asingularlifeman
3 HN mentions · mentioned in 3 months, 2013–2023
2:21 · 991K views · Feb 21, 2008
A short live performance of Tim Minchin's comedic song about skepticism, from his DVD 'So Live'. It argues that open-mindedness shouldn't go so far that your brain falls out.
HN commenters cite it as a quick, witty reference whenever someone warns against being so open-minded that you become gullible.
3 comments from Hacker News
In my days of fighting paranormal activities and beliefs (homeopathy, wells witchers, ...) we were usually told that we do not have open minds and do not accept anything outside of our limited science. For one, you need to have an open mind, but be careful to not your brain fall off ( this video ) Then, we were very much interested in seeing these unusual things happening. As I mentioned it in a previous comment, I declared at the radio that I would immediately switch my PhD topic (in physics) to study them. Because, you know, Nobel prize. I did not get to see anything unusual, did a uneventful PhD and, well, do not have said Nobel prize. But the important thing was: I wanted to measure. To have an experiment where what was unusual would be measurable. This means that tests with well diggers were a complete failure when they were asked to find water in controlled conditions. OTOH, they were good when in the wild because (probably) they could read the landscape and see signs of water (conscientiously or not). Same with homeopathy: when I have a headache I get an aspirin and before it had time to reach my stomach I feel better. I also once swam away from what I thought were sharks and I probably broke a swimming record because my arms were moving like a blender. This is to say that scientists do not limi themselves - they just want to see and measure something to say that this is a thing. Unfortunately as soon as they do it the whole paranormal things fall apart. But we are still
All those things are indeed possible, and keeping an open mind is generally positive. That said in the specific case of the formations in Bosnia, reputable geologists have investigated them, and have said that they are well-understood natural formations. The flatirons in Bosnia are no more human structures than the ones in Colorado or Texas. A smart person once said: if you open your mind too much your brain will fall out, and another smart person wrote a song with that name. this video
Tim Minchin had something to say about this ("if you open your mind too much your brains will fall out"): this video I doubt I'll change your mind in one post, but: Eminem's music, Eminem's culture is the exact opposite of the entrepreneurial enlightenment culture that breeds success.