Faith and science: science as faith

Science has come to play an important role in our lives. Indeed, when all is said and done, many policies related to public health and the environment are based on scientific findings. But what about belief in science and what exactly is science?

What is science?

Science is a way of understanding processes. With certain methods, for example, you can figure out what reality is, and as you have learned from history, that reality can always be modified by advancing understanding. We once thought the earth was flat, but science has taught us that the earth is round. We knew this even before we knew that the Americas existed.

This includes peer reviews. Other scientists will double-check whether a particular scientific study was done properly and, if so, whether they think the conclusion drawn is logical and valid. So as a scientist you stand alone at first, but once the peer review round is completed you are no longer the only scientist who thinks about something (unless your fellow scientists disagree with your method, conclusion or discussion).

Science is not wisdom. This was said by scientists back in the 1970s when politicians demanded an answer from them on how to deal with certain social issues[1]. At the time, one scientist felt that you should actually involve the public in answering questions that can't be answered by science in a heartbeat.

This actually says something right away about scientists' own belief in the science. Yes it is useful, but is it sacred?

When to believe in science

A new disease in the world is, of course, absolutely terrifying. No one likes to be sick or die. It’s incredibly stressful—and guess what? When we’re in stressful situations, we tend to trust science more than when we’re less stressed.

In addition, with this new disease, we have also gained more fear of death. The study examining stress and its effect on believing in science also examined what the idea that you could die does to your belief in science. Then, too, you were more likely to believe in science.

What is interesting is that if you have a religious faith and really believe in it this causes stress and the idea of dying to have less impact on your belief or trust in science. The more religious you are, the less science matters in dealing with stress and your mortality[2].

Even if you are not religious per se, but believe more in paranormal matters you also believe a little less in science[3].

Science and Policy

So science is also being used by the central government to make policy. You see that clearly now with the mouth caps and the like. You also see that a lot of people don't agree with this policy, because yes there are studies that contradict what the government says or the government has even said something before about mouth caps not actually working. So yes, what about now?

It has already been studied in the US that when people see that scientists disagree and when people are skeptical of science, they are less likely to follow the rules regarding COVID-19[4].

But that science, somewhere is very hypnotic. I sometimes talk about number hypnosis. And that number hypnosis is based on logic, what is logical to think about numbers?

My son studies math and he says averages are very interesting. If you have the average of two groups, then you have something. But if in group A there are good scores and in group B there are less good scores and then you take the worst scores from group B and you put them with group A, then the average is better. Well, think about that.

Juggling numbers. That was about a survey about hospitals and that everything is better. He said it didn't necessarily improve, they just moved some numbers around. That made the average number better.

During a press conference by Ernst Kuipers, you could see this as well. He said the corona access board (CTB) would remain, because it had 15% effect. A reporter then grabbed a study from TU Delft which said 15% was the maximum effect if you set up 2G everywhere. Supermarkets and everywhere and even then 15% was the most optimistic case and if you don't do that everywhere, then it was 5%, but even that was optimistically calculated.

Then Kuipers said he did not take back that the CTB could work up to 15% if widely adopted. Yes he had said that, but what does he mean by it? Are you going to deploy it more broadly? Are you hoping for the optimistic figure?

Because as it is now, it's only 5% effect. In doing so, you also ensure that 10% (maybe even more) , i.e.1.5 million people, cannot go anywhere. This for whatever reasons; medical, religious or whatever. These are all consumers who do want to go anywhere. These are all impetus to the economy and it is certainly on its hiatus in some sectors.

That 15% is just not the case with how it is currently deployed. So it's juggling numbers.

Other gossip is that fewer people are hospitalized with a booster. And then he showed a graph of people who were now vaccinated and boostered and it was compared to the people who were in the hospital a lot earlier, but then almost no one had had a booster. So yeah, do you think it's crazy? So now was not compared to now.

Juggling numbers.

My son also said that you can switch people with certain grades in group A and B which changes the average grade, but in the end, all those people performed the same as what they had done, regardless of which group they were in.

So he said averages are very difficult and you have to pay close attention to researching how that's set up and whether the numbers are accurate. And my son is eighteen.

Then you get very annoyed when you see Ernst Kuipers doing magic. We pay those politicians to do what we want (something about democracy) and then this happens. Yes, then you get distrust.

That's what you get from dishonesty.

The interesting thing now is that the media now also has a change in trend. Now it is more against the government instead of against people who don't get vaccinated. Because the numbers don't add up, or at least the comparison doesn't add up.

Then you get right out of hypnosis science or at least the numbers.

Then you might get all kinds of thoughts. Maybe he just made a mistake, maybe there is a big conspiracy. You can say or think all kinds of things about it.

Honesty ultimately lasts the longest. Trust in government is already low, and this kind of juggling will only make it even lower. Then people come out of hypnosis, while you may have good intentions and intentions, the execution is not as good.

You also see more and more countries opening up, such as Denmark, England and Spain. Then it just stops. So I give it one more month, maybe two, and then we can have a nice festival. And why, because people have seen through the juggling of numbers.

Also listen to this podcast:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5h2cj2c7hOXaW7hyJ7NwuL?si=f5bb70ce596b4b15

Back to normal

What I do see in my environment is that there are also people who find it difficult to go back to normal. Who find it scary to take the face mask off again when they're inside somewhere.

That's not a bad thing at all, if you want to keep the mouthpiece on you can just enjoy doing that.

But if, because the rest of society is becoming more normal again, you become afraid to go out on your own, because you are not ready, then it becomes more difficult. Your boss may want to see you at work again. Friends want to meet up with you. If you then stay inside as an anxious person and don't show up, it can cost you, and we don't really want that.

In that case, you need a new kind of hypnosis—namely, the hypnosis of trusting yourself, your body, and your own healthy immune system—and knowing that when the government reopens everything (or nearly so), it will also be safe for you.

This is where science can play a role, but if you've been properly scared, it's hard to rely on this.

In this case, hypnotherapy can also help reduce your anxiety and make your immune system stronger. After all, anxiety creates stress, and hypnosis allows you to relax more and eliminate those fears, making your immune system respond more healthily to stressful situations (such as going out with friends when you secretly find it a bit scary)[5].

Would you like to learn more about hypnosis and how you can use it to help others or yourself? Then join the free online masterclass on hypnosis.

Would you like to get started with hypnosis right away—whether to help people as a coach or simply because you enjoy it? Then sign up for one of our training programs.

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