How Does The Belief In The Paranormal Harm Anyone?
Just wondering I am asking this due to an answer I had to my last question and the answerer said the belief in the paranormal has ruined lives and I just and having trouble trying to figure that one out.
Night Otter
6 Feb, 2010
Here’s a website devoted to the actual harm that has been caused by paranormal belief and all other sorts of quackery.http://whatstheharm.net/whatisthis.html
Simon C
6 Feb, 2010
One example could be if someone faced financial hardships because they believed their house to be possessed or haunted, and so they sell it fast, below market value.
Another example would be the various parents who are in the news a couple times every year who have ended up killing their kids because they think the kid is possessed.
Or someone who gets scammed out of a bunch of money by “paranormal investigators” or exorcist teams who claim to be able to rid the person or their home of spirits/ghosts.
A specific example would be in Argentina there was a belief that the 7th son born to somebody would be a werewolf, and the 7th daughter would be a witch. In the early 1900′s, it was leading to people abandoning their 7th child, or giving them up for adoption. Even some situations where the parents killed the child. The government had to take action in 1920′s and pass a law giving a scholarship and a gold medallion to the 7th son/daughter, in an attempt to get parents to stop doing this (it worked).
When people in positions of authority (parents, teachers, doctors, government, etc) believes in make believe, or concepts which have no scientific basis whatsoever, that can create real problems, and cause real harm to people.
zbdblues
7 Feb, 2010
I think in general, the belief in the paranormal is quite healthy, it opens our mind to possibilities, and imagnation is the source of all creativity.
However, i do know a few people who live their lives by the guidance of the supernatural, even for example a couple of people who read their in depth astrology and then swear blind their partner just cheated on them because it said so in their charts.
The other point is the vulnerability of some minds, which can be traumatised by ridculous belefs: ‘we did a ouija board last week, now i keep hearing noises in my bedroom at night’.
Tomb Raider
7 Feb, 2010
It doesn’t harm anyone that believes in it,don’t always believe what you hear from people on this site.I have had several experiences through out my life time with dealing with this,and it hasn’t harmed me in any way shape or form,if this were true there wouldn’t be so many paranormal investigators all over the country.No one has been harmed by it,people that say this must have a fear of it and it scares them,simple as that.
Nice Guy
7 Feb, 2010
Let see, here are two and you can find many more examples of lives ruined.
1 Shamans have spread aids to children in Africa. Their cure for AIDS is for afflicted men to have unprotected sex with virgins.
2 In many places witches are murdered and burned.
You can also check out the grief brought to families by so-called psychics.
The list is endless, for those willing to look.
Wolfe
7 Feb, 2010
Many, many ways both great and small.
Primarily, though, belief in the paranormal is inimical to the scientific mind. Our society is built on reason and the scientific method, which brings us technological progress, medical advancement, and more. It is the bedrock of our civilization.
The scientific method depends on methodological naturalism, which is basically the assumption that all phenomenon have natural, not supernatural, causes. When we make observations, collect data, and form hypotheses as a part of better understanding the world, we assume that the explanation must be rational and naturalistic. Our entire system of knowledge depends on that, depends on the testability of our statements about the world.
Belief in the paranormal is the opposite of science: it is based on faith and credulity, not reason. It makes science a matter of opinion, something to be accepted or rejected on personal whim because someone chooses to believe in ghosts or goblins or other such things instead.
That sort of thinking is why, to this day, we have debates about issues (evolution, abortion, etc.) that science settled decades ago: an entire class of people regards facts as matters of opinion rather than, well, FACTS.
jess b
7 Feb, 2010
it makes you parranoid, which could lead to a frail well being. I sometimes sleep with the light on when I have just seen something horrible and thinking of ghosts or paranormal activity. Speaking of which, I want to see the movie paranormal activity. Also, some people seek paranormal activity and once they find it, it never leaves them.
David D
7 Feb, 2010
Only if you act on the illusion…
You might waste a fortune on what is really nothing. This can really have serious consequences when one member of a family believes and another does not… The family can literally be torn apart.
You might feel a disease can be cured by a person who has “seen” your problem…
There are really thousands of instances where people take advantage of the need of people and they supply them with an “answer” to their need – which turns out to be an illusion…
Tara C
7 Feb, 2010
it hasnt it just makes the imagination run wild making people see things that could not be there. Which can make them more fear full of the night for example. On the other hand those paranormal activities could actually be there. It is what you really believe in
Torn and Reborn
7 Feb, 2010
Because it opens your mind to what “could” be. And knowing or not knowing or thinking you know drives people insane. It makes people paranoid and edgy until they crack. It’s like the ones who always say “so and so’s out to get me” Understand now?
E
8 Feb, 2010
Have you ever met someone who was psychotic? Many of those I’ve met hold onto deep religious or paranormal beliefs. Perhaps if they were able to reject such mysticism they wouldn’t have lost their marbles.
Jr N
8 Feb, 2010
If people are afraid of the paranormal that might cause some life changing stress, I however am not afraid of such things whether true or not.
Shane Benson
8 Feb, 2010
I don’t think it has a effect on people that are not with you