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Comment by luc4sdreyer | Hacker News Reader

Of the atheist STEM postgrad degree people I know that love to talk about astrology/tarot, they usually retreat to this type to defence: it's a useful tool for introspection. Sure.

But then if I ask them to admit that believing in it is unscientific, the response is something along the lines of "well it could be true". They know there's no evidence for it, but they're probably afraid of offending close friends that actually believe.

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Many human experiences are better understood by means that are not scientific. Life is full of aesthetic, moral, spiritual, and even unanswerable questions. Science is incredible and beautiful and profound - but it's not everything.

I can't remember what TV show I heard this on, but I like it; "the true sweetness of wine is... but one flavor."

(ETA: The show was Marco Polo.)

How do you know that you're actually "understanding" these experiences and not just making up whatever confirms your preconceptions?

I guess it wouldn't matter, a lot of the human experience is dogmatic. It's not necessarily wrong to experience life through minor misunderstandings, especially ones that make life more bearable. I am a little jealous of people who believe they go to heaven for one example. The experience of their entire life may be enriched by that, whereas I gain nothing by not believing in it.

I don't mean to be factitious, but I'm gunnuh answer your question with a question.

How do you know someone loves you?

Because everyone I've ever met has been convinced certain people love them or don't, it's tremendously meaningful to their lives, and none of them used science to do it.

How do you know you aren't the person in the Chinese Room? [^1]

1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_room

This is essentially the kremlin propaganda defence.

“It’s all so complicated! Nobody could really know the truth!”

Come on.

If I were claiming that something which was knowable as a fact, wasn't, then sure.

If I'm claiming that like, tarot helped me develop a spiritual relationship with the world (this isn't the case for me personally), then no, that isn't propaganda.

I sure you can see a substantive difference in these claims.

White noise can occasionally make images seem sharper[1] or enhance perception of pure tones.[2] (Tinfoil hat on) Astrology and tarot might be doing the same thing for introspection. Confirmation bias will at least make you more sure about something, and… indeed people do these stuff to feel more sure about themselves.

[1] https://library.imaging.org/admin/apis/public/api/ist/websit..., https://www.spij.jp/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/BSPIJ24_019.p...

[2] https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/11/191112142926.h...

What is your standard of evidence for the usefulness of a particular mode of analysis?

Doomsday weapon, perhaps?

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