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Boy from Mars


Freethinker

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I wasn't sure which catagory to put this in. I'm not sure which direction this topic will head. But to start, there is an Article I ran across at Pravda

 

 

<center>Boy from Mars</center>

"Can you imagine, while everyone was sitting around the campfire at night, some little boy (about 7 years of age) suddenly asked everyone"s attention. Turned out, he wanted to tell them all about life on Mars, about its inhabitants and their flights to earth," shares one of the witnesses. Silence followed. It was incredible! The little boy with gigantic lively eyes was about to tell a magnificent story about the Martian civilization, about megalithic cities, their spaceships and flights to various planets, about a wonderful country Lemuria, life of which he knew in details since he happened to descend there from Mars, had friends there.

...

"Could he make this all up?"

 

"Doubtful", objected my friend". "To me this looks more like the boy was sharing his personal memories from past births. It is virtually impossible to make up such stories; one really had to know them."

 

This story is of interest on many levels.

 

1) do you accept the validity of this story?

 

2) the old USSR, now Russia (and related countries?) seem to have an obsession with para-normal issues. They tend to fall for every ESP/ alternative medicine/ psychokinetic/ pseudo-science nonsense out there. Why?

 

3) This story, published as a legitimate article in an Internationally regarded venue, is structure without the first critical inquiry. It is published as if there is no reason to even question the stories credbility. Why?

 

4) What articles, stories, assertions should be uncritically accepted? What levels of proof should be applied to what type claims?

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1- no

2- same reason the people in the u.s. believe in bigfoot, roswell and that elvis is still alive. which is probably bordom. people like stories and some stories get people thinking "what if". some find a little excitement in their day,sorta like with kids and santa.

3-only the people that published it can answer that

4- don't know exactly what you mean,accepted in what newspapers,books, school books? what claims are you thinking about here?

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good post, freethinker.

 

I would like to point out that pravda.ru is in NO WAY affilieated with the newspaper PRAVDA. It is run by a shrewd businessman and is an extremely unreliable source.

 

As for your questions:

 

1) No, this is pure fiction

 

2) That is a very interesting question. I don't think it is similar to the bigfoot issue (that is more like a folk tale gone wrong). I think it is a real cultural difference. Possible because the countries in qustion have a richer history of folklore than the US has. When these traditions encounter modern day hoaxes they spin fantastic (albeit completely implausible) tales about it. Whether they actually believe it or not is beyond me.

 

3) Like I said, this is not an internationally regarded venue. The storys valifity is not questioned because the editor doesn't care what is written as long as it brings users to his site.

 

4) I think there are arguments for accepting every kind of article, story and assertion. However, it boils down to "where". If one of our national newspapers published this story without any critical comments at all, they would lose face completely. Yet if someone wants to publish this on their homepage, that is their freedom. Lots of websites, e-zines and variations on the theme thrive with these things and that is fine by me. HOWEVER, it means that people must learn to differentiate better between what is fact and what is fiction. That is a major problem when people can just point to an article like that and say, "hey, it's published, it must be true". So a source's credibility is extremely important, and I wish they could teach that in school -. every day...

 

That's not my only opinions on this matter but it's a start...

 

Tormod

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...by the way...they list the Christian Science Monitor as one of their "Information Partners".

 

Now, the CSM *is* a reliable source (if one accepts that it has a fundamentally onesided religious worldview). Wonder if they know about this "partnership".

 

Tormod

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1) Not really; it would be fantastic if true.

 

2) It's all new to them. Under communism they wouldnt have heard of any it. Under the new style (as capitalistic as any other) this pseudo stuff can proliferate. There's money to be made. The people are not educated enough to recognise a fantastic claim because the government has been telling them what, where and when for as long as they can remember.

 

3) I didnt visit the link but i think that this is usually the case with publishing houses (tele or written) when they have a vested interest in it being true; such as they only publish/air pseudo/mystical stuff. It may be commercial suicide for them to publish it any other way, e.g. a 'world-renowed astrologer' highlighting to their audience before their major predictions that they should remember that astrology 'is just a bit of fun'.

 

4) a) None. B) The more extraordinary the claim, the more extraordinary the proof required.

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Originally posted by: geko

2) It's all new to them. Under communism they wouldnt have heard of any it. Under the new style (as capitalistic as any other) this pseudo stuff can proliferate. There's money to be made. The people are not educated enough to recognise a fantastic claim because the government has been telling them what, where and when for as long as they can remember.

 

Hm. I don't think Russians are prone to take any idea for granted - quite the opposite, I think many years of oppression has taught them otherwise. Education in Russia has been very good and I don't think you can call them uneducated. Many of the world's leading scientists come from Russia. After the downfall of the Soviet Union they have been in decline, yes, but they are still a space nation, for example. And the were the FIRST space nation!

 

That's why I think the people who read this sort of thing know it is untrue (however, they might still appreciate a good story even if they don't believe it - there is an important distinction here), and those who believe in it would do so no matter what. Much like UFO believers in the West.

 

Tormod

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I agree. I shouldnt have used the term 'not educated enough'. I should have taking more care with my words, it's insulting as well as being inaccurate like you said. My apologies.

 

But i did mean something along the lines of 'they may not be as versed in the thinking skills that allow the people of other countries to seperate fact and fiction'.

 

The fallacies of thinking for example (coincidence, dressing up something with psycho-babble, begging the question, after the fact, either-or, unexplained/inexplicable, etc.,) are quite skeptical, even scientific in their approach. I dont see (although of course i dont know) that a communistic government, such as it was in russia, allowing their people to have this much power.

 

The people are capable of this type of thinking obviously.

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Thanks Tormod for straightening me out on the source. I incorrectly assumed it was the other Pravda. There goes that bad Freethinking habit of mine again. Admitting when I am wrong and thanking the person that corrects me.

 

Part of what made me accept it as from the legit Pravda is that I have seen a number of articles over a long time span regarding Russia and the old USSR in connection to their pursuit and usually uncritical acceptance of various paranormal claims. Dowsing, "charged water", remote viewing, all that para-normal stuff.

 

I agree to what seems to be a common thread, the lack of Critical Thinking and need for it being provided in children's education.

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