Why we believe..

Well said, my friend! :rotf: :applause:

I could add a couple more but, oh the children! :wink:

You had me agreeing with you all the way till you started bad mouthing grits :haha:

I think there's an identity aspect to it. People like me, or the kind of people I like, believe X, so I adhere to it. Or, and I think this is even more common, those people (whom I really dislike and in truth find contemptuous), believe Y, so I'm going to believe something else- preferably something that will antagonize them.

My feeling is that this is usually in the mix to some degree, even within small communities like blackpowder shooters. I think its the dominant factor in most things political. Perhaps it isn't the prospect of having to acknowledge the error itself, but rather, who you'd have to acknowledge it to, that makes being wrong preferable to being right.

That said, there are also simply a lot of people that don't like to think a whole lot. In law school we learned that a properly framed question is 90% of the answer, and I tend to agree. Thing is, I don't think most people are comfortable asking even poorly framed questions about what they enjoy believing, much less good ones. We like "knowing" what we "know", and we aren't too eager to let sharp questions get too close to those intellectual/emotional bubbles. And it doesn't have to be some foundational belief, it can be something as stupid as a snake that rolls about town like an evil, fanged, venomous bicycle tire.

Cowboy2 said:

. . . . . something as stupid as a snake that rolls about town like an evil, fanged, venomous bicycle tire.

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:rotf: :rotf:

There are some conclusions drawn from "modern scientific experiments" that do not logically rule out the old wives tales. For example banking prime in a flintlock. A single hot wire inserted into prime does not mimic a line of multiple sparks from a well tuned lock.

I sure appreciate this thread. I now have an answer to the question of why my tractor tires go flat. It must be those horn snakes. I think they hoop up and hide behind the wheel. It seems every two or three years I have to put air in them. The tires I mean.

Dang it, Alden, you were on a roll until you got to the grits. They truly are brain food. I can prove it....you don't eat grits and....uh.....well...... :rotf: :rotf: Just yankin' your chain, buddy. :grin: :hatsoff:

The same thought patterns can be found today.

Me to my old boss "hay this is gona get someone hurt, we should change how we do it."

Boss Yea we have had a couple close calls & one guy hurt, but it's the way we've always done it.

Me Well let's take a minute and find a better way.

Boss I told you, this is how we do it, always has been, always will be.

Me Ok, but why don't we just try to come up with a better way?

Boss Don't you think if there was a better way we would have come up with it by now?

Me Yea ok, listen I'll be the one to climb up there. To my self because after talking with you for 2 minutes falling to my death might be a welcome change

Yes, we do have many things in our hobby that folks believe to be true. Some are true but many are not. Scientific investigation is the only way to resolve the difference between what is falsely believed and what is truly known. The main difference between belief and knowledge is that one can believe anything but one can know only those things that are true.

Cowboy2 said:

I think this is even more common, those people (whom I really dislike and in truth find contemptuous), believe Y, so I'm going to believe something else- preferably something that will antagonize them.

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:haha: :blah:

I like the way you think :thumbsup:

William Alexander

Here is an 18th century shooting topic still discussed today...

In 1742 Benjamin Robins, in his New Principles of Gunnery stated that, "no bullet should at any time be placed at any considerable distance before the charge".

Proven wrong by the British Army in 1810 it has come back in to fashion, possibly because a: It is a seriously bad idea with modern powder and b: When people load modern powder in to a BP rated gun and it blows up they will look for any excuse other than their own stupidity :rotf:

I think in most myths you will find were based on at least some truth.

“Of the Horn-Snakes I never saw but two, that I remember. They are like the Rattle-Snake in Colour, but rather lighter. They hiss exactly like a Goose, when any thing approaches them. They strike at their Enemy with their Tail, and kill whatsoever they wound with it, which is arm'd at the End with a horny Substance, like a Cock's Spur. This is their Weapon.

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The critter below is rattlesnaked colored, hisses like a goose, rolls over, curls his tail, discharges a foul substance from the vent close to the tail when he rolls over he makes a loop with the tail close to the head.

Link Hog nosed snake

Another snake very common is the black racer, he is fast and will give chase....

The water moccasin or cotton mouth will curl up and give an impressive display with his open white colored mouth, if that does not work sometimes he will give chase, then he bites. Likely a death sentence in the 18th Century...

The coral snake bites and rolls around as he chews to deposit his venom that is almost as deadly as a cobra.

Lastly is the worm snake, the tiny worm snake has a very hard stinger like tail that aids him in digging.

IMHO the harmless Hog Nosed snake is likely the "horned snake" with behaviors of other snakes attributed to it.

I hope someone does that to Eddie Carter or his inbred Nephew someday...

He did not hurt it. The snake was playing dead. Maybe the video will show someone how harmless they are and prevent one from being chopped up with a hoe. :idunno:

I was just showing how it's behavior could have been exaggerated into the myth of the horned snake.

I know -- I wasn't wishing harm on anyone, I'd just like to see a video of ol' Eddie and his cross-eyed kin being poked and proded, afraid for their lives, screaming till they pass out/play dead too is all. We could learn from their behaviour as well if not just appreciate the comparative entertainment value .

Another Hognose bites the dust. :grin:

[youtube]tuZtKVM6koo[/youtube]

They are cool snakes. They also are able to spread their neck out sorta cobra like.

First I ever saw was while bowhunting in WI. It was only about nine inches long. I played with it with a stick till it finally threw in the towel and played "possum". Dropped it into my quiver to take back to camp to show the other guys, but the quiver had a small hole in it and the snake escaped.

Found a rather large one maybe over three feet long near a fenceline and that one finally gave it up and rolled over on it's back. Funny thing is, if you flip it over onto it's stomach it will flip itself back over into the "dead" position. The other feature of the act is they let their tongue hang out and lay in the dirt. I picked that one up and hung it over the wire fence and left it there. It remained hanging there until I was quite a long distance away. I watched and waited and in about ten minutes it came to life and slid off the wire.

Snakes get a bad rap that they don't really deserve. Not to say that I play with rattlers! :haha:

There were some mythical birds in Pa Dutch folklore. A Distlefink, the bird of happiness and joy and the Elfderdritch, an evil bird that eats small children, claws victims, etc. Similar to Lewis Carroll's frumious bandersnatch with jaws that bite and claws that catch. When I was young, the old folks would threaten bad behavior by adding "oder die Elfderdritchen willst du fange" "or the Elfderdritches will catch you. There are folk tales of infants being attacked by birds of prey.

Won't watch the second snake-in-the-grass video but as an American I was rooting for the underdog here...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE0Q904gtMI

Now which one was it, or either!?

Alden said:

Won't watch the second snake-in-the-grass video but as an American I was rooting for the underdog here...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE0Q904gtMI

Now which one was it, or either!?

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http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/eaglegrab.asp

Spence