Proving
a Negative
Or
Is
all that we believe real ?
For
Example: Reiki
I
got into a conversation with a man one day over Reiki
healing
It was like getting into an argument with my rice crispies
Now
in point of fact, I was speaking to someone else
about
it at the time and he was rude enough
to
be eavesdropping on the conversation, when he piped up,
Unasked,
and said " that energy healing stuff is for fools ya know "
(
I am saying it politely here, which he did not )
Since
I was not about to let this rudeness or his blanket statement
pass
unchallenged, I asked why he thought that ?
He said " because I don't believe it's possible"
Again I asked him " why?"
"Everybody knows they are all fakes" he said
Again I asked him " why?"
"Because only a fool would believe it" he stated
To
make a long story short, he continued in this vein
no
matter how often I asked " why ? "
or
"have you read this study about it ?"
or
"have you seen this history about it ?" Ever try it ?
He
had read none, seen none, nor wanted to even attempt it
In
short, he had no reasons at
all really
other
than the circular argument
of
his own personal feelings of disbelief.
I told
him, " Well that's
certainly your right to disbelieve it, however
that
gives you no right to say that all the rest of us who do believe
it
works are deluded ... without proof "
I proceeded to tell him my proof
That
for untold eons, since the dawn of mankind
there
have been records of such work.
Billions
upon billions of people, who have been born, lived and died
on
this planet believe that it works. There are records and documents
recounting
how it works, since the beginnings of recorded history,
in
every language the planet has ever known.
Every
era, in every country, even during the times
when
they didn't know each other even existed, there are such works.
And
in the current day we have tools that can measure how it works,
Uncounted
studies by all manner of professionals that show it works.
I
have proved in my own personal life that it works.
All
of these works and studies are available for free in any Library
For
any who care to, to go and do the research.
That
all these reports far outweigh any few reports
by
comparison about charlatans or fakes.
And
that If they were all really fakes and " everybody"
knew
this, then the whole idea would have died out long ago
Yet
you, with no kind of proof whatsoever
Having
admittedly done no research, no experimentation,
whose
made no attempt to find out any information about it,
in
any way, yet you feel justified in calling me
and
all of those billions of people fools,
simply
by saying you don't believe it and expect it to have meaning ?
That
you and YOU alone know the truth about the matter
and
all those people past and present, myself included
are
fools who are just kidding themselves.
Or
trying to con somebody out of something,
just
because YOU say so !
Who do you think you are ! !
You
can tell I was just a bit miffed here :) What can I say
Rude
people just tick me off.. when it's topped off with rampant
ignorance
to boot, it just makes it worse !
But
I shouldn't have gotten angry, as he did no more than billions
before
him have done, for as little reason. Using the " common"
dis-belief
in a thing, that has no rational reason or " proof".
Getting
miffed at him didn't teach him
anything,
even through I have to admit it was emotionally
satisfying
for a moment, but it was a waste of energy.
But
the point is, for a great many
things,
we are challenged for our beliefs, based on nothing at all
but
another's disbelief, with no proof whatsoever.
Now
its said, that you can't prove a negative, well... that's only half right
You
can
prove why you feel a thing is not so, by your own studies
and
" prove it " so at least your stand has some validity.
But
it must be REAL proof, belief alone don't get it.
This
man, didn't have a leg to stand on, but it didn't stop him
from
trying to "correct" my delusion.
We
hear the same thing on many beliefs a lot of us hold,
energy
healing being only one.
I have
always believed that to " believe"
anything
positive or negative, there must
be
proof. To act on a belief, it must have validity.
That
when asked "why do you believe that" one should be
able
to give a cogent answer, and if you cannot
then
you have no businesses attempting to profess that you believe
or
do not believe in something, without being able to say WHY
I have
spent a life time studying the why, both within myself
for
my own thoughts and reasons and without in study and research
on
" things I believe" a process that I doubt will ever stop.
This
is an internal part of the
Pagan
way, this self introspection. Not for us blind, unproved " facts"
Or
round robbin circular arguments of , it's so because I say so.
That
argument for proof works till your about 5 years old
after
that you better be able to prove it
to
any rational thinking human being.
After
all, why should they
listen
to just you ?
We
see this even in the schools, it's how we learn,
you
all remember having to use book references
and
make footnotes on our papers in the classroom right ?
This
is " proving" a thing by referral to others that believe as you do.
Which
is where the gentleman got his "everybody" knows statement.
Using
his so called "everybody" as a referral to "authority".
But
he could offer no proof of his statements validity,
in
the classroom this would fall on its face.
You
need "real " proof for anything important,
so
we study and we seek and we learn. We become the scholar
who
seeks out truth, no matter how hard the seeking as one
reference
is not enough, numbers alone are not enough
feeling
is not enough and yes, even general consensus is not enough.
See
it held constantly, throughout time and place
and
watch even more proof be piled on top of what's known
in
each era and then maybe you have something you can " Prove"
So
when we speak, we KNOW that we speak from a stance
of
believable reality, that others throughout history have shared
that
we can also back up with major documentation if needed.
Anything
less is just an argument with your breakfast food !
or