Blog Deep Dive with Sherlock Holmes, Fairies, and the Devil Baby of Hull House

 1. Doyle and Gardener both fell prey to confirmation bias in their research of the fairies. They allowed themselves to be convinced by unconvincing “evidence” and underestimated Elsie's artistic ability. By underestimating Elsie, Gardener overlooked a crucial piece of their case. Also, as the essay mentions, it was a large misstep on Doyle's part to send Gardener instead of investigating the fairy photographs on his own. Gardener was already convinced of the existence of fairies and was seeking any evidence-like information.

2. Many of the women who visited Hull House in search of the Devil Baby had lost children or seen their children suffer. Addams uncovers the story of a woman whose son had been taken advantage of. Her son was always “innocent,” as she says, and from a young age, his peers exploited that. When he grew up and became a large man, criminals began to exploit him to complete burglaries. This woman shared her frustration with her son's continuous mistreatment and arrests. She then visited Hull House to tell her story and find comfort in the existence of the Devil Baby. In both essays, people believe in nonexistent things in search of comfort or validation of their experiences.

3. I can understand where Doyle is coming from. Because our understanding of the world is constantly changing and progressing, I suppose there is some reasonable thinking behind his statement that “there is nothing scientifically impossible.”. However, if we consider what we now know about science, it seems highly improbable that some human eyes may be able to see “magical” beings and some may not. It appears much more likely that people who tell stories about the paranormal either embellish for attention or misremember events.

4. Could there be a separate human race? One day in 2009, beachgoers spotted a large fish jumping out of the water as the sun set in Kiryat Yam, Israel. Curiosity grew, drawing more people in. Eventually, people began to report seeing a human-like figure near the shore. As weeks passed, interest in the mermaid only grew. Sightings of the mermaid often occurred before sunset when she would perform tricks and disappear. News stations began to cover the story, gaining the attention of the Israeli government. NBC in particular investigated the sightings for a documentary. In the documentary, NBC positioned cameras around the beach to film the alleged mermaid. Ultimately, no new evidence emerged from NBC’s survey; however, many crew members claimed to have seen her one night at sunset, swimming away from the beach. They had caught her on video, but the footage was never authenticated. The crew attempted to follow the mermaid but was unable to locate her. Israel’s government became concerned about the commotion, offering a reward of one million dollars to citizens who could catch the mermaid on video or in a photo. The reward of one million dollars still stands today. Many sightings of mermaids still come from Kiryat Yam; perhaps one day we will find out the truth. Ultimately I do not believe in mermaids. I do know that not all the ocean has been explored; however, it seems that there are no reasons for a human to evolve into an aquatic environment. The BBC quoted a US government scientific agency saying, "No evidence of aquatic humanoids has ever been found." And I am inclined to believe them. No other creatures like mermaids exist, and while it is a mystifying thought, I do not see any truth in the sightings of “mermaids”.

Sources:

https://folklorethursday.com/folktales/top-mermaid-sightings-in-the-last-century-that-are-hard-to-deny/

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-18692830

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