Urban Health Fair, Pt.2

This is part 2 of my series on an Urban Health fair that I visited a few weekends ago. The first part can be found here.

After Michael and I were given advice on how to supplement our dog with Glucosamine and fish oil capsules, we headed over to another booth. To be honest, I don’t really recall what this booth was showcasing exactly, except that it had a stack of fliers held hostage by a large, smooth rock, which prevented them from blowing away in the gentle breeze. This rock was immediately taken from the table by Michael’s son – who was pretty much grabbing everything in sight.

Michael’s son is blonde (in contrast to my brown hair and Michael’s red hair), so Michael and I exchanged amused looks when a lady behind the table at the booth told us, “Oh, your son is so obviously an indigo child. Congratulations!” I said, “really?” She went on to tell us that if we really wanted to understand our son, we should learn to interpret his dreams – his dreams would be a window into his soul and understanding them will enable us to better harness his indigo traits.

Of course, we played along. I hugged Michael’s son and told him, “You hear that kid? You’re an indigo!”

I actually wrote a post on indigo children way back in the near-dawn of this blog, which can be found here.

Indigo children are what some new age individuals and organizations believe is the next step in the evolution of our species. Indigo children are supposed to be more creative and intuitive than non-indigo children, and many people believe they possess enhanced capability of paranormal powers such as telepathy or psychic abilities. Some of the traits of indigo children, as described by Olena Gill (An author of books about inidgo children, who is a self-proclaimed metaphysician, life coach and indigo, are:

They:

• Are highly intuitive – can be telepathic and show extrasensory capabilities.

• Will often say seemingly ‘profound’ statements and have a strong interest in God – they often seem wise beyond their years.

• Are very sensitive to the environment, (can include food & additives), energy fields, electrical currents, as well as emotional sensitivity to what is happening around them.

• Are strong willed – have a determination about them, often ‘warrior-like’ in their personality.

• Will often ‘call them as they see them’ and won’t hold back from doing so.

• Can have a fiery temper and demeanor – rarely wavers from the one-track mind.

• Can often be confused with having a defiant attitude – will often do the exact opposite of what they are told to do.

• Have a strong need to help others, individually or globally.

• Are often introverted and a loner.

• Like to work alone most of the time or in groups where is there is mutual cooperation and respect.

• Are seemingly antisocial until they meet up with others like them.

• Are very technologically oriented – usually are whizzes at computers or other gadgetry.

• Deal often with depression, insomnia, or bodily issues such as chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia and in extreme cases – energetic mania or freneticness.

• Can be misdiagnosed as ADD or ADHD.

Amusingly enough, even though I think the indigo movement is silly, in nearly all of the online “tests” for indigo traits, I score positively – what does that mean? If only there were some decent scientific studied on the phenomenon, but alas, there are… zero. Perhaps if there were decent evidence of psychic abilities, I might be inclined to believe that indigos were “evolving”, but… There isn’t.

Some of the “indigo” traits are vague enough that they can be said to be traits of any child, especially by a parent who already believes that indigo children are a real phenomenon. For example: being strong willed, “calling as they see them”, having a fiery temper, being defiant (or “confused” for defiance), wanting to help, yet being introverted and antisocial and liking to work alone unless with their “kind”, being interested in technology and experiencing depression. These are all things that children experience as they are growing from babies into adults.

The other traits – having ESP and being “sensitive to environment” are traits that are commonly misinterpreted due to cognitive bias and errors. Testing has shown again and again that psychic abilities, telepathy and ESP are indistinguishable from pure chance occurrences, except for in the all-too common instances in which outright trickery and deception are involved. Testing has also shown that “energy field” sensitivity is bunk – people who believe they are electrosensitive cannot distinguish between the presence or absence of electrical fields when properly blinded to them. Obviously, some people do have food allergies and sensitivities, but this is much rarer than people believe. The rest can be chalked up to wishful thinking – if you believe your child is psychic, you’re much more likely to count the “hits”, when a child says something that can be interpreted as “psychic” or “intuitive” while ignoring the misses.

A label like “ADD” or “defiant” might mean for a parent that your child is imperfect, damaged or somehow less than his peers. By labeling him an “indigo”, a parent can turn this around, labeling him as evolved above his peers.

I think the whole movement is silly and possesses no scientific or rational basis. Everyone wants their children to be special, and parents should obviously nurture the natural gifts that children have – but one should not nurture and encourage defiance. Some indigo parents go so far as to essentially let their children parent themselves, saying things like, “I don’t teach him, he teaches me. He leads me. He tells me what he needs”.

As we walked away from the booth and grabbed some lemonade, the woman who told me my “son” was an indigo approached us and handed me a book – HOW to RAISE an INDIGO CHILD: 10 Keys to Cultivating a Child’s Natural Brilliance by Barbara Condron – it was a gift! I thanked her, genuinely grateful that she wanted to gift me with a book on how to raise a kid – even if the kid isn’t mine and I don’t see any evidence that “indigo children” are a real phenomenon. I love getting books, even if they are on subjects that I disagree with.

Next up – nerve conduction tests and the wacky anatomy knowledge of chiropractors!