My husband and I was on a shopping excursion the other day, when we stopped at a traffic light and a hand hastily shoved a flyer through the window.
Thinking it just another ad for something I neither want, nor need, my first instinct was to thrust it aside, when my eye caught the following words:
Doctor Malaya will solve ALL your prblems within 48 hours. Quite useful, I thought grimly, maybe that project at work might not be such a hassle after all.
I'm telling you, if this guy can do all he claims to, I'm set for life! Not only does he guarantee lottery winnings, but promises to heal all health issues, resore any relationship issues, such as getting someone to return to you even though they've told you millions of times to sod off.
But wait, there's more!
Should I visit the esteemed doctor with the odd name at his remote plot in one of the worse areas of South Africa's East Rand-region, I am assured that I'll immediately get that promotion at work that I've been dreaming off, my inner spirit will be cleansed, black spots on my hands (whatever in hell they might be; I immediately glanced at my hands, anxiously searching for those pesky marks responsible for all my failures in life), preventing me from advancing in my life and, to top it all, should hubby suffer from any problems in the bedroom, the good doctor will take of that too in the very same session!
For some stange reason no fee was mentioned, yet I have no doubt that it would turn out to be a hefty one.
There were other things on there too, but the above irks me most. So I found myself wondering, how can one single person claim to be able to do all of that in the mere span of 48 hours? Does someone like this flake actually believe that they are capable of such feats, or is it all just a con?
It kind of worries me, for that part of the country is poverty-striken and they might grasp at anything to escape their problems.
If people such as this selfacclaimed doctor actually do believe in their own abilities, how on earth do they justify such beliefs? Where do they believe their powers to have originated from?
Just another thing; sorry to jum to another topic, but have you guys ever dealt with the subject of John Edwards? Are we dealing with someone actually communing with the dead, or someone very adept at mind reading. It puzzles me somewhat, since I believe in neither concept.
Hi Nic,
If it sounds too good to be true then it probably is, is a good maxim. Anyway, if this feller can really help people win the lottery you could ask has he helped himself?
As to John Edward, check out the thread in this section. Plenty of material there for your delectation. Think most here agree he is a cold reader who may well hot read as well.
You cannae kid a kidder kiddo!
Anyone here remember Horace Batchelor, who used to advertise on Radio Luxembourg back at the dawn of time? He claimed to have a reliable way to win on the football pools, and sold this idea to the punters*. I remember thinking the obvious question: if he can win all this money on the pools, why does he need to sell anything?Originally Posted by Dubious Dick
[* To be fair, he apparently only took a share if the stake won, but as far as I know he didn't refund any losses, so he was still onto a winner.]
Be skeptical of the things you believe are false, but be very skeptical of the things you believe are true.
[quote=Dubious Dick;53490]
If it sounds too good to be true then it probably is, is a good maxim. Anyway, if this feller can really help people win the lottery you could ask has he helped himself?
True, but I'm talking about people who are down and out, who might just want to believe all this stuff; people with a low level of education who might not stop to ask themselves these questions. And my interest remains this, is it possible that these people actually believe in their own 'abilities'?
As for Edwards, I will check it out, but I'm a little stuck; I've read about 'hot' -and 'cold'-readings before on this forum, but I admit I do not have the foggiest idea of what it refers to. Before I immerse in the Edwards-bit, could you update me a little, please?
South Africa eh?
When the country South Africa is in the midst of an AIDS epeidemic and the man in charge until laste last year supports those who deny that it's caused by HIV, think retrovrals make it worse and prescribe beetroot and vitamins, then it's hardly a suprise.
[quote=Nic;53494]
Some stuff on hot/cold reading and the like
http://www.skepdic.com/coldread.html
http://skepticwiki.org/index.php/Cold_Reading
http://skepticwiki.org/index.php/Hot_Reading
http://skepticwiki.org/index.php/Forer_Effect
skb
"I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don't know the answer" - Zaphod Beeblebrox
"This post may be edited to make it more wrong" - skb
"Ignorance is no basis for rewriting the laws of physics" - Pebble
"I am a scientist, with a beard to prove it. This makes me an authority on nothing other than the growing and maintenance of facial hair" - skb
Yip, South Africa, sad to have to admit. (I've never been very patriotic. We have a past and present to be awfully ashamed of.)
But, really, I have yet to come across anyone here who believes the beetroot and vitamins bollocks. But, now that you mention it, our own incompetent goverment might very well serve as a breeding ground for such vermin.
And, afraid its getting worse. Zimbabwe, here we come!
I've nothing agianst beetroot myself. It's good healthy nutricious food and a well balanced diet containing plenty of fruit and vegetables should be part of everybody's health regime especially anybody with a chronic illness.
Of course a healthy diet whilst good advice is really simple advice to give. What people want to hear is specifics and shortcuts. Eat this or that superfood and it will make the rest of your diet irrelevant. Or take this 5 day detox plan and it will undo all the damage of the last year.
If only it were that simple.
There's no doubt that a good diet will reap benefits. Whilst that alone is not enough to cure HIV it does have a cost effective influence on outcomes compared to expensive anti retrovirals which also, to be fair, can't cure HIV infection either. However what you're comparing is a very cheap way to make someone live slightly longer as compared to a very expensive way of making someone live much much longer. Of course really you should be doing both.
HIV denialism however acts to help spread the disease. Whereas AZT can act to reduce infection rates, helping to reduce the risk of the virus being passed on to unborn children or those being breastfed; superstitious curealls lead to false confidence and can directly or indirectly lead to risky behaviours.
That Etienne de Harven has a lot to answer for.
Re: All my problems - finally solved!!!
John edwards is succinctly summarized and properly mocked in the southpark episode where edwards wins the "biggest douche in the universe" award. I would consider this to be a proper place to find all you need to know about edwards.
Do you ever get the feeling we're just really smart monkeys?
Turning up in the middle of nowhere to meet a witch doctor sounds sensible. I am sure this is how they get a steady supply of human body parts for Mutu
De omnibus dubitandum
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