I enjoy scifi, ghost stories, fantasy, et cetera (these are not my only literary subjects). I hate stories which pretend that such concepts have reality. I never watch shows such as Ghost Hunters on the SciFi channel. It annoys me when the history channel presents myths, fictional movies, & occult phenomena as real or worth serious investigation. Anecdotes about psychics helping people or the police also bother me.
I agree with you and do not watch this crap either. If we all stopped watching such dribble they wouldn't have anyone to sell anything to and the advertisers would kill the show! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Well, with so much that remains unknown, everything not known SHOULD be explored. How can you hate stories that 'pretend' these concepts have reality, when it is unknown whether there is any truth to these concepts that we don't yet understand. Multiple dimensions and multi-universes are now something being seriously explored, but that was once just a scifi fantasy (mind you none of the scifi versions fit, the 'reality' of possible multiple dimensions is much more complex then any scifi fantasy, but without the fantasies, would we ever have explored?) Historically, the occult has played a significant role in our past. Alchemy was considered occult, and alchemy lead to chemistry. I don't mind some occult stuff, as long as they either stick to what is known, or present it as an unknown possiblity. Whether you believe in psychics or not, police have used them on occassion, but only when they are extremely desperate. Some psychics have helped catch criminals though. I will agree with a few things though: I don't like the ghost hunter. I ain't big on the 'based on true events' movies that are so losely based that the only true events were insignificant in the movie. Although I also enjoy some 'based on true events' movies. It really depends how much of it is true events and how much is speculation about unexplained events, and how it gets presented. But if you don't like a show, don't watch it. Not everyone perceives things the same, and as long as many people are interested in the unexplained, the unexplained will be on the TV Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!. When it is unknown, most either believe or don't believe - me I leave those doors open, and I admit what most can't, that I don't know.
Really? No prioritising? Who is going to do it? How much time/ money will it cost? Who will support those doing the investigating? Except the occult is not a possibility.
There is a big difference between exploring what is possible within yourself, and what order things need to be tested! When it comes to testing, we still need to start with the most rational explaination. But that shouldn't limit us from exploring all possible explainations. So far the stuff that is proven still leaves plenty of room for many possible explainations that could also fit with what we know. I like to dream of absurd possibilities, but I am well aware that the most rational explaination should always be looked into first. PS - I never said the occult was or wasn't a possibility. I was only saying that the occult played a significant role on our past, but there are also unexplained stuff within the occult. I don't mind hearing about the occult stuff that is known about, but I ain't big on speculations about the unexplained parts being presented as if it were fact.
Really? How much time are you going to spend on "exploring what is possible within yourself" (whatever that means) compared to time spent eating/ earning a living? Priorities... Also wrong; why bother exploring possibilities when you've found an answer that works? And that provides a full explanation? You're surely not suggesting we continue looking at "other possibilities" once we have an explanation? I.e. once we have a scientific explanation for a phenomenon should we look at the less rational possibilities? And some "possibilities" are so clearly absurd there's no point in "exploring" them. Science rules out a lot of things, why should we bother exploring those? You did say "or present it as an unknown possiblity". It's not an "unknown possibility" it's woo woo-ism.
Mostly: why do people get involved in such nonsense. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Possibly more between laziness (in education/ life) and belief in the occult. It's a "get something for nothing" scenario. Why bother learning all that hard sciencey stuff and working at getting a result when you can wave your arms, spout gobbledygook and get your heart's desire for no real effort?
I don't think it's brain damage, I think it's more to do with peer pressure. Namely if you are surrounded only by a bunch of people that believe in ghosts and you have known no difference than the stories they tell of them, then you too would believe in ghosts. People that believe in ghosts don't ask "Do they exist" they already beleive they do, much like someone who believes in god thinks they exist.
"Occult" has two meanings that seem relevant here and I am not sure which is being referred to. The first is simply "relating to or deal with supernatural agencies or phenomena." The second is just "beyond what humanity can presently understand." It seems to me that the original poster was decrying attempts to put the former on same footing with natural phenomena, but that you may be using the latter definition. This is obviously not a reference to the supernatural, but to something we do not understand. Alchemy is sort of a hybrid. It was fundamentally a search for "laws" governing the nature of the material world. Amongst those laws, however they believed that all matter had to be infused with a kind of "spirit" as well as a particular "form" (or "body"). The notion of spirit was not really questioned (and wasn't considered supernatural) until around the time of Newton (and indeed Newton's universal gravitation was criticized for requiring a "spirit" to act on two bodies at a distance). The notion of spirit was then changed from something completely intangible to somethings an invisible fluid (of the sort that eventually came up again in the Caloric theory of heat and to some degree in the Phlogiston theory of combustion. With the coming of chemistry in the mid to late 17th century, alchemy became more widely recognized as having a supernatural and non-scientific basis. I think the OP would allow for the study and debate of things that may later turn out to be non-naturalistic, in the way that alchemy was. What he would object to was pressing the theory as fundamentally correct once the reliance on supernatural agencies was well demonstrated.
Oh, come on, the lot of you. It's exciting and interesting. One can't totally discount this crap, although it's extraordinarily unlikely. And wouldn't life be interesting if it were true? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Although, the 'taunting ghost' shows are kind of annoying. "If you can hear us, evil murdering ghost, come and strange Josh. He thinks you're a punk. Punk." What's your best outcome here? Looking like an ass. The worst? Something evil strangles you, idiot.
LMAO yeah, taunting a ghost. Kinda brave and courageous if they actually believe it would work but I dunno. I'd love to just once see some sort of danger come get one of'em... just once.
Yeah like all that stuff about Jesus returning from the dead, Virgin birth, burning bushes and the world being created in six days! Who would believe such nonsense? You’d think no one even heard about Newton, Einstein or Darwin!
Because it's fun to think about. You guys act like science has never been wrong before, things science said was impossible, yet these things exist. Like scientist firmly believed that the bottom of the ocean was barren because no animal could live with no exposure to the sun. Boy were they wrong, but if no one had been curious enough to explore we would still think that. Even as a science student I still take many if not most scientific discoveries with a grain of salt, especially in the realms of study that we know little about, i.e. biology. If you believe in science blindly you're no better than the people who believe the dinosaurs' fossils were placed here as a test of our faith in God.
Well the world being created part I almost believe cuzz I created one but my record is 8 days 16 hours and some change. LOL Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! (of course, mine is significantly smaller and I still havent got the lawn planted yet.)
