Post by neopsychic on Jan 7, 2008 12:26:13 GMT -5
Conquering Fluff
A Rant on Fluff by NeoPsychic
Hi all, you have probably seen me on Psiworld forums a lot and have probably seen me post quite often. Well, I've written this article to understand, and better yet, rid some of the fluff that has been plaguing me recently. First if all what is fluff?
Fluff is basically anything in the psionic communities that is over exaggeration. One example would be the belief that you can fly or throw fireballs. This would especially be considered fluff if the technique to do so involved, chants, rituals, crystals, summoning, hand motions, and/or less then 20 years of training. It's impossible people, do you think I would be here if I could do that? Exactly.
Now that we understand fluff, we must decide what to do with it. Logical reasoning says toss it out the window, because fluff is false material. This brings us to our final step, how to spot fluff.
There are a few ways, most of them involve simple reasoning, as well as logic skills, while others can be a little more complex.
1. If this existed, why hasn't anyone else come forward with it?
This is for the questions and comments newbies make about lifting cars with their mind or others claiming "new" techniques with better results.
eg. Crystals double Telekinetic Power!!
2. If this were true why would we be here?
Something like this is can be used on most fluff. If psions were perfect at making psiballs, doing TK, predicting the future, or just about any other skill to the point that somebody could produce large scale and consistent results, then we would most likely not be posting things on the net.
eg. I figured out how to fly.
3. Where's the evidence?
Use this when trying to figure out if somebody's post about the science of psionics. Most research of psionics is either legit or fake. Psionic research is like looking for a theory for the universe, there are many out there that are very simple and sound good. But, the real one is something that would probably be too complex for the average Joe to understand. So, if somebody says the word "soul" and "psi", "psychic", or "spirit". In a research paper then it's most likely fake.
eg. Psi is a particle of the soul.
4. Beliefs are not valid in a scientific setting.
Just because some people might have a belief, such as psi and the soul are related, don't assume this is true. Most people won't tout their beliefs as fact, but some people do. To look for this kind of fluff you have to find the context in which it is spoken under. Some times beliefs and facts are intertwined to make a pseudo-science report. Something such as this would not be brought up by the average person, because of the semi unscientific method of mixing beliefs and results.
Sometimes the fluff around you might be a little hard to spot. This is especially true when the people back up fluffy ideas and techniques with seemingly credible people with the name of Doctor, attached to their names. I've experienced this a lot, with people who really are Doctorate level scholars. But, see it this way, just because somebody is smart doesn't mean they are sane. There are a lot of conspiracy theorists out there who seem to be credible but just don't seem to have a clear head.
So who can you trust?
You can trust those who have produced none fluff material in the past. If your on the forums and somebody is posting fluff, or fluff like material, give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that they don't know much about fluff. For people who post a lot, try to see some of the other posts they have made, just one or two would work. If some of their posts seem a little "off the wall" or fluff like then, it would be best not to listen to those people. But, people do change, especially when dealing with psionics, people mature. These people who change from the fluff posts to none fluff posts, will present them selves different. They will most likely try and provide logical and scientific explanations to the best of their abilities.
What can you do to help?
To help yourself and others eliminate the problem of fluff, you need to take necessary precautions in posting and reading material. Make sure your sources are credible, a Yale graduate degree doesn't mean anything if the person who has it isn't mentally healthy. Try to politely tell others if they have posted fluff, this might be hard to do, even I have a hard time doing so. Above all us what I have wrote above with a good dose of logic to keep everything from going off the deep end.
A Rant on Fluff by NeoPsychic
Hi all, you have probably seen me on Psiworld forums a lot and have probably seen me post quite often. Well, I've written this article to understand, and better yet, rid some of the fluff that has been plaguing me recently. First if all what is fluff?
Fluff is basically anything in the psionic communities that is over exaggeration. One example would be the belief that you can fly or throw fireballs. This would especially be considered fluff if the technique to do so involved, chants, rituals, crystals, summoning, hand motions, and/or less then 20 years of training. It's impossible people, do you think I would be here if I could do that? Exactly.
Now that we understand fluff, we must decide what to do with it. Logical reasoning says toss it out the window, because fluff is false material. This brings us to our final step, how to spot fluff.
There are a few ways, most of them involve simple reasoning, as well as logic skills, while others can be a little more complex.
1. If this existed, why hasn't anyone else come forward with it?
This is for the questions and comments newbies make about lifting cars with their mind or others claiming "new" techniques with better results.
eg. Crystals double Telekinetic Power!!
2. If this were true why would we be here?
Something like this is can be used on most fluff. If psions were perfect at making psiballs, doing TK, predicting the future, or just about any other skill to the point that somebody could produce large scale and consistent results, then we would most likely not be posting things on the net.
eg. I figured out how to fly.
3. Where's the evidence?
Use this when trying to figure out if somebody's post about the science of psionics. Most research of psionics is either legit or fake. Psionic research is like looking for a theory for the universe, there are many out there that are very simple and sound good. But, the real one is something that would probably be too complex for the average Joe to understand. So, if somebody says the word "soul" and "psi", "psychic", or "spirit". In a research paper then it's most likely fake.
eg. Psi is a particle of the soul.
4. Beliefs are not valid in a scientific setting.
Just because some people might have a belief, such as psi and the soul are related, don't assume this is true. Most people won't tout their beliefs as fact, but some people do. To look for this kind of fluff you have to find the context in which it is spoken under. Some times beliefs and facts are intertwined to make a pseudo-science report. Something such as this would not be brought up by the average person, because of the semi unscientific method of mixing beliefs and results.
Sometimes the fluff around you might be a little hard to spot. This is especially true when the people back up fluffy ideas and techniques with seemingly credible people with the name of Doctor, attached to their names. I've experienced this a lot, with people who really are Doctorate level scholars. But, see it this way, just because somebody is smart doesn't mean they are sane. There are a lot of conspiracy theorists out there who seem to be credible but just don't seem to have a clear head.
So who can you trust?
You can trust those who have produced none fluff material in the past. If your on the forums and somebody is posting fluff, or fluff like material, give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that they don't know much about fluff. For people who post a lot, try to see some of the other posts they have made, just one or two would work. If some of their posts seem a little "off the wall" or fluff like then, it would be best not to listen to those people. But, people do change, especially when dealing with psionics, people mature. These people who change from the fluff posts to none fluff posts, will present them selves different. They will most likely try and provide logical and scientific explanations to the best of their abilities.
What can you do to help?
To help yourself and others eliminate the problem of fluff, you need to take necessary precautions in posting and reading material. Make sure your sources are credible, a Yale graduate degree doesn't mean anything if the person who has it isn't mentally healthy. Try to politely tell others if they have posted fluff, this might be hard to do, even I have a hard time doing so. Above all us what I have wrote above with a good dose of logic to keep everything from going off the deep end.
.
