Its something we hear about all the time, but real life changing experiences are exceedingly rare as far as I can tell. We all have moments that affect us and stick with us for years, some times our whole lives, but an actual event that fundamentally changes your behavior, your philosophy, or your thought process is pretty hard to come by. I remember the day it happened to me. It starts with an iPod.
A Shot In The Dark
The restaurant I was working at back in college was holding a contest to see who could raise the most money for the Lymphoma and Leukemia Society by selling $1 Donation Balloons, the winner of the contest would get an iPod. This jazzed me up quite a bit as I had been somewhat behind the times in acquiring an MP3 player, so this would really be something worth winning for me. Flash forward to the end of the contest and I’m walking out of the store with a shiny new iPod in my hands, excited to get home and load it up with all of my music.
While uploading I noticed that iTunes had a category called “Podcasts” in the store, intrigued I checked it out. Unknown to me at the time, Podcasts are talk radio style shows that come in any number of subjects. It sounded interesting so I headed to the categories that usually interest me the most, Science and Technology. Browsing around the selection one particular podcast caught my eye, The Skeptics Guide to the Universe. I had always been “skeptical” but I had no idea what this show could be about or that there were people who identified themselves as “Skeptics”. So I downloaded a few and gave them a shot.
You Can’t Unsee What Has Been Seen
Wow, these people were speaking my language right off the bat, but the episode that really solidified it for me was Number 7. I had always enjoyed science, but these guys really got into the idea of what science was (and wasn’t perhaps more importantly). This particular podcast was quite eye opening in that regard. The hosts talked about the idea of science and skepticism, and introduced words to me like “Logical Fallacy,” “Falsifiable,” and “Anomaly hunting” and “Pseudoscience”, and about how to test a hypothesis to see if your claim holds up.
I haven’t looked back since that day. A large portion of my book library and iPod are filled with the skeptical literature and shows. The day I found that podcast fundamentally changed the way I approach life, the way I examine things I read and hear, and the way I form my own ideas. It has changed my plans for the future and opened up new interests that I never had before. I cannot not be a Skeptic when I do something now, its impossible. As they say, you cant unsee what has been seen. It has been a long journey since then, but it was that single hour that I consider to be my first step.
Now its your turn, I want to hear about your life changing moment? Have you even had one yet? What about you changed if you have had one? You don’t need to write a big post, but share it with us! If the ideas outlined in this posts interest you, ask for more resources in the comments and I will provide you with them.