<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
</head>
<body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">
Just what got you on this track? An interesting diversion from my ordinary thoughts.
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">—mkb<br class="">
<div><br class="">
<blockquote type="cite" class="">
<div class="">On Jan 20, 2018, at 10:34 PM, Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss <<a href="mailto:peace-discuss@lists.chambana.net" class="">peace-discuss@lists.chambana.net</a>> wrote:</div>
<br class="Apple-interchange-newline">
<div class="">
<div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 24px; line-height: normal; font-family: Times; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">
<span style="font-kerning: none" class=""><b class="">Notes on Cognitive Hygiene</b></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; font-family: Times;" class="">
<span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class=""><b class="">Ron Szoke 1/20/18</b></span></p>
<div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 21px; line-height: normal;" class="">
Anticipation of Confirmation Bias </div>
<div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; color: rgb(24, 24, 24);" class="">
<span style="font-kerning: none" class="">“The human understanding is no dry light, but receives infusion from the will and affections; whence proceeds sciences which may be called "sciences as one would." For what a man had rather were true he more readily
believes. Therefore he rejects difficult things from impatience of research; sober things, because they narrow hope; the deeper things of nature, from superstition; the light of experience, from arrogance and pride; things not commonly believed, out of deference
to the opinion of the vulgar. Numberless in short are the ways, and sometimes imperceptible, in which the affections color and infect the understanding.”</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; color: rgb(24, 24, 24);" class="">
<span style="font-kerning: none" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"></span>— Francis Bacon, c. 1620, as quoted by Carl Sagan</span></div>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 19.3px; line-height: normal; font-family: Times; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">
<span style="font-kerning: none" class=""><b class="">——</b></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 19.3px; line-height: normal; font-family: Times;" class="">
<span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class=""><b class="">Apophenia
</b>(/æpo</span><span style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 19.3px; line-height: normal; font-family: "Lucida Grande"; -webkit-font-kerning: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">ʊˈ</span><span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class="">fi</span><span style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 19.3px; line-height: normal; font-family: "Lucida Grande"; -webkit-font-kerning: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">ː</span><span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class="">niə/)
is the tendency to attribute meaning to perceived connections or patterns between seemingly unrelated things.</span><span style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 16.7px; line-height: normal; vertical-align: 5px; -webkit-font-kerning: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">
</span><span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class="">Confirmation bias a variation of apophenia. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 19.3px; line-height: normal; font-family: Times; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">
<span style="font-kerning: none" class="">The term (German: <i class="">Apophänie</i>) was coined by psychiatrist Klaus Conrad in his 1958 publication on the beginning stages of schizophrenia.</span><span style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 16.7px; line-height: normal; vertical-align: 5px; -webkit-font-kerning: none;" class="">
</span><span style="font-kerning: none" class="">He defined it as "unmotivated seeing of connections [accompanied by] a specific feeling of abnormal meaningfulness".</span><span style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 16.7px; line-height: normal; vertical-align: 5px; -webkit-font-kerning: none;" class="">
</span><span style="font-kerning: none" class="">He described the early stages of delusional thought as self-referential, over-interpretations of actual sensory perceptions, as opposed to hallucinations.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 19.3px; line-height: normal; font-family: Times; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">
<span style="font-kerning: none" class="">Apophenia has come to imply a universal human tendency to seek patterns in random information, such as gambling. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 19.3px; line-height: normal; font-family: Times; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">
<span style="font-kerning: none" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"></span>— Wikipedia</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 19.3px; line-height: normal; font-family: Times; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">
<span style="font-kerning: none" class="">——</span></p>
<div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 24px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia; color: rgb(51, 102, 153);" class="">
<span style="font-kerning: none" class=""><b class="">divination (fortune telling)</b></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia; color: rgb(0, 102, 153);" class="">
<span style="font-kerning: none" class=""><i class="">An undue opinion of our own importance in the scale of creation is at the bottom of our unwarrantable notions in this respect.</i></span><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; -webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">
--Charles Mackay</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">
<span style="font-kerning: none" class="">Divination is the attempt to foretell the future or discover occult knowledge by interpreting omens or by using paranormal or supernatural powers. The list of items that have been used in divination is extraordinary.
Below are listed just a few. Many end in 'mancy', from the ancient Greek <i class="">
manteia</i> (divination), or 'scopy', from the Greek <i class="">skopein</i> (to look into, to behold). Most forms of divination rely on
<a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__skepdic.com_magicalthinking.html&d=DwMGaQ&c=OCIEmEwdEq_aNlsP4fF3gFqSN-E3mlr2t9JcDdfOZag&r=aCimAhyh5Q_G0iAEOqwu8Q&m=2YlevI6Dh0F5MZz3CTBLHQ-DxqxVm0ruJq0bkJBMfbQ&s=yL7BgEArsPftmaEDV_waBe44SnBE-ex68YSlKZ73Ylw&e=" class="">
<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; -webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(0, 102, 153);" class="">magical thinking</span></a>,
<a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__skepdic.com_apophenia.html&d=DwMGaQ&c=OCIEmEwdEq_aNlsP4fF3gFqSN-E3mlr2t9JcDdfOZag&r=aCimAhyh5Q_G0iAEOqwu8Q&m=2YlevI6Dh0F5MZz3CTBLHQ-DxqxVm0ruJq0bkJBMfbQ&s=8GCpbyyYgA7EKiKhuGUECSrAyphAEGwt4LIDigXE5O8&e=" class="">
<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; -webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204);" class="">apophenia</span></a> (finding meaning in meaningless patterns), and
<a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__skepdic.com_pareidol.html&d=DwMGaQ&c=OCIEmEwdEq_aNlsP4fF3gFqSN-E3mlr2t9JcDdfOZag&r=aCimAhyh5Q_G0iAEOqwu8Q&m=2YlevI6Dh0F5MZz3CTBLHQ-DxqxVm0ruJq0bkJBMfbQ&s=ido016KVD3lEZosMqNp_pnKH8IplVj2fZ5HSPJ1Wc3E&e=" class="">
<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; -webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(0, 102, 153);" class="">pareidolia</span></a> (seeing distinct forms in vague and random patterns).</span></div>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 19.3px; line-height: normal; font-family: Times; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">
<span style="font-kerning: none" class="">——</span></p>
<div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 24px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia; color: rgb(51, 102, 153);" class="">
<span style="font-kerning: none" class=""><b class="">magical thinking</b></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia; color: rgb(0, 102, 153);" class="">
<span style="font-kerning: none" class=""><i class="">"...magical thinking is "a fundamental dimension of a child's thinking."
</i></span><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; -webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">--Zusne and Jones</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">
<span style="font-kerning: none" class="">According to anthropologist Dr. Phillips Stevens Jr., magical thinking involves several elements, including a belief in the interconnectedness of all things through forces and powers that transcend both physical and
spiritual connections. Magical thinking invests special powers and forces in many things that are seen as symbols. According to Stevens, "the vast majority of the world's peoples ... believe that there are real connections between the symbol and its referent,
and that some real and potentially measurable power flows between them." He believes there is a neurobiological basis for this, though the specific content of any symbol is culturally determined. (Not that some symbols aren't universal, e.g., the egg, fire,
water. Not that the egg, fire, or water symbolize the same things in all cultures.)</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">
<span style="font-kerning: none" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"></span>One of the driving principles of magical thinking is the notion that things that resemble each other are causally connected in some way that defies scientific
testing (the law of similarity). Another driving principle is the belief that "things that have been either in physical contact or in spatial or temporal association with other things retain a connection after they are separated" (the law of contagion) (Frazer;
<a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.csicop.org_si_show_magical-5Fthinking-5Fin-5Fcomplementary-5Fand-5Falternative-5Fmedicine&d=DwMGaQ&c=OCIEmEwdEq_aNlsP4fF3gFqSN-E3mlr2t9JcDdfOZag&r=aCimAhyh5Q_G0iAEOqwu8Q&m=2YlevI6Dh0F5MZz3CTBLHQ-DxqxVm0ruJq0bkJBMfbQ&s=Dm6Ff3XRDwqrks5LlmkY2WsozRb01ccvNgFl0XI5OG8&e=" class="">
<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; -webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(0, 102, 153);" class="">Stevens</span></a>). Think of relics of saints that are supposed to transfer spiritual energy. Think of
<a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__skepdic.com_psychdet.html&d=DwMGaQ&c=OCIEmEwdEq_aNlsP4fF3gFqSN-E3mlr2t9JcDdfOZag&r=aCimAhyh5Q_G0iAEOqwu8Q&m=2YlevI6Dh0F5MZz3CTBLHQ-DxqxVm0ruJq0bkJBMfbQ&s=mDZIfK86Pu2BEZR-jtuZL5F6GTktEt49R65ytBpa6-o&e=" class="">
<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; -webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(0, 102, 153);" class="">psychic detectives</span></a> claiming that they can get information about a missing person by touching an object that belongs to the person
(<a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__skepdic.com_psychomet.html&d=DwMGaQ&c=OCIEmEwdEq_aNlsP4fF3gFqSN-E3mlr2t9JcDdfOZag&r=aCimAhyh5Q_G0iAEOqwu8Q&m=2YlevI6Dh0F5MZz3CTBLHQ-DxqxVm0ruJq0bkJBMfbQ&s=r1i4lqS_V4lP5oPNZu9Mcr4NIznja_7OblbTIfphM4c&e=" class=""><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; -webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(0, 102, 153);" class="">psychometry</span></a>).
Or think of the <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__skepdic.com_animalquackers.html&d=DwMGaQ&c=OCIEmEwdEq_aNlsP4fF3gFqSN-E3mlr2t9JcDdfOZag&r=aCimAhyh5Q_G0iAEOqwu8Q&m=2YlevI6Dh0F5MZz3CTBLHQ-DxqxVm0ruJq0bkJBMfbQ&s=mrhzmGwHNBnmZRH-VutRMNPylj8x0Ua2tU5EtAmYiAI&e=" class="">
<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; -webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(0, 102, 153);" class="">pet psychic</span></a> who claims she can read your dog's mind by looking at a photo of the dog. Or think of Rupert Sheldrake's
<a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__skepdic.com_morphicres.html&d=DwMGaQ&c=OCIEmEwdEq_aNlsP4fF3gFqSN-E3mlr2t9JcDdfOZag&r=aCimAhyh5Q_G0iAEOqwu8Q&m=2YlevI6Dh0F5MZz3CTBLHQ-DxqxVm0ruJq0bkJBMfbQ&s=Dw_FjGyU52w69yny2RbEhBA-YtZybBoLVYZkDlHaLwE&e=" class="">
<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; -webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(0, 102, 153);" class="">morphic resonance</span></a>. Coincidentally, Sheldrake also studies
<a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__skepdic.com_esp.html&d=DwMGaQ&c=OCIEmEwdEq_aNlsP4fF3gFqSN-E3mlr2t9JcDdfOZag&r=aCimAhyh5Q_G0iAEOqwu8Q&m=2YlevI6Dh0F5MZz3CTBLHQ-DxqxVm0ruJq0bkJBMfbQ&s=vkd144TKse0e5VTzI5AhKXdOLdUZ6BqIynZMXn_7BNg&e=" class="">
<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; -webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(0, 102, 153);" class="">psychic dogs</span></a>.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); min-height: 18px;" class="">
<span style="font-kerning: none" class=""></span><br class="">
</div>
<div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">
<span style="font-kerning: none" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"></span>— The Skeptic’s Dictionary</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); min-height: 18px;" class="">
<span style="font-kerning: none" class=""></span><br class="">
</div>
<div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">
<span style="font-kerning: none" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"></span>#<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre">
</span>#<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>#</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Times; min-height: 23px;" class="">
<span style="font-kerning: none" class=""></span><br class="">
</div>
</div>
_______________________________________________<br class="">
Peace-discuss mailing list<br class="">
<a href="mailto:Peace-discuss@lists.chambana.net" class="">Peace-discuss@lists.chambana.net</a><br class="">
https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss<br class="">
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<br class="">
</div>
</body>
</html>