Well, I'm not quite as bad as that, but I do weigh up what people say very carefully and raise my eyebrows at anything that sounds implausible or far-fetched, or plain ridiculous*. Some of the things I'm sceptical about:
- Any variety of "alternative remedies"
- Politicians' promises
- Gurus who've achieved perpetual bliss and enlightenment
- Adverts offering me an improved memory, boundless self-confidence, increased energy and vitality etc
- Estate agents' descriptions of houses
- Estimates by tradespeople
- So-called sex changes
- Phone calls claiming my internet connection is faulty
- Stories told in celebrity memoirs
- Businesses that claim to be protecting the environment
- People who say DIY is easy
- Lucrative investment opportunities
- Conspiracy theories
It seems to me that lying is now seen as quite normal, and people in all walks of life lie about virtually everything, assuming nobody will check the facts and uncover the reality. Celebrities in particular spin their personal back stories every which way, and I take all their dramatic confessions with a bucketful of salt.
But being sceptical doesn't stop me enjoying life. It doesn't mean I'm a nihilist or a spoilsport or a curmudgeon. I savour my chocolate truffles and ice cream and pinot grigio and juicy novels and rousing music like anyone else. I'm just no longer such an innocent abroad.
* Despite my habitual scepticism, there are some things I always believe. Like claims of rape, misogyny and domestic violence.
Your bullet points list a bit of a big, and not altogether coherent, mix. An All Sorts.
ReplyDeleteIf I were you I'd not dismiss "alternative" medicine. Think witches, frogs and cauldrons. They are not just folklore. Or, rather, they are folklore because there is truth behind the mystery. Though don't go Gwyneth Paltrow. Now there is a joke.
"Gurus"? Let's not call them gurus if that brings to mind that which gurus are most definitely not. There are people - and I have seen this in motion, and maybe Ramana will add to this - who definitely achieve a level of enlightenment that some of us can only dream of. Dream of because we are too lazy, too complacent, too "sceptical" to actually try and travel that path. A difficult path. Other people climb mountains.
As to "lying". Don't get too hung up about it. As much as I hate being lied TO I have lied FOR the greater good of someone. Not to save my skin. Theirs. In terms of politics, I'd say "falsifying the truth" is much more descriptive than using the snow white blanket term of "lying".
U
Ursula: Do you have experience of alternative remedies? Did they work?
DeleteFunny how supposedly "enlightened" gurus are so often screwing their followers. An odd sort of enlightenment.
I'm not talking about those petty lies we utter to avoid embarrassment or emotional upset. More those sweeping lies from politicians and other public figures.
Since you ask. Yes, I have had quite a few "alternative remedies". Ranging from reflexology (foot massage which is divine if given by the right therapist) to Indian head massage. Basically they make you walk on cotton wool without taking drugs - taking drugs something that's just not me. Though don't judge anyone else.
DeleteThe most impressive alternative was at a clinic in Newport Pagnell near Milton Keynes. Acupuncture.
I was in my late twenties and had these strange very brief spells of my leg giving way. I'd have made a fine extra at the Queen's Court, curtseying - if involuntarily. My freshly baked husband, given to catastrophizing when it comes to health, envisaged a future with someone with MS. Perish the thought.
It was eerie, Nick. My doctor, hospital tests couldn't find anything. Yet there was my left leg (see above). Several needles later, inserted judiciously around mostly my ankle (and no, it doesn't hurt) I was blissed out. In fact, my therapist told me not to drive home immediately but take a walk round the clinic's park first - that's how blissed out acupuncture has potential to make you.
The miracle, Nick? I was cured. Never had a repeat episode. The mind boggles. But there it is. Facts are facts. Even if we can't explain them.
U
Ursula: Glad to know it wasn't MS but a simple leg problem that acupuncture was able to fix. Also glad to know the needles don't hurt, contrary to what I've always assumed.
DeleteI'd agree with most of your list. Enlightenment, like much of human aspirations, admirable and all, is temporary, I've had such moments of profound understanding, gone like the wind when I try to grasp it more firmly.
ReplyDeleteMost pols lie but I had the rare privilege of meeting some honest ones - the honesty verified only after they are dead and skeletons don't emerge.
I am a massive cynic too, but love that in today's world we can research everything.
XO
WWW
www: I wouldn't say I'm cynical. That implies doubting not just what people say but also their motives, which I'm not privy to.
DeleteI've also had the odd episode of "enlightenment", which brings a wonderful sense of clarity but doesn't last very long.
I am a live and let live kind of trusting fellow. I have survived successfully with that attitude.
ReplyDeleteRamana: I'm also a "live and let live" sort of person, but I don't think that precludes healthy scepticism.
DeleteI agree with most of your list. Estimates are hard to give because of unforeseen issues or the homeowner adds on extras. DIY IS easy for some people. My husband always blames the lack of proper equipment for his problems in that arena. Lol!
ReplyDeleteBijoux: I've had estimates that don't add any caveats about unforeseen issues etc. But I've also had estimates that remain the same even though there was a bit of unplanned work along the line.
DeleteA bad workman blames his tools, so they say!
I would orefer to believe what I am told, but checking up on it usually proves the message false, optimistic or inaccurate.
ReplyDeleteI used to know honest politicians, but their like has been driven out by the shysters.
Fly: The shysters are everywhere these days. Most of the British cabinet ministers are habitually lying, spinning, making phoney promises and dodging awkward questions.
DeleteSceptics are never disappointed lol
ReplyDeleteJohn: Indeed. No false hopes, strictly the unvarnished and verified reality.
DeleteConspiracy theories always make me shake my head. There are so many of them out there.
ReplyDeleteMary: Some of them are so absurd, I wonder how anyone with a grain of intelligence could believe them. Like the idea that the 9/11 attacks were actually controlled demolitions.
DeleteI just bought Carl Sagan's The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark. Yep, I went into science because I like my theories connected to/tested by reality.
ReplyDeleteJean: I imagine as a scientist you're a veteran sceptic, always looking for proof, evidence and solid fact. Obvious nonsense gets discarded pretty quickly!
DeleteI'm still far too gullible and ready to believe. I even watched Dominic Cummings in his press conference and thought, 'He seems honest.'
ReplyDeleteLiz: Dominic Cummings has a very misleading "good boy" persona for public consumption. Goodness knows what he's really up to behind the scenes.
Deletewhat does it say about car salesmen when you rank buying a car right up there with a painful trip to the dentist?
ReplyDeleteI feel about politicians the same way. but since I wouldn't want to ever hold office I suppose I should be glad they grace our lives with there hooligan lying ways. I used to be very gullible. now I'm not sure about anything! especially my early school education from books. it seems it was full of lies. wasted years.
Tammy: Certainly history teaching was terrible when I was at school. It was all kings and queens and battles and the British Empire. And everyone was white and British, scarcely a mention of dark-skinned foreigners and their peculiar countries.
DeleteI am a closet skeptic, which leads to friends exclaiming, "Why didn't you tell me!"
ReplyDeleteAnd I only wonder why they believed.
Joanne: I often think the same. How could anyone believe such nonsense?
DeleteI grew up with a mother and one brother who were compulsive liars. It's hard to believe anything anyone says once I realized that.
ReplyDeleteLinda: My family don't so much lie as hide and tweak things. I was never sure if my mum was telling me the truth or her sanitised version of it.
DeleteI have a flying pig for hire. The pig also talks and produces gold sovereigns every blue moon. Are you interested? Yours for a small monthly fee of £108.97. Just imagine how impressed your friends will be!
ReplyDeleteSx
Ms Scarlet: Sounds wonderful. I'm writing you a cheque this very minute, and I look forward to the flying pig transforming my life like never before. I just know all my friends will be seething with jealousy!
DeleteAlternative therapies have helped me and my family in many ways: chiro, acupuncture & herbs
ReplyDeleteKylie: My experience of chiropractic (why no e?) was disappointing. Very expensive and with no visible benefit. It all seemed like a bit of a scam.
DeleteOne thing I must say about your posts...they are usually thought provoking. I am with you on a lot of these...and I have become such a skeptic as I have grown older.
ReplyDeleteWe have had good luck with chiropractors...hubby has been to one in his younger years that was one that just keep you coming and coming. But the two we have had since him have been up front and told us we needed medical doctors a time or two.
Rose: Yes, I like to be thought provoking, especially on subjects other people may be more informed about than me. Good that your hubby got some benefit from his chiropractor. Maybe I just stumbled on the wrong person. Mine definitely wanted to keep me coming - twice a week!
DeleteThe two we have had since being married is great. I had to bend over to pick up something last winter, and did something to my back. I could only inch my feet along. Could not bend over to put on shoes. It was horrible. I can tolerate a lot of pain, so it is not that I am a sissy. I went to him, and either two or three visits and I was back to normal. He did not try to keep me coming.
DeleteAnd a few years ago I had frozen shoulders...I went to medical doctor, but had always wondered if he could have helped me. So I asked him if I had come to him when it first started, could he have helped. He told me no, he could not help me...that it was better that I went to the dr. and got the physical therapy.
Rose: I did something similar last summer - as I was pruning a bush my back seized and I was in agonising pain for days. Like you, every little thing I did was painful. I had four treatment sessions with the chiropractor but they made no difference to my back.
DeleteOh, I feel your pain...wondering how you got over it. I honestly can't remember if I went twice or three times. But I know no more than three.
DeleteRose: The severe pain wore off after a few days, but it left me with an intermittent back ache which has never gone away.
DeleteI am very much a skeptic. Science is where I put my faith.
ReplyDeleteAgent: I totally agree. I don't waste my time on wild claims not backed up by any science or solid evidence.
Delete