From September on, eBay will no longer allow users to buy or sell spells and tarot readings. Boo.
The BBC found someone who acquired a spell and was happy with the results, and someone from a Skeptics Society who proceeded to diss the concept on the basis of unproven efficacy of the services. This covered all their bases, but the real issue is why do people have these beliefs in the first place.
At first I was surprised these things could be acquired over the internet, but then it struck me: if you buy tangible
things online, what's wrong it buying faith-based items over a
broadband connection? It certainly makes more sense than buying a pair
of jeans you never actually saw or tried on.
Of course it makes sense for eBay to stop carrying these services, just as it makes sense for Tesco's not to offer fortune telling to its customers: retailers cannot risk being seen as ready to make a fast buck out of baloney. That's bad for business, and is likely to land you in court, smeared with accusations of profiteering out of the ignorance and misplaced beliefs of some of the most fragile people in our society. But the fact that retailers will not carry spells and such things doesn't mean they are not for sale out there - these are probably the only kind of small retailer which does not fear the opening of a big box next door. Expect spell exchanges to crop up rather quickly, with a conveniently catchy URL.
Woo is available for purchase on the high street: Boots stock homeopathic remedies. These are just modern day magic potions (in fact they have less actual science behind them than witches' brews of old). It has crossed my mind to start peddling intangible services online: it would be just so easy, and you could cover yourself with the right small print. Why don't I? A mixture of laziness and the mini-me on my right shoulder telling me I'd feel guilty.
ReplyDeleteWhy do people believe this stuff? The same reasons people believe in gods, old wives' tales and ghosts: a combination of a desire for something _more_ and a lack of ability/ interest in logical reasoning.
I agree.
DeleteFor a while, I expected the Internet to become a different context, somewhere where this sort of thing had no space. I was wrong. We seem to be migrating online not to build a new world, but to reproduce the one we have offline.