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Thinking About Consciousness in the Meat Only a Blogpost not a Paper 8 min read The Quantum Connection I was getting pulled into the fascinating intersection of quantum mechanics and consciousness again, (it happens from time to time) and I realised, I can't articulate this stuff verbally to anyone. That's why I started typing it. It was Roger Penrose and Stuart Hameroff's proposal in their Orchestrated Objective Reduction ( Orch-OR ) theory that hounded me. They say consciousness emerges from quantum processes in microtubules—the structural frames inside our brain cells. It's quite heavy. Anyhow, those guys say consciousness occurs when probability waves (superposition: in every state it can be in at the same time) collapse after reaching the threshold inside our microtubules. This is what sparks moments of consciousness. Fair enough. Think of living things as quantum collapse interfaces, microtubules like a radio receiver—breaking down bigger waves so we can appreciat...
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Belief in Elves

Is it Irrational to Believe in The Elves, The Dwarfs, Fairies and Goblins? 

3 min read

Who might argue, that belief in The Elves is irrational? Just because there's no empirical evidence to support them doesn't mean they're not real, no? Whoever says the burden of proof sits with believers, clearly don't believe. 

Why do you need evidence for Elves? 


A cartoon elf

All sorts of clever arguments exist that focus on design of the cosmos and cause, which have been refuted by philosophers and scientists. In fact, some atheist hardliners insist that belief in Elves can do more harm than good, for example: the public might believe an ailment they have, is in fact, Elf-shot, leading them to unwisely seek an insufficient remedy from a witch, only to die, because it was brain cancer all along. 


When Our Beliefs are Unhelpful... 

Apart from The Elves, The Gnomes can also make people feel terrible with regards to our sense of self-esteem and self-worth. The Journal of Religion and Health published a paper claiming that worshipping such judgemental things will likely result with feeling shame, especially surrounding sexual practices (Rowatt, Wade C. et al. 2010).  


Benefits of the Invisible Folk

Belief in The Elves and other special folk we can't see, might be 'reasonable' according to the likes of William Lane Craig (2008) and others who hold an explanation for their own faith. Evolution of Regression, published a piece by Bull (2021), suggesting believers might be able to think in metaphorical terms, and articulate complex ideas about abstract objects. The claim still stands and is not proven. 


Why is it Always About Proof?! 

The Dwarfs, The Goblins and The Elves are great but, I can't accept them without at least seeing a smudge of the mythical in my mundane world. For example, we never see falling dragon sh*t crushing cars, only to be reported on by Mary Nightingale on The News at Ten. Evidence is quite useful. 


What Spitituality? 

In terms of psychological benefit, belief in any form of Elf can be glamoured up to look healthy; psycho-babble and new age shpeel might say all spirituality is healthy for life. However, it's only healthy, if you're not that particular theistic satanist waiting outside St. Lukes with a can of petrol and a box of matches.  

A cartoon dwarf


References

Bull, S.H (2021) I Think Stuff That Doesn't Exist is Real. In U. R Saul & D. Face (Eds.) Evolution of Regression. 

Rowatt, Wade C. et al. (2010) Beliefs about God, Peer Influence, and Risky Sexual Behavior among College Students. Journal of Religion and Health, vol. 50, no. 4, 2010, pp. 772–788.

Craig, W. L. (2008). Reasonable faith: Christian truth and apologetics (3rd ed.). Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books.


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Location: Kidderminster, UK

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