How do you convince someone that supernatural things don't exist?

Whenever I tell them that science has produced no evidence of any of these things, ...

I have a big problem with this. People claim to like science, but almost nobody has any fucking clue about science, what it is, or how it's done. Science isn't being like, "I wonder what ammonia and bleach make when combined" then doing it in front of a camera--that sort of shit is just entertainment, stupidity. Science is boring as shit, all about long and drawn-out processes designed to be as thorough as possible.

I say that to say this: there was no evidence of anything until there was. What we know now isn't the extent to what can be known. Later discoveries will be made which will topple previously held beliefs. We may believe it as fact now that there is a female penis, but eventually science may determine that there is, in fact, no female penis at all and that it's just a man in drag; however, as of now, science has produced no evidence of any of these things.

Worry about yourself.

[–] Mattvision [OP] 0 points (+1|-1)

People claim to like science, but almost nobody has any fucking clue about science, what it is, or how it's done. Science isn't being like, "I wonder what ammonia and bleach make when combined" then doing it in front of a camera--that sort of shit is just entertainment, stupidity.

Never claimed to 'like science' in the way you're referring to. I just believe it's a better means of understanding the world than pure superstition. Guess that makes me insane.

I say that to say this: there was no evidence of anything until there was. What we know now isn't the extent to what can be known.

Right. But is it rational to believe in something before any reliable evidence for it has surfaced?

People have believed in all sorts of supernatural crap for thousands of years, and not once has anything more than anecdotes been produced. So is it more logical to assume we just haven't found any yet, or that some people will say things that aren't true because they're liars/insane/misinformed?

Worry about yourself.

This is a close family member I am talking about. If some new-age jackass is trying to take advantage of them, I would like to be able to talk them out of it. I guess that's wrong of me.

[–] E-werd 1 points (+1|-0)

So this was actually a serious post? I'm not sure I've actually seen you post seriously.

You're probably better off using the approach I usually have to use with my daughter, and in customer service. I can't just tell her no and expect a positive response. Find a way to say yes. Instead of, "don't do x!" ask "Do you want to do y? How about z?" You need to be persuasive, not corrective. Things like zodiac are clearly superstitious BS, kind of like how I won't watch an important hockey game if they scored goals without me watching but allow them when I do--hockey fans/players are a superstitious bunch, we know it's irrelevant but that's not important.

Not everything is so clear, maybe that magic rock emits a certain type of radiation that we haven't discovered yet--it doesn't hurt to believe, but it's certainly not worth investing your life savings. Hell, a lot of the time the placebo effect is actually effective--hypocondriacs can worry themselves into having legitimate conditions and become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Pick your battles, figure out the important stuff. You won't do it overnight.

How do you convince someone that supernatural things don't exist?

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