WTH??!! Ghosts, "Psychics", and "speaking to the dead" bump factual science books from store?

[ScoobMaster]

<Scoobmaster Rant>

I was at our local shopping mall with my wife and son last night. While browsing through a book store (Waldens) I looked for some non-fiction books I have been wanting to read: The Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan and Flim Flam by James Randi (among others). I was unsuccessful in locating them, but I did make a disturbing observation. In my attempt to locate Carl Sagan's book, I had an idea to look in the SCIENCE book section (since Carl was a well-known Astronomer). To my astonishment, they had NO science book section. I did pass a "NEW AGE" section that took up 2 full bookcases however. This section was populated with gems of wisdom authored by the likes of John Edwards, Sylvia Browne, and James Van Praagh with topics covering ghosts, paranormal, psychics, mystical healing, etc....

It is a sad reflection of the stage of thought in our "general society" when total BS like this stuff gets 2 shelves and a big "NEW AGE" sign while factual hard science is nowhere to be found!

</Scoobmaster Rant>

 

[vi edit]

Nah, the REALLY sad section that has grown way to big for it's shelf is the self help section. Do we really need "Chicken soup for the obese crackhead alcoholic child molestors soul?"

 

[MrBond]

Why don't you pick up one of Hans Holzer's books. You might change your opninion on the validity of ghosts. He approaches each haunting as a scientist, usually putting a medium under and letting the ghost speak through them. He'll then get facts from the medium about the ghost's previous life (military rank, church affiliation, etc), and go research them. Most of the time, he finds what the medium says was true.

He always goes to great lenghts to make sure the medium knows nothing about the haunting, only that a ghost is there. Usually the things the medium says are right along what the the people living in the thouse have observed.

I don't put any stock in John Edwards, but after reading several books by Holzer, I think there's some truth to ghosts.

 

[Eli]

What makes you think it's all "total bs"? Just because you don't believe or have any interest in it, doesen't mean other people don't, obviously.

Do you have any idea how hard it is to write a book and then actually have it published?

If you want to delve into some of this "total bs" in a scientific manner, get these two books:

The Secret Life of Plants by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird

The Secret Life of Your Cells by Robert B. Stone

These books detail the findings of Cleve Backster. It is very interesting stuff, and it proves that we still have a lot to learn.

Do you really believe that we know everything there is to know about energy, matter, conciousness, etc?

I didn't think so.

 

[Shockwave]

Gotta side with the Ghosts exist here.
Maybe not ghosts per se, and I dont think we need 2 sections of books on it, but I've seen and heard stuff you simply cannot explain by normal means.

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

You were at WALDENS! what the hell were you doing in a WALDENS!?!?!?! you deserve an ass-kicking for that!

j/k


seriously, i don't think Walden's is trying to attract the heavy read crowd.

 

[Iwentsouth]

Is real sad. Then people jump on you for believing in there fairy tales.

 

[ScoobMaster]

I will freely admit that it is my opinion that most of the books on those shelves are BS. My problem is that there WAS NO science book section labled and stocked with books on scientific topics (Astronomy, Physics, Chemistry, etc...). However, you want ASTROLOGY - no problem, we have a dozen or so to choose from.

IF several of these books took a scientific and objective look at the topics of psychic powers, astrology, faith healing, etc, then i would have not been so annoyed. However, after browsing the inside flaps and back covers of *MANY* of the "new age" books on those shelves I could only conclude that they were for from objective or scientific in their presentation of said topics.

 

[wnied]

It is a sad reflection of the stage of thought in our "general society" when total BS like this stuff gets 2 shelves and a big "NEW AGE" sign while factual hard science is nowhere to be found!

You want good books with fact based information? Goto a library. First and foremost a book store is a STORE. Whatever sells is what gets the most room. Any bookstore going by what your idea of a good book is, would be out of business trying to hock those rags to the average John Q. lemming. 2nd is, this bookstore you went to was in a shopping mall.

nuf said.
~wnied~

 

[DaveSimmons]

<talking barbie> "Math is hard!" </talking barbie>

Most mall shoppers didn't enjoy their high-school science classes and have no interest in doing any more science reading, unless it's a biography of an eccentric scientist ("ooh, kooky!") or other rare exception.

 

[notfred]

Who the hell goes to a bookstore to pick up a copy of "Mulitvaraible Calculus"? 99% of people who want books like that are college students, and thus you'll have to get them at a college bookstore, or special order them. They'd sit on the shelves for years w/o selling at your average bookstore, where people are buying harry potter and john Grisham books.