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Sylvia Browne Books

Geisha

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Joined
Sep 23, 2007
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My boyfriend loves this forum and posts here a lot (every time he's home because he's a truck driver). We get into fights because I read Sylvia Browne books. I don't read them because I believe her, I read them because I want to see what kind of crap she is spewing. In your opinion is it wrong that I read those books. It's not like I buy them, I check them out from the library.
 
"It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle." -- Sun Tzu, 6th-Century Philosopher, in "The Art Of War."

"Know yourself well before you know another." -- Fnord of Dyscordia.
 
It's fine to read those books. In fact, it's much better to read them than to obstinately ignore them as if they don't exist.

I don't comment on Sylvia Browne because I've never read her books or seen her on TV. Therefore I am neither qualified nor educated enough to pass comment.

You, however, are. Good for you. Stick to your guns and read whatever you find interesting and useful.
 
Why the fight? Is he afraid you'll start following her "beliefs"?

I see nothing wrong with anyone reading her material, especially if someone knows beforehand that the information is plagarized or just made up, and views it in such light.
 
PastBrowneFan said:
Why the fight? Is he afraid you'll start following her "beliefs"?

I see nothing wrong with anyone reading her material, especially if someone knows beforehand that the information is plagarized or just made up, and views it in such light.
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He doesn't like me reading it because he doesn't believe her and in the past before I met him I actually did believe what she said was true. After I met him and he told me stuff about her and showed me this forum and the stopsylviabrowne.com site I actually started to believe that she was full of crap.
 
Geisha said:
He doesn't like me reading it because he doesn't believe her and in the past before I met him I actually did believe what she said was true. After I met him and he told me stuff about her and showed me this forum and the stopsylviabrowne.com site I actually started to believe that she was full of crap.
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Geisha, I think it is fine that you are reading her books.

There are just a couple of things to keep in mind; These books are written to appeal to human nature, they can seem very convincing because they are telling us things that we want to be true.
So as long as you are looking at the books from a realistic perspective, keeping in mind that it is proven Sylvia is a racist, spiteful, hateful fraud, who only wrote these books for the purpose of getting rich, then you shouldn't have a problem.

You may just have to explain your position to your Boyfriend a little clearer.
If you make it known that you realise she is a fraud, then demonstrate this by showing him why you think she is a fraud - giving him two or three examples, he may be more inclined not to worry about it.
 
The only problem I see is that you are at encouraging your library to spend money on Sylvia Browne. She'll get a little money, but it will be spread out over all the other people who also check the books out. If you bought them at a used book store Browne would get no money but you'd still be encouraging the store owner to carry the books and possibly encouraging Sylvia to write some more.

However lots of us do the same thing, and educating yourself about fraud is important, especially as you once believed in it. Quite a few people believe Sylvia is a fraud but still like her cosmology and philosophy of life. It sounds like you are learning how to recognize fraud and analyzing what caused you to believe in it.
 
What they said, Geisha. As Schlitt posted clarify your position to your BF.

I still read her books for entertainment value, myself.
 
Geisha said:
He doesn't like me reading it because he doesn't believe her and in the past before I met him I actually did believe what she said was true. After I met him and he told me stuff about her and showed me this forum and the stopsylviabrowne.com site I actually started to believe that she was full of crap.
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So you once read SB's books as a believer, and now you read her books to see "what kind of crap is spewing"? (I'll save you some time: it's the same crap.) My guess is your boyfriend is a little skeptical of your change of heart. Maybe you can reassure him that you're not really a believer.

If he ONLY sees you reading woo stuff, he might be less than convinced. My dad read National Enquirer and that sort of stuff all the time for entertainment--he wasn't a believer. For him, it was sort of like reading fiction--a willing suspension of disbelief for the duration.

Do you also read skeptical lit?

Granted, they're harder to find at the library, but if you read and request those sorts of books, the library is more likely to stock them.
 
I'd say, toss them out and find something more edifying to read. You can
only read so many books in your life. Why waste that precious time on
bumfodder like this?
 
No, you're not the only one.

And good for you for checking them out of the library! That way you help the library's statistics and don't give money to the charlatan.

And by the way, welcome to the forums! We're glad to have you.

How do you feel about budgies?
 
Wow, you all are braver than I am.

When I became interested in Sylvia Browne, I did skim through and read chunks of about a dozen or so of her books and the ones Montel has written. I stopped pretty quickly when I realized that it wasn't just bs, it was uninteresting and useless for anything, even debunking, bs.

Matter of fact, that's how I first heard of her. My woo woo pal gave me one of her books to try to "enlighten" me and I picked it up with a lot of interest and start to read it as an excercise and challenge to myself in debunking. It's useless even for that; the only "How does do they do it?" explanation for all the claims in her books is "She makes it all up!"
 
He probably also just doesn't understand why you'd want to waste any more time on them. I also used to read SB's books because I believed what she said. Now I just read them to help Robert Lancaster when I can. I've had my fill of crap spewing and have to admit that now that I know it's all a bunch of made-up hooey, it's not much fun to read them. In fact, I think I can almost feel my IQ dropping as I read.

If you haven't tried reading Carl Sagan or some of the other books recommended by the skeptics who post here, you should do so. And then try picking up some of Sylvia's drivel. You'll be amazed at the difference. I was, anyway.
 
ExMinister said:
He probably also just doesn't understand why you'd want to waste any more time on them. I also used to read SB's books because I believed what she said. Now I just read them to help Robert Lancaster when I can. I've had my fill of crap spewing and have to admit that now that I know it's all a bunch of made-up hooey, it's not much fun to read them. In fact, I think I can almost feel my IQ dropping as I read.

If you haven't tried reading Carl Sagan or some of the other books recommended by the skeptics who post here, you should do so. And then try picking up some of Sylvia's drivel. You'll be amazed at the difference. I was, anyway.
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Do you have any certain books that you would recommend?
 
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