Categories of Weirdos
I came across an article earlier today about a study on "pseudo-profound bulls**t." It's posted on my Facebook page along with a comment by me that I would write a blog post later giving my thoughts about the study and the way its results were interpreted.The tone of the article itself seems to be intended to draw people in or to appeal to the large part of the population that does not take paranormal activity, alternative medicine, conspiracy theorists, or New Age nonsense seriously. Ignore the biased writing in the article and just dig through it to collect together the bits and pieces of the referenced study.
Consider the following categories of weirdos. By weirdos, I mean people that normal people would consider weird. By normal people, I mean people who are normal. Don't get caught up on these terms. You know what I mean.
1. Believers in the paranormal
2. Believers in alternative medicine
3. Conspiracy theorists
4. Adherents of New Age nonsense
5. Students of magic
Normal people consider anyone who falls into one of the above five categories a weirdo. Although these five categories are quite distinct, they tend to get lumped together by normal people. If you believe that will and imagination can affect the astral light, normal people assume you also believe that acupuncture works, 9/11 was an inside job, and that "yearning is born in the void of dreams where the life-force of karmic love has been awakened."
The study centers on trying to understand the fourth category of weirdos. At the end of the study, it's found that this category overlaps with the first three categories of weirdos. It doesn't really seem to seek any explanation for this overlap beyond "low intelligence." This isn't surprising. If you're a normal person and you tend to lump all weirdos and all categories of weirdos together, you're probably more interested in justifying your decision to lump all weirdos together than gaining an accurate understanding of different categories of weirdos, the ways they differ or relate to each other, and the reason for these differences and relations.
But if you yourself are a weirdo, then acquiring information about the way the primary weirdo category you belong to overlaps with other weirdo categories can actually help you understand your weirdo category better. This, in turn, can help you understand yourself better. In light of this, let's analyze the ways the fifth weirdo category listed above - students of magic - overlaps with the other weirdo categories and why.
Category One and Category Five: Complete Overlap
Students of magic believe in the paranormal. I mean, if you didn't believe in the paranormal, why would you be studying magic? Isn't it part of the paranormal? Of course, many students of magic argue that the use of the word "paranormal" to describe some phenomena, such as magic, is a misnomer, but that's beside the point. Magic is firmly in the realm of what most people call the paranormal.
Category Two and Category Five: Significant Overlap
Franz Bardon was a practitioner of homeopathy. Josephine McCarthy recommends in several of her works that students of magic study homeopathy because homeopathic remedies can help your body recover from the physical side effects of intense magic. At the beginning of his training, the student of magic takes such claims on faith. Later in his training, he can acknowledge the veracity of such claims by referring back to his own experiences with homeopathic remedies.
The principles of Ayurveda and TCM can also be used to maintain a balanced body. Such a body is much more resilient to the physical side effects of intense magic. All in all, investing time in the study of a system of alternative medicine isn't a bad idea for the student of magic. Thus, we see a significant overlap between the second and fifth categories of weirdos.
Category Three and Category Five: Slight Overlap
Students of magic should be open-minded. This is one of the things the positive side of the air element teaches us. Thus, when it comes to conspiracy theories, the student of magic should be open-minded. This opens the possibility for a student of magic to eventually accept a conspiracy theory as true. However, the positive side of the air element also teaches us to be objective and logical, and the positive side of the earth element teaches us not to let our minds fly away on wild fantasies and speculations. There are some conspiracy theories out there that are plausible, but few, if any, come with overwhelming evidence that, when observed logically and objectively, definitively proves the veracity of the conspiracy theory. Therefore, the overlap between the third and fifth categories of weirdos is slight at best.
Category Four and Category Five: No Overlap
The fourth category consists of adherents of New Age nonsense. By New Age nonsense, I mean profound-sounding statements that either aren't actually profound or are completely meaningless.
The positive side of the air element teaches us to be intelligent. Thus, a student of magic who encounters New Age nonsense is unlikely to consider it to be profound and is likely to see it for what it is. The positive side of the fire element teaches us to be productive. Productive people are unlikely to waste their time with New Age nonsense. Thus, there is no overlap between the fourth and fifth categories of weirdos.
So, in summary, as the study implies, different categories of weirdos can overlap with each other. However, the reasons for these overlaps can often be more complicated and interesting than "low intelligence." Admittedly, this blog post doesn't do the subject justice because time limitations prevent me from giving anything more than a few brief comments about each of the overlaps mentioned above, but an interesting essay could be written about the subject.
Consider the following categories of weirdos. By weirdos, I mean people that normal people would consider weird. By normal people, I mean people who are normal. Don't get caught up on these terms. You know what I mean.
1. Believers in the paranormal
2. Believers in alternative medicine
3. Conspiracy theorists
4. Adherents of New Age nonsense
5. Students of magic
Normal people consider anyone who falls into one of the above five categories a weirdo. Although these five categories are quite distinct, they tend to get lumped together by normal people. If you believe that will and imagination can affect the astral light, normal people assume you also believe that acupuncture works, 9/11 was an inside job, and that "yearning is born in the void of dreams where the life-force of karmic love has been awakened."
The study centers on trying to understand the fourth category of weirdos. At the end of the study, it's found that this category overlaps with the first three categories of weirdos. It doesn't really seem to seek any explanation for this overlap beyond "low intelligence." This isn't surprising. If you're a normal person and you tend to lump all weirdos and all categories of weirdos together, you're probably more interested in justifying your decision to lump all weirdos together than gaining an accurate understanding of different categories of weirdos, the ways they differ or relate to each other, and the reason for these differences and relations.
But if you yourself are a weirdo, then acquiring information about the way the primary weirdo category you belong to overlaps with other weirdo categories can actually help you understand your weirdo category better. This, in turn, can help you understand yourself better. In light of this, let's analyze the ways the fifth weirdo category listed above - students of magic - overlaps with the other weirdo categories and why.
Category One and Category Five: Complete Overlap
Students of magic believe in the paranormal. I mean, if you didn't believe in the paranormal, why would you be studying magic? Isn't it part of the paranormal? Of course, many students of magic argue that the use of the word "paranormal" to describe some phenomena, such as magic, is a misnomer, but that's beside the point. Magic is firmly in the realm of what most people call the paranormal.
Category Two and Category Five: Significant Overlap
Franz Bardon was a practitioner of homeopathy. Josephine McCarthy recommends in several of her works that students of magic study homeopathy because homeopathic remedies can help your body recover from the physical side effects of intense magic. At the beginning of his training, the student of magic takes such claims on faith. Later in his training, he can acknowledge the veracity of such claims by referring back to his own experiences with homeopathic remedies.
The principles of Ayurveda and TCM can also be used to maintain a balanced body. Such a body is much more resilient to the physical side effects of intense magic. All in all, investing time in the study of a system of alternative medicine isn't a bad idea for the student of magic. Thus, we see a significant overlap between the second and fifth categories of weirdos.
Category Three and Category Five: Slight Overlap
Students of magic should be open-minded. This is one of the things the positive side of the air element teaches us. Thus, when it comes to conspiracy theories, the student of magic should be open-minded. This opens the possibility for a student of magic to eventually accept a conspiracy theory as true. However, the positive side of the air element also teaches us to be objective and logical, and the positive side of the earth element teaches us not to let our minds fly away on wild fantasies and speculations. There are some conspiracy theories out there that are plausible, but few, if any, come with overwhelming evidence that, when observed logically and objectively, definitively proves the veracity of the conspiracy theory. Therefore, the overlap between the third and fifth categories of weirdos is slight at best.
Category Four and Category Five: No Overlap
The fourth category consists of adherents of New Age nonsense. By New Age nonsense, I mean profound-sounding statements that either aren't actually profound or are completely meaningless.
The positive side of the air element teaches us to be intelligent. Thus, a student of magic who encounters New Age nonsense is unlikely to consider it to be profound and is likely to see it for what it is. The positive side of the fire element teaches us to be productive. Productive people are unlikely to waste their time with New Age nonsense. Thus, there is no overlap between the fourth and fifth categories of weirdos.
So, in summary, as the study implies, different categories of weirdos can overlap with each other. However, the reasons for these overlaps can often be more complicated and interesting than "low intelligence." Admittedly, this blog post doesn't do the subject justice because time limitations prevent me from giving anything more than a few brief comments about each of the overlaps mentioned above, but an interesting essay could be written about the subject.
Comments
Post a Comment