# Arcanum
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arcanum/767454
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [October 2, 2016, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arcanum/767454 "2016-10-02T09:35:04Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)
#### Post date: [October 3, 2016, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arcanum/767454/41 "2016-10-03T20:53:02Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#):
>
> The same Gregg Braden who said the world was going to end in 2012 because of the Maya calendar? That Gregg Braden?
That’s a little unfair, you’re just cherry-picking his _one_ idea that turned out to be complete and utter bollocks. How about the dramatic effect that the recent reversal of the earth’s magnetic field has had on our DNA, or the well-documented efficacy of prayer in healing outcomes?
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### Author:  [@yanceylebeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanceylebeef)
#### Post date: [October 3, 2016, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arcanum/767454/42 "2016-10-03T21:47:57Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#):
>
> What’s the frequency, **Kielmic**?
Bravo!
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### Author:  [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)
#### Post date: [October 3, 2016, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arcanum/767454/43 "2016-10-03T23:15:25Z")
> [@Kielmic](#):
>
> It’s wake up time.
> Everything is held together due to the result of a frequency. When the frequency is amplified, matter changes. The free masons have been using lower frequencies to induce fear in the people by utilizing media. Scientists found out that when we think a frequency is created and spread person to person. It’s my central thesis that vibrations are the structure of consciousness… That’s why music and tones effects us… The alchemists believed planets were gods. The human portrayal of those gods was just a depiction… Each planet has a frequency and they somehow knew this before modern technology and believed that it could have a direct influence on consciousness.
Yeah, and…?
This has been common knowledge since about 1963 (Flash Comics #123).
Any comic book fan knows that vibratory frequencies are what keep the dimensions separated. That’s how The Flash can go from Earth-One to Earth-Two; by controlling/changing his vibrational frequency.
And The Flash fought Dr. Alchemy (aka Mr. Element) AND The Pied Piper (who used music frequencies to control people). So it all fits together.
THIS IS BASIC SCIENCE, PEOPLE!
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2016, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arcanum/767454/44 "2016-10-04T06:02:11Z")
> [@Kielmic](#):
>
> Most of alchemists findings are now being proven by science, causing some scientists to return back to it.
…
> [@Kielmic](#):
>
> Well, most alchemists I’ve talked to flirted with science at one point.
This is still my favourite bit of the thread.
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### Author:  [@Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Itself)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2016, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arcanum/767454/45 "2016-10-04T06:19:59Z")
What exactly is your goal here, **Kielmic?** Do you expect people to say, “Wow, those seven YouTube videos have convinced me that ‘that vibrations are the structure of consciousness’, and the quoted bit there makes perfect sense”? Do you want to preach to the priests of scientism and bask in their disapproval, knowing that you’ll one day show them all? Do you expect people to take you seriously, then laugh at how you’ve managed to trick them?
I’m genuinely curious why this and other boards regularly have people post their crackpottery here. They’re never taken seriously (nor should they be), and it accomplishes nothing. At least with religious witnessing, the posters think they’re being commanded to go forth and teach the masses. This just seems so unrewarding for everyone involved. It’s harmless, but it doesn’t seem like fun.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2016, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arcanum/767454/46 "2016-10-04T10:09:04Z")
So, _this_ is the dawning of the age of Aquarius?
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2016, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arcanum/767454/47 "2016-10-04T11:42:34Z")
> [@Itself](#):
>
> I’m genuinely curious why this and other boards regularly have people post their crackpottery here. They’re never taken seriously (nor should they be), and it accomplishes nothing. At least with religious witnessing, the posters think they’re being commanded to go forth and teach the masses. This just seems so unrewarding for everyone involved. It’s harmless, but it doesn’t seem like fun.
There’s a reward reinforcement cycle in it. As a subscriber to crackpottery, one has an expectation that skeptics will poo-pooh it because they can’t handle (or are trying to suppress) the truth. An individual exposing their crackpottery to ridicule by skeptics can in some way perceive that ridicule as vindicating the truthiness of their views.
I’ve seen a similar thing in the context of religious witnessing, which was pithily summed up as “If I’m not offending anyone, I must be doing it wrong”
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### Author:  [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2016, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arcanum/767454/48 "2016-10-04T11:46:27Z")
> [@Mangetout](#):
>
> …An individual exposing their crackpottery to ridicule by skeptics can in some way perceive that ridicule as vindicating the truthiness of their views…
Exactly. You can’t make the [Galileo Gambit](http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Galileo_gambit) work for you if nobody’s actually ridiculing you.
And the psychological analogy with religious witnessing is apt: the greatest virtue is in witnessing to the most hostile audience. So, Mundane and Pointless as this is, it’s appropriate that this thread was sent to GD.
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### Author:  [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2016, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arcanum/767454/49 "2016-10-04T12:18:30Z")
> [@Mangetout](#):
>
> I’ve seen a similar thing in the context of religious witnessing, which was pithily summed up as “If I’m not offending anyone, I must be doing it wrong”
In Christianity, that is baked into the scripture:
[Matthew 5:11-12](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+5&version=NIV)
> [@](#):
>
> “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
The more persecution believers can provoke, the greater the blessing.
Perhaps those who witness about their pet theories here are under the same delusion.
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2016, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arcanum/767454/50 "2016-10-04T12:21:51Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#):
>
> In Christianity, that is baked into the scripture:
>
> [Matthew 5:11-12](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+5&version=NIV) The more persecution believers can provoke, the greater the blessing.
>
> Perhaps those who witness about their pet theories here are under the same delusion.
Sure. But I think there’s a Wrong Direction logical fallacy in the outplaying of this, in many cases. The Bible says you will be persecuted for witnessing, because people don’t like it (or are evil, or whatever); it doesn’t say you should try real hard to make people not like you, and by doing so, you’ll be getting it right.
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### Author:  [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2016, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arcanum/767454/51 "2016-10-04T15:23:06Z")
Ran another one off.
I blame the board’s resonant frequency; we give off bad vibes.
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