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Like many others, I had thought bestiality to be universally taboo until I discovered that intercourse with donkeys is acceptable in the northern Colombian town of San Antero, where adolescent boys are alledgedly encouraged in this practice. They even have a festival to celebrate this bestiality; particularly attractive donkeys are paraded in wigs and makeup.8 (I am still hoping that this last example is an elaborate hoax.)
Not only do murder and ghosts have to be declared when stigmatized homes are put up for sale, but many U.S. states require that houses that previously contained methamphetamine manufacture labs be identified and certified clean because of the residual threat of contamination.
Only in some locations
Many species can even change sex, with fish topping the gender-bender list.26 That might be acceptable for animals, but a transgender human who decides to have a sex change operation is abhorrent to most people—because transgender individuals violate our natural view of humans as being either male or female, a property fixed from birth. In truth, many of our intuitive biological boundaries, such as gender, are more apparent than real. There is much more shared similarity and common origins than we appreciate. And if you don’t believe me, ask yourself this: why do men have nipples?27
We have become increasingly aware that supernatural thinking is something to be embarrassed about. We may even hide our superstitious behavior when there are others around. Three out of four adults will avoid walking under a ladder if they think they are unobserved.53 If they see another adult do it first, they are much more likely to walk under the ladder. If we do not think that we are being watched, we are more likely to act superstitiously. Students were even less likely to cheat when they were told casually that the exam room was said to be haunted.54
Here is where storytelling and the role of culture can influence children who are uncertain.
Could this be what Erickson was thinking and why he was doing story based hypnosis?
They may be less sure about the extraordinary power of others or mysterious magical boxes. This is where culture steps in to shape our beliefs. Again, others’ testimony becomes important in supporting supernaturalism, and this is particularly powerful on the playground. In one of the largest extensive surveys of beliefs, Peter and Iona Opie studied more than five thousand children of the British Isles. Among the various playground activities of games and songs were a mixture of supernatural beliefs relating to oaths and superstitions. The Opies noted that children distinguished between
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nature of children to be attracted by the mysterious:
Simply by interacting in a synchronized way with the baby’s own responses, the shapka and baby had become the best of buddies.
NLP does this too.
There are many rare and bizarre medical conditions, but only those that challenge our beliefs about what it means to be a human are called freaks. It’s a cruel term that we use to isolate those who do not fit our concepts of what it is to be a human.
The severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak that threatened a worldwide pandemic in 2003 was transferred to humans by civet cats stacked in crates in the infamous wet markets of the Far East before being shipped out to restaurants. SARS is a coronavirus. It replicates by hijacking the DNA contents of a cell and replacing it with its own genetic material. You could say that a coronavirus substitutes one essence for another.
Similar to covid19?
However, in its modern use, synthetic manufactured hormones are used to avoid both the problem of rejection of animal tissues by the human immune system and the risk of transmitting animal disease into humans.
Wait... what? Stops rejection of animal parts?
Marc Quinn’s 1991 Self is a self-portrait sculpture of his head made from at least eight pints of the artist’s own frozen blood transfused over five months.
