Magical thinking is the belief that one's words, actions, thoughts, or use of symbols have an effect on the external world and/or events. In this discussion, Helen Greene will explain how in childhood magical thinking starts, how people use it as a psychological tool, how even people without belief still practice magical thinking, and how to break oneself from falling into these patterns.
Helen comes from a diverse background of beliefs. Raised Catholic then rejecting the church to move into paganism, she was a pagan high priestess for 10 years during her time in that faith. Eventually realizing through education and skeptical inquiry into herself, she came to the conclusion she had no solid evidence for her beliefs which brought her to a more humanistic and realistic worldview. Still studying psychology even out of college, she spends her time trying to understand human behavior, the emotional and psychological understandings of ourselves, and what forms our perspectives and why. On top of her volunteer work here at RfR, she is also a volunteer at the Atheist Community of Austin, an advocate of LGBTQIA+ rights, and a cohost of the podcast Left of the Valley. For fun, she enjoys horror (esp cosmic horror) and sci-fi movies, video gaming, and diving deep into made up world building stories such as the Lord of the Rings.
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E212: Cuban Ray-guns, Schoolgirl Poisonings, and Monkey Men with Rob Palmer
E211: Atheist Street Pirates: Building Secular Community with Evan Clark
E210: Godless Engineering with John Gleason
E209: Laughing Loudly in Outer Darkness with Stephanie M.
E208: Playing Devil's Advocate with Lucien Greaves
E207: Getting Lost in Trauma w/ David Teachout
E206: Separating Religion and Government w/ Geoffrey T. Blackwell
E205: Deconstruction on the Spectrum with Anthony Dominello
E204: Surviving a Christian Cult w/ Andrew Pledger
E203: Politics and Civic Engagement After Religion: Part 2 w/ Jason Racheotes
E202: Philosophy and Secularism w/ Nicholas Soutter
E201: How to Avoid Cognitive Bias w/ Richard Gilliver
E200: Trauma and Your Brain w/ Dr. Darrel Ray
E199: Why There Is No God w/ Armin Navabi
E198: How to Avoid Getting Hung Up on Bad Ideas w/ Matt Dillahunty
E197: Why Science Education is Important w/ Dr. Ethan Siegel
E196: Celebrating Sex Positivity w/ Arden Hart
E195: Logical Fallacies: The Sequel w/ Rob Palmer
E194: Answering the Call w/ Jimmy Snow
E193: Incels and the Boy Crisis w/ Dr. Darrel Ray
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