Epistemology. It's a word I didn't really know until a couple of years ago when I started working with the ACA.

It's the study of belief, what we believe and why. You might think it's just academic, you know.

We bandy these words about, but we really do want to promote it, and it can do real world good.

It links in with critical thinking, and on a recent trip I took

back to my hometown, I was able to use it to affect good. Two people I love very much indeed

were at loggerheads having an argument, disagreement. So massive it was tearing their relationship

apart. One of them was convinced that the other was sabotaging their

life, taking steps to make them lose out on opportunities and joy. And I couldn't keep my silence.

I stepped in and said, well, let's think about it. Why do you believe that? What reasons do you have

to think that this person who, until this point,

seem to love you very much, and hates you? And it all came down to gut feeling and intuition.

And when we actually objectively step back and examined what the evidence really was,

there was no real grounding for this upset. Now, I don't know how much of an impact

my words actually made in the grand scheme of things, but the day after, they'd patched the

relationship up. Love was restored, peace returned. So when we say we care about what people believe,

we mean it, because believing things for right reasons really does make a better

difference in the world but if you think that faith instinct or a gut reaction is a better way to

seek truth then do call us because the show's starting now all right welcome welcome, welcome, everyone. This is Talk Heathen. Today is November 24th,

2024, and I'm your host, Scott Dickey. And joining me today is my favorite out of all the

blind limies, Jamie the blind limie. How you doing, Jamie? I am sick, but I am here. And so you get Raspie voice, solid snake blind lymie for this recording. All right, all right. Well, that's better than no blind lymies, right? Indeed. And I knew I was going to say that about you, so I made sure to know at least one other blind limie.

And neuroscientist Oliver Sacks, also a blind lymie, my second favorite blind lymie.

So glad to have you, Jamie.

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