Sigh...where to begin. How can I describe the facility with which we are willing to delude ourselves, when the motivations are right? I saw the original airing of this Frontline special in 1993. The story and images have haunted me ever since.
Still a man hears what he wants to hear, and disregards the rest.
Paul Simon
***Here's a transcript for those with slow modems. But please, try to see the video first if you can...if only for the intriguing shock value.
ADDENDUM: I've been scouring the net for a piece about facilitated communication I read some time back; but so far, no luck. I'll try to relay it from memory as well as I can, since it displays the ridiculous lengths to which apologists for any whacky idea will go in order to rationalize inconsistencies in their worldviews.
CASE IN POINT: It was either Rosemary Crossley, the 'discoverer' of the F.C. method, or someone else high up in the chain of the movement, who actually noted the fact that the subjects often seemed to be communicating the facilitators' thoughts instead of their own. Her conclusion? AUTISTICS ARE PSYCHIC! Yes, you read it here...sigh.
ADDENDUM II: Just a link to demonstrate the lengths to which people will go to rationalize their delusions, even when they've been confronted with evidence that runs contrary to their claims. Remember, these are PROFESSIONALS! Don't try this at home!
Wow! That was one of the most shocking videos I have ever seen. I could not take my eyes off of it for the entire 54 minutes. This just goes to show how far humans will go to disregard scientific evidence if it leads to results that are contrary to something they desparately want to believe.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to my new blog, Anonymous.
ReplyDeleteAlthough my main focus here is Christian apologetics, my fundamental motive is to reveal how willing we are to 'hear what we want to hear, and disregard the rest' at the behest of our need to interpret reality according to our wish-thinking. I'm gratified the video moved you as much as it did me all those years ago (and still does today!).
Btw, they're still at it
ReplyDelete