Seeing Cryptids: The Problems

[William Parcher]

I did a rough unscientific Myers Briggs on the BFF, overwhelmingly they were all introverts and the skeptics tended to be extroverts.

What about all the ones pretending to believe in Bigfoot. Where did they end up in your analysis?

 

[Sonny2]

Like she said, they were all introverts (wouldn't that pretending thing apply to all footers?)

 

[William Parcher]

And this also couples with Parcher's suspicions of dishonesty.

But I would go on to say that this is not garden variety dishonesty. This is American tradition and customs in all their glory. A folk tale isn't exactly a lie.

Maybe the reason why there are so many Christians and Conservatives in Bigfootery is because they go there to defend America against the damn Liberals. These people already took God out of the classroom and now they want to take Bigfoot out of our wilderness. Liberals and Bigfoot skeptics are put into the same basket and they will probably go to Hell anyway.

 

[Jodie]

What about all the ones pretending to believe in Bigfoot. Where did they end up in your analysis?

LOLOL.....I don't believe I asked that but the ones either looking or pretending to look were introverts for the most part.

 

[River]

Interesting, Jodie. I would have suspected that.

As for seeing bears, the few times I have seen bears in the wilds, there wasn't much misidentification, as their dark color seems to really stand out against the foliage. Even when I could only catch a few glimpses, it was pretty obvious I was looking at bear - even the lighter cinnamon colors.

And thus the mindset jerrywayne mentions - it must be there already to see BF instead of bear. And this also couples with Parcher's suspicions of dishonesty. You want to see BF, so you see it. Never mind what you really saw.

Throw in the thrills of telling the story, plus the societal blessings, and you're quite the deal now. You can even make yourslef believe yourself, given enough time and denial.

Take into consideration, not everyone has good vision. Some of the people making these type of claims wear glasses or contacts. Everyone also has differing levels of perception in the woods. Especially if they aren't very familiar in that environment. They might think calls from a fox is bigfoot, or the raccoons are. I've heard people post all kinds of natural occuring sounds claiming it to be bigfoot. When called out, they usually say bigfoot mimics those animals. OK.

Add in a little footer imagination and dang...

 

[William Parcher]

So Myers Briggs can't catch cheaters, or there are no cheaters?

 

[William Parcher]

They might think calls from a fox is bigfoot, or the raccoons are.

The problem doesn't go away. How do you know that the person isn't familiar with fox sounds and yet goes and claims that they heard a Bigfoot? You are granting innocent honest mistakes where you cannot prove that such mistakes are honest.

 

[Sonny2]

But I would go on to say that this is not garden variety dishonesty. This is American tradition and customs in all their glory. A folk tale isn't exactly a lie.

Maybe the reason why there are so many Christians and Conservatives in Bigfootery is because they go there to defend America against the damn Liberals. These people already took God out of the classroom and now they want to take Bigfoot out of our wilderness. Liberals and Bigfoot skeptics are put into the same basket and they will probably go to Hell anyway.

I doubt if the footers have made that leap yet. They aren't aware that the skeptics are anti-American libs who are out to take their guns and BF away. They just think they're irritating thorns.

If they come over here and figure it out, though, watch out below. The truth will out and this Bleevers - Scofftic thing will explode. (j/k, kind of)

And River, my eyes aren't all that great, but I do get your point. Being outdoors a lot makes a difference, too, as you know what to expect.

 

[River]

The problem doesn't go away. How do you know that the person isn't familiar with fox sounds and yet goes and claims that they heard a Bigfoot? You are granting innocent honest mistakes where you cannot prove that such mistakes are honest.

I think some of them obviously do know. It appears that most footers aren't really in the woods that much. When they do go, it's a stretch to say they're in "remote" areas. (parked in a camper van/truck on the side of a dirt road?) That's how they can believe the notion of a bigfoot. Just about anything can become bigfoot with the right coaching. So there are differing levels of footery at work! Certainly plenty of liars, and cons. Just as many suckers, and "greenies", dupes.

 

[William Parcher]

I doubt if the footers have made that leap yet. They aren't aware that the skeptics are anti-American libs who are out to take their guns and BF away. They just think they're irritating thorns.

And yet, Evangelical Christianity and strong Conservative values are the elephant in Bigfootery's room.

 

[William Parcher]

LOLOL.....I don't believe I asked that but the ones either looking or pretending to look were introverts for the most part.

I was wondering....

You fairly recently stopped believing in Bigfoot and began to deny. Did you also find that your personality made a switch from introversion to extroversion at the same time?

JREF forum had a thread on Myers-Briggs here.

 

[jerrywayne]

Another reason why it depends on which cryptid you are talking about is that we may or may not have a good sense of the predominant personality type of the claimants. We have that for Bigfooters where there is a general lack of innocent honesty.

I think one of the big reasons why great numbers of people tell lies about seeing Bigfoot is because Bigfootery is extremely protective and gives real meaningful sanctuary to liars. People who like to tell folk tales automatically realize that Bigfootery is a great place for them. They are actually needed by Bigfootery. The liar knows this.

Very interesting point. Once, at Cryptomundo, someone posted that he had seen a sasquatch when he was alone in hinterland B.C. He said his brother doubted him. He made this claim anonymously. Common sense would council not to take this claim at face value. Didn't stop posters, however, from giving emotional support as if the sighting was a verified fact.

 

[jerrywayne]

And yet, Evangelical Christianity and strong Conservative values are the elephant in Bigfootery's room.

I am surprised at the creationist element in modern Bigfootery. I had thought they were dismissive of Bigfoot because of the Darwinian connotations of an apeman. I thought the Loch Ness Monster was their cup of tea, a surviving marine reptile thought to be extinct by modern evolutionary science.

 

[Sonny2]

I am surprised at the creationist element in modern Bigfootery. I had thought they were dismissive of Bigfoot because of the Darwinian connotations of an apeman. I thought the Loch Ness Monster was their cup of tea, a surviving marine reptile thought to be extinct by modern evolutionary science.

It doesn't surprise me so much because anyone who can ignore the scientific facts and believe in Creationism is also likely to ignore the scientific facts when looking at anything else.

 

[William Parcher]

People who have previously worked with the BFRO say that about 80-90% of all submitted claims are discarded because they are obvious lies. Doesn't seem unusual to me.

But what is unusual is that these are not spoken of, or even posted with a tag saying that the BFRO regards them as lies. I mean, it wouldn't harm anything by posting the lies in their own web section, right?

No, it's very harmful to Bigfootery because it would show the world exactly how popular and common it is for the public to tell Bigfoot lies. Then you realize that the few thousand reports that they do show are only just the best sounding lies according to people who already believe in Bigfoot (or say they do).

I strongly deny the existence of Bigfoot. Yet even I could pick the best Bigfoot lies from a pile of them. "Here go with these ones. They are lies but the Bigfooters will believe these ones. I know exactly what they like."

The movers and shakers in Bigfootery are constantly having to manage the Three Bears Situation. This bowl is too hot. This bowl is too cold. But this bowl is just right....

This is too many reports. This is too few reports. But this number of reports is just right to maintain even keel Bigfoot belief.

 

[Sonny2]

The best lies are those that take a real situation and tell it like it happened, then throw in a Bigfoot. IOW, describe a place you were really at, doing something you were really doing, then throw in the monkey.

If BFRO is tossing that many claims, they must get quite a few sightings, as they have a bunch over there on their so-called database. QA testing at the BFRO - LOL.

 

[Jodie]

I was wondering....

You fairly recently stopped believing in Bigfoot and began to deny. Did you also find that your personality made a switch from introversion to extroversion at the same time?

JREF forum had a thread on Myers-Briggs here.

No, I've never been extroverted, I have consistently tested out as INFJ for the last 10 years when I've had a reason to take them for work. I would say that if I run true to type, then it is because I'm more sensitive to BS than other types.

 

[Sonny2]

I don't know anything about the Briggs-Meyer, but I suspect it has a lot of fallicies, as do most things that try to categorize humans. Guess I'll go read the thread Parcher linked.

 

[Jodie]

I am surprised at the creationist element in modern Bigfootery. I had thought they were dismissive of Bigfoot because of the Darwinian connotations of an apeman. I thought the Loch Ness Monster was their cup of tea, a surviving marine reptile thought to be extinct by modern evolutionary science.

Oh no, I think it has to do with that biblical story of Esau and Jacob.Bigfoot is descended from Esau.

 

[William Parcher]

I am surprised at the creationist element in modern Bigfootery. I had thought they were dismissive of Bigfoot because of the Darwinian connotations of an apeman. I thought the Loch Ness Monster was their cup of tea, a surviving marine reptile thought to be extinct by modern evolutionary science.

Well I'd speculate a few things.

God created Bigfoot and everything else. We have not scientifically confirmed Bigfoot because God apparently doesn't want that, at least not yet. He may also only allow some people to observe Bigfoot. It may be God's way of showing that human experience ALWAYS trumps science... even though our experience may sometimes include science. IOW, Bigfoot is God's way of saying that science isn't everything.

Or, Bigfoot is simply a token used by these people to push against the erosion of American Tradition and Family Values. What American tradition? Bigfoot.

I don't know.