Genies don’t cause epilepsy

I wrote about this a few weeks ago.  Genies don’t cause epilepsy.  But I wanted to write about this again because I think it is that important.  Genies don’t cause epilepsy.

We skeptics and naturalists are often asked, why does it matter if we believe stuff that turns out not to be true. What’s the Harm?  Well, first – check out WhatstheHarm to see real life examples of the harm caused by believing things that aren’t true.

Next, consider this. You cannot solve your problem if you don’t know what causes it. If you attach yourself to beliefs that aren’t true, you are preventing yourself from effectively solving your problems.  I don’t know about you, but I would rather solve my problems than cling to beliefs, however comforting, that turn out not to be true.

This is why understanding that genies don’t cause epilepsy is so important. In the west, this is something we understand and know, for the most part. But it was only about 75 years ago where epilepsy was treated by exorcism. And even people who reject supernaturalism still fall prey to the practice of not properly identifying the root cause of their problems. Consider how many people think vaccines cause autism despite NO evidence for that belief and you can understand why this is still an important point to make.

The next time you are struggling to solve a problem, remind yourself that genies don’t cause epilepsy. Use that as a reminder that yourself how important it is to truly understand what is causing your problem so that you don’t waste your time and energy solving a problem you don’t have while doing nothing to solve the problem you do.