UFOs and Other Nonsense

Do you believe that there are UFOs flying around with aliens from other planets inside? Do you believe that some people, such as John Edward, can talk to the dead? Do you believe in the Loch Ness Monster, the Yeti, witches, and ghosts? Do you believe in psychics, fortune tellers, or the signs of the Zodiac? To most well-educated people such beliefs are indications of profound ignorance; but the truth is, the superstitious mind is actually the product of our evolution.

According to anthropologists and cognitive scientists, our brains have evolved basic forms of thinking which enable them to believe in “counterintuitive agents.” Such agents explain or solve the inescapable problems of world, including morality and death. We may find the beliefs of primitive jungle tribes to be weird, but there is some similarity between their beliefs and ours. Many of the native people of remote areas live in a world that is permeated with spirits, especially the spirits of ancestors and witches. These spirits are not always benevolent. They fly about at night and cause or cure illnesses. They enter into and depart from the bodies of living people. They require propitiation and sacrifice. Scientists hold that belief in such spirits evolved in order to help early man deal with the dangers of predators, the requirements of hunting, and the perils of life.

We may think of ourselves as modern, rational, scientifically-minded people, but the structure of our minds enables us to imagine and even believe in a host of supernatural entities which are not so different from the spirits of primitive tribes. People who are very religious are more likely to believe that we are being observed by aliens from other worlds. Carl Sagan, in his book The Demon Haunted World, noted that Christian fundamentalists accept the existence of UFO aliens but attack them as demonic. According to Sagan, they do not use the blade of scientific skepticism to doubt the existence of the aliens because “that tool, once honed, might accomplish more than just a limited heresiotomy.” In other words, skepticism about UFO aliens could encourage skepticism about other beliefs.

The credulous mind wants to believe in ETs, ghosts, Bigfoot, psychics, mediums, and fortune tellers. Such beliefs bring satisfaction that we do not live in a world governed by purely scientific principles. To the uneducated mind, a world without goblins, monsters, spirits, and demons seems cold, harsh, brutal, and without comfort.

There are, however, many shrewd people willing to take advantage of gullible people. John Edward is a con artist who uses an old magician's technique called “cold reading” to convince people that he is speaking with the dead. He starts by having his assistants mingle anonymously with the audience before the show in order to gather information. Edward then uses the information to throw out words. If the words attract the attention of someone in the audience, he uses the cold-hot approach. An affirmative or “warm” answer to a question leads to other questions likely to elicit warm responses. As the warmth of responses grows, Edward is able to sound like he has actually established connection with the dearly departed.

There are similar techniques used by clairvoyants. The Amazing Randi has exposed these hoaxes many times. Once, while he was in Russia, he showed a couple of Russian psychics a picture of a well-known handsome young American man and asked their opinion of the man. The psychics made a number of bland assertions about him, but did not identify the one essential fact about him that most Americans know. The man was Ted Bundy, the serial killer. When Randi told them who the man was, they claimed they had been tricked.

One characteristic of beliefs in aliens, demons, witches, seers, and monsters etc. is that even after they are exposed as hoaxes, people want to go on believing in them. No one has ever located the Loch Ness Monster, and one local man has admitted to faking the picture which was for so long used to claim its existence. Nevertheless, people go on believing that the monster bathes in the Loch. Similarly, even after some local farmers admitted to creating crop circles in England, people went on believing that the circles were created by UFO aliens!

What is this need to believe in the unbelievable? It stems from the same mental architecture that makes people want to believe in God. So we may ask why, if the structure of our minds leads to superstitious beliefs, doesn’t everyone share such beliefs? The answer, I surmise, is education. It is mental Ajax. Education is as useful for what it erases from as for what it adds to our knowledge. Education naturally leads to skepticism. As we learn more, we doubt more. Our parents tell us that there is a Santa Claus, but soon we learn that it is not true. We also learn that there is no Easter Bunny, no Tooth Fairy, no Superman, and no talking animals. We gradually give up the superstitions of youth. If we pursue education, we learn to doubt many other old-wives-tales. Eventually, we become skeptics who demand proof to support unreliable assertions. I am not sure that this is a good thing, but without education, we would be like primitive tribes in a demon haunted world.