Need help with personal issue...
I feel that irrational beliefs are potentially very dangerous for the individuals involved and the world as a whole and I therefore consider myself to be an anti-theist and I try to fight irrationality wherever it goes, but it recently hit home for me and I have no clue how to handle the situation.
When I met my wife, who I've now been married to for only a year and a half, she believed in god but was questioning it. After talking about it with me, she began to acknowledge that there probably isn't a god and she eventually lost her faith. I thought that her religious days were done. The problem is that now, she believes (don't laugh...) that there will someday be a zombie apocalypse. I have tried to talk to her about the more scientific view of the concept of zombies, but just like a theist, she refuses to acknowledge that fearing a zombie apocalypse is completely irrational.
This wouldn't be such a big deal if it weren't for the fact that I am so active in fighting dogmatic thinking. Most of our most cherished discussions have been about religion and why it's so ridiculous. Now, I can't even talk to her about things like that because I just can't take her seriously knowing that she is being hypocritical by denouncing religion because there is no evidence for it but at the same time believing that dead people are going to eat her brains.
She doesn't have a thinkatheist account, so this is really the only place I have any hope of finding help with this situation without embarrassing her. Any help in resolving this situation would be very much appreciated.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Michael R on -
Ouch. This is way beyond my experience. Have you thought about contacting a professional counselor? If my wife were seriously talking about this I would consider getting her some help.
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Permalink Reply by Eddie Miles III on -
Yeah, I've thought about that but only for a last resort as I'm worried that she would be so upset at the suggestion that it might scar our marriage for good. Remember, she doesn't see anything out of the ordinary about it.
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Permalink Reply by Michael R on
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Hopefully someone on this site has some related experience and can provide some insight. Good luck.
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Permalink Reply by Reggie on -
Wait. Are you saying that there won't be a Zombie Apocalypse? Why the hell am I hoarding all this ammo and these MRE's?
Have you tried introducing her to Skepticism and critical inquiry? They are usually a good panacea for delusions of all types.
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Permalink Reply by Eddie Miles III on
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That's the funny thing. She sits and talks to me about things I read about in Skeptical Inquirer and stuff like that. I have tried to get her to read it herself, though, and I think she's just not interested.
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Permalink Reply by Sue Bailey on -
Are you sure she's not just saying it to wind you up?
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Permalink Reply by Eddie Miles III on
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Yeah. She reads a lot of books about it and she has mentioned it many times to try to gauge my reaction and I had begun to suspect that she was being serious. She finally told me today when it was brought up, completely seriously, that she honestly does believe it.
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Permalink Reply by Reggie on
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Is there a reason she believes this? Normally, to have a fear of something or believe someting, whether rational or irrational, there is something driving it. I am aware that Max Brooks has wrote some zombie survival guides that seem to take the subject matter rather seriously, not reveleaing much as tongue-in-cheek. Has she been hoodwinked by something she read? Also, how old is she? I know I had some silly beliefs when I was a teenager and a little into my twenties. She may outgrow them.
But, if you can get her to read one book, make it The Demon Haunted World. Otherwise, you may well have to endure it for awhile.
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Permalink Reply by QM on
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As you mentioned she is reading lot of stuff about zombie apocalypse, wouldn't it make sense that you read that stuff as well and then find logical loopholes in the arguments given in it? I am sure it wouldn't be very hard to refute such stuff..
Btw, pardon my ignorance, but you are talking zombie apocalypse like the one in 'Resident Evil' and 'Dawn of the Dead' kind of a thing??
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Permalink Reply by Galen on -
Two things:
1. 5 Scientific Reasons A Zombie Apocalypse Could Actually Happen
2. I prepare for a zombie apocalypse too. Not that I necessarily think one is coming, but if I'm honestly prepared for THAT, then anything that actually DOES happen will be a walk in the fucking park!
I don't see much harm in this. It's a bit eccentric, but she's not alone in this line of thinking. And given some of the things at that link I posted (#1), in all honesty, it actually COULD happen. Unlikely, yes, but way more possible than people think.
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Permalink Reply by Eddie Miles III on
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I agree that such an event COULD occur, just like it's possible that heaven does exist. It's just that people can't go believing in things that are possible because then they would have to believe in everything! There has to be a certain degree of LIKELIHOOD, some evidence that brings the odds above the default .00001% probability, before belief in something is reasonable and most rational people would agree that there isn't enough evidence that such an event would occur to justify an honest fear of it. Maybe I'm wrong on this. I don't know.
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Permalink Reply by Reggie on
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People are naturally terrible at judging probabilities. We spend trillions of dollars on the War on Terror and Homeland Security when the likelihood of being killed by a terrorist in the U.S. is pretty darned remote, even before the money, war, and security. Heart disease or a car accident is much more likely to kill you. We seem to fear the spectacular despite it being improbable (or practically impossible) and blithely ignore the very mundane things that are killing tens of thousand every year.
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