IME you can’t really “explain” stuff to people like that. I don’t know why. It’s like MAGA people. Or Liberals for that matter. You try to suggest something that falls outside of their world view and they reject it as if you told them …I don’t know…think of anything bizarre or outlandish.,
The major question for the OP is whether
- The belief in woo-like stuff is lifelong, but now she’s discovered a firehose of it.
OR
- She’s simply always been a little credulous about everything. And has now discovered a firehouse of utter BS.
In either case turning off the firehose is essential. But how you motivate her to do that differs depending on how she got there.
As to @Beckdawrek’s scoffing.
This isn’t your grandmother’s woo. For a vast fraction of the populace, one hit is enough. This is cocaine with fentanyl in it. And the self-reinforcing nature of The Algorithm means that pretty soon your cornflakes have cocaine in them. So does your tap water. So do your eggs. When everything you consume is laced with cocaine, addiction is all but guaranteed.
The time to stop that is ideally before it even starts. But failing that, stopping it ASAP is essential for most people. This is really one of the largest public health crises our society faces.
You aren’t disagreeing with me, here, but just to amplify: it’s a lot worse than ‘just’ a public health crisis.
What’s at stake is the erosion of faith in our foundational democratic principles:
TL;DR: just scroll down to “The Seven Pillars”
Actually, maybe if you just show her the process by which they’re made?
I made some for a non-nefarious purpose, where they were not misrepresented, and they are stupid-easy to make.
My brother was a CGI tech in Hollywood in the 1990s, and I remember what his studio looked like. I can now do on my laptop in an hour what it took him a roomful of computers and all day to do in 1995. You don’t need any training-- just good reading skills, a logical mind, and an eye for detail.
You can sign up for trial versions of several free services, just be careful to cancel them before you have a payment due. You can make clips 4 - 15 seconds, and if you want, string them together seamlessly using Clipchamp, which is a free program with WIN11.
No problem with money, she spends it all at the casino.
I feel soooo much better having read that. [j/k]
I’m sorry you’re dealing with that whole situation. Sounds painful, expensive, and frustrating. But all of a piece. Falling down the woo-hole is a form of addiction. Addictive personalities gonna addict anything / everything they touch.
How are you going to ensure she doesn’t discover online gambling?
Does she have a credit card with a low limit? Does she have access to the bank accounts? I had a friend who racked up huge gambling debts online, unbeknownst to her husband until it was too late. This was over 15 years ago. It’s a lot easier to do it nowadays.
She grew up in rural Thailand. Her grandma called an airplane a steelbird and told her one day she would ride it to a far away land. Steelbird is one word, not separate. I like it. But she can calculate the value of a 15.5 gram 18K gold necklace in seconds. Right now she is taking Omega XL (green mussel oil), beet concentrate, cranberry concentrate and turmeric all because she saw ads on TV for them. I’m surprised she hasn’t turned red like Costanza.
Well, maybe the goo will cure the pain via the placebo effect. But if not, does she go to the doctor, or does she try one of the many other “cures” that FB will serve to her?
My wife has two new knees. Here pain from them would not have been cured by goo. And these things often get worse.
Not to mention what happens if she uses the same algorithm for something serious.
As we all know…arthritis and joint pain is one of these most common complaints. It can go on for years at a medium level. Better some days, worse others.
No rub of any kind can cure the aging process of joints.
Not everyone can get new knees. I’m sure you know there are limits.
You can’t take aspirin at high doses for long. Tylenol will put holes in your liver. You won’t be getting opiates for long. Yep. Yer screwed.
But your right. I see where it can lead down a bad path.
Maybe nip it in the bud pretty quickly. Just for safeties sake. Protect your cash and cards.
Sorry you’re going through this @mixdenny . My apologies if I came off scoffing at your troubles.
Voltaren cream/gel, which is now over the counter (diclofenac sodium) can help with joint discomfort from arthritic aging changes.