A to Z Challenge: Nessie and Lycan float under full moon (L)

Levitation – is ascending into the air and floating, defying gravity. Spiritual masters or fakirs (good word) are depicted doing this. I have some respect for spirituality, but none for chicanery and trickery. Shit floats. People don’t. Stamp this one BS.

Lunar effects – can get me into trouble. Yet, I passed up lucid dreaming for this one. I like full moons and I enjoy all the stories and myths. The gravity of the moon physically affects Earth with things like tides. Any effect on humans is unproven, despite numerous studies. The phase of the moon (it is always there) probably has no effect on murder rates, car wrecks, calls to PDs or FDs, wife beating, birth rates, suicide, prison violence, the coocoo’s nest admissions, the demented behavior of nursing home residents, or sleep walking. The list goes on and on.

Lycanthropy – is the delusional belief that you have turned into a real animal. The opportunity exists for role playing a werewolf or any other form of Lycan online, if you want. Also, vampires, elves, and fairies can be assumed. Have fun. All cultures seem to share this nonsense.

Loch Ness monster (Nessie) – is a 1,500-year-old mythical creature that has contributed to a multi-million-dollar tourist industry complete with multi-media centers, internet cameras, and submarine rides in that part of Scotland, kelpies and unicorns notwithstanding. As with religion, belief in the myth is good for business. Fine, just don’t ask me to believe in or donate to either one.

A to Z Challenge: Karma and the Disappearing Wang (K)

Karma – is the consequence of all the good and evil accumulated during a person’s lives. Hindus, Buddhists and others believe the amount and type of karma will determine your state when you’re reincarnated. The sum of the shit you did in previous lives determines your current one.

There is also group karma, family karma, and national karma. Some New Agers and Neopagans also believe in a form of Karma, but generally restrict it to a person’s current lifetime. Very much in the everything happens for reason realm of logic. It’s woo-woo, but a nice way to believe that life is fair and just. Fits with much religious manipulation, Santa Claus logic, and other reward and punishment behaviorally related he’s watching you crud.

Kinesiologist – is how applied kinesiology quackaroos refer to themselves. Applied kinesiology is not the same as the professional discipline and academic area of kinesiology, which is the scientific study of the mechanics and anatomy of human movement. At A&M, the PE Department morphed into the Kinesiology Department when I blinked.

Koro (shook yang) – is a phenomenon I call the cold-water syndrome. This disorder is of male penis shrinkage and retraction into the body accompanied by panic and fear of dying. The delusion begins with Chinese metaphysics and brain washing. Apparently, the cause is abnormal sex: prostitutes, masturbating, wet dreams, anal, or whatever disturbs the yin and yang of the horney male equilibrium. According to a Singapore newspaper, koro has been caused by eating pork from a pig inoculated against swine flu. So, behave or your bod will suck your poker in, and you’ll die.

A to Z Challenge: Junk and Four J’s (J)

Junk Science – is an expression used to describe scientific information considered spurious or fraudulent (fake). The concept is often invoked in political, legal, and religious contexts. The term became popular in the 90s. Recently, it has been invoked to criticize research on the environment or public health effects of corporate activities, and occasionally in response to such criticism. There are books on this. One is by Dan Agin, who in his book, Junk Science, harshly criticized those who deny the basic premise of global warming. It is somewhat different from pseudoscience and fringe science.

Jesus Christ – may have been a (perhaps mythical) Jewish male who allegedly performed miracles to prove he was a god or the son of one. His mother was a virgin or was impregnated by the Jewish god. Christ is rumored to have been killed by Romans at the encouragement of some Jews by crucifixion, an unpleasant form of legal execution common about 2,000 years ago. Maybe the largest religious belief in the world today. The original source of the term zombie, since he was supposed to be dead and then walked around and visited old friends before he went physically to heaven with a promise to return soon. Has been seen with Elvis.

Jamais vu – The opposite of déjà vu, which is a feeling of recollection. Jamais vu is when an experience feels like it is the first time even when the experience is a familiar one. This occurs in certain kinds of amnesia and epilepsy.

Jinni – I wrote about these last year. These spirits of demonology make many appearances in the Koran.

Jogini – are women who are forced into prostitution by a religious custom known as devadasi in India. While this was banned in 1988, that law is not enforced in all parts of India.

A to Z Challenge: Holy Ho Ho Ho, Homeo (H)

Holistic and Homeopathic Medicine – Two potentially harmful forms of alternative health practices that often reject science. Common forms that are worth $200-million in the USA and are quite popular in Europe. One lady I know checked with her alternative expert to see if what her bladder cancer doctor was doing was ok. When she asked her MD about what the alternative expert had prescribed, he told her that mixing the two medications could be deadly, a pharmaceutical fact of which the alternative expert was unaware.

Houris – is what the 72 beautiful black-eyed virgins (or, depending on the translation, raisins; or whatever) that are waiting for you in Paradise are called, if you happen to be of the religious/political persuasion (presumably male) and a terrorist who commits murder and suicide in the name of Islam or Allah. Picture Jeff Dunham’s Achmed the Dead Terrorist sitting there holding raisins, “Holy shit. I blew myself up for a bunch of f-ing raisins?”

Hypnagogic and Hypnopompic states – are the mental transition states of semiconsciousness that is for some people a time of visual and auditory hallucinations. The first is between being awake and falling asleep (log tripping time for me). The second is between sleeping and waking up. The latter is also the time when sleep paralysis occurs (a real thing often occurring in people with narcolepsy) and alien abductions tend to happen (maybe not so real, but the condition is associated with them).

Holocaust Denial – Many factual historical events are denied. This one is on the same plane with denial of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Both revolting denials for selfish political and fascist reasons.

Holy Shit – is neither. Why do we call amazing stuff holy when it has nothing to do with the meaning of the word? Like holy cow, holy smokes, and I’ve heard holy fuck (blessed intercourse?). These exclamations remain in constant use. While we all know exactly what is intended, the choice of phrase is illogical. Holy-moly.

Who’s willing to tell him that he is 30 short?

A to Z Reveal – The Weird World of Indexed Skepticism (according to Bill)

During April, Dispassionate Doubt posts will be personal definitions, explanations, and conclusions regarding gods or other sundry beliefs, superstitions, religious practices, and logic fallacies held or done by otherwise normal, intelligent human beings.

I will not set out to offend. However, some folks, such as hard-core Evangelical Protestants, Southern Baptists, devout Roman Catholics, Muslims of any sect, or people who are super serious about god, religion, metaphysical philosophy, or some other ontological fantasy may sense an unintended mild ribbing.

I may unintentionally omit some things, but I’ll try to give no woo-woo a pass. These may not be the posts for you, but I hope you read them and take no offense. People do weird shit and it’s funny.

I’ll select terms relevant to the beliefs, deceptions, and delusions many of us face along with some I think too unusual to pass up. I hope to provide explanations that expand the various thoughts and ideas, some of which may be new to you. I’ll keep it as simple as possible.

I use some references, but these are mostly my ideas. I’ll be as real, accurate, true, or humorous as possible given my personally sober, eye rolling, skeptical observations, with a dash of the ironic.

I’m told controversy is interesting and I want to be interesting. I may permit the cloud of adult language to shade some posts, but if I use too many of George Carlin’s seven dirty words, (<—adult content) the A-Z Admins may act. I have no such plans. They’ll have enough to do.

The theme, or purpose, is to address terms and issues related to human beliefs, deceptions, delusions, and pseudoscientific phenomena (pronounced woo-woo) from this skeptic’s point of view, for which I expect to be corrected by believers and skeptics alike.

One man’s woo-woo, of course, is another’s deeply held belief system. ~ Julia Moskin

Do you recall The Penn & Teller series titled Bull Shit? My vision is a little bit like that, only without all the effort, accuracy, expertise, or time devoted to a single issue – mostly it’s my written opinion. Capisce?

Examples of what the A to Z words could be like are:

Agnostics: are soft atheists who do not want to piss anyone off.
Godless Heathen: is a very specific way to identify an atheist with attitude.
Demonic Possession: is something that never seems to happen to an atheist.
Nones: are people who, when getting to the question of what religion they are, check mark none. They may be nothing, anything (even atheists), or undecided. Not the same as no preference. The opposite of a nun.

I won’t reuse these. My definitions and explanations will be longer and maybe more serious, but I’ll keep them short enough for a quick read.

This TED talk by Michael Shermer is about 15 minutes, but he gets my (his) point across better than I ever could. Watch it if you can.

Hope to see you on Monday, April Fools Day (how apropos!) for A to Z, but I will be posting up some stuff between now and then.

***Bill

Scientific prayer makes God a celestial lab rat, leading to bad science and worse religion. ~ Michael Shermer