# Rationalists - do you give any magical thinking a break? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 15, 2016, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rationalists-do-you-give-any-magical-thinking-a-break/749073 "2016-03-15T15:20:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rationalists-do-you-give-any-magical-thinking-a-break/749073/101 "2016-03-17T00:07:19Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > That only a really stupid person believes that rosary beads transmute from base metals to gold. Really dumb shits. Morons. Clamhangers. Unable to walk and chew gum. People who need to have “hilt” and “blade” labels on their kitchen knives. Dummies. Dolts. > > I don’t know Ted Cruz, either, but I’m perfectly comfortable saying rude things about his beliefs. > What, exactly, is your point here? Just that you didn’t seem to have much of a point to make. It wasn’t like there was anybody here saying she could be right. Who was your target audience for the shit talking? ---
**Author:** ![Sampsiceramos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Sampsiceramos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampsiceramos)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rationalists-do-you-give-any-magical-thinking-a-break/749073/102 "2016-03-17T00:20:08Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Just skimming, I don’t see how Ted Cruz or Holocaust denial has fuckall to do with magical or woo thinking. Can’t you people help yourself arguing that shit? > > Personally, it’s only very occasionally that someone’s religious/woo beliefs insult my intelligence enough to make me annoyed. “My pastor said not to explore hypotheticals” gets under my skin a lot more than “jesus came back to save us”. Most of the time it’s a big “who cares?” since the religious beliefs are just background noise/bullshit justification for real world beliefs. If you’d gone beyond skimming you’d have seen they were quite pertinent to the issue raised in the OP - i.e the question of whether it is possible to criticize a strongly-held belief as dangerous/stupid/etc without simultaneously passing judgment on the character of the belief-holder. Holocaust denial and Ted Cruz votership were used as examples of dangerous and stupid positions in the same way that magical thinking is considered mostly the latter and sometimes the former. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rationalists-do-you-give-any-magical-thinking-a-break/749073/103 "2016-03-17T03:18:05Z")
> [@Sampsiceramos](#): > > If you’d gone beyond skimming you’d have seen they were quite pertinent to the issue raised in the OP - i.e the question of whether it is possible to criticize a strongly-held belief as dangerous/stupid/etc without simultaneously passing judgment on the character of the belief-holder. > > Holocaust denial and Ted Cruz votership were used as examples of dangerous and stupid positions in the same way that magical thinking is considered mostly the latter and sometimes the former. Bull fucking shit. The issues raised in the OP are completely innocuous silly beliefs. Equating rainbow magic to holocaust denial or even someone’s voting preference is utterly disgusting. You should be ashamed for even suggesting it. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rationalists-do-you-give-any-magical-thinking-a-break/749073/104 "2016-03-17T03:39:59Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Don’t overlook the possibility (I’ll put it down as a fact) that we actually are superior. Seems unlikely. ---
**Author:** ![Sampsiceramos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Sampsiceramos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampsiceramos)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rationalists-do-you-give-any-magical-thinking-a-break/749073/105 "2016-03-17T04:03:41Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Bull fucking shit. The issues raised in the OP are completely innocuous silly beliefs. Equating rainbow magic to holocaust denial or even someone’s voting preference is utterly disgusting. You should be ashamed for even suggesting it. When were they ever equated? They were discussed as similar concepts - nobody ever made the insane accusation that Holocaust denial was somehow equatable in gravity to believing in transmutation, and _you_ are the one who should be ashamed for rushing to outrage rather than reading the thread and understanding what has in fact been posted. It was used strictly to elucidate how, similar to holding an opinion that is foolish does not necessarily make one a fool, the presence of extenuating circumstances may explain why people who hold otherwise repugnant opinions or make otherwise bizarre choices may not necessarily be repugnant or off their rocker on the whole. It was used expressly to show how the character of an actor/believer can be distinct from the character of the action/belief in question. _Never_ was it so much as remotely suggested that the actions and beliefs in question were somehow being compared to each other. I struggle to see how what I posted (given that the anecdote about Holocaust denial originates with me) could possibly be interpreted as anything else, save actively looking for something to be outraged about. The notion that someone would suggest in anything other than tasteless jest that Holocaust denial and a bit of effectively harmless magical thinking could somehow ever be conflated is absurd to the point of revolting on its face. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rationalists-do-you-give-any-magical-thinking-a-break/749073/106 "2016-03-17T04:07:54Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Isn’t that special? Nope. Remarkably commonplace. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rationalists-do-you-give-any-magical-thinking-a-break/749073.md?page=5)