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Workplace Woo

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   Now I like the people who I work with, but sometimes conversations can be a little difficult to get through. Occasionally topics steer in the directions of woo and while I would very much like to call people out on false arguments and explain that thinking positive is good but Deepak Chopra is crap, well I have to be careful with what I say so that I don’t seem like douche. I’ve still got two months left in my work placement, so I‘d rather not seem like a douche.

   When I can, I try to throw some science and skeptical thinking into the mix though. Today’s topic of conversation started off with star signs and such and I was able to mention Barnum statements. [The Barnum effect is the name given to a type of subjective validation in which a person finds personal meaning in statements that could apply to many people. Skeptdic.com] Bar one of the girls saying that sometimes you do meet people who fit their star signs perfectly, things were fine. I made some jokes about how star signs are always positive and that I’d love to see one saying something like ‘as a scorpion, you are psychopathic’ or ‘like gemini’s all over the world, you have no sense of humour whatsoever’. I’m just saying, that would be a much more interesting horoscope to read.

   Ah, but then the topic moved to psychics…

   If it were my family I would express my views on psychics plain and clear. But then my family is well aware of my skepticism. I can have strong opinions among family – I mean I mock my sister all the time about the silliness of programmes such as Ghost Hunters and how watching them is killing her brain. In comparison, the workplace requires neutrality. When it comes to topics such as psychics and religion, if you argue against them (even if you are making valid points in a calm way) people tend to get defensive and to see you as being aggressive.

   One person who had actually been to see a psychic and a palm reader said that you had to go to them with an open mind because otherwise you’d get nothing out of it. I desperately wanted to say that that is because if you already believe the psychic is going to tell you things, you’re more likely to give that information away without realising it. And if you don’t respond much to a psychic, well of course they won’t be able to tell you much – you’re blocking their cold reading techniques. But of course I couldn’t say much. I stayed on neutral ground and offered only one or two responses.

   Sometimes you gotta know when and where to keep your mouth shut – the workplace can be one of those places. If someone else starts a conversation about a woo-woo topic, I might make one or two small comments (I am entitled to an opinion after all) but I’m not going to start a fight on the matter – well not unless the other person wants a fight but that’s mainly something that happens on the internet.

   I won’t say much on the subject, but Brian Dunning did a good episode ages ago for Skeptoid called ‘How to Be a Skeptic and Still Have Friends’. If you haven’t, I recommend that you pop over and listen to it or read it. Basically, don’t argue – find common ground. I’ll make some light-hearted jokes about a topic such as psychics but other than that I’ll wait and see what other people have to say. If they bring up that they went to a psychic who was just making general statements hoping they were right, then maybe I’ll mention something more about the Barnum effect or cold reading. If they show some skepticism, I can talk about it a little. If not – well I’ll keep my mouth shut.

 - Emma



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