Before I was a Skeptic

[Bear1980]

Hmm Good article
(I went through the Whole Golden Dawn/Crowley phase when i was a teen also.)

Still, at the end of the day is it really better to be sceptical about things?
Im not soo sure.

[DunkelAnanas]

I went through the whole supernatural phase back when I was a "preteen". I had purchased an Ashida Kim book entitled "Ninja Mind Control". It was in part thanks to this site, and the investigation of that wackjob, that helped me realized that it was bullshit (the book itself is also a good indication of this guy's insanity. If anyone has the displeasure of reading this "book", be prepared for hand signs taken straight out of a Narutard's wet dream). I have a pretty extensive book collection of about 200 or so books I have bought and read, and "Mind Control" is the only book I ever threw out. Thank you Phrost for creating Bullshido and helping me see the light.

[frikifu]

Great!! Good!! But... I´m not sure if I can agree...

I mean, excuse me, but i "believe" in Chi, Ki, Qi ...whatever you call it.

...or at least it worked for me once, even considering the possibility of pure suggestion, I have to say that deep abdominal breathing (often associated to the practice of Mumbo Jumbo Energy Development) took me alive far below of what a doctor would consider the lowest your body temperature can go in life.
Don´t misunderstand me please (this is not my language) I did n´t put my temperature down no purpose, I fell through a cascade and got trapped in it during a trip through Norway (18th July 2001) and got rescued after 1h 45min of cold shower ...water was falling on my back so hard I had a huge bruise from the top of my ass to over the half of my ridge ...and I had a body temperature of 27.6ºC, 2litres of water in my lungs but hyperoxigenated blood, and perfect blood pressure.
Doctor told me people "usually" die when they go below 33ºC and "always" when they go below 30ºC, and here I am boring you (if you ever read this ask a Cardiologist).
Worse of it all is that what kept me breathing that way, like for a Yoga Ohm and after the hysteria part of "mom i dont wanna die" was repeating over an over again my exam for the 1stdan black belt of Krotty (kiai ;) )
Concentration, suggestion... maybe Faith...
might have been Ki/Qi/Chi/The Force...
whatever, but if you guys creators of Bullshido are hard trainers might would be able to explore that weird part of martial arts without the asian "mumbo jumbo". In my opinion there´s only need of a strong will (not obssesion) and a bit of innocent Faith.

Thank You for this site, the sense of humor, the skepticism, the videos, and the healthy attitude towards Fighting that you have here, I am learning a lot. But Martial Arts, in my poor and humble opinion of a KrottyKid, really are a Way for a better self understanding and blah blah blah.

Alfredo R. Vera 1stdan Krotty WadoRyu Spain

Could anybody tell me the address of the grocerie spamming in bullsido´s formus??

Please??

[pokeroo]

This post sounds very similar to the way my beliefs slowly evolved towards being more and more skeptical or paranormal claims. frikifu, my bet is that your temperature was taken improperly.

[Lomo.P(L)ateado]

I dont remember because of the shock, but I recall I was told body temperature was taken from my ass and from my ear. So yes it was taken properly.

I stayed five days in Bergens Haukelund Avis. I was walking less than 24 hours after the fall. And went partiying with a spanish medicine student of the erasmus program, Gema, the day after. Then came my "Vieja" and my Karma was broken again...

Bergen is expensive.

P.S. Can anyone help me to actualize the stats from my frikifu account?.edit [PLEASE] edit I insist there is absolutely no intention of "sockpuppeting".

Alfredo.

[Matt Phillips]

HM... never read this one before. Glad it got Necroed.

Let me make a couple of comments while this is revived:

It is very important to distinguish between not scientific and not True. If there is a rational, empirical basis for believing something then one could say that belief is scientific; if there is no such basis, then maintaining that such a belief describes some true feature of the world is irrational. That does not mean that the world lacks such a property. Chi (for example) may, in fact, be a real thing which has not been adequately characterized. Science, by necessity, takes an extremely conservative view of what does and does not exist, by demanding a rational basis for any concept before giving (provisional) support to it.

Modern popular skepticism runs the risk of becoming just another pre-canned, uncritical way of looking at the world; one that uses Scientific American instead of the Bible. What is important is not accepting only scientific ideas as ture, but understanding the arguments that support belief in each Idea.

On the subject of the tendency to want to believe in the supernatural, I think that the root cause may be as much a feeling of powerlessness, as it is social ineptitude. I think there is a reason why so many here have a common background in things like d20 gaming (or any form of role playing) and Wing Chun, and that reason is the desire for control. To a person whose social life feels out of control, the illusion of control (and understanding) is a serious temptation, whether it takes the form of belief in incantation, obsession with "alternative identities" in RPG's, subcultures, or internet fora. Or it can take the form of belief in alternative strategies for self defense. There is a reason why arts like Wing Chun that promise to deliver skill with which to overwhelm our antagonists are so seductive: They offer the illusion that practicing and refining skills like speed hitting, simultaneous attack, interception, redirection, and delivering an oversaturating flurry of blows will overwhelm and confuse our antagonists, who, being of limited curiosity, and being ignorant of the secret theoretical knowledge will finally experience the fear and disorientation the "believer" feels when subjected to their brute aggression. It is worth noting that the goal is almost always to confuse, and overwhelm rather than to simply win the fucking fight. IMO the seductive part of this SD scenario is that it is an exercise in emotional revenge. It also helps that "FOOM" stands for "Friends Of Ol' Marvel (comics)"

Also @ Phrost: Do you have any of Manly P Hall's stuff?

Excellent article.

[Vorpal]

I used to believe in being skeptical, now I'm not sure.

[Tom Kagan]

There is a reason why arts like Wing Chun that promise to deliver skill with which to overwhelm our antagonists are so seductive: They offer the illusion that practicing and refining skills like speed hitting, simultaneous attack, interception, redirection, and delivering an oversaturating flurry of blows will overwhelm and confuse our antagonists, who, being of limited curiosity, and being ignorant of the secret theoretical knowledge will finally experience the fear and disorientation the "believer" feels when subjected to their brute aggression.

You are overthinking this.

[Matt Phillips]

You are overthinking this.

No, I'm being honest about my own motivations in seeking WC instruction back in the day.

Chunner!

[KO'd N DOA]

Before - I was a skeptic too!!