Do you guys believe in the ‘evil eye’ or something similar?

[ImTheDoubleGreatest!]

Personally, I do. But my experiences are my own. Just wondering on what you guys’ think.

 

[Poonani Maker]

You need Apotropaion.

 

[Spaz]

Yes I do, perhaps it's my social conditioning growing up in a tribal setting and being thought as such in childhood.

But I was thought not to think in terms of a curse or bad omen as most westerners think.

I was thought to recognised it as an eye of a predator who is yearning for a kill. Or a very frightened animal whose eyes would change into a moment of madness. The same eyes could be seen in a man who is on the hunt to kill.

The evil eye to me is the eye of intent.

The curse and other mumbo jumbos related to the eye is pure nonsensical stories.

 

[The Diver]

Personally, I do. But my experiences are my own. Just wondering on what you guys’ think.

I only believe in what my 5 senses telling me , but I still have Hamsa Hand (Hand of Fatima ) on one of my wall, Hahaha

 

[wifehunter]

"Do you guys believe in the ‘evil eye’ or something similar?"

No, it's only in the movies! lolz!!!

 

[sazc]

I wear a Nazar on my right wrist. I got it in greece a few years ago, a gift from a jeweler

 

[Red Legg]

No I don't believe in such silliness,However every BPD woman I have dated is usually into witchcraft,crystals,satanism,tarot cards,you name it.

 

[backseatjuan]

Yes. It's like throwing a rock at someone. But at the same time I have some angels circling around me. When you throw rocks at angels, they tend to retoliate. You know what I'm talking about?

 

[MoreThanSmooth]

I believe in rational explanations for things. If there's no evidence in the real world for it, I don't believe it.

Hence I don't believe in the "evil eye", just like I don't believe that mermaids lure sailors to Davy Jones' Locker or that pixies exist.

Humans really need to kick the superstitious baloney, it's held us back for centuries.

 

[ImTheDoubleGreatest!]

Humans really need to kick the superstitious baloney, it's held us back for centuries.

I mean there’s things that logic can not explain. The pyramids? Superstitions explain that. Logic doesn’t lol. It should have been impossible for them to build those things back then and align them within perfect geometry of the stars.

I started this thing because I started getting a ****ty feeling one day (the day I made this thread) for absolutely no reason. For whatever reason, I thought of the evil eye or something as an explanation and said some things that supposedly stop that **** from affecting you. And it actually worked. I was actually a bit shocked in a way because of it lol. That’s why I asked about it on here.

 

[MoreThanSmooth]

I mean there’s things that logic can not explain. The pyramids? Superstitions explain that. Logic doesn’t lol. It should have been impossible for them to build those things back then and align them within perfect geometry of the stars.

I started this thing because I started getting a ****ty feeling one day (the day I made this thread) for absolutely no reason. For whatever reason, I thought of the evil eye or something as an explanation and said some things that supposedly stop that **** from affecting you. And it actually worked. I was actually a bit shocked in a way because of it lol. That’s why I asked about it on here.

1. So the pyramids: the Ancient Egyptians were a lot more sophisticated than people seem to realise. That doesn't mean "IT WAS ALIENS!!!" or "It's impossible to build the pyramids!!" like many people seem to read that as. It just means they were sophisticated.

To say "it's impossible" is known as an Argument from Incredulity. Something seems "too hard to be possible", so it's assumed to be impossible. This is bad reasoning - something being hard to do is totally different to something being impossible!

They were able to build an enormous empire out of what was essentially barren desert with a few rivers - that alone is more impressive than building some big rocky lumps. The Pharoahs had access to massive amounts of labour (basically slave labour really) and remains of large wooden cranes and machinery have been found.

Tons of labourers + basic cranes and machinery = pyramids. Just look at the awe-inspiringly enormous old cathedrals for another example of what humans can build in large numbers and with skill. People back then were just as smart as us, and much of their civilisation has been lost with time. Who's to say that the Egyptians didn't have engineering knowledge almost as good as the present day when it came to materials like limestone?

As for the star alignment: they are around 11 degrees out of alignment with Orion apparently, which in astronomy terms is a pretty massive error (in other words, far from perfect). Assuming Orion had some sort of significance to them, it's perfectly possible to build the pyramids in "reasonable" alignment with the stars like this just by basic glass instruments and the naked eye. All you'd need to do is draw the plans out on some papyrus first

2. Fair play, but to me the logical explanation to that is confirmation bias. I feel s***ty quite often, and thinking happy thoughts makes it go away over the course of an hour. Does that mean that the s***tiness is caused by "bad thoughts" and "good thoughts" heal it? No, it's just coincidence and the placebo effect. More likely the feeling was caused by a mood imbalance (dopamine lack in my brain, or depressing subconscious stresses) and it went away on it's own.

TLDR: These things can be explained perfectly logically. Superstition, conspiracy theories etc. 99% of the time actually come from basic misunderstanding of a rational phenomenon + a desire to believe in something "spooky".

If you think logic doesn't explain a problem, it's more than likely that you have simply not grasped the full logic behind the problem yet (and that's meant as a friendly comment, not an insult!). Because superstition has never explained anything better than a rational scientific investigation.

 

[ImTheDoubleGreatest!]

1. So the pyramids: the Ancient Egyptians were a lot more sophisticated than people seem to realise. That doesn't mean "IT WAS ALIENS!!!" or "It's impossible to build the pyramids!!" like many people seem to read that as. It just means they were sophisticated.

To say "it's impossible" is known as an Argument from Incredulity. Something seems "too hard to be possible", so it's assumed to be impossible. This is bad reasoning - something being hard to do is totally different to something being impossible!

They were able to build an enormous empire out of what was essentially barren desert with a few rivers - that alone is more impressive than building some big rocky lumps. The Pharoahs had access to massive amounts of labour (basically slave labour really) and remains of large wooden cranes and machinery have been found.

Tons of labourers + basic cranes and machinery = pyramids. Just look at the awe-inspiringly enormous old cathedrals for another example of what humans can build in large numbers and with skill. People back then were just as smart as us, and much of their civilisation has been lost with time. Who's to say that the Egyptians didn't have engineering knowledge almost as good as the present day when it came to materials like limestone?

As for the star alignment: they are around 11 degrees out of alignment with Orion apparently, which in astronomy terms is a pretty massive error (in other words, far from perfect). Assuming Orion had some sort of significance to them, it's perfectly possible to build the pyramids in "reasonable" alignment with the stars like this just by basic glass instruments and the naked eye. All you'd need to do is draw the plans out on some papyrus first

2. Fair play, but to me the logical explanation to that is confirmation bias. I feel s***ty quite often, and thinking happy thoughts makes it go away over the course of an hour. Does that mean that the s***tiness is caused by "bad thoughts" and "good thoughts" heal it? No, it's just coincidence and the placebo effect. More likely the feeling was caused by a mood imbalance (dopamine lack in my brain, or depressing subconscious stresses) and it went away on it's own.

TLDR: These things can be explained perfectly logically. Superstition, conspiracy theories etc. 99% of the time actually come from basic misunderstanding of a rational phenomenon + a desire to believe in something "spooky".

If you think logic doesn't explain a problem, it's more than likely that you have simply not grasped the full logic behind the problem yet (and that's meant as a friendly comment, not an insult!). Because superstition has never explained anything better than a rational scientific investigation.

I don’t feel like refuting the pyramids so aim not going to lol. But the second one was definitely not confirmation bias/placebo. I didn’t believe in it really much at all really, it’s just more like ‘eh I’m taking the trash out right now and got nothing else better to do, I might as well try it’ kinda thing. When I say that for me it went away, I’m talking within 20-30 seconds, which is approximately how long it took me to say that stuff. Way too fast for your brain to restore any sort of imbalance, even if you took drugs... Basically you’re just blowing it all off. That’s what doctors often do when babies cry for no reason. They’ll say acid reflux or gas, but they really don’t know and hate admitting that lol. Human nature I suppose. And I understand why you try to use logic to explain things better because it makes the world make sense, I do too much more than most people. But I’m saying that western culture has gotten rid of anything regarding the paranormal. Everyone used to believe in the paranormal way long ago, the east still does too and that’s including industrialized nations like China and India. But the West disregards it. Even though the Egyptians were advanced for their time (and Mesopotamians too, they even somehow had batteries back then lol) they all still believed in that stuff. Not just them but throughout most of history it existed. To me, it’s just been believed in too much for it to just be disregarded. Take no cap for example. There are no research studies stating how masturbating is bad for you or any of that. But there are far too many personal anecdotes claiming otherwise to where it may be something worth looking into. But you can’t use personal anecdotes in logic though

Just some things to consider.

 

[MoreThanSmooth]

When I say that for me it went away, I’m talking within 20-30 seconds, which is approximately how long it took me to say that stuff. Way too fast for your brain to restore any sort of imbalance, even if you took drugs... Basically you’re just blowing it all off.

I'm not blowing anything off, I'm just applying Occam's Razor. The solution with the least number of assumptions is most often the most valid. We can either postulate you had a slight biological hiccup which sorted itself out...or on the other hand an entire branch of magical supernatural superstition is correct...which we have no other sensible evidence for at all (besides, as you say, anecdotes...which is essentially people making s**t up, lol).

I'm a Chemist by trade, I mostly do inorganic chemistry rather than organic chemistry or neurochemistry but I imagine even a minute change in chemical output of your brain can change your mood quite a lot. I was given a steroid-based nose spray once, and one sniff made me go psycho for like 15 minutes....really irrationally aggressive and angry. I think I must be allergic, so I've since avoided any of those sorts of treatments! But it's perfectly plausible for a small chemical change in your brain to make a big difference.

Think about when you laugh and feel immediately better afterwards. That's just a small change in endorphins.

One of the core tenets of science and rationality is to know the limits of your present knowledge. A good scientist never "assumes" and never assumes he knows more than he actually does. The doctors you reference just making up answers to why a baby's crying are not good examples of rational thought...frankly medicinal doctors tend to be rather c*cky individuals in my experience. They learn from a textbook and often just assume that knowledge is always correct, rather than deducing from the case in front of them.

Everyone used to believe in the paranormal way long ago, the east still does too and that’s including industrialized nations like China and India. But the West disregards it.

Here's some examples of old superstitions that the West has since disregarded (or mostly disregarded):

- Ancient tribes would shout at the moon until it disappeared and believed their shouting was causing it.
- The Aztecs believed cutting people's chests open and yanking their hearts out would give them a good harvest.
- 5000 years ago, we believed that the best way to cure headaches was to sing songs and drill into your brain with a sharp rock.
- Sailors used to avoid crossing the open ocean for fear of sea krakens and mermaids.
- Chinese medicine believes that drinking tiger blood makes you better in bed. (It doesn't).
- People who "talked in tongues" were possessed by the Devil and were burned at the stake (even though they just had a speech impediment).

All of these beliefs are completely nonsensical in reality, and they were all started by people making assumptions and talking s**t. This s**t-talking gets turned into more and more dramatic stories over years by people who have no idea what they're talking about and eventually you get a superstition or urban legend.

People believe the s**t they're spouting and it becomes magic.

The age of a belief or superstition does not give it validity just because it's old, it just means people have been talking total s**t for longer!

Rational scientific thought on the other hand has accomplished:

- Exploration of the world
- Metalworking
- The internet
- Computers
- Rocketry
- Cars
- Plastics, oil, working medicine, clothing, insulation, audio devices, glassblowing, mining, mass production...I'll stop now lol.

Look at the two lists. Does drinking tiger p*ss, believing in curses or shouting at the moon explain or do anything that science so far can't? Absolutely not. Those things actually hindered our development as a species. There's my point

 

[ImTheDoubleGreatest!]

I'm a Chemist by trade, I mostly do inorganic chemistry rather than organic chemistry or neurochemistry but I imagine even a minute change in chemical output of your brain can change your mood quite a lot.

Only in the sense of say an electrical storm type of thing, i.e a seizure. But I’m here typing this lol.

frankly medicinal doctors tend to be rather c*cky individuals in my experience. They learn from a textbook and often just assume that knowledge is always correct, rather than deducing from the case in front of them.

Yeah that’s true. They know school. They don’t know people. They don’t ‘like’ helping people either. They know things but that’s about it. And they just *know* them too, they don’t actually *understand* them. It’s not even their fault too, the whole education system ****s your brain up especially in that feild.

- Ancient tribes would shout at the moon until it disappeared and believed their shouting was causing it.
- The Aztecs believed cutting people's chests open and yanking their hearts out would give them a good harvest.
- 5000 years ago, we believed that the best way to cure headaches was to sing songs and drill into your brain with a sharp rock.
- Sailors used to avoid crossing the open ocean for fear of sea krakens and mermaids.
- Chinese medicine believes that drinking tiger blood makes you better in bed. (It doesn't).
- People who "talked in tongues" were possessed by the Devil and were burned at the stake (even though they just had a speech impediment).

All of these beliefs are completely nonsensical in reality, and they were all started by people making assumptions and talking s**t. This s**t-talking gets turned into more and more dramatic stories over years by people who have no idea what they're talking about and eventually you get a superstition or urban legend.

People believe the s**t they're spouting and it becomes magic.

The age of a belief or superstition does not give it validity just because it's old, it just means people have been talking total s**t for longer!

This is where you are failing to understand my point. That stuff is all baloney, least I think so. But the reason WHY they do those things may be because of something else. That there could be things to give good harvest, or that there actually are giant ****ing monsters in the ocean (giant squid, other **** we just haven’t seen before). Drinking certain things could cure ailments. Etc etc. I’m not focused on specific examples. I’m focused on the broader spectrum as a whole, the WHY part rather than the DO part. And those areas are unexplored by science.

 

[MoreThanSmooth]

Yeah that’s true. They know school. They don’t know people. They don’t ‘like’ helping people either. They know things but that’s about it. And they just *know* them too, they don’t actually *understand* them. It’s not even their fault too, the whole education system ****s your brain up especially in that feild.

I went to see the doc about 3 years ago and I was shaking, pale and feverish. I could barely talk. He was a rotund man who stared at me from below the rims of his glasses, down his nose, and asked me to give a complete description of my symptoms.

I did, and it took about 10 minutes. He smacked his lips. "Hm. There may well be something up with you."

No s**t Sherlock! Jeez, what a genius. Definitely deserving of his fat pay cheque...lol.

This is where you are failing to understand my point. That stuff is all baloney, least I think so. But the reason WHY they do those things may be because of something else. That there could be things to give good harvest, or that there actually are giant ****ing monsters in the ocean (giant squid, other **** we just haven’t seen before). Drinking certain things could cure ailments. Etc etc. I’m not focused on specific examples. I’m focused on the broader spectrum as a whole, the WHY part rather than the DO part. And those areas are unexplored by science.

Well quite the contrary...science is exactly what HAS explored those areas for centuries!

Why do we even know the giant squid exists? Because someone built a freaking submarine out of steel, went down and saw one. Not because they smoked a pipe at the pub and started shouting about a kraken.

The anti-malaria medication Quinine was first derived from a type of bark of the Cinchona tree after folk lore described it had healing and anti-malarial properties. It was scientific observation and the application of logic that progressed us from crudely eating lumps of bark to being able to make tablets of concentrated medicine without any poisonous cr*p in it.

The difference you're referencing is the difference between lore and superstition. Lore is of practical value - things like what plants are safe to eat, ancient bushcrafting techniques etc.

Superstition on the other hand is the idle braying of ignorant folk. While you say here you realise the superstition examples I listed are ridiculous, that's with the benefit of educated hindsight. Were you to live 200 years ago and apply the same unguarded approach to the "evil eye" you took previously to whether mermaids exist, you'd probably come to the conclusion that mermaids exist.

If you want to investigate if there's any truth to old superstitions, you do so through scientific investigation. That leads to discovery of truth and breakthroughs in knowledge. If you simply wade in out of interest in the superstition itself with no mind for the "specifics" (as you call them), you'll most probably simply end up a superstitious person that believes claptrap people parrot.

Anyway sorry, don't mean to sound like a lecture here. It's a good chat! I just think people don't think enough about what science actually is, or what "superstition" actually is. Many, many people these days don't understand how to analyse evidence sensibly (not saying you're one by any means).

 

[ImTheDoubleGreatest!]

The difference you're referencing is the difference between lore and superstition. Lore is of practical value - things like what plants are safe to eat, ancient bushcrafting techniques etc.

Yeah you’re right. Lore is a better term for it. I’m not really into the paranoid superstitious stuff tbh, just the ‘legends’ behind it or something, idk how to really word it.

Superstition on the other hand is the idle braying of ignorant folk. While you say here you realise the superstition examples I listed are ridiculous, that's with the benefit of educated hindsight. Were you to live 200 years ago and apply the same unguarded approach to the "evil eye" you took previously to whether mermaids exist, you'd probably come to the conclusion that mermaids exist.

We all would really, but I mean if I had the mindset that I have now, I would question everything. That is, I use reason for most things and my intuition in conjunction with how the person telling me this stuff is to deduce what I’m trying to find out or what a possible explanation is.

If you want to investigate if there's any truth to old superstitions, you do so through scientific investigation. That leads to discovery of truth and breakthroughs in knowledge. If you simply wade in out of interest in the superstition itself with no mind for the "specifics" (as you call them), you'll most probably simply end up a superstitious person that believes claptrap people parrot.

Anyway sorry, don't mean to sound like a lecture here. It's a good chat! I just think people don't think enough about what science actually is, or what "superstition" actually is. Many, many people these days don't understand how to analyse evidence sensibly (not saying you're one by any means).

No it’s all good my man. Like I said, it was just that one even that happened to me last week that got me really thinking. I know myself VERY well, much better than most psychologists could ever know themselves even. I can tell how healthy my nervous system is, what foods to eat for the best health or if it’s even better to go hungry than to eat unhealthy foods, I can raise my test levels at will (no proof for that because I can’t spend several hundred dollars for blood tests but I get all the symptoms of steroid use when I do), I know that certain tendencies that I had/have are because of certain things that happened long ago, or that I’m afraid of heights because of one incident I had with flying off the swing set when I was 4 lol, but something like that had no reason for it. There was no reasoning before or after or any sort of time around it. It has nothing to do with unconscious childhood memories playing in the background or hunger or whatever. It was never like me and that feeling was not something I ever feel even back when I was a ***** really. That’s why I said there’s no logical explanation for it. It was not me. I know I sound like a ****ing lunatic right now lol but I have almost mastered myself and I can’t find why I felt like that. It’s one of those nofap type of things though where others have had the same experience beridding some evil eye thing saying what I said or something related so idk. Anyway, good chat with you my dude. I wish all debates regarding sensitive topics can go without getting super heated