Post #1 by MrFab » Tue Jul 15, 2014 8:31 pm
My wife and I just had a heated discussion with a neighbor boy, age 9, who while playing in the yard with our daughter, admitted he was really scared of bigfoot. We told him that bigfoot wasnt real, but he insisted. He saw a tv show! They showed videos! Look it up on the internet! He was actually getting angry with us.
Of course, we wish to set him straight, if for no other reason to to allay his fears. He really seemed genuinely frightened.
I did a search for things like ‘junior skeptic bigfoot’ but couldnt find much. A video doc from a skeptical perspective would be good, since this is a young boy, after all. If its on tv, it must be true.
Post #1 by MrFab » Tue Jul 15, 2014 8:31 pm My wife and I just had a heated discussion with a neighbor boy, age 9, who while playing in the yard with our daughter, admitted he was really scared of bigfoot. We told him that bigfoot wasnt real, but he insisted. He saw a tv show! They showed videos! Look it up on the internet! He was actually getting angry with us. Of course, we wish to set him straight, if for no other reason to to allay his fears. He really seemed genuinely frightened. I did a search for things like 'junior skeptic bigfoot' but couldnt find much. A video doc from a skeptical perspective would be good, since this is a young boy, after all. If its on tv, it must be true.Since he seems quite gullible, you could try telling him that you have it on good authority that Bigfoot only attacks people who believe he exists and stays far away from people who think he's not real. Worth a try, but he seems like a hard case. You might try teaching him some critical thinking.
One of the first big cracks in my belief system was a Nova on Easter Island. They talked about the people who lived there and built the statues and why there were so few people there now. They never mentioned aliens, I was shocked. Bigfoot is tougher since there is no real phenomenon to investigate, only hoax claims to debunk. You might want to introduce this kid to PT Barnum, who did nothing but make claims and hype them. If he starts to doubt some of PT’s claims, maybe he can apply those skills to Bigfoot.
I was just in Washington and there are lots of joke books about Bigfoot. None of them specifically debunk the claims, but they make him look stupid or silly. It could take a couple years, but eventually he would get that people make jokes about these TV shows he is watching. Sorry, I don’t have titles or authors.
These guys had a Bigfoot corner]
Haven’t found the books I’m talking about, but these look good]
Here’s one of them. Powell’s is a huge book store in Portland]
Teaching critical thinking is tricky. You can’t say, “here are some facts, what is your conclusion?” then, “No, your conclusion is wrong because it disagrees with me, you didn’t think for yourself.” A more philosophical approach, along the lines of “okay, and how do you prove that?”
Shouldn’t his parents be the ones to handle this and or decide if it is an issue that needs fixing at this time?
Why assign all education to the parents? Kids should be exposed to many points of view. I’m assuming this is healthy relationship with a neighbor and the parents are aware of it. Parents are there to set boundaries and have rules. Neighbors/mentors are often better for exploring those boundaries.
I said nothing about parents being assigned to all the child’s educational needs. And this kid has already been exposed to other ideas on the topic, obviously. What I am saying is that if there is something in this child’s mind that needs to be changed or corrected, the parents should make that call.
How about telling him that in winter bigfoot turns into Santa Claus?
Occam
I said nothing about parents being assigned to all the child's educational needs. And this kid has already been exposed to other ideas on the topic, obviously. What I am saying is that if there is something in this child's mind that needs to be changed or corrected, the parents should make that call.I know you didn't say that. You also didn't say that only this particular things should be left to the parents or why. He has been exposed to the internet, that's very different than interacting with other adults. At 9 years old, you're ready to start forming opinions and discussing them with others. I don't see anything about his mind that needs changed or corrected.
Here’s an article that might shed some light on why a child might believe Bigfoot is real.
Children exposed to religion have difficulty distinguishing fact from fiction
By Scott Kaufman
Friday, July 18, 2014 12:28 EDT
A study published in the July issue of Cognitive Science determined that children who are not exposed to religious stories are better able to tell that characters in “fantastical stories" are fictional — whereas children raised in a religious environment even “approach unfamiliar, fantastical stories flexibly."
In “Judgments About Fact and Fiction by Children From Religious and Nonreligious Backgrounds," Kathleen Corriveau, Eva Chen, and Paul Harris demonstrate that children typically have a “sensitivity to the implausible or magical elements in a narrative," and can determine whether the characters in the narrative are real or fictional by references to fantastical elements within the narrative, such as “invisible sails" or “a sword that protects you from danger every time."
However, children raised in households in which religious narratives are frequently encountered do not treat those narratives with the same skepticism. The authors believed that these children would “think of them as akin to fairy tales," judging “the events described in them as implausible or magical and conclude that the protagonists in such narratives are only pretend."
Read the rest of the article here.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/07/18/researchers-children-exposed-to-religion-have-difficulty-distinguishing-fact-from-fiction/
Fascinating. I was happy with my mother’s approach, but didn’t realize until this article the importance it had in shaping my thought processes. From the time I was two she would set me on her lap and read fairytales and similar that she checked out of the nearby library. However, she always stressed that while the stories were a lot of fun, they were all make-believe.
Occam
Fascinating. I was happy with my mother's approach, but didn't realize until this article the importance it had in shaping my thought processes. From the time I was two she would set me on her lap and read fairytales and similar that she checked out of the nearby library. However, she always stressed that while the stories were a lot of fun, they were all make-believe. OccamOne of my granddaughters who was raised as an atheist used to say when told a story about fantastical characters, even at a young age, "That's not real, is it?" So she knew there was a dividing line between reality and fantasy, but she sometimes needed reassurance as to exactly where it was. Lois
Post #1 by MrFab » Tue Jul 15, 2014 8:31 pm My wife and I just had a heated discussion with a neighbor boy, age 9, who while playing in the yard with our daughter, admitted he was really scared of bigfoot. We told him that bigfoot wasnt real, but he insisted. He saw a tv show! They showed videos! Look it up on the internet! He was actually getting angry with us. Of course, we wish to set him straight, if for no other reason to to allay his fears. He really seemed genuinely frightened. I did a search for things like 'junior skeptic bigfoot' but couldnt find much. A video doc from a skeptical perspective would be good, since this is a young boy, after all. If its on tv, it must be true.I am amazed though sadened at the shows you can see on TV that portray bigfoot, ghosts, ufo's and even gods ect. as real.
Post #1 by MrFab » Tue Jul 15, 2014 8:31 pm My wife and I just had a heated discussion with a neighbor boy, age 9, who while playing in the yard with our daughter, admitted he was really scared of bigfoot. We told him that bigfoot wasnt real, but he insisted. He saw a tv show! They showed videos! Look it up on the internet! He was actually getting angry with us. Of course, we wish to set him straight, if for no other reason to to allay his fears. He really seemed genuinely frightened. I did a search for things like 'junior skeptic bigfoot' but couldnt find much. A video doc from a skeptical perspective would be good, since this is a young boy, after all. If its on tv, it must be true.There are four threads on Bigfoot here http://forums.randi.org/forumdisplay.php?f=7 The person that wore the fake suit in the most famous footage was interviewed about it and admitted it was a hoax. There was a concern about the zipper in the back of the suit showing in the footage and you can clearly see the wrinkles in the side of the suit in the footage. There is no evidence that there ever was a Bigfoot species which had the number if individuals needed for the species to survive over time. It's amazing that this hoax lives on. I was asked by a friend to watch a show on the History channel to see what I thought of it. After wasting my time watching almost the entire program the producers quickly slipped in the fact that the evidence for the program was never documented anywhere and that is was just a story passed on from one person to another. I was not happy about wasting my time on a myth. The History Channel has sunk to new lows. It's disgusting how potentially dishonest and unfounded the basis for many productions have become as hearsay is now being used to drum up ratings. I haven't owned a TV in eight years as a result. Good luck with the Woo
Post #1 by MrFab » Tue Jul 15, 2014 8:31 pm My wife and I just had a heated discussion with a neighbor boy, age 9, who while playing in the yard with our daughter, admitted he was really scared of bigfoot. We told him that bigfoot wasnt real, but he insisted. He saw a tv show! They showed videos! Look it up on the internet! He was actually getting angry with us. Of course, we wish to set him straight, if for no other reason to to allay his fears. He really seemed genuinely frightened. I did a search for things like 'junior skeptic bigfoot' but couldnt find much. A video doc from a skeptical perspective would be good, since this is a young boy, after all. If its on tv, it must be true.There are four threads on Bigfoot here http://forums.randi.org/forumdisplay.php?f=7 The person that wore the fake suit in the most famous footage was interviewed about it and admitted it was a hoax. There was a concern about the zipper in the back of the suit showing in the footage and you can clearly see the wrinkles in the side of the suit in the footage. There is no evidence that there ever was a Bigfoot species which had the number if individuals needed for the species to survive over time. It's amazing that this hoax lives on. I was asked by a friend to watch a show on the History channel to see what I thought of it. After wasting my time watching almost the entire program the producers quickly slipped in the fact that the evidence for the program was never documented anywhere and that is was just a story passed on from one person to another. I was not happy about wasting my time on a myth. The History Channel has sunk to new lows. It's disgusting how potentially dishonest and unfounded the basis for many productions have become as hearsay is now being used to drum up ratings. I haven't owned a TV in eight years as a result. Good luck with the Woo At least the History Channel issued a disclaimer. A lot of programs on television amd elsewhere never do that and allow the easily led to think it's real. After all, even hoaxes are a part of history--as long as they are identified as hoaxes. Lois
Post #1 by MrFab » Tue Jul 15, 2014 8:31 pm My wife and I just had a heated discussion with a neighbor boy, age 9, who while playing in the yard with our daughter, admitted he was really scared of bigfoot. We told him that bigfoot wasnt real, but he insisted. He saw a tv show! They showed videos! Look it up on the internet! He was actually getting angry with us. Of course, we wish to set him straight, if for no other reason to to allay his fears. He really seemed genuinely frightened. I did a search for things like 'junior skeptic bigfoot' but couldnt find much. A video doc from a skeptical perspective would be good, since this is a young boy, after all. If its on tv, it must be true.There are four threads on Bigfoot here http://forums.randi.org/forumdisplay.php?f=7 The person that wore the fake suit in the most famous footage was interviewed about it and admitted it was a hoax. There was a concern about the zipper in the back of the suit showing in the footage and you can clearly see the wrinkles in the side of the suit in the footage. There is no evidence that there ever was a Bigfoot species which had the number if individuals needed for the species to survive over time. It's amazing that this hoax lives on. I was asked by a friend to watch a show on the History channel to see what I thought of it. After wasting my time watching almost the entire program the producers quickly slipped in the fact that the evidence for the program was never documented anywhere and that is was just a story passed on from one person to another. I was not happy about wasting my time on a myth. The History Channel has sunk to new lows. It's disgusting how potentially dishonest and unfounded the basis for many productions have become as hearsay is now being used to drum up ratings. I haven't owned a TV in eight years as a result. Good luck with the Woo Resurrecting this thread as they just had an episode on that wonderful show "America Unearthed" that showed that someone had a hair from a big foot and a skull from a Yeti (they are related, I think) and everyone knows how scientific that show is and how well researched. I work with the mentally ill and we had to calm down a client who was upset that "mermaids" might hurt him if he went to the ocean with his family. It was on cable so it has to be true. This man was really genuinely frightened.