Stupidstition Still Taken Seriously by NPR

[GenesisNemesis]

The cards can help if you are reasonable about it.

I never needed a deck of cards to make life decisions personally. I just went with the flow.  Also you can easily make life decisions without a deck of cards, if you're reasonable about it.

But if people wanna use tarot cards I guess it's not as harmful as other things they could be doing with their time.

[Dānu]

All the woo that's prit to fint!

[Minimalist]

No one in this world, so far as I know – and I have searched the records for years, and employed agents to help me – has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people.

— H. L. Mencken

[SYZ]

Individuals who may be gullible, distressed, lonely, or superstitious can easily be misled by the
plethora of scammers and fraudsters out there.  Which can—ultimately—result in even more
despair, fear, anger, or false hope.   The "principles" of tarot are simply bullshit.   End of story.

Check out this scammer' site for example.

[Thumpalumpacus]

As long as they don't harm others, I don't really care how someone comes to their own decisions.

[Percie]

From time to time you see things like this in the mainstream media, but I gotta say, I never expected it from NPR.

I wonder.  Across time mankind has continuously sought knowledge and ways to apply that knowledge to making life less unbearable.  Along the way we build up an environment more and more comprised of "black box" technology - vital gadgets we can't live without but which are beyond the comprehension of most of humanity.  A lot of this technology makes it unnecessary to think.

Is this producing a "dumbing down" of society in general?

And if so, by what agency would we recognize this is happening, and how could it be forestalled or reversed?

People have always been more emotional and irrational than rational. Always will be. Human nature doesn't change.

[Dancefortwo]

Care to quote exactly the part that "embraces the woo" ?

"Years later, along with many others, I've returned to the practice as a way of staying
grounded during this time of indecision and overwhelm... If you're a person that wants
to integrate more spirituality into your life or to look at life a bit more philosophically,
it's a great tool to even just pick a daily card... Like so much of tarot, it's all about what
you want to bring to the question and reading".

—Reporter Janet W. Lee.

.... is not woo, if what you bring is not woo.
So what you got is nothing but a biased interpretation.

The author of the article described a perfectly non-woo process in which she finds a non-woo tarot
method as helpful to her. Guess what ? YOU don't get to mind-read her, and tell her how she thinks.

"I didn't always listen to the readings, but the rituals provided me a space to ruminate on and figure out my own answers to the question that's being asked of the cards.
Years later, along with many others, I've returned to the practice as a way of staying grounded during this time of indecision and overwhelm."

Tarot cards are all subject to interpretation.  Astrology is the same thing.  You read your daily astrology blurb and confirmation bias takes over your brain.  You make it fit something important in your life.  

Tarot card readers are similar to the cold readings psychics do. They look at the person and if they're young and they're not wearing a wedding ring the card reader will skew the meaning of the cards to fit a young person who is single.  If the person is older and probably has elderly parents they read a certain card to mean something that would fit an older person with elerly parents. 

It's all a pile of shit but gullible people believe in a lot of stupid shit so what else is new.

[Thingymebob]

"Years later, along with many others, I've returned to the practice as a way of staying
grounded during this time of indecision and overwhelm... If you're a person that wants
to integrate more spirituality into your life or to look at life a bit more philosophically,
it's a great tool to even just pick a daily card... Like so much of tarot, it's all about what
you want to bring to the question and reading".

—Reporter Janet W. Lee.

.... is not woo, if what you bring is not woo.
So what you got is nothing but a biased interpretation.

The author of the article described a perfectly non-woo process in which she finds a non-woo tarot
method as helpful to her. Guess what ? YOU don't get to mind-read her, and tell her how she thinks.

"I didn't always listen to the readings, but the rituals provided me a space to ruminate on and figure out my own answers to the question that's being asked of the cards.
Years later, along with many others, I've returned to the practice as a way of staying grounded during this time of indecision and overwhelm."

Tarot cards are all subject to interpretation.  Astrology is the same thing.  You read your daily astrology blurb and confirmation bias takes over your brain.  You make it fit something important in your life.  

Tarot card readers are similar to the cold readings psychics do. They look at the person and if they're young and they're not wearing a wedding ring the card reader will skew the meaning of the cards to fit a young person who is single.  If the person is older and probably has elderly parents they read a certain card to mean something that would fit an older person with elerly parents. 

It's all a pile of shit but gullible people believe in a lot of stupid shit so what else is new.

Apparently according to the stars, me and my wife are not compatible. 

I largely ignore what the stars say but I give her a wide berth anyway.

[Thumpalumpacus]

I largely ignore what the stars say but I give her a wide berth anyway.

Have you suggested dieting as a solution?

[SYZ]

Apparently according to the stars, me and my wife are not compatible. 

I largely ignore what the stars say but I give her a wide berth anyway.

LOL... love your work mate.   

[Rhythmcs]

My mother used to be the neighborhood tarot lady. I used to wonder why she got a degree in education instead of psychology. They'd have paid her much more for the same service.

[BrianSoddingBoru5]

I don’t see it(‘it’ being the use of tarot as a focusing tool) as anything to get in a twist about. It doesn’t imbue the cards with any magical or mystical qualities. The interviewee was pretty clear that tarot doesn’t predict the future. It’s a sort of reflection, not really different from meditation.

I have a peaked cap that I’ve owned for more than 20 years. I always wear it to my bi-monthly poker games because it makes me a better poker player. When I have it on, I’m able to follow the play more closely, I’m better at spotting tells, and I wager more effectively. But it isn’t the hat that does it - it’s the act of wearing the hat. I’m more comfortable with it than without.

Same-same.

Boru

[Dom]

I don’t see it(‘it’ being the use of tarot as a focusing tool) as anything to get in a twist about. It doesn’t imbue the cards with any magical or mystical qualities. The interviewee was pretty clear that tarot doesn’t predict the future. It’s a sort of reflection, not really different from meditation.

I have a peaked cap that I’ve owned for more than 20 years. I always wear it to my bi-monthly poker games because it makes me a better poker player. When I have it on, I’m able to follow the play more closely, I’m better at spotting tells, and I wager more effectively. But it isn’t the hat that does it - it’s the act of wearing the hat. I’m more comfortable with it than without.

Same-same.

Boru

Probably the hat influences their perception of your face.

[BrianSoddingBoru5]

I don’t see it(‘it’ being the use of tarot as a focusing tool) as anything to get in a twist about. It doesn’t imbue the cards with any magical or mystical qualities. The interviewee was pretty clear that tarot doesn’t predict the future. It’s a sort of reflection, not really different from meditation.

I have a peaked cap that I’ve owned for more than 20 years. I always wear it to my bi-monthly poker games because it makes me a better poker player. When I have it on, I’m able to follow the play more closely, I’m better at spotting tells, and I wager more effectively. But it isn’t the hat that does it - it’s the act of wearing the hat. I’m more comfortable with it than without.

Same-same.

Boru

Probably the hat influences their perception of your face.

Why it works is immaterial.

Boru

[Dom]

I don’t see it(‘it’ being the use of tarot as a focusing tool) as anything to get in a twist about. It doesn’t imbue the cards with any magical or mystical qualities. The interviewee was pretty clear that tarot doesn’t predict the future. It’s a sort of reflection, not really different from meditation.

I have a peaked cap that I’ve owned for more than 20 years. I always wear it to my bi-monthly poker games because it makes me a better poker player. When I have it on, I’m able to follow the play more closely, I’m better at spotting tells, and I wager more effectively. But it isn’t the hat that does it - it’s the act of wearing the hat. I’m more comfortable with it than without.

Same-same.

Boru

Probably the hat influences their perception of your face.

Why it works is immaterial.

Boru

For all practical purposes, it surely doesn't. Just looking at it from a poker aspect.

[Thumpalumpacus]

I don’t see it(‘it’ being the use of tarot as a focusing tool) as anything to get in a twist about. It doesn’t imbue the cards with any magical or mystical qualities. The interviewee was pretty clear that tarot doesn’t predict the future. It’s a sort of reflection, not really different from meditation.

I have a peaked cap that I’ve owned for more than 20 years. I always wear it to my bi-monthly poker games because it makes me a better poker player. When I have it on, I’m able to follow the play more closely, I’m better at spotting tells, and I wager more effectively. But it isn’t the hat that does it - it’s the act of wearing the hat. I’m more comfortable with it than without.

Same-same.

Boru

Before going onstage at a gig, I had a little ritual of my own that did nothing to change what the audiences felt, but got me into the right mindset to go out and cut throats. And had my favorite hat on. Nothing superstitious, just getting myself into the right frame of mind.

[SYZ]

This is one of the reasons I believe that online psychic and tarot card readings should
be banned, if for no other reason than to protect the bank balances of the gullible...



$900 per hour?     Seriously?    

[BrianSoddingBoru5]

I don’t see it(‘it’ being the use of tarot as a focusing tool) as anything to get in a twist about. It doesn’t imbue the cards with any magical or mystical qualities. The interviewee was pretty clear that tarot doesn’t predict the future. It’s a sort of reflection, not really different from meditation.

I have a peaked cap that I’ve owned for more than 20 years. I always wear it to my bi-monthly poker games because it makes me a better poker player. When I have it on, I’m able to follow the play more closely, I’m better at spotting tells, and I wager more effectively. But it isn’t the hat that does it - it’s the act of wearing the hat. I’m more comfortable with it than without.

Same-same.

Boru

Before going onstage at a gig, I had a little ritual of my own that did nothing to change what the audiences felt, but got me into the right mindset to go out and cut throats. And had my favorite hat on. Nothing superstitious, just getting myself into the right frame of mind.

It’s like flipping a coin to make a decision - the coin has no mystic properties to decide for you, but how you feel about the flip can confirm your gut feeling about which way to go.

Boru