Silly Ideas

Silly (euphemistically speaking) ideas, for the purposes of this blog, are either
● irritatingly illogical inaninities that are repeated ad nauseam by their devotees
● strongly held opinions about cause and effect that ignore or are ignorant of the facts and that run counter to widely known expert opinion
● ideas that have proved deleterious to their holders or others

● Many if not most ideas connected to an insistence on the 'existence' of one non-existent deity or another are illogical because they insist upon belief despite the lack of supportive empirical evidence when there ought to be empirical evidence. After all, if a purported deity actually created the universe, with or without interference in daily events, then there ought to be unequivocal evidence that links the physical with said deity – just as there is abundant evidence to link known physical laws with the origin of the universe and evolution.

There is no evidence of a deity unless one chooses to label physical laws as being God and to designate scientists as being the true theologians. That is, it is illogical to insist that there is a Creator of the Physical Universe, Life, and Us in the absence of any unequivocal evidence of a single entity capable of creating these tangibles. This illogic includes most perniciously, of course, the various ridiculous forms adopted by insistence upon literal interpretation of the Genesis creation myth.

● Fantasies, such as the supposed existence of the 'soul' or an 'afterlife' that run counter to all that science reveals about the inextricable connection between a functioning assemblage of chemicals and operation of the brain. There is neither evidence for–nor logical grounds for–any claim that the 'soul' has existence outside current-conscious-thought.

● Claims that 'God is Consciousness', such that some cosmic consciousness directs all that transpires in the universe, or even merely here on Earth, are akin to nonsensical claims for brain-independent souls and an afterlife. Those who believe that the sole motive force is 'thought' have applied very little–or nothing–in the way of analytical thought to their illogical beliefs. The meaning of 'thought' inherent in such illogical equivocation must necessarily be so broad as to bear no resemblence to the accepted meaning of 'thought' or of 'consciousness'.

● Insistence by Bible Thumpers on their holier-than-thou, unethical, absolute moral values that were supposedly dictated by their non-existent deity-of-choice. By unethical, I refer to those illogical attacks that harm others who do not fit into the rigid black and white box dictated by the thumpers' dogma-of-choice. While it is reasonable to decry as immoral any action that deliberately harms others, it is immoral to harm others by censuring activities that harm no-one.

● Denial of the fact of global warming despite the agreement of experts (earth and climate scientists) that rising levels of greenhouse gases (fact) attributable to our burning of fossil fuels (fact) have elevated average temperatures (fact) and increased frequency of extreme weather events (fact).

That'll do for starters!

ɷ All Concepts are NOT created Equal
ɷ Anti-Stupidity Quotes
ɷ Autovaccinism
ɷ Behe Retreats
ɷ Besottism
ɷ Black Sheep are Sheep Too
ɷ Canadians Can be Stupid Too
ɷ Claims that Scientists find Extraterrestrial genes...
ɷ Complexity Reductio
ɷ Free Speech or Propaganda of Hate?
ɷ Numbers Games
ɷ Pet Peeves
ɷ Pseudoscience Chicanery
ɷ Shun Spam
ɷ Statistics on Stupidity

Quo Vadis?
...section index...

Aginner Syndrome

Motto: "If an expert states something, I'm against it."

This cognitive disorder is characterized by a refusal to accept propositions founded in expert knowledge. Those exhibiting this disorder are often embittered individuals with a pronounced tendency to attach inappropriate blame for their personal misery onto authority figures. Their anger and bitterness is typically displaced from the actual root cause of their discontent. Aginners lack insight into their own dysfunctions or exhibit denial concerning their emotional dysfunctions.

Aginners are typically passionate and obdurate concerning their mistaken beliefs and inaccurately regard their alternative thinking as indicative of their superior intellect, insight, intuitiveness, or spirituality. In fact, Aginners are typically poorly educated and ill-informed. They exhibit a clear preference for biased information and adopt opinions selected for anti-authoritarian content. Having adopted an ill-informed opinion, Aginners resort to vehement denial of any facts that run counter to their beliefs and/or employ illogical arguments to dismiss facts and justify their mistaken beliefs. Aginners commonly resort to blanket ridicule of the experts whose opinion they wish to deny.

Aginners are often socially inadequate and have a history of failed relationships. As with their other cognitive errors, Aginners blame their social difficulties on others, taking no responsibility for their own contribution to relationship difficulties.

Quo Vadis?
...section index...