BELIEFS: Ouija board, psychics and ghosts debunked

HOLLYWOOD and advertising firms must have a real riot over how easily we’re duped. The generic formula in advertising is to convince us that we have something lacking in our lives, or possess some flaw that we never knew about, and then offer us the ultimate solution by way of a product or service. Hollywood films often pose the danger of showing us how the larger world or an aspect of it should be perceived.

But what’s not so funny is when scam artists begin to exploit human desires and profit off desperate people, such as the blind, the bereaved or the disabled. From ghosts to psychics to scientology to horoscopes — these have all become big business by profiting off those who can be convinced enough to believe in them.

If you are a believer in anything mentioned here this is by no means a mockery of your beliefs. We all hold our own and what should be encouraged is a shared understanding and acceptance of one another’s beliefs. What is vitally important, however, is that we are not suckered into supporting abuse of such systems by those with profit-driven agendas; who honestly don’t give a fig what you believe.

A belief in the paranormal can be traced throughout history, which comes from our desire to understand things we can’t yet explain. Human beings are hardwired to believe such things. It’s part of our brain’s desire to find cause and effect in everything. - Derren Brown

The human species used to believe in fairies, that the Earth was flat and that the sun was pulled up and down by a chariot. When new scientific evidence was brought to the table, we discarded those beliefs and superstitions. Unfortunately, we created more, and superstition is as alive today as it ever was. What hopefully has changed is that we are a lot better equipped to analyse supposed superstitions critically.

Science of Scams

Science of Scams has been developed by a team of people on a global mission to make the world truly question the paranormal (Image: www.scienceofscams.com)

I recently came across a fantastic website called Science of Scams that does just that. The website has been developed by a team of people on a global mission to make the world truly question the paranormal. They have released seven hoax videos to date which aim to explain and demonstrate particular paranormal phenomena. The videos­ are really interesting to watch and what follows is a basic synopsis of the sort of information they offer (adapted from the website).

GHOSTS

The “Ghost on Film” video demonstrates how easy it is to project a ghost-like figure using mirrors, correct lighting and a real little girl hidden from view. Our fascination with ghosts or spirits wandering the Earth has resulted in a plethora of books, magazines, websites, TV shows, and of course, people who claim they can contact the dead for a nominal fee. It is quite natural for a human being to experience feelings of chill and dread and to fear death itself. Combine this with particular atmospheric conditions and an active imagination and perceived ghost sighting become quite common.

PSYCHICS

The life force of psychics is what is known as “cold reading” — a technique employed by several industries today. It is often used by salespeople, hypnotists, advertisers, faith healers and con artists. At a basic level, cold reading utilises a linguistic skill known as “the Barnum­ statement”. These are phrases which could apply to anyone, but require a single person to supply the meaning from their own personal life. They all rely on their subject’s inclination to find more meaning in a situation than there actually is. Cold reading is a popular technique employed by psychic­ mediums such as John Edward and by those who write horoscopes.

OUIJA BOARD

A Ouija board (also known as a spirit board), is a flat board marked with letters, numbers and other symbols. It is theoretically used to communicate with the dead. The first historical mention of something resembling a Ouija board is found in China around 1100 BC. The word “ouija” is derived from both the French and German words for “yes”.

The unexciting truth behind Ouija boards is that the participants are sub-consciously moving the glass or pointer themselves. This is known as an ideomotor response, which can be encouraged through simple suggestion. Further evidence of this sort of response can be found in tests that have been carried out while the participants were blindfolded. Here the messages come out as nonsense, which is arguably proof that the participants need to see where they are pushing the glass.

Our emotions are deep and unconscious, and tend to have more power over us than our rational minds. Once an idea plays to our imaginations, it's hard to shift it, and then we look around for things to support it, happily disregarding things which don't fit the picture we have in our heads. – Derren Brown

The other videos available at Science of Scams examine brick breaking, chi energy, the psi wheel and telekinesis. There is also a test you can take to determine whether you are a believer.

At the end of the day, what all of this is trying to encourage is that we should always questions such concepts and beliefs and never blindly accept something without asking how and why. We need to look at the evidence and make educated choices, and never be afraid to re-examine what we believe and what we think.

Link: A Field Guide to Bullshit

Related Articles:

• Questioning the Afterlife
• How to Use The Ouija Board
• Should Ghosts or Programming Haunt The iPad Ouija Board?

** More Quite Interesting Posts **

You can read the first part to this series here

SHAKESPEAREAN PHRASES: Origins of some of his most popular phrases

ACCORDING to one of those more educational DSTV adverts, the average person has a vocabulary of 10 000 words – 15 000 if you’re really smart. It also says that Shakespeare takes the cake with a vocab of 29 000 words. Exclamation!

The playwright was also the founder of a copious amount of English phrases and gives new meaning to what it means to become famous after you die. Quite ironic for a dramatist I thought.

On that note I thought I would do a little tribute post to the man we were all forced to study in High school. We may have hated him back then, but now we should appreciate his contribution to the English language.

So, at one fell swoop here are the origins of some of the more commonly used Shakespearean phrases:

Shakespearean phrases: 1. As dead as a doornail

My brother and I used to use this one quite a lot when we were young. I’m not entirely sure why, but I recall him using it adaptively to call me “as dumb as a doornail.” Anyway, the meaning behind this one is quite clear.

Doornails are the large-headed studs that were used in earlier times (14th century) to strengthen doors. Fitting doornails involved hammering them through and bending over the protruding bit. The ‘deadness’ refers to the un-usable-ness of inanimate objects, which is what the doornail became after a good hammering.

Shakespearean phrases: 2. Fight fire with fire

We use this one today to refer to attacking someone with the same means that the attackers employ – giving them a “taste of their own medicine” to use another phrase. Shakespeare did use this phrase in King John, but it’s more modern origin actually has a more literal meaning.

It was coined by 19th century US settlers and referred to actual fire-fighting. The settlers would guard themselves against grass or forest fires by deliberately lighting smaller, controllable ‘back-fires’ – a practise still done today except we now call them ‘fire-breaks.’

However, the Settlers’ fire-breaks were often unsuccessful and actually made matters worse for them and their highly flammable houses. It is said that this is where the phrase “to backfire” (i.e. to unexpectedly go wrong) originates.

Shakespearean phrases: 3. In a pickle

The origin of “being in a pickle” (i.e. a tight spot) does seem to allude to being in the actual vinegary pickling liquid what we find gherkins in today. Supposedly it would be difficult to escape if you ever found yourself in a jar of gherkins.

However, the phrase does have a more literal sense, which goes back to England’s greatest naval hero Admiral Nelson – who was literally picked in a barrel of brandy after a musket ball took him out.

Shakespearean phrases: 4. Tapping the Admiral

The above story makes reference to a related phrase I know of but am not sure whether it’s an urban myth or not.

Although the majority of sailors who died at sea were simply thrown overboard, seamen of higher rank (such as the captain, his first mate and admirals) were preserved in barrels of brandy.

After several months at sea, several members of the crew would discreetly sip away at the brandy with the bodies in them, using tubes of pasta as straws – a saying that became known as “tapping the admiral.” When ships finally reached the shore the cargo crew would often find these barrel-coffins completely empty. Yummy.

Shakespearean phrases: 5. Makes your hair stand on end

Shakespeare’s phrases and writing conjured up vivid imagery in the minds of the now well-deceased English people, and continues to have a grand affect on our imaginations today. Some literary exerts posit that no image better illustrates the sensation of one’s hair standing on end than a fretful porcupine.

The phrase is rather literal however, and refers to the actual effect of one’s hair (especially on the back of the neck) standing on end due to the skin contracting as a result of cold or fear. Chilling.

Shakespearean phrases: 6. Wear your heart on your sleeve

The meaning of wearing your heart on your sleeve is to display your emotions openly. You might remember this one from Shakespeare’s masterpiece Othello.

This rather strange phrase is said to derive from a middle-aged custom of knights wearing the colours of the lady they were supporting during jousting matches. They would wear a cloth or ribbon in the colour of their fair maiden around their arms before galloping towards impending pain or victory.

Shakespearean phrases: 7. Wild goose chase

The first use of “a wild goose chase” is referenced in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (1592) whereby Romeo is keen to embark on a somewhat hopeless quest. We all know how that one ended.

The literal meaning that we infer from the phase today remains the same, however, its origin is more commonly thought to derive from the fact that wild geese are rather difficult to catch.

Yet there is an earlier, more technical meaning behind this phrase which refers to horse racing rather than the hunting of wild geese. A 'wild goose chase' was a chase in which horses followed a lead horse at a set distance, mimicking wild geese flying in formation. This use of the phrase became popularised 10 years after Shakespeare kicked the bucket.

Although the respected man is now gone his name and this tribute post shall live on forever. You can read about the origins of some other popular English sayings in the first series of this post linked below.

• Historical truths behind English sayings I

** More Quite Interesting Histories **

THE NUMBER 13: A few 13-related superstitions

MOST cultures have superstitions centered on the number 13 which can be traced right back to those ancient Greeks. They did, however, agree that fear of the number 13 is an irrational fear, calling it triskaidekaphobia [triss-ka-deck-ah-phobia]. Nonetheless the idea that the number 13 was somehow bad quickly spread. The Greeks' traditional rivals, the Turks, have virtually removed 13 from their vocabulary.

Here are a few 13-related superstitions:

• Several tall office buildings do not have a 13th floor. Next time you’re in a tall building check whether or not your life is in danger by seeing if the elevator has a button for a 13th floor.
• Beware of Christening your children with 13 letter names. Some believe that people with such cursed names live notoriously bad or evil lives.
  Examples: Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson.
• Sportsmen are notoriously superstitious and many teams avoid using the number 13 in their squads or teams. I’ll admit it’s never fun being the 13th man in a sports team.
• One superstition is that if 13 people sit down to dinner together all of them will die within the year. One form of this legend dates back to the Norse god of mischief - Loki. The saga tells of Loki gate-crashing a party - bringing the number of guests to 13. To cut a long saga short, Balder the good was killed, and for this reason several Norwegians still believe that 13 at a dinner party is bad luck.
• There are 13 loaves of bread in a baker’s dozen. The extra loaf (presumably the runt of the litter) was baked as a special bribe for the devil not to spoil the batch of loaves.
• The number 13 plagued biblical times too. The book of Luke (chapter 22) tells us that there were 13 present at the Last Supper. There is also evidence that this Last Supper was held on a Friday, and is of course when Judas Iscariot threw a bread-loaf at Jesus.
• Some people (possibly Christian fanatics) are so afraid of Friday the 13th that they refuse to get out of bed or go to work on the cursed day. A study in the British Medical Journal in 1993 looked into the relationship between driving and road accidents in the UK on two separate Fridays: the 6th and the 13th.

The study was carried out over a period of a few years, and eventually concluded that:

"Friday the 13th is unlucky for some. The risk of hospital admission as a result of a transport accident may be increased by as much as 52 percent. Staying at home is recommended."

Friday the 13th Dates:

In 1998 Friday the 13^th appeared three times on the calendar, in February, March and November. This occurred again in 2009 during the months of February, March and November. (There are usually two days of doom in a year). While occasionally we survive a year that has only one Friday the 13^th, it is impossible for a year to pass without any death days ever occurring.

So lock yourselves away, call in sick, avoid any tall buildings and dodgy people with 13 letter names, and cancel any dinner party plans in case the number 13 gets YOU! You have been warned.

** More Quite Interesting Histories **

ENGLISH: The history and origin of some popular English sayings

Do you ever use sayings such as “saved by the bell” or hear your grandmother squawk something like, “Heavens, it raining cats and dogs outside!” A lot of people still do yet have no idea where such phrases originate from.

I got a little history lesson the other day which explained the dark truth behind some of these popular figures of speech. I thought I’d share them with those of you who are interested in the English language. Slip them into conversation next time you’re at the pub, or tell granny what she’s actually referring to.

OLD ENGLISH SAYINGS: DID YOU KNOW…

Old English sayings: 1. Why brides carry a bouquet at weddings:

England back in the day was a smelly place to live. Most people only bathed once a year (usually in May). Thus most people got married in June because their BO (body odour) wasn’t too bad one month down the line. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide any stench.

Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Old English sayings: 2. “Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater!”

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had first dibs on the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last to be bathed were the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it.

Hence the saying, "don't throw the baby out with the bath water."

Old English sayings: 3. “The rule of thumb”

Women had it pretty tough in the old English days. Husbands were allowed to beat their wives by law for anything that they considered to be disobedient. The only condition was the phrase "rule of thumb" (derived from an old English law), which stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything thicker than your thumb.

Old English sayings: 4. “It’s raining cats and dogs”

The majority of medieval Brits lived in hovels that had thatched roofs with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip off the roof.

Hence the saying "it's raining cats and dogs."

Old English sayings: 5. Why the poor were “dirt poor”

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. Besides having bugs, animal droppings and other crap fall from the roof the floors were dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt such as thresh (straw) which was kept in place using wooden planks (hence the saying “threshold”). But for the poor it was plain dirt.

Hence the saying "dirt poor."

Old English sayings: 6. “Bringing home the bacon”

The dirt poor mostly ate vegetables that they would stew and re-stew in a large cauldron over the fire. Often leftovers would remain in the pot for days on end. However, on special days they would sometimes obtain pork, and when visitors came over they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could "bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around on their dirt floors and "chew the fat."

Old English sayings: 7. Food for thought… or possible death

• Those with a little money had plates made of pewter. Food with a high acid content caused some of the lead to leach into the food, causing lead poisoning and often death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.
• Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or "upper crust."
• Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers right out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink, or chew the fat, and wait and see if the poor sod would wake up.

Hence the custom of holding a "wake."

Old English sayings: 8. “Saved by the bell”

This is a reference to boxing and quite literally means to be saved from a beating by the bell that signals the end of a boxing round. The saying does not originate from people being buried alive. However, this was not an uncommon occurance, and several people were so afraid of this happening to them, that they took measures against it - such as by tying a bell connected to a rope around their hands. Here's how the urban myth goes:

England is small – very small relative to the huge population at the time. But the death toll was high and gravediggers started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up old coffins, take the bones to a "bone-house", and reuse the graves.

When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 were found to have scratch marks on the inside, meaning 1 in 25 people had been buried alive. To prevent this from happening they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground, and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the "graveyard shift") to listen for the bell.

Thus, any unfortunate drunks could be "saved by the bell!"

• If you know the origin of any other old English sayings please share them below and help spread a little knowledge!

Want more? See: Historical truths behind English sayings II

** More Quite Interesting Histories **