A to Z Challenge: Insanely Incredulously Intelligent (I)

Incredulity is the quality or state of being incredulous = disbelief. Such a big word applies to little old, seriously old, me. Synonyms: disbelieving, distrustful, doubting, mistrustful, negativistic (say it’s not so!), questioning, show-me, skeptical, suspecting, suspicious, unbelieving.

I Ching (Book of Changes) – is ancient Chinese text with 64 hexagrams, which is the number of possible combinations of six broken or unbroken lines that represent two primal cosmic universal principles, yin and yang. Six is curious because five would be the more favored number by Chinese. However, theories supporting six are reasonable if not solid. Those in tune with the tao (path or way) have deciphered meanings to come up with some good fortune-cookie wisdom, but little has changed world-wide. Much more than what one can learn in a book or two apparently requires extensive philosophical study.

Illuminati – was a secret society founded in 18^th Century Bavaria with a political agenda which was to happen through subterfuge, secrecy, and conspiracy. Paranoid conspiracy theorists (PCTs) believe the Illuminati still exists. PCTs, and other similar groups, believe we are nearing the end of civilization as we know it. They are closely tied with religious fundamentalist and UFO/alien cult groups. If I named names, you would recognize some. What people believe is scary.

Intelligent design (ID) – is a process by which creationists attempt to stake a scientific claim to prove god exists and created everything. It is, of course, a metaphysical claim. Sadly, many people think that evolution and natural selection (and if you like, chance) disprove, or are attempts to disprove, god. While the arguments can be made, such arguments do not logically say that the existence of god is precluded by natural selection. Both are possible. A god could have designed natural selection. ID is weak despite its many advocates (see junk science).

Insanity – is when a person suffers from a serious delusion. When many people suffer from a delusion, it is called a religion. (Robert M. Pirsig)

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 Blog Challenge: Good God of Glossolalia’s Ghost (G)

God or gods – are:
(1) In Christianity and other monotheistic religions, the creator and ruler of the universe and source of all moral authority; the supreme being.

(2) In certain other religions, a superhuman being or spirit worshiped as having power over nature or human fortunes; a deity, goddess, divine being, celestial being, supreme being, divinity, immortal creator, a demiurge or godhead; maybe an image, idol, animal, or other object worshiped as divine or symbolizing a god.

(3) An adored, admired, or influential person.

(4) A word used for emphasis or to express emotions such as surprise, anger, or distress, such as, “God, what did I do to deserve this?”

God of the Gaps – is a religious argument presented to fill scientific gaps of knowledge. This fallacy assumes that an act of God is the explanation for an unexplained phenomenon, which is a variant of an argument from ignorance fallacy. It’s nuts, but it gets worse.

Ghosts (poltergeists) – are alleged disembodied spirits of dead persons. A poltergeist is (literally) a noisy spirit. People believe ghosts exist, but they don’t. The idea is fun, the stories are scary (fun), and Casper serves a purpose. But the reality is there are no ghosts. Sorry.

Glossolalia – is speaking in tongues, which is semantically and syntactically unintelligible speech. If one is schizophrenic, it is called gibberish. If one is a charismatic Christian (including some Catholics) it is called the gift of tongues. I think it is crap and many believers agree with me. Mumbo-jumbo which fails to rise to the more respectable level of woo-woo. The trick is to maintain one’s composure when one of them starts this crazy shit.

A to Z Blog Challange: We Were Fung Shui Farting (F)

Farting in church – In first grade, Jimmy Sauer and I were punished by a nun for laughing in church. She didn’t know why we lost it. We were held after church ended. I was sure my father would kill me. He didn’t. Jimmy was the one who started it when he farted.

Fung Shui (foong shway) – makes sense. Shocked? For us to live in harmony with our environment rather than against it is what this ancient Chinese philosophy is all about. However, the exploiters of new age woo-woo would not miss the opportunity to scam us with paid-for fakery. There is more fake fung shui out there than real, so keep your bull shit flag close at hand. Be skeptical.

Faith – My adult son was fretting as we drove home due to our gas gauge showing empty for a long time. When we pulled into our driveway at home, I said, “Oh, ye of little faith.” He had good reason to worry. We were driving on fumes. I got lucky. Faith is a non-rational belief contrary to the evidence. Very often people equivocate faith and belief with conclusions which are fact-based upon lack of evidence. I say there are no gods because there is no evidence they exist, Roman and Greek mythology notwithstanding. That is not faith, it is based purely on evidence, or the lack of.

Friggatriskaidekaphobia (Paraskevidekatriaphobia) – Our next one is in September of this year. This is the morbid, irrational, and superstitious fear of Friday the 13th. This may be the #1 superstition in America today. There is even a web site; http://www.friggatriskaidekaphobia.com/

There is also a similar word for fear of the number 13 (triskaidekaphobia). Some people do not have enough to worry about, right? Apparently, when you can pronounce it, you’re cured.

This video is a must watch and listen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=me2H7Ja93Wg

He who farts in church sits in his own pew.

A to Z Challenge: Giants, Cults, and Coincidences (C)

Cardiff Giant – is currently on display as America’s Greatest Hoax, this fake fossil is 10-feet tall with 21-inch feet from about 1869. P. T. Barnum was so impressed by its popularity, he had a copy made. It was a fake of a fake, but people still paid to see them, knowing, but not believing, they were fakes. Apparently, people could not be persuaded that this was not a real giant like the one in the Bible called Goliath. Given proof to the contrary, they still believed it to be a real fossil and paid to see it. Even with irrefutable proof, people will continue to believe what they want.

Cults – are:

How members of large religions refer to smaller religions or denominations (Mormon, Scientology, Amway, Order of the Solar Temple, Heaven’s Gate, Jonestown).
How I refer to all religions due to the us versus them thinking; intense brainwashing/indoctrination; criticism and humiliation; fear, anxiety, and paranoia; controlled information. Also, beliefs in heaven, hell, angels, devils, gods (living and dead), reincarnation, trinities, transubstantiation, and the list goes on and on.

Membership consists mostly of manipulated and deluded people and especially children.

Coincidences – The word used to name the reason for actual events that people who believe in one or more gods do not believe in. This is the opposite of everything happens for a reason. The best-known homages to a coincidence are shit happens, and it is what it is. Maybe these could be shit caused by god. See the law of truly large numbers to take a deep dive into this term.

A to Z Blog Challange: The B’s of Questions, Controls, and Codes

Begging the (and the loaded) question. – I had to call an unscheduled board meeting in December to vote on budget issues that had come up suddenly and needed to be voted upon before the fiscal year ended. The village baboon asked me, “Why did you wait until December to address those issues?” I regret being kind by explaining that I did not know about them before that.

You beg the question when your premises assume without proof the stand/position that is in question. More examples:
Question: How do you know that the bible is divinely inspired?
Answer: Because in the third chapter of II Timothy it says, “all scripture is given by divine inspiration of God.”
Prosecutor to defendant: So how did you feel when you killed your wife?

Brainwashing (mind control) – indoctrination to accept regimented ideas. We are all indoctrinated with many things. Religion is probably the biggest one and that indoctrination often continues for a lifetime and is more noticeable later in life. Stress, isolation, and repetitive (perceived or real) threats are effective tools.

It is important to understand that (for purposes of definition) this involves control of the thoughts or actions of another without his or her consent.

Bible Code – Apparently, predictions of contemporary events and some birthdays have been surmised from the bible using computers to decode what some believer thinks god placed there. If so, only god knows why. It is ridiculous. Run enough words and letters of any large book or books through some computer program and it might just come up with the name of the 50^th President of some country that does not exist yet.

So? You don’t have to be agnostic or atheist to recognize this bull shit for what it is.

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