I am realising that I may not have the background of a ‘typical’ scientist. (Not that I think of myself as an outsider)
Here are my experiences of youth,
they taught me to value the truth
Spiritualism and mysticism
Around 5-8 years old, I could ‘see’ auras (although I am uncertain whether I believed I could see them or whether I was always aware that I was making it up). In hindsight, I regret this. But my mother thought I was special, and I liked the attention. My mother would ask me to look at her friends aura’s and I would say something like: “your aura is red, have you been stressed lately?”
My mother would often read our family our horoscopes. The predicted fortunes might inspire mum to buy a lottery ticket, or to proclaim that she is going to have a new client (she was an interior designer).
My mother practiced Reiki. Using Reiki, she ‘cured’ many of my childhood injuries and illnesses: a sore stomach, an injury after football, a migraine, … etc. I learned to do Reiki for a brief period, I learned about the symbols you needed to make, chakras and ‘healing thoughts’.
Pseudo-scientific health care
One of my mother’s friends regularly provided our family with homeopathy and less frequently with reflexology.
When I was struggling in early primary school (I was put in remedial reading and mathematics) I was taken to Brain Gym, which was a mixture of yoga, acupuncture and delusion. You would put pressure on certain parts of the body (such as your temple or sternum) or wave your hands about (in figures-of-eight). These helped me be more creative, or more focused, or better at spelling.
The Secret. A horrible book. In my opinion it ruined my mothers life and had a large part to play in her long death. She believed negative thoughts cause illness. And in the end my mother seemed to blame herself for her cancer, believing that she wasn’t ‘thinking positive’. I have never really understood the idea of burning books, but I would happily burn every copy I find of that book.
When I was around 12, I fell down some stairs. I had serious bruising down my spine and occasionally experienced severe back pains. I was taken to a local traditional chinese therapist and prescribed cupping. (Later I was taken to a chiropractor, and in hindsight I think my treatment there was also lacking evidence of efficacy)
Lying
I was a liar.
I remember being suspended for being part of a rock throwing fight. I blamed it on my closest friend (whose name I can no longer rememeber). I said that he pressured me into it, that he was bullying me. (I was then moved schools).
When I was ~14/15 I was caught looking at porn (I wasn’t aware of browser history). I told my parents that my friends at school had been telling me to do it. They hadn’t, I was just horny…
I would occasionally bite myself and blame my little sister. Which guaranteed me some affection and attention from our parents. I was their angel child and my sister was “a piece of work”.
Fantasy
(this part seems more typical of children and teens. although maybe not ones that grow up into scientists?? not sure)
I spent a lot of time to make a destructo disk. I believed that if I focused hard enough, I would be able to form it. Yeah, not one of my finest moments…
I read a lot of fantasy when I was younger; Harry Potter series, the Lord of the Rings series, Eragon series, Artemis Fowl series, Alex Rider series, …
I played a LOT of WoW. I was a lvl 60 gnome warrior (back when it took a week of farming to get from lvl 59 to 60). I also had a lvl 36 undead mage. But I mainly just did PvP with autoleveled heroes.
Aphorisms in the household
Close enough is good enough.
It’s the thought that counts.
Curiosity killed the cat.
Send and you shall receive.
The universe will deliver.Me: Why?
Mum: (in greek) Your ass is backwards.
(In greek it rhymes)
The frustrating parts is that I occasionally find myself saying these, despite how much I disagree with them. They are deeply ingrained.
So, I grew up in an irrational household. Which might sound bad to some, but it really wasn’t. If I had to describe my parent’s values I would start with; family. They built a household on foundations of warmth, love, and support.