusion - I'm Not Saying We Should Not Be Skeptical
Before people get the wrong idea, I am not suggesting we should just believe everything.
True skepticism is a good thing. We should not believe anything and everything that people say.
This applies particularly to paranormal and supernatural claims. As someone once said "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence".
Whilst I find paranormal topics fascinating I have yet to see anything that really sways me to conclusively believe in any of the more extreme interpretations of such phenomena.
For example I believe that people "experience" ghosts but I have not seen enough compelling evidence to convince me that these are the spirits of dead people.
Similarly the existence of UFOs is intriguing but I have not yet encountered anything that convinces me that we are undergoing extra-terrestrial visitation.
That does not mean that we should completely close off our minds though. If great minds had done that throughout history then many great discoveries would not have been made.
In ancient times the very idea of electricity would have been considered magical and fantastical - now our whole civilisation is built on top of it.
Denying the existence of something without even examining the evidence is just as unscientific as believing in something without evidence.
To put it another way, going to either extremity of belief based on flimsy evidence is rarely (if ever) a good thing.
A true skeptic keeps an open mind and looks for good evidence. If there is insufficient evidence to make a determination, then they just admit that they don't know.
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Thank you for reading
Wow, that was eye opening for me. I certainly dance that fine line between skepticism and an outright negative belief.
I think we all do but it is best to look at evidence before we dismiss people.
I just left a really big comment and disappeared...sigh..
What I was saying is that we should always assume the null hypothesis. What can be assumed without evidence can be dismissed with no evidence. This is especially true when it comes to matters of science. Part of the reason denialists find this kind of leverage is because the word "science" is abused even from the people in the field.
Astrobiology holds the same grounds as "aliens" yet the first is considered science out of sheer authority due to funding. There are no experiments, no replicability, no falsifiability, no proper methodology, none. Yet the name still flies around.
I believe the main reason this denialism holds so strong is because science has been popularized so much. Everybody does a phd nowdays about the most ridiculous things. Everyone is a researcher. There is so much crap around simply because everyone wants a degree — not because they are up to discover something. We have stripped academia of its essence and now everybody is running around with the word "science" in their mouth.
Great points. Some people call it Scientism rather than Science.
I heard someone else say a post disappeared - may be some bug or a glitch?
happened 2 times on me so far. don't know what's happening.
Very weird!
Congratulations @thecryptofiend!
Your post was mentioned in my hit parade in the following categories:
I liked this phrase friend
Absolute belief is absolute belief. The polarity of the belief is irrelevant -absolute belief either way is flawed and more akin to religious faith.
Resteem This Post
Thanks!
always enjoying reading your articles, one of the rare gems in here to really read, hehhe. have a charming day!
Thank you that is very kind:)
nice.....resteem and upvote for your post....
Thanks!
u r welcome...
"Life is not that simple and you don't always have the information required to make such a definitive judgment."
@thecryptofiend
This had to be my favorite line. The overall piece was well written, but that was by far my favorite. As a teacher and parent, kids come up with all kinds of questions and believe you will be able to give various answers. I cannot state the number of times I have said something along the lines of 'No idea, let's see if we can find the answer.' To encourage them to investigate and dig to see what they find on the topic. As an adult I have found it a lot harder to look at someone and say that certain things work in absolute ways. I will usually preface my opinion on a topic, especially with paranormal/supernatural, with the fact that this is an opinion or as far as I know. Completely aware that I may not have all the facts in about a topic, and generally open to hearing more about a topic.
Denialism seems like a defensive approach to things that people cannot fit into their own worldview. Perhaps because it is too challenging for them to envelop it into the folds, or they dislike how it starkly contrasts their already held beliefs.
Good food for thought on the paranormal topic. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for such a great answer. I think human beings are primed to make definitive judgments on limited information - in a survival situation it can save your life. It doesn't really help in the pursuit of scientific knowledge though.
I absolutely agree that science does not mix with emotional reactions. ^_^ People react faster than they usually realize why they formed that opinion. Definitely keep pushing that concept that this topic can be treated scientifically and not only sectioned off for horror related topics. You did a great job at presenting your thoughts. I will be checking for more blogs for certain.
Thank you so much:)
here you go.
All I can add is that we live in a crazy world...and if you are "normal and well adjusted " then by definition you are crazy! I have no interest in being in a well adjusted cog in the wheel of insanity!...
I would rather sit back and toss wrenches at it! and help you get the tools to free your self from broken ideologys!
namaste
Thanks for sharing your perspective :)
thats why I am here! :-)
hgd!
namaste
I think you put it all very well. I would say a true skeptic is not a person that says "Naah" whenever they encounter any claim, a true skeptic is a person that doesn't hold a statement as true until they have seen enough evidence to support that claim.
Thanks!
Blind faith is a dangerous thing.
Yes.
It's BS ... but I don't tell that to people tho
Well you have to be careful not to offend people so I can understand that.
I just don't wanna argue for an hour lol
This is such an interesting post, it is sometimes very easy to deny what escapes from our understanding or what we refuse to believe/accept
Thank you!
Interesting post!
Thanks!
very benefits
Not sure what you mean.
Hehe! He perhaps means the article is very useful :)
And I agree. :D
I love any thing to do with the paranormal but never seen anything to prove it. I Also don't believe we are the only planet that has life but again I need to see it, I do have an open mind too it all :)
Me too. I think we should all be skeptical!
Resteemed and sent to Twitter :)
Thank you!
We should all keep an open Mind, :)
Open mind is the answer to life. Unfortunately, it is overruled by judgment.
Very true
Exactly. We have zero proof of any of the shit mentioned in the article. What we DO have proof of is that NASA is a psy-op, started by a NAZI scientist during operation paperclip. This is what we know as a FACT.
Great thoughts to keep in mind.
Thanks!
its interesting. great post!
Thanks!
Good read. For me I'm ready to consider the possibility of anything. I just don't go for believe me because I said it.
Yes that makes sense.
that was gooood... what do you think is the root of it? F E A R, I am always observing these material denialists are stuck in fear
Yes I think fear might be part of it - fear of the unknown - fear of not knowing etc.
Love it. I've tried to write about things like this as well in the past. This was well done though. Definitely need to resteem this one.
Thank you!
Denialists love authority figures, they feel like they need order all the time and humans have to intervene in this order because otherwise it would be chaos :p
I have never seen an alien, not that I remember at least. But I have seen machines fly that would send the most experienced pilot into a coma from shock. At the very least we need to know what they are, I certainly would like to know whether humans are behind this technology because I wouldn't trust any humans behind it...I rather an alien have the ability to just show up without making a noise than any human I know.
A denialist will be quick to deny experiences as evidence, unless it's their own experience. They also love to discredit people based on their perceived social place, they will tell you that your experiences aren't worth more than that of other people with certificates to show they went to school... or they will tell you that you may too be a scientist but then will try to discredit you asking how much money you've made from it, because you are not as smart as others unless you can show as much as others...
Good points!
Good stuff. Have faced this attitude from lots of folks quite recently.
Thanks me too. I have to admit I have been like this too. So easy to fall into it.
It really is.
Curious how did you deal with it?
Except for disconnecting.
Eventually it usually does come down to a disconnect, in my case. At some point trying any harder becomes futile. It may not be an angry, hateful disconnect, but it is a real "I'm done with this person for now" disconnect all the same. It's really sad, actually, but necessary sometimes.
There is also the option of being agnostic!
Great read! Also, nice to be rewarded for reading with the extremely cute picture haha
Thanks the cute animal photos are the best part!
Thanks @thecryptofiend
The political views I have have been changed a lot from decentralization.
Best,
Isaac
Thanks!
Any Time
Cheers!
Great thought provoking post.
There are 2 sides to every coin and I also try to evaluate and/or be skeptical of "evidence" not backed by any science or data.
It can also be helpful to ask, does the person presenting this "evidence" have a vested interest in the outcome, or are they merely presenting evidence in an objective manner?
"Denyer" has had its own stigma attached recently.
Faith (or religion) usually implies the acceptance as fact in the absence of evidence.
People should understand that, sometimes, the best position to take is, "I don't know."
Exactly. Sadly a lot of people seem to be afraid to admit to not knowing.
So many people are deluded and misinformed. Not their fault, right? Exposure to wrong knowledge is a very scary thing.
Perhaps. I think it is part of being human.
What I find even more frightening is the apparent widespread inability to separate "wrong" knowledge from factual knowledge. Sadly, "Common" sense isn't so common any more.
my exploration of this topic was posted to steemit a couple of days ago too. denial is the biggest killer on earth - with denial of denial being the pinnacle of dysfunction. denial of denial has us unable to find our way out of denial since to us there is no denial! here's my piece: https://steemit.com/science/@ura-soul/what-is-open-hearted-science-plus-top-experts-speak-on-why-so-much-modern-science-is-bogus
Thanks I will take a look when I have a moment!
Interesting perspective! I take a minimalist/common sense approach. First, just because I've never seen a UFO doesn't mean they don't exist...although I don't understand why they'd want to come here... If I was driving, I'd say "we're not stopping here!"
Religions are a group of businesses that have found God profitable. Most of the "atheists" I've met seem to have an antipathy against religion, not God! I do to, except that I know God exists- just don't look for Him in church!!!
Great points - I think common sense is always very important! Yes it is a good question why aliens would be interested with such a primitive race! Also agree most vocal atheists are basically negative believers in God.
I got into a heated argument with a professor (a denialist) who said that common sense doesn't exist. This is a guy that marveled that I was able to change a doorknob! Nuff said!!!
Lol I suppose you can argue about anything from a philosophical standpoint.
You're assuming they are driving here from somewhere else in space, it could be instead or also somewhere else in time. If they really exist they cold be coming from this very same planet in another time. I've seen several UFOs and others have witnessed with me too, I wish I could just deny it but once you see those movements the game changes.
If they are aliens I don't really care as much as I care if government is involved with these machines, because I don't know a single person with the character to manage such power.
I use my common sense not to believe in any god or human that wants worship.
God doesn't want worship... That's people in the God business! As far as beings from another time- I'm with Stephen Hawking (for once) If time travel is possible, then where are all the tourists from the future???
I will tell you the same thing some religious people tell me when I tell them their books didn't show me any divinity, maybe the tourists haven't revealed themselves to you :p
We can't even handle evidence of governments staging fake news to manipulate us, why would we want to fuck ourselves up so much when we know we can't handle the truth? Maybe it's not tourism, maybe they are coming to this time with a mission that would be jeopardized if we find out about it.
When a 3 year old asks where babies come from, do you turn on the TV and show them some porn?
Does the god you believe in has any wants at all?
He's God... what the fuck do you have that He would want???
Any wants, it doesn't have to be from me or you. I want to know if this god you believe in has any desire at all.
What could a being capable of creating the universe possibly desire???
Disclaimer: I am just a bot trying to be helpful.
We have CORE TRUTH. TRUTH: NASA was started by a NAZI. Wernher von Braun. He is a psy-op expert.
That is his grave stone.
This is the verse: The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
WE do have NASA admitting never leaving low earth orbit... as well.. ALSO no real pics of earth, and all-most all space is CGI. There's zero proof of shit. Ever look at the stars through a good zoom lense?? THEY ARE NOT WHAT THEY SAY. Sorry, so easy to disprove their bullshit it's insane..
I don't believe that space is CGI or the earth is flat. That is BS.
Choose to believe what you want. Space is 100% CGI, and not even good. There are plenty of proofs of fake space.. There are NO real pics of the earth.. PERIOD.
How do you rationalize that away?
ALSO nasa admits they have not left low earth orbit... on video.,
I'm not going to argue over this kind of nonsense.
At least watch this video.
Will do when I have a chance.
Sir, it is with respect I thank you for keeping an open mind. For me, the journey to truth was very painful. It hurt my soul to discover how far it goes. Good luck, and trust no-one. Find truth for yourself.
I found a great site to assist:
https://thenarrowgateweb.com/