The purpose of the post is to get some help and ideas in trying to argue against the credibility of the ouija board. (I can't believe I just wrote that....)
The background is:
- I live in Russia, which is an extremely superstitious country
- I live with a Russian girl, who, by and large, doesn't really believe in silly superstitions (although sometimes I think she deliberately doesn't share the extent of what she believes with me... understandably)
- Her father is obsessed with all things occult and supernatural, and has read hundreds of books on the topic, which he thinks, provide evidence of the existence of such things as clairvoyance, dowsing (which he has "successfully practiced" himself), all sorts of spirits etc etc. I think he was on the verge of organizing the end of the world on the 21st if December, when he realized it wasn't going to happen happen.
The problem happened on the past weekend when my girlfriend visited her parents for a family get together (I couldn't attend). At some point, the dad drew up a ouija board (unfortunately, Hasbro doesn't produce a Cyrillic version) and lit a bunch of candles. The missus was very skeptical to start with. That is, until she participated. Now she is 110% convinced that the marker was moving by itself. I won't relay her entire story, but obviously whatever happened made a strong impression on her and the others at the party. Apparently we now know for sure that: "Valentina is going to marry Vladimir in 2016", and Olga shouldn't change her job next year.
The problem I have, is that I can't even look her in the eye after she said that she believes it. My blood boils every time I think about it. So do I try to explain her the idiomotor action? "Sweetheart, you and everyone else were moving the marker, you just don't know it". As scientific as that might be, it's not going to work. It comes across as "you and everyone else are delusional". I really need to stamp this out, but unfortunately I wasn't there to see it, and apparently everyone saw it move, so that's perfect evidence.
What other angles can I take?
