To back instinct over science isn't just dumb, it's ethically suspect and downright dangerous.
Everywhere I turn, it seems, I am assaulted by "feel-pinions" – things people "feel" to be true, so believe them as facts.
Admittedly, I was the kid at school who got a ruler on the hand at the age of seven for telling Patrick Flynn that Santa Claus wasn't real. He burst into tears when I put forward the daring theory that it might not be possible for Santa to get around the world in 24 hours, and get up and down a few billion chimneys.
Fair enough, because poor Patrick was also seven, a child.
Feel-pinion farce
My partner was at a Christmas function last week chatting with a group of grown up adults smart enough to have their own businesses and jobs, when someone in the group expressed annoyance at the period pain she was experiencing.
My partner, Jayde, whose health issues I have documented here before remarked she'd had a hysterectomy at the age of 32 and is facing ongoing colonoscopies and testing for cancer genes, so, you know, everything's relative.
The period pain sufferer moonlights as a "psychic", and leaned in and said, calming hand on her arm, that Jayde was fine, there was absolutely nothing wrong with her and that genetic testing is "lies".
Lies, all lies
Now, my partner's abdomen is pin-cushioned with little scars from the multiple keyhole surgeries that have saved her life. Doctors with medical degrees developed over centuries of careful, peer-reviewed science-based trial and error discovered things inside her that might kill her, so they took them out.
They have suggested she may be predisposed to other cancers, so over the next few months she and her whole family are going to be tested to make sure they remain safe and alive. If there's any dangers ahead, let's see them and deal with them.
But no. "Babes, I can feel you're okay. There's no need to be tested. It's all lies."
Stunned, Jayde mumbled that she'd probably stick with the science, but thanks for your input.
Danger zone
Not only is it profoundly rude and laughably stupid, it's also downright dangerous. What if my partner was brain-dead and thought, "You know what, my psychic said I'm fine so I won't bother with all the silly … science." It would be a death sentence.
To say things like this out loud, with real, life-touching consequences, should not only be called out for the mind-bending stupidity it is, it should be illegal.
I personally know a number of grown up adults who won't make a business decision without consulting someone who wears too much purple and smells of patchouli oil.
Last week another person, who is not a mental patient, I assure you, looked me in the eye and told me sternly the horrors in Syria are "Hillary Clinton's fault" and that she is apparently a serial killer being told what to do by Facebook. This was presented as hard fact.
Mysterious ways
I do know there are mysteries and wonders in the universe we are yet to discover, which do indeed seem magical. Yet, there are millions of dollars on offer to anyone who can prove any sort of paranormal phenomenon. All you need to do is lead your unicorn in the front door, or take your fairy out of your pocket, and you're a millionaire.
I was told by a staff member this year, admittedly an ex-model, that some people give off "bad energy". My opinion that maybe she just didn't get on with them very well was literally laughed at. Nope, she could actually feel the vibrations and see "dark auras". I asked her to ask her spirit guide how my ju-ju was, and, indeed, it was not good.
She wanted to make me a homeopathic calming potion, but I made the vibes even worse by suggesting it was just water with nothing else in it at all.
Believe it or not
People will wilfully believe what they want to believe, in the face of overwhelming evidence. Watch this awesome video of Jimmy Kimmel take an LA Rams player who doesn't believe in dinosaurs through a dinosaur museum with a dinosaur scientist.
All the very real bones and teeth made not one skerrick of difference to his feel-pinion.
Perhaps people choose not to use their brains properly because it's all a bit hard. It's easier to sink into the soft warm goo of your feel-pinions than fire up the intellect and think, "Hmmm, that doesn't make any sense, actually. Maybe I shouldn't believe it as a fact."
To not use the beautiful mind gifted to you by millions of years of evolution isn't just dumb, it's ethically suspect and downright dangerous.
That's what I feel, anyway.
With more than 25 years in Australian media, Phil Barker has edited NW and Woman's Day magazines, and published such titles as Vogue, GQ, Delicious, InsideOut and Donna Hay. He is owner of a creative events and activations agency and is a regular commentator on the life and style of Australian men.
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