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Post #2- Red Flag: Ancient Wisdom (Article)

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Post #2- Red Flag: Ancient Wisdom (Article)

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Definition:
The red flag of Ancient Wisdom is the practices and beliefs from centuries ago.  They are not backed by science and the process is that ancient civilizations knew more about everything than we as a society do now.

Connection:
In this article, the author talks about rituals that still happen in Britain to this day showing the red flag of Ancient Wisdom. Such as The Festival of the Horse and the Boys' Ploughing Match which takes place in a small town on the island of South Ronaldsay off the north coast of Scotland. The whole community partakes in these festivals which include elaborate costumes that have been passed down from generation to generation.

The critical thinking and skepticism should address the true value of these rituals. Some have been used to ward off evil spirits or appease deity to promote good harvests. There is no evidence that the success of a growing season is controlled by any type of deity. We can use critical thinking to state that wearing elaborate costumes and celebrating could raise morale in ancient times and our modern times as we know the benefits of social interactions for people. We could also test and show that the competition of young boys learning to plow would benefit their family's farms as the boys would improve on necessary skills.

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Once a year, on the island of South Ronaldsay, off the north coast of Scotland, the community prepares for two traditional events: The Festival of the Horse and the Boys' Ploughing Match. Families reach into cupboards and bring down the richly decorated costumes that the town's girls will wear in a parade through the streets. Passed down through generations, the dresses mimic the trappings of the majestic Clydesdale working horse, with embellished yokes and harnesses, and little woollen fetlocks. Meanwhile, the boys gather on the broad scope of Sands o' Wright beach where, using exquisitely-made miniature ploughs, they carefully draw "furrows" in the sand. The lad with the most finely tilled furrow wins.
More like this:
- The Scandinavian folk clothing for now

- The ancient enigma that resonates now

- The UK's mysterious pathways

The Festival of the Horse dates back to the 1800s, when other Orkney villages performed their own versions; today, South Ronaldsay is the last. It is anything but fading: "When I went there, what I found incredibly moving was that the entire community was involved," says Simon Costin, director of the Museum of British Folklore. "The grandparents, the parents, everyone would be rallying the boys on from the side." The costumes, old but constantly evolving, are another sign of this resilience. "Over the years, they get increasingly embellished - with pieces of jewellery, Christmas decorations, bells; anything that catches the light." says Costin. "They become emblems of how the community chooses to express itself."

Today, the Festival of the Horse is just one among many celebrated at Making Mischief, an exhibition opening next week that explores British folk customs and costumes. More than 40 costumes, made, customised and worn by participants will be on display. Curated by Costin and Mellany Robinson, of the Museum of British Folklore, and Professor Amy de la Haye, from the London College of Fashion, the exhibition takes place at Compton Verney, a stately home in Warwickshire already known for its collection of British folk art, including a pull-along toy bull, shop signs and weather vanes in the shape of cockerels and hunting dogs. In Making Mischief, the disciplines - together with loans from the English Folk Dance and Song Society and the English Folk Costume Archive - come together to shine a light on an area hitherto overlooked by museums: the thriving culture of British folk custom.

Those expecting reflections of a bucolic past, of garlanded maidens in halcyon British landscapes, will be disappointed. "Mention seasonal customs and folklore and people get all misty-eyed," laughs Costin. "They imagine a Victorian version of Merrie England. It's totally not that." The Festival of the Horse is fairly sedate but other customs are often rambunctious, even lairy. Take the tradition of the Tar Barrels in Ottery St Mary, every 5 November, during which flaming, tar-soaked barrels, each sponsored by one of the town's central public houses, are carried, briskly, along the town's streets. As the day progresses, the barrels get larger; by midnight, they weigh at least 30kg.

Camaraderie and a rowdy competitiveness exist side by side as generations of the same family tout the barrels ("You do get the feeling that a lot of old scores get settled on the periphery," reflects Costin). The Tar Barrels "proudly perpetuates Ottery St Mary's great sense of tradition, of time and of history," proclaims the Visit South Devon website. Folk origins, however, are often lost in time. While the Tar Barrels are believed by some to have been born after the gunpowder plot of 1605, other theories abound: that the burning barrels belong to a pagan ritual that cleansed the streets of evil spirits; that they helped, more prosaically, to fumigate cottages; and that they served as a warning of the approach of the Spanish Armada.

The rowdiness at Ottery St Mary, however, may sound like a tea party compared to the mayhem that is Haxey Hood, in North Lincolnshire . In this night-long event, opposing villages attempt to get hard cylinders of leather - the "Hoods" - into one of the four pubs in either Haxey or the nearby village of Westwoodside. "They lock down into a rugby scrum called the Sway - and the Sway can go on all night," says Costin. The event takes place in January. "I remember looking across the village and seeing 300 men locked into each other, in this snow-covered field, with the steam rising off them," he says. "It's very visceral and archaic. You're witnessing something primeval."

Haxey Hood's (professed) origins lie in the 14th Century, when Lady de Mowbray, the wife of a local landowner, was out riding. As she went over a hill, her silk riding hood was blown away by the wind. Thirteen farm workers chased the hood all over the field, before it was finally caught by one. Too shy to hand it back himself, he gave it to one of the others to hand back to the Lady. Amused, she named the worker who had returned the hood the "Lord", and the one who had caught the hood, the "Fool", leading to two of the key characters in the tradition, alongside 11 mercurial Boggins, "custodians of the tradition," says the University of Sheffield's Professor Fay Hield, director of the Contemporary Folklore Research Centre. "They're there to keep it safe - but also make it happen." Lady de Mowbray is then said to have donated land to the workers - on condition that the chase for the hood would be re-enacted each year.

While St Ottery barrellers wear heavy gloves and practical clothing, costume is key in Haxey Hood. The Lord and chief Boggin are dressed in red hunting coats and top hats covered in flowers and badges; the Lord also carries a staff of office, made from twelve willow wands with one more upside-down in the centre, representing the twelve apostles and Judas. His face smeared with soot, the Fool is covered in multicoloured scraps of materials. He leads the procession, beating nearby parishioners away with a bran-stuffed sock and claiming the right to kiss any woman along the way. His welcome speech ends with a traditional rhyme: "hoose agen hoose, toon agen toon, if a man meets a man knock 'im doon, but doan't 'ot 'im" translated as: "house against house, town against town, if a man meets a man, knock him down but don't hurt him."
Deeper meanings
Rowdiness aside, every folk custom - in every community around the world - is unique to its time and place. "People really are passionate about them," says Hield. "And the meanings are far deeper than you'd grasp simply by attending. A lot of understanding is held within the community. "Someone coming from the North to an event in the South, for example, wouldn't get all the references. What customs do have in common," she says, "are the purposes they serve": as ways of connecting and responding to the physical, natural and societal worlds around them.

The players in the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance, photographed around 1900 by Sir John Benjamin Stone (Credit: Alamy)

"Folk culture refers to the products and practices of relatively homogeneous and isolated small-scale social groups living in rural locations," wrote George Revill for Oxford Bibliographies. "Thus, folk culture is often associated with tradition, historical continuity, sense of place, and belonging - manifest in song and dance, storytelling and mythology, vernacular design in buildings, everyday artifacts and clothing, diet, habits, social rules and structures, work practices such as farming and craft production, religion, and worldviews."

Most key of all, says Costin, folk culture is about the people. "It's not the Lord Mayor's festival or something run by the county council," he says. "These are seasonal custom events generated by ordinary people who want to celebrate something particular to them. That's what delineates a folk custom."

Horses are a recurring motif in folk tradition. While Making Mischief occupies Compton Verney, Maidstone Museum hosts Animal Guising and the Kentish Hooden Horse, an exhibition uniting the museum's two old Hooden Horses, from the ancient winter folk custom called the Hoodening, with other similar artifacts, including Morris Dancing horses and Obby 'Osses. The custom celebrated, the Hooden tradition - like its Welsh counterpart, the Mari Llywd, and Padstow's Obby 'Oss - revolves around a wooden hobby horse mounted on a pole and carried by someone hidden by sackcloth. In its contemporary form, the Hooden is accompanied by local people who are also performers in a humorous play, which is typically performed in pubs and at parties.

The Hooden and the 'Oss, key figures in Padstow's May Day festival, are reminders that some of folk's central characters can, at least to outsiders, appear unsettling and otherworldly. "When you're in the community, you don't see them as otherworldly," says Hield, briskly. In 2019, folklorist and historian Ronald M James described the 'Oss as "a menacing image," consisting of a large round platform supporting a black apron. "The man who carries the beast puts his head through a hole at the centre of the structure. He wears a mask with a tall, pointed cap. At one end of the platform is a tail and at the other, a stylised head with snapping jaws," he continued. The 'Oss's similarity to a dragon has not gone unnoticed over the years.

It was a visit to Padstow as a child that sparked Costin's long interest in folk custom. "We spent the holidays in Cornwall," he recalls. "It was May Day, and I was this seven-year-old turning the corner and suddenly seeing this enormous, bizarre, terrifying figure of the 'Oss, swaying above the crowds and the singing and the music. It was so potent. It was a moment of true magic, when people stepped outside the mundane reality of the day-to-day and became something else." At events, participants are "no longer the banker, the baker, the nurse, the schoolteacher," says Costin. "They've taken on this persona and they're engaging in a community-led activity, where all those things are forgotten because they're celebrating something very powerful."

Curiosity in folk customs ebbs and flows but, broadly, surges coincide with periods of deep reflection as well as malaise with current systems. "The first revival was around the Industrial Revolution, with the feeling that big industry was having a negative effect and that this way of life was getting lost and needed re-capturing," explains Hield. The second, better-known, revival took place in the 1960s and 1970s, with a "big rejection of the idea of 'The Man'. The revival of the 1960s was a shared rejection of mass leadership."

As Britons wrestle with a perfect storm of societal challenges - from the fallout of Brexit and economic turmoil, to the rapidly encroaching climate and ecological emergencies - today's revival of interest in folk culture feels like a search for continuity. "In England, there's currently a real confusion about how to be and how to feel English, yet we still want to do it," reflects Hield. "It's a human need to want a sense of pride in our place - and, at the moment, England is an uncomfortable place to be in. People are looking back to an older sense of England in order to reconnect with an identity that's not bound with more recent political histories."

While the Making Mischief exhibition celebrates grassroots traditions, it offers a challenge to the idea that these traditions are fixed. "We look at the way folklore retains its potency," says Costin. "Because, if these things die out, it's because they've lost their relevance. People don't want to keep these customs in amber and ossified. These are living traditions." Thus, for example - just one among many - in the early 20th Century, Padstow saw the introduction of a second 'Oss, known as the Peace or Armistice 'Oss. Each year, a new script is written for The Hoodening, featuring themes such as death and resurrection and peppered with references to local and international news.

Making Mischief highlights the rise of all-female Morris sides (including Gloucestershire's Boss Morris) and the inclusion of LGBTQ+ performers in some customs; Costin himself is one of the instigators of the Gay Bogies collective of Hastings. But nothing highlights the resilience of the British folk custom better than this year's speech from the Fool at Haxey Hood: "This game is 664 years old today. And like all good traditions, it's been modern enough to last for the time, but old-fashioned enough to last forever. And it will last forever!" he roared, to cheers, laughter and the trill of mobile phones. "There are lots of things that will remain, like Chris Leighton's home brew, and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, God Bless Her. Long live the King! Tonight, we have roast pork, but we also have a nut and mushroom roast for vegetarians and vegans. What a diverse set of people we are!"
Making Mischief: Folk Costume in Britain is at the Compton Verney museum from 11 February to 11 June 2023.
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Once a year, on the island of South Ronaldsay, off the north coast of Scotland, the community prepares for two traditional events: The Festival of the Horse and the Boys' Ploughing Match. Families reach into cupboards and bring down the richly decorated costumes that the town's girls will wear in a parade through the streets.

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Post #3- Red Flag: Ideological Support (Video)

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Post #3- Red Flag: Ideological Support (Video)

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Definition:
An ideology is a set of opinions or beliefs of a group or an individual. Very often ideology refers to a set of political beliefs or a set of ideas that characterize a particular culture.

Connection:
In this video above and the link to the article below, describe the beliefs of a group that calls themselves Young Earth Creationists. This group adopted a method of Biblical interpretation which requires that the earth be no more than 10,000 years old and that the six days of creation described in Genesis each lasted for 24 hours. Young Earth Creationists believe that the origin of the earth, the universe, and various forms of life, etc., are all instances of special creation.

This video demonstrates the red flag known as Ideology. Where the beliefs of a specific group of people does not meet the rigors of science. If we apply the critical thinking and skepticism process to the question of the "Age of the Earth". The source of this information from the video comes from the ICR (The Institute for Creation Research), and follows the Bible ideology. From the Bible they look at the book of Genesis for the Creation of the Earth and from the other passages state the Earth is only approximately 6000 years old. Their confirmation bias has them only siting interpretations of the passages in the Bible that support their viewpoint for the age of the Earth. However, another interpretation could be take to say that the all powerful being of God would not be bound by the 24 hour time clock that we live with in our lives today. God being an entity of infinite time could create the world in a "day", but a day to God could be on a much larger time scale that a "day" for man. We also have to look at their methods of gaining their information to support their claims and once again we see their confirmation bias ignores scientific studies of fossils, geology, carbon dating, radioactive isotope dating and more. When presented with this type of information we need to apply our critical thinking and skepticism so that we don't just blinded trust material without questioning its validity.

https://www.icr.org/article/six-biological-evidences-for-a-young-earth/

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Six Biological Evidences for a Young Earth

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What does the Bible tell us about the age of the earth? Not only does the Bible describe how God created Earth and its life forms in six days, Genesis also contains detailed genealogies and chronologies. Based on the Hebrew Masoretic text, one can deduce Earth’s age to be about 6,000 years.1,2 In contrast, evolutionists believe Earth is 4.6 billion years old and that life here got going about 3.5 billion years ago. www.icr.org/article/six-biological-evidences-for-a-young-earth/

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Post #7- Reason for Belief: Unexplained (Video)

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Post #7- Reason for Belief: Unexplained (Video)

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Definition:
When certain events occur that cannot be logically explained but are still considered "real" and cannot be fully grasped or expressed, these events are often labelled as Unexplained by people.

Connection:
This is a short clip makes use of the Unexplained reason of belief and was taken in 1967 by Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin, known as the "Patterson–Gimlin film," or "Patterson film." This video was filmed in Bluff Creek, and shows what appears to be a large and hairy ape, or "Bigfoot", walking through the clearing in the woods.

A lot of what people believe can fall into the "Seeing is believing" phrase. Most unexplained phenomenon's such as bigfoot gain huge "credibility" if there is any visual evidence. The problem is that most visual evidence can be faked in our modern times. Critical thinking and skepticism must always be applied to all visual evidence so that it can be confirmed or debunked. It is not enough to just have visual evidence anymore, there should be biological, ecological and any other evidence to corroborate the "legend" of bigfoot.

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Patterson - Gimlin Bigfoot Footage | Finding Bigfoot

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Definition:
The red flag, Red Herring is used to distract from logical information that is presented to an individual. Many people will use this red flag to distract from the real matter, issues, or topic.

Connection:
In the video, ex-president Donald Trump is asked a question in regard to climate change. Instead of answering the question that was addressed, he countered the question by asking the audience who actually believed in climate change. Now this Red Herring technique has shifted the question from the effects of climate change to the actual belief by popular demand as to whether it actually exists or not.
At no point does Donald Trump or most members of the audience use any type of critical thinking skills to address they issue of climate change, they are now solely focused on whether they believe it to be real. Donald Trump has consistently stated that climate change is a hoax that has been created by China, but with no evidence to back it up. The idea here is to distract the American people (and the world) from the actually problems from Climate Change to focus on the subterfuge of China.

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Donald Trump Dismisses Climate Question from LCV

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September 17th, 2015 Trump rally in Rochester, NH MEGAN ANDRADE, UNH Student : I'm Megan I'm a volunteer with the League of Conservation Voters and I'm here to ask you what your plan is to reduce pollution that is driving climate change and endangering public health?

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Post #8- Reason for Belief: Emotional Connection (Video)

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Post #8- Reason for Belief: Emotional Connection (Video)

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Definition:
Emotional Connections are what you receive from being attached to people, pets, relationships, places, objects, and even dates because of the bond it provides. These bonds provide: a sense of safety, protection, belonging, comfort, reliability, and positivity. They can also lead people to ignore facts and believe falsehoods because of an emotional connection.

Connection:
The video shows how an Emotional Connection can make people believe something that goes against science. In the video the medium Teresa Caputo is able to use the Emotional connection of the tv host to state vague statements as a way to prove she is able to communicate with her deceased mother-in-law. At no point does she state any concrete or specific facts about the deceased mother-in-law and she uses the emotional reactions of the host to "solidify" her ability as a medium. Our critical thinking and skepticism would show that any type of scientific testing would show that the "law of averages" is being used by the medium and that the emotional connection of the tv host leads her into a confirmation bias positive feedback loop with the medium.

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'Long Island Medium' Theresa Caputo Smiles w/ Baby Granddaughter

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Post #5- Red Flag: Suppression of Authority (Video)

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Post #5- Red Flag: Suppression of Authority (Video)

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Definition:
Suppression of Authority is the belief that people who are in positions of power (government, military, monarchy, religion, etc.) are hiding crucial information from society.

Connection:
In this video CNN discusses the debate about Area 51 and whether it does house aliens and UFOs or if it is/was used for the government’s secretive U-2 and OXCART aerial surveillance programs clearly showing the Suppression of Authority red flag.

UFOs can fall into the category of the Unexplained, but if we have been visited by UFOs and the government is hiding that at the top secret Area 51 base it would be a big suppression of authority. The US government would be hiding information from the public for it's on private agenda. With each new document release from the US government more is learned about Area 51 and it shows that there is still more hidden. This confirms the bias of a conspiracy since national security prevents the complete release of all information about Area 51.

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Story highlights

Area 51 has long been a topic of fascination for conspiracy theorists and paranormal enthusiasts, but newly released CIA documents officially acknowledge the site and suggest that the area served a far less remarkable purpose than many had supposed.

According to these reports, which include a map of the base's location in Nevada, Area 51 was merely a testing site for the government's U-2 and OXCART aerial surveillance programs. The U-2 program conducted surveillance around the world, including over the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Area 51, about 125 miles northwest of Las Vegas, is synonymous in popular culture with government secrecy, and many have theorized that it holds the answer to one of the greatest questions plaguing mankind: Are we really alone in the universe?

But the newly released documents make no mention of alien autopsy rooms or spaceship parking lots.

This information will be disappointing to some, who have come to view the area as a mecca of sorts for alien encounters.

For these true believers, the existence of alien spacecraft at Area 51, and the government's attempts to cover up their trace, is irrefutable and has been since reports of Unidentified Flying Objects - or UFOs - began to emerge from the Nevada desert in the middle part of the 20th century.

The map and other documents were released in response to a Freedom of Information Act request submitted by Jeffrey T. Richelson, a senior fellow at the National Security Archives, in 2005.

Richelson submitted the request as part of his continuing study of aerial surveillance programs and told CNN that he was not given an explanation of why the new documents were less redacted than previous versions declassified by the agency.

He points out, however, that the location of Area 51 was not a particularly well-kept secret. Its location appears in books on aerial surveillance and is widely referenced in popular culture.

In fact, the map that was released in the CIA documents mirrors the one that appears after a simple Google Maps search for "Area 51."

Area 51 has also been referenced in government documents in the past, though this newest release is the first that acknowledges its existence and location in a purposeful way.

Richelson told CNN he believes this could signal a dramatic change in the government's willingness to declassify information about the famed base, meaning even more information could come out about Area 51 in the future.

The release of these reports seem to put the theories about aliens and flying saucers to rest for the time being, although they may not be enough to silence the true believers.

At least they still have Roswell, right?

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Area 51 officially acknowledged, mapped in newly released documents | CNN

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Area 51 has long been a topic of fascination for conspiracy theorists and paranormal enthusiasts, but newly released CIA documents officially acknowledge the site and suggest that the area served a far less remarkable purpose than many had supposed.

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Post #6- Red Flag: Mystical Energy (Video)

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Post #6- Red Flag: Mystical Energy (Video)

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Definition:
The red flag of Mystical Energy can include the use of crystals, lights and energy (positive or negative) to produce emotions and stimulations felt within the body.

Connection:
This video uses the red flag of Mystical Energy to describe the "Top 10 Healing Stones." Healing stones are said to have powerful energetic properties that can harmonize the mind, body, and spirit. While crystals align the seven chakras, which are energy centers in the body that promote the flow of healing life force.

The watchlist for this is, that there is no scientific proof that this a real and for it to work you need to believe and have faith the stones and crystals. You would also have to avoid the placebo effect that can come from "healing crystals", even during a scientific study. Tests subjects could show healing improvements that are due to the placebo effect rather than the actual crystal. Using critical thinking and skepticism can help to avoid putting any stock into the placebo effect or even the confirmation bias of mystical healers.

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Top 10 Healing Stones - Meanings & Benefits

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Post #10: Critical Thinking Process Responses

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Post #10: Critical Thinking Process Responses

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I choose to evaluate post #3 - Red Flag: Ideological Support for the Creationist view on the age of the Earth.

Define Problem:

What is the age of the Earth?

Gather Information:

This video is made by ICR (The Institute for Creation Research) who states that their research is unique.

"The Institute for Creation Research is unique among scientific research organizations. Our research is conducted within a biblical worldview, since ICR is committed to the absolute authority of the inerrant Word of God. The real facts of science will always agree with biblical revelation because the God who made the world of God inspired the Word of God." (https://www.icr.org/how-we-do-research)

They list 6 possible pieces of evidence to support the "young Earth" view:

1) Soft Tissues and Biomolecules should not be found in Fossils that are millions of years old as they would decay.

2)Ancient Microbes have been found and "resurrected" even after millions of years without the necessities of life.

3)Degeneration of the Human Genome that with each successive generation our DNA degrades due to mutation cumulation.

4) Evidence for Mitochondrial Eve and Recent Origin of Y-Chromosome Adam showing that there was in fact a first "mother" and first "father" for the human race around 10000 years ago.

5) Unchanged Living Fossils (Stasis) even after millions of years they are essentially the same with no evolution.

6) Population Growth that we should have way more people on our planet if the human race have been around for a few million years.

Evaluate Evidence:

ICR is an ideological research group that uses the Bible as literal interpretations of all that we know. They state that other scientific facts can be left open to interpretation, but that all research should be done through the lens of the bible.

They do no include any research that does not support the bible. Most scientific studies that have used isotopic dating methods, geological evidence or even cosmic evidence that supports the old earth view, the ICR has discounted them based on their lack of Bible view.

Recognize Assumptions, Emotions, Biases:

The assumptions of ICR and its followers is that the Bible is a literal document of the history of the universe. Not accepting the Bible as fact would cause them to be "blasphemous", and that would prevent them from being allowed into God's heaven in the afterlife. In order to achieve this the ICR and its followers have a bias to anything that supports the Bible out of fear.

Synthesize Evidence, Identify Alternatives:

Alternative Solution 1) The Earth is young between 6000-8000 years old, based on the interpretations of the Bible

Alternative Solution 2) The Earth is old between 4-4.5 billion years old based on isotopic dating, geological evidence and the fossil record.

Select Best Alternative:

Based on all the evidence I conclude that the Earth is 4.5 billion years old.

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Made by: Melissa Prosser, Working individually.

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Post #9- Reason for Belief: Patternicity (Article)

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Post #9- Reason for Belief: Patternicity (Article)

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Definition:
Patternicity is the process of seeing something that isn't actually there such as seeing faces and shapes in clouds or a tree appearing to like another object or having a face.

Connection:
In this article, the author talks about Pareidolia which is the scientific name for when we see patterns in objects or even hear things that aren't there and how it is related to how our brains neural circuitry takes in information about the outside world. Our brains will try very hard to fill in any gaps in the world to make the "world" fit our understanding of it. However, that is a lot of information that needs to be processed and so the brain uses shortcuts and tricks to fill in those gaps quickly and without using up to much processing power. This leads to us "patterning" a lot of what we bring in with our senses. We can clearly see that our brains are easily fooled with almost any optical illusion. We do have to remember that what we see in the world is our brain's interpretation of what we think we see and that true reality is different from our perceptions of it.
This leads to our critical thinking and skepticism that we should question the accuracy of our ability to directly perceive any situation with 100% accuracy.