That’s a good rationalist success story. You remind me of my own story with the tooth fairy: I will not relate it in detail here, as it is similar to yours, just less dramatic. At a certain point, I doubted the existence of the tooth fairy, so the next time a tooth fell out I put it under my pillow without telling anyone, and it was still there the next day. I confronted my parents, and they readily admitted the non-existence of the tooth fairy.
In fact, it went off as a perfect experiment, which kind of ruins its value as a story, at least when compared with yours. I did an experiment, got a result, and that was that. The one thing I’m still kind of bitter about is my parents’ first reaction to my confrontation of them: Rather than praising me on my discovery and correct use of the scientific method, their reaction was along the lines of “If you suspected, why didn’t you just tell us? We would have just admitted it. There was no need for that test to find proof to confront us with.”
Well, I will praise you for your discovery and correct use of the scientific method:
Good job independently discovering the scientific method, and using it correctly! Also congratulations on acquiring a true opinion and becoming less wrong.
Too bad you didn’t get positive feedback. The awaited praise for discoveries keeps scientists going. In terms of money the smart decision would have been to hide the results from parents to keep the dollars flowing in.
Oh, but the money did keep on flowing in! My parents may not have handled the situation perfectly, but they most certainly didn’t cut off the money just because I uncovered their lies. To do so would be punishing me for finding out, which was certainly not their intention.
After that point, whenever a tooth fell out, I’d just hand it to my mother and she would dig out the cash for me, without the whole ritual of putting the tooth under the pillow and having it be replaced by an imaginary being who collects teeth for some reason.
Nice, but it seems rather less satisfying not to even put it under the pillow. This leads to a larger point: you don’t have to give up the rituals of religion when you give up the doctrine!
Sorry, but I disagree. Personally, I rather dislike going through arbitrary pointless motions. The “magic” is already gone, and mindlessly trying to go through the same motions to bring it back is futile. We are better off without it.
The magic may be gone, but I believe that Toby’s point was that even if the personal power of the ritual is revealed to be nonexistent, the social power may still remain.
I don’t understand: could you explain what specifically you are claiming remains? Social power implies that it impacts other people and their actions, which I don’t think is the case in this situation.
That’s a good rationalist success story. You remind me of my own story with the tooth fairy: I will not relate it in detail here, as it is similar to yours, just less dramatic. At a certain point, I doubted the existence of the tooth fairy, so the next time a tooth fell out I put it under my pillow without telling anyone, and it was still there the next day. I confronted my parents, and they readily admitted the non-existence of the tooth fairy.
In fact, it went off as a perfect experiment, which kind of ruins its value as a story, at least when compared with yours. I did an experiment, got a result, and that was that. The one thing I’m still kind of bitter about is my parents’ first reaction to my confrontation of them: Rather than praising me on my discovery and correct use of the scientific method, their reaction was along the lines of “If you suspected, why didn’t you just tell us? We would have just admitted it. There was no need for that test to find proof to confront us with.”
Well, I will praise you for your discovery and correct use of the scientific method:
Good job independently discovering the scientific method, and using it correctly! Also congratulations on acquiring a true opinion and becoming less wrong.
Too bad you didn’t get positive feedback. The awaited praise for discoveries keeps scientists going. In terms of money the smart decision would have been to hide the results from parents to keep the dollars flowing in.
Oh, but the money did keep on flowing in! My parents may not have handled the situation perfectly, but they most certainly didn’t cut off the money just because I uncovered their lies. To do so would be punishing me for finding out, which was certainly not their intention.
After that point, whenever a tooth fell out, I’d just hand it to my mother and she would dig out the cash for me, without the whole ritual of putting the tooth under the pillow and having it be replaced by an imaginary being who collects teeth for some reason.
Nice, but it seems rather less satisfying not to even put it under the pillow. This leads to a larger point: you don’t have to give up the rituals of religion when you give up the doctrine!
Sorry, but I disagree. Personally, I rather dislike going through arbitrary pointless motions. The “magic” is already gone, and mindlessly trying to go through the same motions to bring it back is futile. We are better off without it.
If that’s what you prefer, then of course you did the right thing.
The magic may be gone, but I believe that Toby’s point was that even if the personal power of the ritual is revealed to be nonexistent, the social power may still remain.
I don’t understand: could you explain what specifically you are claiming remains? Social power implies that it impacts other people and their actions, which I don’t think is the case in this situation.