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From: Greg Sandow <gsandow@prodigy.net>
Date: Wed, 23 Jun 1999 01:18:34 -0400
Fwd Date: Wed, 23 Jun 1999 23:01:26 -0400
Subject: Re: Satanic Abuse


>From: Kevin Randle <KRandle993@aol.com>
>Date: Tue, 22 Jun 1999 10:55:56 EDT
>Subject: Re: Satanic Abuse
>To: updates@globalserve.net

>On the other hand, we can point to some abductees who've seen
>their lives radically altered by tales of alien abduction. So
>what if there are a few, some, many who have deal with alien
>abduction easily or well. There are those who have not... but,
>these would be some of the dreaded anecdotes.

That's why anecdotes are treacherous. I know or have heard of
people whose lives have been hurt by heavy metal, on-line chat
rooms, and rollerblading. Should I start crusading to prove
those things are harmful? I know someone who ruined herself
financially because she was obsessed with a world-famous opera
diva, and followed the singer around the world, attending every
performance she gave. Does this mean opera is a problem?

It's tempting to think we know something because we can tell
stories that support our point of view. I can't tell you the
number of interviews I gave, articles I wrote, radio shows I
went on to participate in arguments about hiphop (or rap music,
as some people might call it). Was it dangerous? Did it cause
violence? Often the hosts of these radio shows would have an
anecdote or two. Almost never did they have any real information
about the subject; they had no idea, for instance, of how many
people were taken off the street by hiphop, how many kids formed
businesses, how many people left gang life forever.

The point of that story isn't to say that I was right, or that
the radio hosts were right. The point is to say that we can't
decide anything without real information. If you want to know
whether hiphop is good or bad, first acquaint yourself with the
entire field. Learn how it works, hear story after story, until
you can decide which kind of story really dominates. Even
better, get real, objective quantitative data.

It's the same with abductions. It's pointless to tell stories of
people hurt by believing they'd been abducted, and equally
pointless, from a scientific point of view, for me to say that
people have been helped by coming to accept that belief. I only
tell my stories to balance the other side, to say that the
stories don't all go one way. What's missing on both sides is,
again, quantitative data. How many people have been helped by
accepting that they think they've been abducted, how many have
been hurt?

Until we have solid information, we're stuck in a vacuum. And
we'll all just repeat the stories that support our own point of
view.