John the Baptist baptizing Jesus |
Oracle at Delphi |
Reading scientific data is often like reading tea leaves in that your trying to see relevant patterns from seemingly chaotic things. In the past prophets, oracles and the like received their messages in visions be it in dreams or hallucinations. Some are thought to have had temporal lobe epilepsy which causes hallucinations. The Oracle at Delphi was exposed to natural gasses in her temple that caused her to hallucinate. The good seers were able to interpret the visions in relation to the real events going on around them while the false prophets, like the one who predicted the world would end on May 21, 2011, were not. Of course scientists are wrong sometimes too for a variety of reasons. That is why one must be cautious about arriving at conclusions about the data that they see.
**Related Posts**
Habemus Resegnum - We have a resignation
The Science of Why We Don't Believe Science | Mother Jones
The Need for CSI Without Dead Bodies (& Similar Websites)