May 22, 2012

Why Belief Is Wrong

In a new article at Mysterious Universe – titled I (Don’t) Want To Believe – I begin as follows…

“Just a few days ago, I was chatting with a colleague in the field of Cryptozoology about what the creatures of Loch Ness, Scotland really are – presuming they do exist, of course! I found it pretty enlightening that he got quite defensive over my remark that maybe the beasts are not still-surviving plesiosaurs – as so many, including pretty much the entire Scottish tourist industry, want or hope them to be. When I suggested the possibility of giant-eels roaming the deep waters of the old loch, a distinctly frosty atmosphere developed.

“Why? I’ll tell you why: because I had dared to question his carefully developed and nurtured belief system. And, for him, the image of giant eels swimming around was nowhere near as exciting and as engaging as a colony of plesiosaurs on the loose.

“As we’ll now see, belief – whether relative to Nessie, UFOs, ghosts and the rest of the world’s many and varied paranormal puzzles – is a very dangerous thing.”

And here’s the link to the complete article where you can learn why, in my opinion (if no-one else’s!), belief – in anything of a Fortean nature – is plain wrong.

Filed under Cryptozoologists, Cryptozoology, Lair of the Beasts, Lake Monsters, Loch Ness Monster