alien abductions and coffee enemas
(Copy + paste. No time today ...)
alien abductions and coffee enemas
O, the problems of having an open mind.
By Steven Novella (MD) - November 25, 2004 I listened patiently to explain UFO enthusiasts as humans were transported to Earth by our ancestors aliens from other worlds.
"So how do you explain the fact that humans share 98% of our DNA with chimpanzees, and much of our genetic code with all life on Earth?" I ask.
"Well, I think you should open your mind more," she responded with wide-eyed.
People believe weird things - that coffee enemas can cure cancer, that the Loch Ness monster exists, that prints dollar bills explain secret conspiracies - always says "open your mind. "
To this I reply: "Of course, open your mind, but not so much that dropping your brain." In the eternal debate between skeptics and believers, the "open mind" is the favorite weapon in the arsenal of the latter. Is your purpose tool. But what really means to be an open-minded person? and who are really people who open their minds, believers or skeptics?
Have an open mind is a curious virtue: Everyone agrees that open-mindedness is indeed a virtuous state, but very often the people most praise this gift is definitely closed of mind. In addition, open-minded people that there are those whom you would least suspect to be a paragon of this particular virtue, skeptics. And the most notable for its closed-minded, are probably those most often warn others who are not true believers.
Let me explain:
Have an open mind means that one does not preclude that the truth is in the hands of another. First analyzed. When you analyze a claim, consider all relevant evidence and examined fairly and impartially all the logical that these bring with them, and then positions for or against. If there are new arguments or evidence, then we review the opinion. Being open means that it applies this just how to deal with all claims. Have an open mind is not to believe everything that one would have to beat enough, that is to be gullible, not open.
This analysis process fair, based on logic and evidence, leading to provisional conclusions, which are always subject to revision, is part of science. In fact this is the quintessential open-minded people.
However, the true believers adhere to the desired positions in spite of evidence or logic. No argument is persuasive enough, and no evidence (or lack thereof) is sufficiently compelling to their beliefs back to touch the ground. They refuse to accept the possibility that the Yeti may be a hoax, that crop circles are actually pranks, or coffee enemas do not cure the cancer; rejected in order that their cherished beliefs may be wrong. Still, true believers are the most frequently call for the moral grandeur of the opening of mind, and condemn the unbelievers for their closed mentality. They want others to accept their claims even without examining the logic and evidence that lead, despite rebuttals or removed after review.
The "open of mind "often use the label" closed minded "as a personal attack aimed at rejecting the arguments of those who dare to examine their claims. You do not think I have abducted the aliens, they argue, because you're closed-minded. (Could be because they lack credibility or any evidence to support their claims, or simply because the statement is basically ridiculous?) To them, being abducted by an alien is an article of faith, just as some religious believers based belief in it.
That's fine. Everyone has a right to their faith. Is an important freedom guaranteed by the constitution. But personal faith can not be used to justify a scientific claim about the factual state of nature. The assertions of the scientists should be public, open and transparent - can not rely on secret knowledge, special gifts, or unquestioned virtues. If you think aliens have visited the planet, be prepared to offer evidence, not just to accuse others of being closed-minded for not believing you.
Science is also a process of accumulation. At this moment in history we are sitting on a pile of scientific knowledge painstakingly accumulated over centuries. It would be presumptuous and foolish to ignore everything that happened previously. So while we keep an open mind to new ideas and theories, we have the advantage of being able to examine them through the filter of established knowledge. Believers would love that new ideas emerge in an intellectual vacuum, as if all statements were inherently equal.
So to conclude let me humbly ask you, dear readers, to open their minds. Endorse the maximum TH Huxley, who wrote: "A wise man shared his beliefs on the evidence." Lovingly preserved his brain inside the skull. Be open but not gullible, you better think what to believe.
Steven Novella is an assistant professor of neurology at Yale Medical School and president of the New England Skeptical Society (www.theness.com).
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