What is the importance of critical thinking about pseudoscience and superstition in modern society as seen through Sleepy Hollow and The Secret?

Tim Burton’s movie Sleepy Hollow and the best-selling book Secrets criticize the phenomenon of pseudoscience and superstition in modern society and emphasize the importance of scientific thinking and logical inquiry. We need to think critically and study information logically to build a society based on facts and not be swayed by pseudoscience.

 

There was once a self-help book called “The Secret” that became a global bestseller. The book claimed that having positive thoughts and emotions can help you achieve what you want, and it was introduced with the catchphrase “the secret to wealth and success that only the 1% know,” and verified its claims through quantum mechanics and examples and quotes from great people. As a result, the book became very popular worldwide, reaching the top of the bestseller lists, but in reality, it was not a self-help book, but rather a religious book of ups and downs. Furthermore, it distorted quantum mechanics, edited quotes from great minds, and misrepresented science and facts. Nevertheless, many people believed and followed the book as scientific and factual. This was because they were not familiar with the science and facts. This situation has been around for a long time, and Johnny Depp and Tim Burton made a great entertainment movie about it.
Actor Johnny Depp and director Tim Burton are familiar names to anyone who loves entertainment movies. The duo has earned the love of many with their movies like “Rock, Paper, Scissors”, “Sweeney Todd”, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”, and many more. One of them is Sleepy Hollow, a mystery movie based on the legend of the Headless Knight from Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The movie’s story is simple: in 1799, Ichabod Crane, a New York detective who believes in rationalism and scientific investigation, tries to solve a series of murders caused by a ghostly horseman in the small rural town of Sleepy Hollow through deduction.
What we should note here is the time period. The late 18th century America was still a time when ignorance overwhelmed science and technology through superstition and fear, meaning that scientific inquiry was undeveloped, and people believed what they saw and didn’t investigate further. Tim Burton captures this dark time in America through the characters in his movie. The inhabitants of Sleepy Hollow fear the Horseman, but don’t try to understand him, and Ichabod’s mother was brutally tortured by his father, who had scientific knowledge but saw it as demonic power. These characters and events interfere with and frustrate Ichabod’s process of deducing the truth, and the audience comes to realize how cruel and terrifying human ignorance can be.
Ichabod Crane is a rebel against his circumstances and times. He is dissatisfied with the primitive rhetoric of the time and demands a more rational and scientific rhetoric, and is banished to Sleepy Hollow. His scientific rhetoric is not well received by the inhabitants, and they try to kick him out, and he actually witnesses many unrealistic and legendary situations. However, he did not give up and solved the case by logically combining the facts he experienced and thoroughly researched, both real and unreal, to find the truth and solve the case.
Looking at the behavior of Ichabod’s father and the villagers in the movie, you might think that in the late 18th century, scientific knowledge was underdeveloped and poorly disseminated, and ignorance led to terrifying things. However, many people still believe in pseudoscience and superstition today, just like the characters in Sleepy Hollow. The aforementioned “Secrets,” the flawed research on MSG, and Aha Energy’s subway vent wind turbines are just a few examples. Mistakes that could have been avoided with a simple internet search or expert advice are happening all too often in the real world.
That’s why we should emulate Ikavod Crane’s attitude. He logically combined information from first-hand experience and thorough research to find the truth. Of course, we don’t live in a world where we are in danger of being killed by villagers driven mad by fear like in Ichabod’s time. However, it is true that information obtained without effort is less reliable, which makes it all the more important to think critically about information and study it logically.
In Sleepy Hollow, Ichabod’s mother tells her son that “things are not always what they seem”. This line speaks to our uncritical acceptance of information from the media today. We need to stop believing everything we see, and have the knowledge, logic, and inquisitive mindset to think for ourselves and determine if it is truly true. By doing so, we can build a society that is not swayed by pseudoscience and superstition, and where everyone is protected by the facts.