Skeptical Thinking for Spiritual People
Life is a Festival #67: Dr. Anna Zakrisson (Doctor Anna’s Imaginarium)
Photo by Anna Thorbjörnnsson
Is it possible to have a mystical mindset without getting lost in magical thinking? Or worse, getting hijacked by harmful fantasies?
In the chaos of coronavirus, I’ve noticed an increasing deficit of critical thinking within conscious communities. With an upswell in conspiracy theories and lack of good sensemaking on social media, I asked Dr. Anna Zakrisson of the Swedish Skeptics Association to help us think about thinking in this confusing time.
On the podcast, we discuss how to notice and own the emotional triggers that hijack our deeper thinking. We talk about how not to be manipulated by our personal mythologies (which has been a big challenge for me). We discuss how to effectively engage with people who disagree with us, and finally, how to keep the mysticism without magical thinking. Along the way we discuss groupthink, the Dunning Kruger effect, ad hominems, and a host of other impediments to critical thinking.
One thing we don’t do on the show is discuss or debunk any of the specific conspiracy theories floating around the internet right now. We leave that up to you. For further supplemental reading, I recommend reviewing Carl Sagan’s “Fine Art of Baloney Detection,” (via Brainpickings) which offers a helpful list of cognitive biases.
Dr. Zakrisson is a biologist, a green roof specialist, and a science communicator. She is a member of Föreningen Vetenskap och Folkbildning (Swedish Skeptics Association) and Gesellschaft zur wissenschaftlichen Untersuchung von Parawissenschaften - GWUP (German Skeptics Association). Her primary platform for communication is Doctor Anna’s Imaginarium, which debunks faulty science on Facebook and elsewhere.
Growth requires discomfort, so if we can sit with our triggers long enough, we may be able to unravel our own biases and possibly touch the ineffable just as it is.
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TIMESTAMPS
:10 - Proper skepticism is being willing to say “I don’t know”
:14 - Awe-inspiring experiences in the psychedelic realm vs the real world
:23 - Noticing and owning your emotional triggers, including Anna’s oily black triggers
:33 - Using H.A.L.T. to check in with yourself emotionally
:37 - It’s liberating to recognize that you were wrong
:47 - The pharmaceutical industry and the alternative medicine industry
:58 - Alternative medicine can help you feel seen and engage the placebo effect for healing, but promising unfounded cures is unethical
1:07 - If you want to know if you are being manipulated, look for the shop
1:18 - How we get tricked by our own personal mythologies and how faith and critical thinking can possibly coexist
1:25 - Create a toolbox for understanding your own biases
1:28 - Invite people into your life who trigger you and challenge your thinking
1:37 - That liberated feeling when your worldview expands
1:46 - How to create an in-group with someone who disagrees with you
1:58 - How do we keep our mysticism without magical thinking?
Graphics Designed by Andy McErlean
Theme song ““Peculiar Colors” [Manjumasi]“ by dj atish