A Witch's Guide to Spotting Nonsense
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ส.ค. 2024
- As a witch, I believe and do things that most people would consider ludicrous. From the outside, people generally don't make much distinction between witchcraft and a range of other beliefs--including lots of things that I consider absolute nonsense. How, then, do I make the distinction between the beliefs I do and do not consider credible? Here, I walk through six key considerations I use to evaluate claims for credibility, which help me decide whether something is BS.
1. Does the person making the claim stand to benefit materially (especially financially) from others believing it?
2. How invested is the person making the claim in convincing everyone else of the claim’s veracity?
3. Is the claim overly elaborate and detailed?
4. Does the claim contradict established science?
5. Conversely, does the claim try to legitimize itself with scientific language?
6. Is the person making the claim transparent about where the claim originates?
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This is so well thought out and helpful! Also I love the "I'm not discussing quantum physics with anyone who can't do the math" answer!
As someone who also believes and does things that most people would consider ludicrous, I think this is a great list.
Lol wait what?! You don't believe in aliens!? How can you not!? 😂 Statistically it is more probable that somewhere out there aliens exist. 😂
As for not levitating, evidently someone has never played light as a feather while completely sloshed. I'm fairly certain I levitated.
On a serious note I am really loving the breakdown of how to assess claims. This is so well thought out!
Oh, I definitely believe there's intelligent life elsewhere in the universe! I just doubt that there has been (or ever will be) contact between them and us. Space is just too vast.
I did once play light as a feather (with Thorn Mooney, of all people!) but no one explained the rules to me beforehand and I didn't realized I was actually supposed to lift... So sadly, it didn't work. 😭
@@JackChanekExcuse me but it surely worked-I was involved, after all. 😂
Plant sentience is a major one for me. Sure plants possess a spirit and consciousness, so does the land, rocks and animals, an awareness that is connected to all things. But they don't experience physical pain, occultists since the 1960s tend to cling to pseudoscience when it comes to plant sentience, and the media distorts botanical studies with sensational headlines like "plants scream", "they can hear us chewing them", "corn can feel fear and sorrow". And is used as a gotcha to animal advocates. A leading plant biologist wrote a book called 'What A Plant Knows' to dispel this nonsense. When we cut a plant we assume that the plant is suffering. We can definitely kill a plant, but it doesn't care. Plants are acutely aware of the world around them and respond chemically to the environment, but anthropomorphic terms represent our own subjective assessment of a plants decidedly unemotional physiological status
Yes, yes, yes! I was nodding and applauding (and occasionally giggling) with everything you said here, Jack. Thank you for such a great breakdown of how to identify nonsense. Much appreciated. :)
I really like that you brought this up! So many people really do try to bring quantum physics into it. When I was newer to the craft I tried to research more into it because I love science and was thrilled that science and magick could be linked in such a way. But everything was so surface level on the pagan side. So I tried looking more into it on the science side and realized things weren't lining up and the math was far beyond what I could do. If it was that far beyond me, how could these other witches know? Now I realize some things can't be so easily explained away and coming to that realization and accepting it is all part of the practice. Looking forward to more of your videos.
In a conversation with Isaac Bonewits many years ago, he humorously observed there seems to be an unspoken agreement among Wiccans that we "respect each other's trips". E.G., If someone says the reason their cats are jumping around their apartment is because invisible faeries are screwing with them (the implication being that the cats' owner must be so very magickal that faeries are just naturally attracted to their apartment in spades), then it's considered bad form to cast any doubt on that. I laughed and told him that some witches actually aspire to "tripless" Craft.
I was part of Strangers Gate coven in NYC and lived there until 2017. It's too bad we never met, probably would have had an interesting chat. I learned about you and your book "Queen of the Witcheries" today after listening to your interview on the "Aeon Byte" podcast, and I'm looking forward to reading.
Can I use the first 5 minutes of this every time someone asks me what I believe? Lol
Nice
19:28 Through trance state I managed to hallucinate my scrying mirror levitating. 😅 I told my teacher "I know it sounds crazy", but he assured me that "it's not crazy". Seeing weird and impossible things is just part of the experience. I'm not convinced it physically happened, but that doesn't invalidate the experience. I know what I saw.
I am so, so, so with you there re: quantum physics being used to explain weird New Age/metaphysical ideas. I studied quantum mechanics in my undergrad and none of the pop-sci concepts line up with what's actually studied in the field and it's, well, it's cringe. So cringe. I just thought I was being gatekeepy and pretentious (though I still refuse to legitimize any claim of "quantum" whatever in metaphysics), but I am so, so glad that I'm not alone! And I agree with your physicist friend re: not even entertaining quantum physics discussions with someone who can't do the math. I agree wholeheartedly.
Odd, as reincarnation is in built into both the Gardnerian and Alexandrian Wicca streams. 🙏
'Promo SM' 😈
I think you're cursed by the Morrigan, mate
I heard a blood curdling scream 🌵🌵🌵