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UFO UpDates Mailing List

From: Tim D. Brigham <TBrigham@ksinc.net>
Date: Wed, 23 Jun 1999 23:45:18 -0500
Fwd Date: Thu, 24 Jun 1999 11:23:11 -0400
Subject: Re: Satanic Abuse


>From: Greg Sandow <gsandow@prodigy.net>
>To: UFO UpDates - Toronto <updates@globalserve.net>
>Subject: Re: Satanic Abuse
>Date: Wed, 23 Jun 1999 01:18:34 -0400

>>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.

<snips>

>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.


Hi Greg, Kevin, etc.

First, congrats again to 'Doc Kev' on his acadmemic
accomplishment. As an aside- kevin, may I ask what your
dissertation was on? Just curious if you were at all able to
bring in the UFO stuff into your work, even in an indirect
manner.

With that said...

For some time, I have had an interest in talking to people who,
at some point in the past, believed that they had been abducted
by aliens, only to later change their mind and come to the
conclusion that there was actually a different explanation for
their experience(s).

I think this issue may bring up another problem with such
anecdotes, besides the many probs Greg has pointed out so well.

Is it not a safe assumption that people who have been harmed by,
or at the very least, changed, their beliefs regarding what
happened to them would be less likely to be vocal about the
issue?

Consider someone who, for whatever period of time, came to
believe (either on their own or with the 'help' of a group or
individual) that they were abducted by aliens.

If this person should later come to the conclusion that this
idea was wrong, they may be very embarrassed to admit and
discuss that they had come to believe something which might now
sound like utter hogwash to them. And wouldn't they also be less
likely to be involved in any 'UFO/abduction' related affairs,
such as email lists like this one, organizations and
publications, etc (in short, wouldnt they be likely to say
'Screw this' and walk away from the entire business, leading to
a lack of negative anecdotes, on average)?

It reminds me of the arguments regarding Alcoholics Anonymous
and the number of addicts it has helped - that being, how do we
measure the number the folks who walk into one meeting and
_never_ come back, either because they dealt with their problems
on their own, or continued to live with them unsolved (btw, I am
not knocking AA, it has helped many people, but I don't think
anyone has an idea how many people it _failed_ to help, which is
my point).

I would guess the negative anecdotes, while not non-existent,
may be much harder to come by....then again, while what I just
said may not be an anecdote, it _is_ an admitted speculation ;-)

I know this is a somewhat seperate issue from what Kevin was
discussing (people who still believe they have been abducted, and
have had their lives turned upside down by that belief), but I
thought it was another aspect worthy of throwing in the pot.

Best,
TB