Forums > Social Discussion > Your Opinions on the Paranormal?

Login/Join to Participate
Page: ...
PeleBRONZE Member
the henna lady
6,193 posts
Location: WNY, USA


Posted:
I don't want stories actually.

What I am looking for is do you believe?

If so, what do you believe in?

Do your beliefs stop at ghosts or do you think demons, werewolves, vampires are real?

What about possession?

UFO's and alien abductions?

What about those things that people can supposedly do? Magic (real, not David Copperfield)? Telepathy? Clair/Audiovoyance?
etc..etc...etc...


I ask because I recently resumed my role as a paranormal investigator. I did it years ago, and recently resumed it because it is something I really loved doing. I work with a group of people who seem to be more embracing and *want* to believe in it so much that I do not think they apply as much logic and science. Me, I apply logic and science until I run out of ideas and then still won't definitively say yes, just that it *could* be.

What I have noticed is that those who want to believe, find explainations for their exsistence where they don't really exsist. On the other hand those who choose not to believe will make up stupid explainations that make no sense to debunk something.
It can be quite hard to deal with.

So...where do you fit into all of htis and what do you think?

Thanks!
P~

Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir
"Oooh look! A pub!" -exclaimed after recovering from a stupid fall
"And for the decadence of art, nothing beats a roaring fire." -TMK


Silver_BlazeSILVER Member
newbie
7 posts
Location: Dallas, TX, USA


Posted:
Tom, you used to be a missionary?

(this is a serious quick-to-become-a-heated-discussion kind of topic for me, so I'll keep it short.)
I believe in all the things listed, in a way. Most of my beliefs center around angels and demons. For example, I think UFO sightings are a brief glimpse of something moving across the spirit realm.
If you want to get a look at some paranormal stuff, read the Bible. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are good places to start. Revelations is bizarre too. There’s some weird and pretty cool stuff in there, just don’t take it out of context.

And feel free to ask me questions.

FireTomStargazer
6,650 posts

Posted:
hmmm maybe not in the way you think, Silver. A missionary (behaviour) by telling ppl what MY concept and view is.

I still have it in some aspects and occasions - this you may be able to observe at my presence in SD... wink

As I see it we all have different paths and priorities in our lives. Missionaries need re-confirmation, a feedback loop - basically because they are either not strong in their own faith or believe in something the Buddhists name "the great vehicle" (meaning that only mankind as a whole can be delivered). I don't mind missionaries, it's up to me taking it, wearing them shoes - or leave their concepts up to them.

the best smiles are the ones you lead to wink


robnunchucksBRONZE Member
enthusiast
363 posts
Location: manchester uk


Posted:
i beleave in the phenominon of the paranormal just not the hypothoises people come up to explain it.



to me it seems like theres alot of jumping to conclusions involved with the paranomral.



for example people see a strange light in the sky that glowed brightly and moved in an eratic unpredicatble way even sometimes appearing to pass though solid objects they dont know what it is but instead of saying we saw something we dont understand they conclude its aliens/ghosts.



people wake up and see a odd figure standing over there bed instead of saying that was weird how come i saw someone standing there who vanished leaveing no physical trace i dont know what just happend they say instead conclude its an angel, demon or ghost



500 years ago entire villages would experiance the most insain visions of demons walls bleading people appearing to melt or transform into things etc instead of saying we dont know what the hell is going on they concluded it was witches and black magic



however for each of these examples eventualy we uncovered what was going on



the objects reported as alien space craft/ghosts were finaly indentifyed as ball lighting a new and up till then unknown type of lighting which is very rare



people appearing over peoples beds at night leaveing no physical trace was eventualy identifyed as waking dreams in which the brain dosent come out of REM sleep properly and we experiance vivid convinceing dreams while we are awake.



the whole villages seeing crazy things was eventualy identifyed as a type of fungus growing on the crops which tainting there food supply (a fungus from which LSD was later derived)



so yes science can't always explain the paranomal and in most cases there probly is something going on



BUT it seems like most of the explanations people come with with are nothing more than wild guesses and stabs in the dark because they dont want to say.... i dont know.



which is fine if you clear that your just guessing and realy no one knows whats whats going on not yet anyways. what annoys me is the people who make out like what there saying is anything more than blind guess work and try and pass it off as some kind of science or worse still people that manipulate those belefs to there own personal gain for example that worthless f£"king cretin jhon edwards.





p.s. Silver blaze if you might find it intresting to know why revilations is so bizzar. if you look at the historical record you'll find that the author was on a magic mushroom trip when he wrote it. a common practise which aloud them to "experiance the divine", incidnetaly its also why monks have shaved heads so they could put the mushrooms in contact with there skin and let the chemicals soak through smile
EDITED_BY: robnunchucks (1184685366)

My nunchucks vital statictics biggrin

weight: 500g
handle lenght: 16 inches
chain length: 2 inches


x_non_xmember
61 posts
Location: Manchester, England


Posted:
I believe in ghosts yes, always have, believed in them more in the past few years though because my attic is haunted & the pub where my sister works in is.
I don’t believe in demons, werewolves or vampires though, Maybe ‘cos I’ve grown up seeing them as Fantasy Characters? I dunno, but I don’t


& yeah I believe in possession, no I have never personally seen it happen but I do believe in it.
I don’t believe in aliens.
Magic, yes I believe in that, witchcraft is really interesting when you read about it all properly & I do believe that spells & rituals can have an effect on someone.

BirgitBRONZE Member
had her carpal tunnel surgery already thanks v much
4,145 posts
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland (UK)


Posted:
I just found the best line ever on a bag of Yogi Tea: "Where there is mastery, there is no mystery."

"vices are like genitals - most are ugly to behold, and yet we find that our own are dear to us."
(G.W. Dahlquist)

Owner of Dragosani's left half


robnunchucksBRONZE Member
enthusiast
363 posts
Location: manchester uk


Posted:
Im suprised by the number of people who beleave in magic out of curiousity can anyone who beleaves in magic actualy perform a magic spell or know someone who can?

My nunchucks vital statictics biggrin

weight: 500g
handle lenght: 16 inches
chain length: 2 inches


hamamelisBRONZE Member
nut.
756 posts
Location: Bouncing off the walls., England (UK)


Posted:
Hmm..

Frankly, I don't even know what I believe in. I was raised in.. how should I put this.. an 'extremist scientific' family..? Well, on my mother's part anyway.

We sort of have a family history (though not her) of mental illness, and I think she's sat through a few too many completely nuts conversations, so now won't believe anything that isn't 'scientifically proven'.. some people cling to religion I guess.. *shrug*

So.. weird things have happened round me, one of my best friends is.. shall we say.. gifted in odd ways.. I'm pretty sure I've had some experiences of knowing what was about to happen, and have a big tendency to say the same as certain other people at the same time as other people..
But I do know the human mind is a pretty unreliable witness, especially when it *wants* to find/not find something..

There's definitely a lot as goes on we don't understand, but I guess I can only go as far as keeping an open mind- which is what true science is about, really.

THE MEEK WILL INHERIT THE EARTH!


If that's okay with you?


FloosoushooSILVER Member
member
38 posts
Location: Oxfordia, United Kingdom


Posted:
 Written by: triskaidekia



But I do know the human mind is a pretty unreliable witness, especially when it *wants* to find/not find something..



yeah, that's so true! i saw an amazing program about savants, and one of the most interesting finds was how our brains filter out a lot of what we see. they've become *more* complex to make us see *less*!! incredible! so our survival evolution has discarded some of our brain power, its full potential is truly mindblowing, and it is arguably certain that some people are capable of "paranormal" actions, which are perfectly natural to them, but just beyond us!

they mostly come at night, mostly.


Bigfoot67GOLD Member
Member
103 posts
Location: Bornem (Belgium)


Posted:
The only thing i certainly believe exists between the things you posted is thelepathy, i've experienced it once myself when i was young...

I see the rest of the paranormal stuff just as you do, just don't know to believe or not, but i must admit the more i think about it the less reasons i find to say such stuff don't exist.

Bigfoot67GOLD Member
Member
103 posts
Location: Bornem (Belgium)


Posted:
ow yea, i don't see werewolves and vampires and stuff as paranormall things, according to me they're just fantasy characters.

I do believe in aliens, but i don't see that as paranormal stuff, i just think that there's no reason to believe we are the only life form in the whole universe.

LizzybethLizzy hearts sunshine hoop
272 posts
Location: midlands!


Posted:
eeeerrrm ghosts and spirits n stuff - yes, but i didnt know that anyone thought warewolves were real...do they? warewolves and vampires are only as real to me as the hammer horror *which by the way is amazing* origanals were :P all makeup and fake blood...

aliens?? maybe! heehee i will admit i searched google earth once looking for them :P i was a very bored bunny

if i could be a busy busy bee...


robnunchucksBRONZE Member
enthusiast
363 posts
Location: manchester uk


Posted:
so our survival evolution has discarded some of our brain power, its full potential is truly mindblowing, and it is arguably certain that some people are capable of "paranormal" actions, which are perfectly natural to them, but just beyond us!



actualy savants dont have more brain power than the average person. there brains just dont encode information like the rest of us do. normaly our brains get rid of information it thinks is irelivent to prevent us becomeing overwelmed by it. so by removeing these filters savants can do some impresive things. however it comes a price they are easly overwelmed and confused. also they tend to be very poor at abstract thought as well as socialy impaired. many of the worse cases also lack the theory of mind (understanding that other people think just as they do) as a result are often unable to take care of them selfs or function independently.



savonts aren't an example of the true potential of the humman brain they simply illustrate how problems we would regard as difficult e.g. advance matmatics, photographic memory etc. are actualy very easy problems compaired to say decideing what your going to do today or cracking a well timed joke with friends. but because we do these things so regualy we dont appreciahte how difficult it actualy is to do them. we are already useing our brains to there full potental we just take it for granted.
EDITED_BY: robnunchucks (1186581321)

My nunchucks vital statictics biggrin

weight: 500g
handle lenght: 16 inches
chain length: 2 inches


FloosoushooSILVER Member
member
38 posts
Location: Oxfordia, United Kingdom


Posted:
 Written by: robnunchucks


we are already useing our brains to there full potental we just take it for granted.



we use about 10% of it!

i just meant as you removed the layers of filters, the more possibly primitive abilities become more apparent, so you could reason that all sorts of things lie dormant in there, unused, as you said, to avoid overwhelming us.

they mostly come at night, mostly.


DominoSILVER Member
UnNatural Scientist - Currently working on a Breville-legged monkey
757 posts
Location: Bath Uni or Shrewsbury, UK


Posted:
Actually we use all of it.

https://www.snopes.com/science/stats/10percent.asp

Gist of it is that the 10% idea is untrue, while not all the brain is active all the time, it is all used.

Give me a lever long enough and a place to stand and I can beat the world into submission.


Fire_MooseSILVER Member
Elusive and Bearded
3,597 posts
Location: Scottsdale, AZ, USA


Posted:
ive always thought that 105 thing wasnt too accurate. although i dont beleive that our whole brain is used, but definatly mroe then 10%. You know when you see those videos of like brain activity? ya the spots are poping up all over the place but the brain is pretty thick, and who knows whats going on underneith. Also ive heard about people who get impaled by a rod or shot right thru the head and there is absolutly NO damage. sometimes it isnt even felt.

O.B.E.S.E.

Owned by Mynci!


robnunchucksBRONZE Member
enthusiast
363 posts
Location: manchester uk


Posted:
thanks domino you beat me to it smile



just to add to the reason our brain only uses a small part at a time is to conserve energy our brains are incredably efficent things.



to put it into perspective the average human brain is about on par with the worlds most powerfull super computers when it comes to raw computational power.



however the super computer uses the same amount of power as a small village in a first world country.



the more possibly primitive abilities become more apparent, so you could reason that all sorts of things lie dormant in there, unused, as you said, to avoid overwhelming us.



well thats not quite right the brain isn't hideing extra sences and abilitys from us (why would it do something so harmfull to its own survival) what it is doing is managageing that information to give us the ability to focus on things by blocking out irelivent information.



savants dont have this ability they aren't able to focus on a particual area they get the full blast of information all the time but there not geting information we couldn't get. the only diffrence is if we want that information we must focus our attention on it they get it wether they want it or not.
EDITED_BY: robnunchucks (1187022545)

My nunchucks vital statictics biggrin

weight: 500g
handle lenght: 16 inches
chain length: 2 inches


MynciBRONZE Member
Macaque of all trades
8,738 posts
Location: wombling free..., United Kingdom


Posted:
did anyone see "enemies of reason" on channel 4 last night (monday 13th August) it was a guy (scientist) who was going around looking at astrology, seancing, dowsing and some other superestitions / paranormal.

He was saying how he believes the spread of these is a blight on the human endeavor, and how astrology is still based upton the model set up 2000 years ago even though the worlds axis has changed throwing the data off by 23 degrees but the original map etc apparently still hold true.
He witnessed a double blind test on dowsing which through up results of 1 in 6 success (about the same as blind chance).

I found it quite a refreshing change and balance to all the religious and paranormal television that is shown. it wasn't all that balanced (him being a cold sceptic) but he did admit that he didn't know how all things worked but would like proof before he believed, his session with a tarot reader was quite good the reader got a lot wrong and defended himself saying not all things will be true for a person in a reading, when much of that shown was blatant generalism or attempted cold reading.

the worse bit though was the showed a spiritualist church where the leader "spoke to spirits" he "linked" to a girl and she later told how he had spoken to her before about how a family member, they had died in a car crash and the spirit said it was the fault of the front left tyre he had just had replaced at a garage.

A couple of balls short of a full cascade... or maybe a few cards short of a deck... we'll see how this all fans out.


robnunchucksBRONZE Member
enthusiast
363 posts
Location: manchester uk


Posted:
yer i saw that was an awsome program and while i agree he was bias i thought he was very fair about how he delt with there clames. like the astrologer instead of saying this is rubish he said lets do a simple test to see if what your saying is actualy happening. at which point the astroleger started to panic and accused him of trying to create misscheafe.



and yer the spirtualist guys realy got me angrey pissing on the memorys of peoples loved ones to con money out of them frankly i dont know how they sleep at nite.
EDITED_BY: robnunchucks (1187092314)

My nunchucks vital statictics biggrin

weight: 500g
handle lenght: 16 inches
chain length: 2 inches


MynciBRONZE Member
Macaque of all trades
8,738 posts
Location: wombling free..., United Kingdom


Posted:
I agree. his bias was put to the side and he offered very practical methods of testing "paranormal / superstitious" theories, He gave the impression that he would be willing to believe if only someone could prove something.
I liked his explaination of how most "proof" was anecdotal and personal which had absolutely no way of being shown to others.

I honestly think that these things are beliefs and wishes, if you look for a coincidence or correlation you will probably see it if you WANT to believe.
I don't want to discount peoples beliefs it may be a vital part to how humans operate some believe in proof and science and some believe in ghosts and spirits.

It does scare me that a person may take a child to some form of "spiritual healer" rather than a medical doctor because of their belief does scare me somewhat, and the growth of these through the internet may well herald the stagnation of modern science.

A couple of balls short of a full cascade... or maybe a few cards short of a deck... we'll see how this all fans out.


robnunchucksBRONZE Member
enthusiast
363 posts
Location: manchester uk


Posted:
i remember when i was younger i used to beleave in UFO's my dad has always been fairly down to earth so he'd always be very sceptical about things like that when. i would talk about UFO's been real and he'd say well thats fine but lets see some evidence anyway one day i decided i'ed prove it to him so i went on the net and spent about 4-5 hours recearching trying to colect together a bullet proof case for UFO's. of course dureing this recearch it slowly started to dawn on me that there wasn't any hard proof and what little proof there was was increadably week at best or had been clearly been shown as a fraud or something natural. worse still the examples that had been shown to be frauds were still been refrenced on UFO websites as evidence. after alot of searching and finding non of the rock solid proof i had always just assumed had existed it started to dawn on me that my dad had been right all along. and suddenly when i thought about it i couldn't remember why i even started to beleave in the first place.



ultimately the idea just kinda got into my head and once it was there i was to stuborn to accept i could be wrong about it. hence why i didn't feel the need to check my facts. i've always assumed this is how people get takeing in by these things. and why i always try to double check my facts these days
EDITED_BY: robnunchucks (1187094974)

My nunchucks vital statictics biggrin

weight: 500g
handle lenght: 16 inches
chain length: 2 inches


DominoSILVER Member
UnNatural Scientist - Currently working on a Breville-legged monkey
757 posts
Location: Bath Uni or Shrewsbury, UK


Posted:
That was Richard Dawkins, he also did one called The Root of All Evil? (not the title he wanted or agreed with) about religion. You can find it on Google Video. Saddly I missed this one, is it repeated, or on the web anywhere?

Give me a lever long enough and a place to stand and I can beat the world into submission.


MynciBRONZE Member
Macaque of all trades
8,738 posts
Location: wombling free..., United Kingdom


Posted:
That's the fella smile I saw that advertised at the start of the "enemies of reason" show and agree would have loved to have seen it, he did make a couple of references to the detriment of organised religion which made me want to know what he'd said.

A couple of balls short of a full cascade... or maybe a few cards short of a deck... we'll see how this all fans out.


faith enfireBRONZE Member
wandering thru the woods of WI
3,556 posts
Location: Wisconsin, USA


Posted:
yes, he is spoken of with much despise in some of my religious groups

Faith
Nay, whatever comes one hour was sunlit and the most high gods may not make boast of any better thing than to have watched that hour as it passed


MynciBRONZE Member
Macaque of all trades
8,738 posts
Location: wombling free..., United Kingdom


Posted:
can I ask why fif? I'd like to know how religious groups feel about him and there reason for doing so.

A couple of balls short of a full cascade... or maybe a few cards short of a deck... we'll see how this all fans out.


jeff(fake)Scientist of Fortune
1,189 posts
Location: Edinburgh


Posted:
 Written by: Mynci


can I ask why fif? I'd like to know how religious groups feel about him and there reason for doing so.


Essentially they hate him because he treats religion the same way he does the superstitions covered in the documentary. Specifically he asks why we should give special respect to people who believe in some what implausible things without any evidence.

Basically, this phenomenon.

According to Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle of Quantum Dynamics, we may already be making love right now...


DominoSILVER Member
UnNatural Scientist - Currently working on a Breville-legged monkey
757 posts
Location: Bath Uni or Shrewsbury, UK


Posted:
Mynci, linkage for The Root of All Evil?

Part 1

Part 2

I'd seen these, I was asking of anyone had links to the new one, but I've since found one.

He's recently written a book called The God Delusion, the wikipedia article actually covers it very well and will give you a good flavour of the book and why it has upset some and elated others.

Give me a lever long enough and a place to stand and I can beat the world into submission.


MynciBRONZE Member
Macaque of all trades
8,738 posts
Location: wombling free..., United Kingdom


Posted:
Cheers guys I found them and watched them last night.
Thanks Jeff. I get that but i was actually after the reason from someone who believes in what he is against. I can see it from the other side of the fence, but I can't understand, because I've never been there If you know what I mean. I've never felt the pull of unsubstantiated belief.

A couple of balls short of a full cascade... or maybe a few cards short of a deck... we'll see how this all fans out.


faith enfireBRONZE Member
wandering thru the woods of WI
3,556 posts
Location: Wisconsin, USA


Posted:
well, we feel it is substantiated-see the oh so active thread we had here when I first came in. and cause he is patronizing. He already has an idea in mind and simply looks for evidence to support it. If he had an open mind, perhaps someone on the fence-evidence might not look so overwhelming.

I believe in many paranormal things

don't like him and his style

he just encourages people to continue to be jerks to people who manage to beleive in something greater than themselves
EDITED_BY: faithinfire (1187271959)

Faith
Nay, whatever comes one hour was sunlit and the most high gods may not make boast of any better thing than to have watched that hour as it passed


MynciBRONZE Member
Macaque of all trades
8,738 posts
Location: wombling free..., United Kingdom


Posted:
thank you hug
I do Believe in the possibility of extra terrestrial life, I don't know it's form or function but do think that there is so much out there the chances of life being out there somewhere are true. I don't think they necessarily have space ships but do think something should be out there.

A couple of balls short of a full cascade... or maybe a few cards short of a deck... we'll see how this all fans out.


faith enfireBRONZE Member
wandering thru the woods of WI
3,556 posts
Location: Wisconsin, USA


Posted:
sorry if it was a bit reactionary of a response-check out a catholic group or the largest christian group on facebook and you can see the broad range of beliefs and the role of religion

Faith
Nay, whatever comes one hour was sunlit and the most high gods may not make boast of any better thing than to have watched that hour as it passed


Page: ...

Similar Topics

Using the keywords [opinion * paranormal] we found the following existing topics.

  1. Forums > Your Opinions on the Paranormal? [162 replies]

      Show more..

HOP Newsletter

Sign up to get the latest on sales, new releases and more...