Thursday 17 February 2011

Morning Scepticism: Dissonance

When someone believes in the power or prayer or psychic healing, there's something odd about the behaviour of going to a doctor or hospital to accept treatment. This is somewhat of an internal contradiction, and goes to show the power of internal dissonance. But in this case, it's one area where dissonance is desired. After all, it's much better for a loved one to be receiving treatment while praying for healing, than praying for healing without receiving treatment. Though it is irksome that the woo is credited when all those people who dedicated their lives to helping others through medical training and research aren't.

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