Things you believe in despite scientific evidence to the contrary.

Yeah, scientists would get a lot more work done if they didn't see it as a core duty to tell us about the futility of removing coats indoors.

I don't think the budgets for curing Aids and indoor/outdoor temperature investigations really interfere with each other.

j/k

I gather that, contrary to my mother's advice, going out with wet hair does not result in colds and one cannot "catch one's death" from being rained on, proven by science.

So apparently there's nothing wrong with getting rain-drenched on the way somewhere and having to stay like that all day, and it is mere coincidence that every time this has happened I've felt under the weather for a couple of days afterwards. Suspicious of this!

I have a lingering feeling - rather than a belief - left over from childhood that trees and plants can somehow 'sense' my presence when I'm near them.

^Had never thought about that before, but now I'm kinda freakin' out triffids-style.

I wouldn't sweat it, cabbages are really bad at running after you.

was talking to this cuet girl a little while ago when she said something totally earnest about chemtrails, which prompted an immediate exchange of SIGNIFICANT LOOKS between me and my bro

Mixing your drinks = terrible hangover. This is scientific nonsense (alcohol is alcohol is alcohol) but I KNOW FROM EXPERIENCE that if I mix my drinks, I will DEFINITELY get a worse hangover.

Alba - its all good, I was joking too. I always forget that dry never works on the interwebs!

ref bias favouring manchester united

plenty of scientific evidence imo

actually I think science supports that

GODDAMMIT xpost

oh no there are studies, you're just selecting specific instances that support your etc etc

I guess this is contrary to the spirit of the thread, but I had to reluctantly admit the other week that I don't actually believe in ghosts. I grew up hearing ghost stories from people I believed, credible grown-up people, so that was the one supernatural thing I sort of incorporated into my otherwise secular/agnostic view of the world. But, really, no. I don't believe in ghosts. Sigh. It was sort of sad to let it go.

Martin Scorsese will one day make another (non-documentary) great film.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/07/health/07real.html

I still believe mixing alcohol makes you sicker

there's only one way to prove this

I think I've proved this many times already in my life

Diet Coke is totally good for you.

On a similar note, that chicken caeser salad with fried pancetta is the healthy option.

Mixing your drinks = terrible hangover

I think this observation is founded on a contingent factor, since people who mix different drinks are often people who run out of whatever they started out drinking, but keep on by drinking whatever else is available to them until they run out of every kind of alcohol they can lay their hands on. Hangovers often ensue.

The full moon thing i pretty much believe. The night of the supermoon everyone i was with went completely nuts, including myself.

"I can't drink orange pop it makes me hyper" - medical evidence for this is tenuous as fuck and your parents shd stop telling u this cos tbh it just gives u an excuse to go nuts when u drink some

Sunkist has caffeine in it, and Sunkist is what I think of when I think of orange pop. So chalk one up for "your parents" here.

The "Law of Attraction" — which I guess isn't so mystical as to be unbelievable. Obv if you think the world is a horrible place and all people are cruel and evil, you'll find plenty of evidence to support your opinion. The converse is also true.

I don't necessarily absolutely believe this, but the theories that a higher power, aliens or giants built the pyramids, nascar lines and macchu picchu makes me linger on the possibility for longer than I should.

I actually went to Egypt and saw the pyramids, the Sphinx, etc, as part of a school art history class. I was with real 20+ year Egyptologists and every day they would point to something and say things like "This statue is carved from the hardest stone in the world, and either must have been polished continuously over tens of thousands of years, or carved with lasers." When we got to a quarry where they supposedly chiseled out multi-ton obelisks with perfect geometry out of the side of a mountain using only wooden stakes and stones - in one piece, mind you, the Egyptologists were just openly joking "Yeah, it was probably aliens".

I mean there are plenty of scientific theories on how they did all that, but when you see it in person, you see the scale of everything, and the aliens theory just makes more sense.

that would be rad; i want to believe

i have had trees talk to me on many occasions (non-stoned), and i believe what they had to say

the aliens theory just makes more sense

(sputters) waht? space aliens make more sense than super-paranormal human powers enhanced by controlled breeding? These super-paranormal have disappeared from present-day humans only because they were the exclusive property of Atlantians, who all perished. You can look it up!

That I can function as a competent human being.

:)

I mean there are plenty of scientific theories on how they did all that, but when you see it in person, you see the scale of everything, and the aliens theory just makes more sense.

I had the exact opposite reaction when I went to Egypt. Seeing just how hot and dry the country was, but with that fairly dependable source of irrigation to support a pretty intensive agricultural system made me realise that once the harvest was in, there was plenty of time to figure out ways to float massive blocks of marble around on the Nile and make stuff out of them.

I have a lingering feeling - rather than a belief - left over from childhood that trees and plants can somehow 'sense' my presence when I'm near them

have you ever actually hugged a tree? watch out for ants.

Frogs and toads are the exact same animal, dolphins are fish because they look like fish, moths are ugly butterflies and squid is just the plural of octopus.

Birds are reptiles.

(I mean, they sort of are, aren't they?)

I am all over that full moon thing, having seen loads and loads and loads of people go immensely troppo right on a full moon. If the moon can affect tides and we have water in our brains then surely it has the capacity to affect the water in our brains. I AM A SCIENTIST. Also the way in which people's behaviour falls into their astrological sign is frequently spooky (although I don't know whether I ~believe~ that one).

yeah that whole thing recently about how the parameters were wrong and you are probably a different sign was weird b/c I am totally Scorpio, even though my TRUE sign, now, is Virgo (?? I think, I can't remember)

We have this book called 'BIRTHDAYS' which maps everyone to a very specific set of traits based on their birthday, and it's seriously like 08% accurate. I'm convinced it was all just mde up by some bored out-of-work writer but it's still chillingly accurate.

*98% accurate

Lister: What makes you think these aliens exist?

Rimmer: They must do, Lister! There's so many things that are strange and
odd. So many things we don't have any explanation for.

Lister: Like, um, why do intelligent people buy cinema hot dogs? Do you
mean that sort of weird and mysterious thing?

Rimmer: No, Lister, I mean like the pyramids. How did they move such
massive pieces of stone without the aid of modern technology?

Lister: They had massive whips, Rimmer. Massive, massive whips.

I believe Red Dwarf was one of the best shows ever.

I don't believe homeopathy works and am happy to lol at alternative medicine (and be enraged by people who fleece ill people out of money with it) all day BUT I do not find it completely impossible that water that has had stuff in solution in it and now doesn't may possibly, conceivably have a slightly different molecular organisation to before

(but, uh, not to the extent of curing diseases because it once had a millionth of a stinging nettle in or w/e)

(I have heard physicists and chemists say that water does some weird shit we don't totally understand, but I am not a scientist so I don't remember the details, and obv nobody should give a shit what a non-scientist says about wacko fringe "science")

(I like to overuse parentheses even though they are scientifically proven to be harmful to post coherence)

there are going to be some very angry scientists on this thread very soon

not me. I'm enjoying the crazy.

Mixing your drinks = terrible hangover

I think this observation is founded on a contingent factor, since people who mix different drinks are often people who run out of whatever they started out drinking, but keep on by drinking whatever else is available to them until they run out of every kind of alcohol they can lay their hands on. Hangovers often ensue.

This was basically Kingsley Amis's explanation as well, and I give it a lot of weight since he drank a bit.

I still wonder if a Planet X is out there, in some extremely elliptical orbit... but after like 50 years with pretty good technology/scopes/people actively searching and it hasn't showed up so it's probably not out there.

Also I refuse to disbelieve in the possibility of faster-than-light travel! I mean, like wormholes and warp drives and stuff. I understand why things that have mass can't even reach the speed of light let alone surpass it.

We have this book called 'BIRTHDAYS' which maps everyone to a very specific set of traits based on their birthday

You should do a thread where you tell us what it says based on our birthday!

^^^ cosigned!

Sunkist has caffeine in it, and Sunkist is what I think of when I think of orange pop. So chalk one up for "your parents" here.

― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, April 2, 2011 1:43 PM (7 hours ago) Bookmark

holy shit! it fuckin does! i just checked my bottle of diet sunkist and there's caffeine in that fucker!! they should really have that more prominently on the gd label

The full moon thing i pretty much believe. The night of the supermoon everyone i was with went completely nuts, including myself.

I didn't hear the phrase "supermoon" until two days afterwards and had a totally mild night

I'd be willing to accept that plays into it somehow.

would like to see data for cloudy vs. clear full moon nights

xp Which is odd, because street lighting has the exact opposite effect.

totally believe that full moons cause werewolves

Also, I'd be careful about relying on data from cops, because there are a lot of superstitious cops. A lot.

Anyway, I've never been able to shake the feeling that Reagan had dementia a lot longer than is currently accepted.

(I mean, had it longer before what is currently accepted.)

Maybe the cops are the ones suffering lunacy during full moons and therefore arrest more ppl.

1. Sunkist didn't have caffeine in it until I was about 15 or 16.
2. Cold temperatures produce cold-like symptoms, as in, symptoms of the virus.

i still believe in the existence of "clutch hitters"

yeah that whole thing recently about how the parameters were wrong and you are probably a different sign was weird b/c I am totally Scorpio, even though my TRUE sign, now, is Virgo

FWIW that wasnt actually true. The signs have not changed, it was misinformation spread by a ranty skeptic astrology hater dude.

Not that I believe in astrology, but neither did the signs "change".

If we stop believing in Tinkerbelle, she will die. I swear it.

I find it really amusing that astrology is so solid that one over publicized guy can make tons of people question their pseudo-beliefs. Say something like that about actual religion and people would be up in arms.

I like to think that if I concentrate, I will know what I need to eat to have balanced nutrition. Like, my body will make me hungry for broccoli if I lack iron or something.

that line of thinking led to a pint of peanut butter fudge swirl ice cream today

I like to think that if I concentrate, I will know what I need to eat to have balanced nutrition.

Heh. On a similar tip, I like to think that the cravings I have are my body flagging a need for a certain mineral/vitamin/trace element. And its not like I crave ice cream and chips, I'll get WEIRD random cravings for broccoli or sardines or V8 juice or something.

2. Cold temperatures produce cold-like symptoms, as in, symptoms of the virus.

yeah, but are people really so dumb that they can't distinguish between a runny nose caused by cold weather and a runny nose caused by an actual illness?

(answer: yes)

if you stay out in the cold long enough to get pneumonia, your immune system is definitely going to suffer. but a few minutes in 30°F weather isn't going to do it, and frostbite is a more immediate concern than the possibility of coming down with the sniffles.

MERCURY IN RETROGRADE

that drinking water with your ears plugged cures hiccups

I don't know about that but drinking water without taking a breat and taking as many sips as poss before you have to breathe actually does cure mine every single time.

whenever i get hiccups (which is thankfully not often because i hate them) i spend the whole episode wondering if i'm going to be one of those poor hiccup people who can never stop hiccupping, year after year.

That happened to my mom's uncle and so the thought of it scares me to death. He had them for like 7 years or something until he died of something totally unrelated.

sometimes i complicate my wondering by wondering if worrying about it might perversely bring on the condition so then i try not to think about it but i still do.

lol same - it's very stressful!

rip poor uncle hic.

i was not scared of this phenomenon until now.

hiccup runneth over

i wasn't scared of it either before i heard of it and then when i did i decried it by saying wtf and whatnot but my criticism was to no avail, it didn't help sufferers one bit.

if you shouted WTF very loudly behind them, perhaps?

Though it would probably just add nerve problems to an already tough situation

If the moon can affect tides and we have water in our brains then surely it has the capacity to affect the water in our brains.

Uh guys the gravitational attraction between the moon and your brain, even at the moon's closest approach, is less than that between your brain and the chair you're sitting in. Gravitational force is a function of mass. The moon weighs about 7.35 x 10^22 kg. The ocean weighs about 1.4 x 10^21 kg. Your brain weighs about 1,400 g.

LA LA LA I CAN'T HEAR YOU LA LA LA

so full moon madness has something to do with bigger chairs?

Pictured: The full moon effect

http://therearehymnsweshout.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/edith_ann.jpg?w=300&h=365

*hic*

This thread is infuriating. That is all, carry on.

i think some of youse are looking for the thread where we believe in stuff fully supported by science

I like to think that if I concentrate, I will know what I need to eat to have balanced nutrition.

I had a friend who lived by this philosophy, that he body was giving her cravings for nutritional reasons & we should all just listen to our bodies to have a balanced diet. This lead to her regularly doing things like making an entire pot of caramel sauce & eating it with a spoon, or eating a bag of mini Babybel cheeses in one sitting.

Yeah that would be me if I tried that tbh.

You must also eat the red Babybel wax for a balanced meal

Oh she totally did that. She'd also make & eat batches of the salt dough you make for kids to play with. I am blaming the copious amounts of marijuana her body also told her to smoke.

i am always drawn to people like that, i believe the water in my brain is gravitationally attracted to the liquid molecules in their caramel sauce.

My brain has been telling me I need a constant supply of whisky lately, but I'm trying to tell it to shut up.

When I was an early adolescent, I used to believe that girls would deeply know if I had ... impure ... thoughts about them. Not as in: "he likes me, and he's unsubtle," but the actual content and/or narrative of the fantasies I had imagined. Poor, poor Jazmine D.;

I also imagined it was possible to share dreams; to meet up and hang out with other people in your sleep.

xp: That tangentially reminds me of how I used to think (ca. 5th grade) that teachers could tell if I had done my homework that morning, as opposed to the night before when it should have been done. I imagined that they had equipment that could determine how recently the pencil marks had been made, or whatever. I have somewhat of a history with giving authority figures entirely too much credit for their technological sleuthing abilities.