alright..once more, and, I hope, simply.

The point is not about 'proving', nor are fairies these days a major issue, but they represent a class which IS an issue. As you indicate LH, I do not 'need' to prove everything, and I do not rush about expecting everyone to submit every slightly unusual experience for analysis.

But, at one time in some cultures, fairies WERE an item of serious cultural concern, and were believed to affect the lives of the people. What do you suppose would happen in court if a person were asked to explain why he/she was dancing naked in the garden in violation of local statutes? "The fairies promised me a magic ring if I would dance naked with them." ...If the judge and jury didn't believe in fairies, it would be a problem.

Today, we have other things which are 'beliefs' which are items of moderate to serious concern. Fortune tellers extract money from people by claiming to 'see' things in crystal balls. (moderate concern) Practictioners of 'alternative medicine' dilute herbs & suppliments to one part in a billion and sell them as 'cures'. (moderate to serious concern). Murders are committed "because God told me to!" (or voices, or whatever) (pretty serious concern). And entire nations and cultures engage in atrocities and war based on various belief systems or distortions of belief systems .."don't worry about blowing yourself up...you will go directly to Paradise"..."God is on our side" (pretty damn serious concern?) Various hoaxes which require gullibility are perpetrated every day, some by folks who actually believe what they say..(is it still a hoax?...ask victims who figger out the truth too late)

We teach children various things to keep them safe (until they are old enough to figure it out for themselves, hopefully)..."Stay away from bottles which have Mr. Yuck on them" "Don't talk to strangers when I am not there." We don't try to explain all the details...we expect them to BELIEVE us until they learn discernment.

But we do so very little in teaching the basic rules of reason and understanding, because if we did, the kids would be questioning other things.."ummm..how do I KNOW there is a Paradise and that Allah will take me there if I kill some of our 'enemies'?" "Are you sure that if I take extract of peach pits and put magnets in my shoes, I won't have to undergo that nasty, expensive cancer treatment?"

I could, of course, go on.....but that, briefly, is why I keep hoping that people will begin to see the subtler points about what the difference is between 'believing' and 'knowing', and why I remind folks that IF they make claims about their experiences that might affect others, even indirectly, they need to be clear about that difference. *IF* you might be wrong, and you influence others to belive as you do, without YOUR experience, you might be perpetuating a myth with consequences far worse than dancing naked with the fairies.

The real point is, careless belief is a bad habit, even if certain instances of it are mostly innocuous.