If academic sources say that demons are a myth, but online, everyone seemed adamant that demons are real, which would you believe? The academic sources, or the anecdotes?

[ColinWhoIsNotAChav]

Let's say that academic sources and books written by scholars say demons are just a myth

People chime in with their own experiences with demons, not figuratively but in the literal sense

People are adamant that demons are real

Yet academic sources say the opposite, for example that demons were made up by some guy x amount of years ago so that people could be controlled with fear

Which would you believe?

Academic sources in the fields of history, psychology, anthropology etc.

Academic sources

You?

What are you talking about? Not demons I guess

Which do you believe?

Online, everyone seems adamant demons are real? Do they? I suppose it depends where you're looking online!

Depends on the academic, obviously. Some academics believe men can be women, for example, and we all know the truth there...

Are you the one obsessed about ‘chavs’?

We are not talking about chavs again surely

@ColinWhoIsNotAChav how are you defining "demon"?

This sounds like an excellent discussion!

Are you actually talking about demons or not - because context matters.

Well for a start you should never believe everything you read on the internet. So I’d go with the academic sources.

I would believe my own lived experience, weighed through the lens of my reading.
So if I’d had an experience with a demon, I’d read all the books saying they don’t exist, you were exposed to ricin and hallucinating, then I would assess my experience, what I’d eaten, and hypothesise accordingly.

If DH saw a demon and I saw a demon and neither of us ate spoiled Rye, then I’d believe us over the academics.

Academics can lack real world experience and understanding.

@PrizedPickledPopcorn Ergot poisoning from spoiled rye... did you watch Whitechapel by any chance?

Do you not understand the difference between academic sources (peer-reviewed, based actual research done by people with years of study and qualifications in the field of psychology, anthropology, folklore, history of medicine etc) and some random on Reddit who once had a bad trip on mushrooms?

I think this is about vaccines.

You can find loads of people on the internet who believe any old shit.

Academics, all day long!

Apparently there is an interesting correlation between sightings of ghosts and demons and properties with black mould (spores of which can cause hallucinations).
Makes much more sense to me.

Depends on whether you believe in the supernatural I suppose.

On the whole, I prefer evidence-based scientific fact, but each to their own.

How can the academics know? I've had experiences which I think were demonic, I wasn't drunk or drugged or hallucinating. We can't explain everything in this world and I believe in the spiritual realm. I don't think the academics can prove non existence, it's one of those things where you can't ever be sure.

You can have a hypothesis that something might exist, so you go looking for it. By means of scientific research, you either find it or you don't. You can prove that something exists, because it is measurable in some way or other. If you can't find it, then either you have yet to find a way of measuring its existence... or it's not there to find.

Is this literally about demons, or just an analogy?
Why are the academic sources trying to prove a negative?
Who has more reason to lie or be mistaken in this situation?

When I was experiencing certain symptoms when pregnant I kept being told that there was no academic evidence of such and such in pregnant women. It wasn't until years afterwards that I realised they don't do this research on pregnant women that it was just a way to shut me up and no one would ever do this research on pregnant women.

I live across the road from a chav 'demon' called Wayne. He doesn't have horns on his head or cloved feet or carry a fork, but he does wear a Burberry scarf, has some x-Bully cross dog he never walks, shouts not speaks, plays drum n bass in his car loudly and shouts rude names at all the neighbours here to make himself feel big and clever (which the whole neighbourhood realise he is not, and snigger about behind his hairy back). Single women, children, immigrants, the elderly and disabled are his particular targets in his desperate attempt to inflate his own ego, while trying to suppress the feeling that he leaks insecurity every time he snaps at people. He prioritises his latest car purchase over fixing his roof or doing the many repairs needed to his demon domain. He is rapidly turning into Jabba the Hutt from all the fast food he guzzles in between shouting at anyone on the street, and crashing his car quite often into lamp posts, round abouts and so on. It spends more time at the body shop than outside his house. Surely Wayne the demon is a subjective construct, and the academic sociologists may wish to blame some aspect of his upbringing for his demon-like behaviour. However, I think Wayne must have some supernatural persuasions that make him have illusions of grandeur that he is important, and his uninvited loud opinion of anyone on his radar are valued or hurtful. Note to Wayne if he is reading (I doubt he does much of that), the tiles on the front porch roof are about the fall off the roof you haven't repaired in years and they may execute you...which would be a bit of a shame, because your demon-like demise would fill a gap in the lives of all your neighbours who spend a lot of time laughing at you.

Academic sources. However, even academic sources should be read critically.

@ColinWhoIsNotAChav Owen Jones is that you? Don’t worry some people still find your books relevant I’m sure!

Anyway the academics may be objectively correct… however, if the practical reality is that people choose to believe a lie, then someone needs to come up with the tools to combat that, depending on how much of an impact it’s having on society (replace demons with chavs, other moral panic, climate change denial, small boats, pizzagate…).

I fear in the UK we’re at the mercy of the global economy and until people feel like they have more £ in their pocket, the battle against divisive narratives will be difficult to win (people need an issue to focus on to distract from the general shittiness).

Also there’s a great documentary on Netflix called Kpop demon hunters and the demons are all around us but luckily the academics can’t see them thanks to the golden Honmoon