As an educator I always had to be on my toes, not only to prevent undesirable behavior, but also to be aware of something much more elusive. Teachers are always on the lookout for something called a "teachable moment". They are tricky because they don't appear in your lesson plans, you have no idea where they will come from or when, and they may not even be on topic. Even trickier, you usually have a limited amount of time in which to take maximum advantage. Very often, the next thing you say determines whether or not you let that teachable moment slip by.
I was fortunate enough to capture one with my son just the other day. My father-in-law believes in all kinds of woo, and after talking with him my 9 year old son came to me very excited, his head full of stories about reincarnation, past life regression through hypnosis, and the possibility that after I die I'll come back as his child. Well, you can imagine how I felt. I opened my mouth, fully intending to say "Your grandfather has fed you a load of crap", when it hit me: this was a teachable moment. Instead of declaring those concepts bunk and leaving it at that, we had ourselves a dialogue.
Me: If people have lived before, why don't they know it?
Son: Grandpa says they can't remember.
Me: Well if they can't remember, how does Grandpa know?
Son: He heard it somewhere.
Me: Where did he hear it from?
Son: *shrug* I don't know.
Me: Well I do. He heard it on a radio show where they talk about a lot of unusual ideas. {I gave him a sample of topics you might hear on Coast to Coast} Now you have to ask yourself, is that a reliable source? {then followed definitions of "reliable" and "source} Ok, now, would you believe me if I told you there is a species of lizard in Texas that can shoot blood out of its eyes?
I must admit to a bit of fortuitous chicanery here. I didn't know of the existence of such a creature myself until just the night before, when I happened to see a Smithsonian program on TV. I knew my son wouldn't believe a word of it, which is what I was counting on. After all, the lesson was in critical thinking, not that fantastical things aren't true. We did an online search, selected a website, and read about the Texas horned lizard. (It eats a particular type of ant which contains a toxin that the lizard absorbs into its blood, making it very distasteful to predators. By squirting out a sample as an appetizer, the lizard can avoid becoming the main course. Gross, but effective.) Before letting him walk away with the information, I asked him if this was a reliable source. What website was it? Animal Planet. Do they know what they're talking about? Most likely. To seal the deal we went on YouTube and found some footage of the critter in action. When he left to go talk excitedly to my wife, it was not about reincarnation but about blood-spitting reptiles.
I'm aware there are some flaws in my approach. I would have done things much differently and more thoroughly if I were speaking with a teenager or adult instead of a 9 year old child. But considering my audience and the fact that I'm very knowledgeable about his temperament and attention span, you'll have to trust that I handled it as best I could.
So there you have it. A mild debunking, an exercise in critical thinking, and some zoology thrown in for good measure, completely off the cuff. And it all started with the mention of some topics I'd generally rather not have mentioned. Keep an eye out for those teachable moments. They can be quite valuable.
Way to encourage skepticism. written by ThePixelMines,
July 29, 2010
I'm going to use this blood squirting lizard someday.
I never quite know how to handle these situations either. My son came home from his (what I though to be secular) preschool telling me all about how angels followed us around and take care of us. Sure enough, his teacher had been filling his head up with this stuff. Our conversation was similar, "If there are angels why can't we see them? If you teacher can't see them, how does she know." It was rough with a four-year-old. The good news is that he's growing up into quite the skeptic.
Thanks for the story and interesting lizard. I'm encouraged to hear stories of woo-defense from other parents.
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... written by Trez,
July 29, 2010
Just hope he doesn't come back next time saying "When I die, I want to be re-incarnated as that blood-spitting lizard"
Im presently having a debate with someone on Homeopathy and I'm trying to take a similar stance, i.e. Him - "Homeopathy works, and its not just placebo. We just don't have the understanding to create a measuring system to show that it works" Me - "If we don't have any way to measure that it works as anything other than a placebo, then how do you know that it works?" Him - "Its all about energies" Me - "I give up"
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... written by OldProf,
July 29, 2010
I have, through methods such as this, turned my daughter (25) and eldest son (14) into skeptics. I hope that the mob doesn't burn them.
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... written by Ixion,
July 29, 2010
Great Article! Growing up in Texas, I have had the fortune to catch many "horny toads" as a child. The squirting of blood out of their eyes is disconcerting and made me drop the lizard on occassion, which the poor creature rightfully took advantage of to make a getaway.
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... written by DKrap,
July 29, 2010
I am continuously working with my daughter (now 12) about these kinds of issues, including commercials on TV! Many commercials may not be complete "woo" but they come close. However, there is one we occasionally see about the "iRenew" bracelet. I've had to explain to her that there is no scientific proof that this bracelet does anything but lighten your wallet. Using product commercials of dubious accuracy has helped me talk to my daughter about the more pronounced "woo" in that she knows people exaggerate claims about products, that it is not a big stretch that they exaggerate about ghosts, reincarnation and other matters of "woo."
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... written by Zoroaster,
July 29, 2010
I don't have any children but I was one once. I like the story of the teachable moment and I agree that critical thinking should be taught in opportunities like this. I would say, though, that parents shouldn't be overly dismayed by children with whimsical, fantastic beliefs and "overactive" imaginations. It is part of being a child. The concept of "suspension of disbelief" is important for both the parents and children to understand for the purposes of entertainment and play.
And once your child has the tools to figure things out for themselves, I think it's important to back off and let them do that. Then you'll see the even more rewarding self-teaching moments.
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Reincarnation evidence written by Hubbardianen,
August 02, 2010
Michael (and all other skeptics),
Have you seen these videos regarding reincarnation?
From a scientific point of view I find it hard to neglect these stories, the facts, the external evidence (checking locations, names, names of boats etc), internal evidence (memory pictures of said things) etc.
What do you think of the evidence?
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Memory... written by Hubbardianen,
August 02, 2010
One more question:
Do you have memories from when you were 0-2 years old? If not, is it so strange you don't remember your past life?
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... written by Hubbardianen,
August 06, 2010
The conversation would have been something like this with me:
You: If people have lived before, why don't they know it?
Me: Because they can't remember.
You: Well if they can't remember, how do you know?
Me: Well, there are some people who remember, but most people don't remember. There are numerous instances of internal memory pictures (from past life regressions, scientology auditing etc) of locations, names, incidents, pain etc that have been verified with external evidence in the form of documents, photographs, diaries, medical journals etc. There was also a psychiatrist called Ian Stevenson who researched thousands of cases of reincarnation. Usually the memories are strongest in some children up to about four to five years of age before the memories begin to deteriorate. Even the famous Carl Sagan looked at Stevensons work and found it very intriguing, but he could't found a rational explanation. What was it that "passed over" from life to life?
The answer to that question is the beingness, the individual himself with no location in matter, space or time but with the ability to postulate. The spirit. Since the spirit cannot be measured in any way most scientists disregard it as woo-woo. How can you scientifically prove something with no location in space or time, with no mass, no wavelength, no nothing?
Then you have the near-death experiences where many people report being outside of their body which also is an indication that the spirit (you) leaves the body at death. If those experiences are hallucinations, how come most people hallucinate about the same thing: Being outside of the body? Wouldn't the hallucinations, like dreams, be much more individual? The AWARE project run by Sam Parnia will be presented next year where near-death-experiences have been studied in a more scientific way. Pictures have been put up far above hospital beds to test if the patients during an NDE can see the pictures, that is, if some sort of "spirit" leaves the body.
The above circumstances point toward the fact that there probably are such concepts as reincarnation and spirit, however "magic" or "woo-woo" it might sound. I welcome more research on the subject.
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a bone for the troll... written by keeyop,
January 02, 2011
5 months later, a followup for posterity; Hubb [may I call you that? good.], it was really cute how in the face of deafening silence, you decided to carry on the conversation WITH YOURSELF. I mean it. Honestly endearing. Sad, but endearing.
You seem to be anwering your own questions in more ways than you realize: "How can you scientifically prove something with no location, mass,.. nothing?" Bingo. Basically you're asking how can proof exist for something nonexistant. EUREKA, it can't! Science!
Moving backward, you note Sagan's "intrigue" in Steven's work. Sagan was critical of believers in reincarnation, and called the experimental support "dubious". He was willing to look at the unknown, but unwilling to "put the cart before the horse" and jump to conclusions. This seems to be your [and indeed, many others'] logical downfall.
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I never quite know how to handle these situations either. My son came home from his (what I though to be secular) preschool telling me all about how angels followed us around and take care of us. Sure enough, his teacher had been filling his head up with this stuff. Our conversation was similar, "If there are angels why can't we see them? If you teacher can't see them, how does she know." It was rough with a four-year-old. The good news is that he's growing up into quite the skeptic.
Thanks for the story and interesting lizard. I'm encouraged to hear stories of woo-defense from other parents.