Is it weird to have an imaginary friend

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funeralxempire
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19 Feb 2024, 11:14 pm

cyberdad wrote:

funeralxempire wrote:

Debunking is only possible once someone starts to provide evidence that can be evaluated. With no evidence whatsoever it's not even possible to debunk a claim. The options are to either take it at face value or dismiss it as unsubstantiated nonsense.

Not true, a lot of debunking starts the moment somebody mentions "I saw a flying saucer"

And in those cases they're giving the claim more credibility than it ever deserved, often to the point of steelmanning the initial claim only to tear down the steel-manned version.

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cyberdad
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19 Feb 2024, 11:18 pm

funeralxempire wrote:

cyberdad wrote:

funeralxempire wrote:

Not true, a lot of debunking starts the moment somebody mentions "I saw a flying saucer"

And in those cases they're giving the claim more credibility than it ever deserved, often to the point of steelmanning the initial claim only to tear down the steel-manned version.

Not even sure what that means?

funeralxempire
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19 Feb 2024, 11:22 pm

Quote:

A steel man argument (or steelmanning) is the opposite of a straw man argument. Steelmanning is the practice of addressing the strongest form of the other person's argument, even if it is not the one they presented. Creating the strongest form of the opponent's argument may involve removing flawed assumptions that could be easily refuted or developing the strongest points which counter one's own position, as "we know our belief's real weak points". This may lead to improvements on one's own positions where they are incorrect or incomplete. Developing counters to these strongest arguments an opponent might bring results in producing an even stronger argument for one's own position.

cyberdad
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20 Feb 2024, 1:12 am

funeralxempire wrote:

This may lead to improvements on one's own positions where they are incorrect or incomplete. Developing counters to these strongest arguments an opponent might bring results in producing an even stronger argument for one's own position.

Right, so if you experience a phenomena where you are confronted with something that isn't technically supposed to exist you tell yourself "ok occam's razor, what I am look at is probably swamp gas, but...it doesn't look like swamp gas?" :Wait, what if I report I saw a flying disc that's moving from upper atmosphere to ground level in a split second, no I better not, I will be told 100% I was imagining it. Yes, putting my head in the sand seems like the most sensible thing to do.

funeralxempire
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20 Feb 2024, 1:31 am

cyberdad wrote:

funeralxempire wrote:

I wouldn't insist it must be aliens or angels until other, more plausible explanations have been ruled out.

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20 Feb 2024, 1:43 am

Just yesterday, I came into contact with a niche culture called tulpa.
Practitioners believe that tulpa are able to communicate with their hosts in ways that they believe do not stem from their own thoughts.
Frankly, it looks like a form of learned schizophrenia, although these people don't like that description.
I had half a mind to practice it, but considering it's irreversible, I gave up.

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Last edited by belijojo on 20 Feb 2024, 1:56 am, edited 1 time in total.

CockneyRebel
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20 Feb 2024, 1:50 am

I have an imaginary friend. His name is Grunt. He's a German soldier who haunts people who turn on me in their sleep.

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angelsonthemoon
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20 Apr 2024, 1:37 am

Some writers turn imaginary friends into engaging characters in stories. My characters are my friends in that they keep me company in my head.

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