My 7yr old received a Magic Eight Ball for his birthday, and red flags immediately went up. To me it's a distant cousin of the ouija board. Plus it was a gift from my husband's family, who has a long dark troubled past and present. Right off the bat my son was "consulting" the ball for all his decisions.
Am I crazy (like my husband thinks) about this concern, or are my instincts well founded?
84 comments
As I said in my comment on the last post, my parents thought like this.
It's ridiculous. If I ask one "Will Fred take me to the prom?" (note, I am past prom age and I do not know any Freds) there is a good chance it will say 'yes.' It's like a die with answers instead of pips.
<q>Am I crazy?</q>
Signs point to yes.
This is the bit that worries me:
Plus it was a gift from my husband's family, who has a long dark troubled past and present.
Taking bets on this question:
Let your son consult all he wants. I think it has 10-15 answers but they are all murky and say the same thing, yes, no maybe. It's just for fun.
Honestly, does your own shadow scare you?
Enough of that nonsense, isn't nice to have quotes on the last day of the month? Yay!!!
It's a frigging TOY.
Am I crazy
Yes.
Your husband is right. Your book teaches that you must, as a True Christian Woman, listen to and obey him, lest you be cast into hell.
"Am I crazy (like my husband thinks) about this concern, or are my instincts well founded?"
Fish. Barrel. Shotgun. That is all.
Of course a magic 8 ball is dangerous.
And yes, of course you are crazy
Nah...too easy!
@Old Scrotum: It's a little toy in the shape of a large pool 8-ball, but it has a window on the opposite side of the "8". The inside of the window is filled with a dark liquid in which an 8-sided die floats. On the die, instead of numbers there are generic "yes/no/maybe/ask again later" statements. When one cannot make a decision, one asks the Magic 8-ball, shakes it, and turns it over to look at the window. The die floats up to the window with one answer showing, and that is the answer to the question.
More complex, but no more sophisticated than flipping a coin. (Unless you count worthless "Maybe" and "Ask Again Later" type answers as adding sophistication.)
"To me it's a distant cousin of the ouija board"
I think it's actually more like a die, with words written on it, swimming in ink.
Am I crazy (like my husband thinks) about this concern, or are my instincts well founded?
*shakes magic 8Ball*
It says "The answer is definately yes."
IT'S A FREAKIN' TOY!
Am I crazy...?
If you have to ask...
"Am I crazy (like my husband thinks) about this concern, or are my instincts well founded?"
Hm, let's see... you believe in Christ... and you seriously post on Rapture Ready...
I'd go with crazy.
You're husband's wrong. You're not just crazy, you're also loony, loopy, bananas, riding the wacky truck to the funny farm, demented, irrational, zonkers, and just plain weird.
I think they make medications for that nowadays, though. The generic version is called reality. It's free. I strongly recommend it for you.
Yes, yes you are crazy. You are crazy to flip out and babble about how a toy that utilizes a 20-sided die to give random answers is, in actuality , a telephone hotline to Satan himself. Or was that SpongeBob SquarePants himself? I forget.
And if you freak out about your kid's Magic Eight Ball, yet think flipping a coin is A-OK, you are a hypocrite too. (And probably amazingly crazy to boot)
Once kids get past a certain age, they realize that the Magic 8 Ball is nothing more than a plastic sphere, filled with liquid, that has an 8-sided die on the inside. It's totally random "yes" and "no" answers, that are basically the equivalent of:
To pretend that the Magic 8 Ball is some kind of demonic device only adds the pleasure of "forbidden fruit" to its usage. Just stop making a big deal out of it, and in a few months your kid won't even bother to use it anymore. It worked with my brother and his 8-ball. Three years later, we found it in his room--he'd forgotten he even had the thing--and gave it to Goodwill. Let some other kid enjoy it until the novelty wears off.
It's a plastic ball, filled with liquid, with a die inside, and a clear plastic window. The die rolls around in the liquid when shaken and then floats up to the window to display the message embossed on one of it's sides at random.
in other words, IT'S NOT REALLY FUCKING MAGIC YOU MUPPET!!!
Another vote for "crazy" here. In fact, I don't think a diagnosis of "batshit insane" would be too far off the mark.
Hey, at least the 8 ball gives an answer even thought it is totally random. Let me know the next time Jesus answers you.
Yes, you're crazy. Do you know how a Magic Eight Ball works? It's a floating polyhedral die inside a globe of colored water.
Basically, your son is rolling a die with words instead of numbers for his decisions. At least he's reading, right?
Of course its evil! Don't you know that every ball has a tiny swimming demon imprisoned in it that writes the answers to your questions then holds them up to... wait... Sorry, that would be the version available on the Discworld, not in our universe.
Dear Sisterin,
Yes, you are crazy. This is a toy, if you do nothing he will grow tired of it in a matter of weeks. If, however, you make a big deal of it he might continue to use it, 'cause it will seem to have real power, as you are afraid of it.
Best regards
Relax, the magic-8 ball is not dangerous. In time your so will discover that the answers it seems to give have no relation to reality at all, and that consulting it is useless. As he gets older, he may learn that the same applies to prayer.
At least we can only hope.
"it's a distant cousin of the ouija board"
I could stare at that sentence for years and yet fail to grasp the full depth of the stupidity.
"Right off the bat my son was "consulting" the ball for all his decisions"
Well I check my balls before every big dec ... I mean ... Yeah that's worrisome.
"Am I crazy [...]? "
Yes, yes you are.
“Right off the bat my son was "consulting" the ball for all his decisions.”
“Am I crazy (like my husband thinks) about this concern, or are my instincts well founded?”
Have the family play a game of Monopoly and use the ball for all decisions. And have them FOLLOW the Ball’s directions. Or take a course on statistic, but this is faster.
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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