"bigfoot On The Brain"

[MNskeptic]

Bigfoot on the Brain: The tendency to attribute to Bigfoot things that are, in fact, not at all attributable to Bigfoot or highly unlikely to be attributable to Bigfoot.

BFOTB is a real syndrome for those of us who are open to the existence of this creature. I know BFOTB is a real syndrome 'cause I had it and still fight the tendency to this day.

Rocks being thrown at my wilderness cabin turned out to be a squirrel dropping pine cones from a tree high above the rooftop. Bowling ball sized rocks being thrown at me, narrowly missing my boat, while night fishing on remote wilderness lakes turned out to be a territorial beaver. Blood curdling screams in the middle of the state forest late at night, well, who knows for sure, though probably produced by an animal very common to the area, most likely a bobcat. In each case, I was convinced these were full fledged BF encounters. However, upon further rational investigation found there was absolutely no cause for any sort of alarm. I simply was suffering from 'bigfoot on the brain', concocting a narrative that fit with similiar stories commonly found in today's BF media.

BFOTB syndrome is not rational and causes us to reach conclusions about things which are attributed to BF circumstantially, with the dismissal of far more plausible explanations. Not sure the psychology underlying BFOTB syndrome, but fear it's very common in the BF community. I continually fight it myself.

So, who else here believes in the thing called Bigfoot on the Brain? Are you aware of its effects on perceptions, your own included? Do you guard against it?

MNSkeptic

[BigTreeWalker]

Good OP MNSkeptic. I have felt it myself. After spending a night being woke up twice by loud unidentifiable whistles, I am awoken in the morning by heavy thuds beside my tent. Turned out to be squirrels dropping 5lb. Noble fir cones from the treetops around my tent. (Although I am still not able to identify the loud whistles.)

Had things walk around my tent at night, very unnerving. I usually have enough courage to look outside and see what it is. Twice it was deer. Once a bear. And another time a bull elk.

Having experienced BFOTB myself I have also experienced it with others as well.

[MagniAesir]

I think it is fairly normal if you don't guard against it

A slightly different angle is what I call bearanoya (paranoid of bears)

I have seen people that are overly concerned about bears in the wild freak themselves out by convincing themselves that every noise was caused be a hungry/angry bear

Both situations are caused by over thinking things

[Guest]

After analyzing the opening point I interpreted the message conveyed:

 

BFOTB is a real syndrome

I know BFOTB is a real syndrome

Not sure the psychology underlying BFOTB syndrome

Bowling ball sized rocks being thrown at me turned out to be a territorial beaver

Blood curdling screams in the middle of the state forest late at night, most likely a bobcat

Rational investigation found there was absolutely no cause for any sort of alarm

BFOTB syndrome is not rational

Who else here believes in the thing called Bigfoot on the Brain?

 

 

[Sasfooty]

I also anylized it, Gumshoe, & interpreted it as actually saying:

 

BFOTB is a fake syndrome for those of us who may have accidentally been near a bigfoot and are too afraid to accept the reality of it. We are grasping at any and all other explanations because the mere thought is so horribly scary.

[BobbyO]

I'm not so sure, I think rocks being thrown at a tent would be rocks being thrown at a tent and pine cones being dropped from a tree by squirrels would be pine cones being dropped from tree by squirrels personally.

Looking at a big, large, hairy man like thing that is unlike anything you've ever see in your life in the natural world, in clear unobstructed daylight hours for the best part of a minute on the middle of the Florida Everglades, would be a big, large hairy man like thing that coincides with thousands of other big, large hairy man like things across the same continent.

That's how I like to live my life anyway.

[Guest DWA]

^^^^That.  I have found that when one accepts that the world works the way it does, and sticks to the evidence and lets that be the guide, BFOTB is not a problem.

Edited July 13, 2015 by DWA

[ShadowBorn]

I am a believer of it and have experience it while hunting. In a tree I kept seeing this figure down near this hill and it looked just like a Bigfoot sitting staring at me. It was creepy and I even got the heavy jeebies . A real mind trick. so on the third day I finally walked up to it to see if it would move. Nada , it was a large stump but because I had bigfoot on my mind it played games on me. Every thing I experience for real up north in Michigan I was now feeling here in this hunting spot.

 

Unless you get use to the real noise that goes on in the woods , your mind will always tell you that it is Bigfoot.  

[1980squatch]

I don't think I have it, evidence has to be fairly clear for me to attribute it to BF.  Distant vocals, tree breaks, stick structures and stuff falling from trees is not going to do it for me.

[southernyahoo]

I don't have to have bigfoot on the brain to know it takes hands to do this. Wood knocks are heard and reported throughout bigfoot research and always will because they legitimately do occur and sometimes in conjunction with other sounds like foot steps and vocals. These things start to pile up when people actually go out there and put in the effort. The picture forms itself after a while.

 

woodknock_0439hrs_3-13-10.mp3 

[Guest JiggyPotamus]

Even if you guys who admit to having bigfoot on your mind initially thought bigfoot was responsible, you still sought and found the correct explanation for what you experienced. Therefore you did not automatically assume it was bigfoot, and stick to that explanation despite evidence to the contrary. Instead, you got to the bottom of things, and found squirrels to be the culprit. They usually are. So it is not necessarily a bad thing to think that bigfoot might be responsible for something, as long as you are open to the truth. The truth is what it should be about, whether it is bigfoot, a squirrel, or a rogue chicken.

[chelefoot]

BFOTB - Sometimes called: Confirmation Bias

[LeafTalker]

Fabulous point, Jiggy. It's not what you have "on the brain" that counts; it's what you DO with what's on your brain. 

 

You keep listening and keep observing. 

 

As southernyahoo says, over time, you learn what's going on. 

 

It doesn't matter if you make a mistake along the way. That's what people do. They make mistakes. 

 

If you're not willing to make a mistake, learning is not possible. 

 

And nobody cares about your mistake, anyway. It doesn't affect anybody else, and it doesn't affect the reality, which is that Bigfoot exists. 

 

Worrying about whether somebody on the internet will say you have a made-up syndrome takes precious energy away from learning and experiencing. 

 

Don't let the empty pronouncements of random people drag on your energy and enthusiasm. You can't cripple yourself to make someone else happy. It won't actually make them happy, and it won't make you happy, either. 

Edited July 13, 2015 by LeafTalker

[daveedoe]

 Most of my strange occurrences in the wild end up being explainable. There have been several when it seems the only explanation is Bigfoot. Several times been chicken to look out at night when there is a creature walking around. The few times I have it has been a deer or a racoon even bears. I usually just figure it to be something other than Bigfoot. I should have just looked its not like the flimsy nylon tent will save me, LOL. 

 

Bigfoot is not on the brain first but if whatever is going on is unexplainable the possibility of Bigfoot will be my conclusion.

 

I just wish I could see one once hopefully a good encounter. 

[Trogluddite]

Bigfoot on the Brain: The tendency to attribute to Bigfoot things that are, in fact, not at all attributable to Bigfoot or highly unlikely to be attributable to Bigfoot.......

So, who else here believes in the thing called Bigfoot on the Brain? Are you aware of its effects on perceptions, your own included? Do you guard against it?

MNSkeptic

 

Chele calls it confirmation bias, I call it a lack of critical thinking in many cases.  A certain TV personality hears a "kersplash" in the dark lake behind him, out of range of the IR and starlight scopes and thermal imagers, but it must be Bigfoot.  Couldn't possibly be a large fish jumping (or hey, a beaver).  

 

I'm not so sure, I think rocks being thrown at a tent would be rocks being thrown at a tent and pine cones being dropped from a tree by squirrels would be pine cones being dropped from tree by squirrels personally.

Looking at a big, large, hairy man like thing that is unlike anything you've ever see in your life in the natural world, in clear unobstructed daylight hours for the best part of a minute on the middle of the Florida Everglades, would be a big, large hairy man like thing that coincides with thousands of other big, large hairy man like things across the same continent.

That's how I like to live my life anyway.

 

BobbyO, I don't see any contradiction in the OP and your post.  If you're inside a tent and something (that the person doesn't see) is hitting the outside of the tent, it could be rocks thrown by a Bigfoot or it could be large pine cones dropping from the overhanging tree.  Concluding its Bigfoot w/o more is BOTB. 

 

What you're describing is much more detailed and you (or whoever saw the large hairy man) have more information to use when drawing your conclusions.  It is still possible that some strange set of factors let to a miss-identification, but that doesn't rise to a case of being BOTB.  

 

I was walking home on the outskirts of our medium sized town one morning when about 1/4 mile away I saw a brown, incredibly tall bipedal creature walking toward me.  How tall?  A street sign, which I later measured as 6' tall at the bottom of the sign, was clearly visible under this thing's armpit.  I stopped in my tracks, very confused ... it was broad daylight, way to close to town and this (now that I could see it better) two-tone brown bipedal creature was casually strolling along the street - it didn't make sense.  As it walked closer, it shrank dramatically. Turns out that the guy who was also out walking was walking uphill and the street sign was another 50' behind him, and 20 feet lower than him when I first saw him.  I originally fell prey to, but ultimately avoided, BOTB.