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Culture War Roundup for the week of May 11, 2026

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You asking for me to provide debunkings of claimed medical miracles is an great example of backwards thinking on how to go about evaluating claims of supernatural occurrences.

Weird shit happens all the time, but that doesn't mean it's a miraculous event from the Power of God. No study has ever demonstrated miracle healings working. There's a million dollar prize by James Randi for a demonstration of any occult power under laboratory conditions. There are tons of religious hospitals, why don't they have a track record of better outcomes than the secular ones? Anyone who could actually demonstrate a new power of healing or prediction or weather control would become immensely famous and presumably very wealthy. And yet no one can pull it off under strict scientific standards. Telling.

People used to take pictures of UFOs. They weren't really aliens. People still claim to have alien encounters and see ghosts and all that kind of thing. Yet the evidence never seems to get better. The most recent brand of UFO hype is over military systems detecting strange objects, which often turn out to be balloons and artifacts of the cameras.

If aliens were such advanced fucking space creatures capable of spaceflight then presumably they'd be even more impossible to detect than NGAD if they so chose. (Also NGAD stuff purposely tries to avoid airspace where casual observation would occur and has never been known to try to abduct someone. Note that some portion of UFO claims were in fact US military aircraft, so it's really ironic you bring that up.)

Constant streams of major claims backed by shitty evidence is good evidence of shitty claims due to human foibles, not that there's really something there. If there were something really there, at some point we'd expect strong evidence to emerge. People are certainly highly motivated to look.

You asking for me to provide debunkings of claimed medical miracles is an great example of backwards thinking on how to go about evaluating claims of supernatural occurrences.

What I am actually asking for you to do is demonstrate that you've actually looked into the question at all. There's nothing wrong with not looking into miracles (I haven't, not really something I am all that invested in) and I certainly don't expect you to just to win an argument on the Internet, life's short. But "no religious believer has done a very good job of getting a miracle recorded, or proving faith healing works" suggests that you speak from a position of personal knowledge. If what you meant was "I've never heard of any religious believer saying X, Y, Z," then that's a different claim, and that's fine. But if you've actually looked into the question extensively and documented your findings, I might be interested in reading your conclusions. If you haven't looked into the question, why are you making the argument? It seems to me that arguments from ignorance only incentivize not knowing anything, and while arguing about Nietzsche on Twitter is funny, it's not really an ideal epistemic environment.

Weird shit happens all the time, but that doesn't mean it's a miraculous event from the Power of God

I agree with this.

No study has ever demonstrated miracle healings working.

What exactly qualifies as "miraculous healings"? Do studies showing that prayer seems to expedite healing count? Spontaneous remission of cancer? Regrown arm?

There's a million dollar prize by James Randi for a demonstration of any occult power under laboratory conditions.

No there is not, but you should also understand the difference between alleged miracles and occult power.

There are tons of religious hospitals, why don't they have a track record of better outcomes than the secular ones?

Are you unfamiliar with the research showing the positive connection between spirituality and good health outcomes?

Anyone who could actually demonstrate a new power of healing or prediction or weather control would become immensely famous and presumably very wealthy.

Miracles are not the same thing as superpowers. The debunking of a claim to be able to work miracles cannot prove that miracles do not occur (and, similarly, proof of a miracle would not be evidence of superpowers.)

People used to take pictures of UFOs. They weren't really aliens.

Yes, UFOs =! aliens. In fact, many of the leading "UFOlogists" think that UFOs aren't really aliens.

Yet the evidence never seems to get better.

What's your objective metric for this claim?

Note that some portion of UFO claims were in fact US military aircraft, so it's really ironic you bring that up.

Yes, I am aware. In fact a certain portion of the UFO phenomena may be cultivated by the US government precisely to hide advanced aircraft.

If aliens were such advanced fucking space creatures capable of spaceflight then presumably they'd be even more impossible to detect than NGAD if they so chose.

Then why did you make this argument at all?

If there were something really there, at some point we'd expect strong evidence to emerge. People are certainly highly motivated to look.

This is also true of next-generation aircraft.