I think that Feng Shui is helping our finances...am I nuts?

apprentice_tycoon

Hi John -

You are sceptical, your homepage is from a sceptical group, that's OK, you can think and discuss between yourselves whatever you want to, but is there really a need to spread this negative attitude to things that you don't agree with around with such vigour?
I can't help but get a mental image of anyone involved with a group like yours as the Harry Enfield character who was constantly butting in with 'you don't wanna do that' to anyone who he deemed to be on a path to failure, is that how it really is? Are you all on a mission to warn people of their foolishness?
I accept that thread was a discussion piece for anyone to join in with and you are very welcome to do so but you have put far more time and effort into this than anyone else, you have posted, in total 24 times, 13 of them are on this thread, your belief that this is wrong is far stronger than anyone else's belief that this works, 99% of the posters on this thread see it as harmless fun - only one person is taking this seriously - you.

When I wrote the original post I wasn't saying - 'I believe in this - do this - get rich -you'll have a have a happy life if you do what I do' - I just related my experience of having a 6 month period of unusually bad luck that came to a very definite end with a turn around of attitude in our house (which was on occasions glum to put it mildly) because 3 things came into our hands that were unexpected and free. These 3 'gifts' over a 2 day period plus taking a detached and appreciative look at our garden that was bursting with fruit and vegetables which were also free (be pedantic and tell me that I bought the seeds) showed me (and OH too) that our money wasn't just leaving our house with nothing to show for it - things came into our house too.

If I had been a religious person I would have said that our prayers had been answered, but I'm not religious and I didn't pray. If I had titled this thread 'I think that prayer has helped our finances' would you have been warning me about the slippery slope of belief in something that can't be proved?

I, rightly or wrongly linked this turnaround with the fact that I moved the plant back to where it had been immediately prior to the cash haemorrhage that we suffered. You would have noted also that the tangible good luck that I related added up to no more than a few pounds, if I was to rack my brains I could have probably thought of more so called good luck that had happened in the 2 years since I got the FS library book but at no stage did I say that we had been inundated with cash, if anything my story was about tremendous bad luck.

I don't expect there to be stories on this thread about wealth landing in peoples laps, there may be just a bit more positivity in a few of the posters lives, but yours?

John_Jackson_2

apprentice_tycoon wrote:

there really a need to spread this negative attitude to things that you don't agree with around with such vigour?

My attitude is a positive one - reject bogus ideas, and make sensible, informed decisions.

apprentice_tycoon wrote:

I can't help but get a mental image of anyone involved with a group like yours as the Harry Enfield character who was constantly butting in with 'you don't wanna do that' to anyone who he deemed to be on a path to failure, is that how it really is?

I see that you're resorting to personal insults now :rolleyes: (see: Ad Hominem).

Ok, you think Feng Shui is a bit of fun. Many on here, though, are taking it seriously. The posters in this thread may not like what I have to say, but there will be a lot more who have read the thread and will have picked up on my points. Most people give people with silly beliefs a wide berth - including bosses

Ember999 wrote:

What proof have you that Feng Shui is Bogus? Isn't the onus of proof on you as a sceptic not the thousands of people who take comfort from it?

No, you don't believe in things until they are disproven, you disbelieve in them until they can be proven. That's logic.

Take "Chi" for example. How do you know it's being deflected by mirrors or chimes? How do you know it exists?

Chi has never been shown to exist, it can't be detected, so why should any sensible person believe in it until it's disproven?

I'll leave you all to get on with your Feng Shui as I'm sure I have made my point clear.

Another thing that may help you to understand though: The Post-Hoc fallacy.

squeaky

John, you're beginning to sound like a fanatic. You clearly do feel far more strongly about IS NOT than anybody else has been about IS SO TOO.

Old Style is not the right forum for serious discussion, we already have a forum for those, so if you wish to keep on proselytising for your own brand of (not) faith then please take this discussion there.

To join the Discussion Board just Click Here

Loadsabob

You're funny John Jackson, you make me chuckle!

John_Jackson wrote:

I'm asking what value there is in accepting the bogus. That's all. What's the answer?

Well, surely you have all the answers, and a very clear picture of exactly what is bogus in life (ie: anything that can't be proved or disproved in your mind, by your own "rational" terms of reference), please, do enlighten the rest of us!

John_Jackson wrote:

My attitude is a positive one - reject bogus ideas, and make sensible, informed decisions.

Splendid. "reject" seems to me a very positive term to live by. Personally, I like to live a little more intuitively, and I also think that your "sensible, informed decisions" are subjective. For all I know, many of the "sensible" decisions you make in life, I might consider absolutely barking, and informed by what I may consider to be a totally skewed set of understandings about the world! But as long as YOU consider them to be sensible, then of course, you are absolutely right and beyond reproach. I can't prove intuition; I can't disprove it either. But I do believe in it.

John_Jackson wrote:

The posters in this thread may not like what I have to say, but there will be a lot more who have read the thread and will have picked up on my points.

Dear of you, :rolleyes: I don't think anyone really dislikes what you have to say; I think they're tickled that your posts are so largely concentrated on a subject you vehmently think is a waste of time and effort. You seem to be putting a lot of effort into the things in life you definitely don't believe in. Personally, the things I don't believe in, I let lie, they just don't impact on me. I don't actively try to reject them, because they just don't touch me.

John_Jackson wrote:

Most people give people with silly beliefs a wide berth - including bosses

Yes, because anyone with even the slightest interest in Feng Shui, is bound to put it on their CV or wear it on an arm band...I've known a lot of people to give sceptics a wide berth.

John_Jackson wrote:

No, you don't believe in things until they are disproven, you disbelieve in them until they can be proven. That's logic.

I think you'll find that's flawed logic. I don't "believe" in anything that has been proven. Those are the things I "know". The things in which we can choose to "believe" are those things on which that we cannot be sure either way. You can't believe in traffic, it's just there. I can't believe in shops, they also are just there. I guess the sceptics were kicking themselves when it tured out the world was round after all, having seen through their own sensible, logical eyes for so long that it was clearly flat. (sorry, a very obvious example).

John_Jackson wrote:

Take "Chi" for example. How do you know it's being deflected by mirrors or chimes? How do you know it exists? Chi has never been shown to exist, it can't be detected, so why should any sensible person believe in it until it's disproven?.

Splendid point; as a sensible person, I'm not going to believe in chi until it's disproven!... :T

Nobody here "knows", that's where you're confused , that's where "belief" comes in. Some people may "believe" this happens, some don't, some people may wonder whether it does, some people may think what the heck, there's no harm trying to work with it, just in case.

John_Jackson wrote:

I'll leave you all to get on with your Feng Shui as I'm sure I have made my point clear..

As mud, but thank you for taking the time and effort to try! :T

Edit: because I forgot to say anything about Feng Shui!..I am going to aquire a money plant, I was offered one my brother abandoned a long time ago, and I think it's time I gave it a home. I find this entirely sensible and logical as a) my Mum already has one and feels this one is getting too big for her. b) I think they're cute looking plants. c) I adore plants and have recently decided I need plants in my lounge. It's a very dark room, and the money tree, as a succulant, should fare well in there. I hope these reasons meet with the approval of believers and non-believers alike. I expect I will be doing something with coins, possibly a ribbon, as I feel there is no harm in doing something which may or may not assist with positive financial vibes and will inconvenience me in no way.

elona

Thank heavens john jackson did not pick up on my lighthearted remarks about a money spell.

I dread to think what a long lecture I would get.

Loadsabob

Elona, I think you have peddled rampantly irresponsible ideologies that can only lead to the the downfall and ruination not only of yourself, but all the members of this list, and probably the community at large...maybe the whole world. Now we are doomed. Your money spell may have SOUNDED harmless, but because of it, the planet no longer has a future...look what you've DONE!!!!!!!!

(is that an okay substitute for a real sceptic?!...sorry, I'm going against my better judgement by making fun of someone's non-belief-system. This is out of character for me. But it's a slow day in the office)

John_Jackson_2

Loadsabob wrote:

I guess the sceptics were kicking themselves when it tured out the world was round after all, having seen through their own sensible, logical eyes for so long that it was clearly flat. (sorry, a very obvious example).

That was quite a vacuous posting.

Out of interest, when did skeptics think the world was flat?

You don't know what a skeptic is do you?

elona

Loadsabob

Yes that was along the lines of what I was expecting from our sceptical friend.

As Oscar Wilde said " a cynic is someone who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing."

It is of course inconcievable that anyone could make a lighthearted comment - or statement in fun! Fun??????? Bah Humbug. (all the above was said tongue in cheek - as was your post which made me smile.

You missed out burning at the stake but I suppose that would be unecological , not to mention painful.;)

elona

Are we using the term "sceptic"

or the term "skeptic" as in "the amazing Randi"?

squeaky

And there was me thinking that a sceptic was a tank you kept poo in.