Quote:
Originally Posted by yossarian  How is "This was caused by a chemical in the brain" any more rational than saying, "This was a message from beyond."
Everything that can be observed is by definition natural. If we discover that humans have a subtle telepathic ability, it will be a wholly natural phenomenon.
For instance if a psychic says, "I cannot have any hardened skeptics actively observing me or in the general vicinity, because their aura creates a null field that blocks out all psychic transmission," and then the tester refuses to set up a situation where those conditions are met (This is what the Randi foundation does) then the tester isn't going to create a legitimate test.
Randi, for one, basically refuses to provide the people he tests with suitable conditions. So Randi doesn't solve the mystery.
At the very least it says incredible things about the human mind - stuff that modern psychologists are not able to rationalize away.
Are you willing to take the red pill and see just how deep the rabbit hole goes? Or are you just here to taunt some crazy nutjobs?
"The information in this book is either nonsense or it is the most centrally important thing that you could possibly learn."
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>How is "This was caused by a chemical in the brain" any more rational than saying, "This was a message from beyond."
Well its quite obvious to me why the first one is more rational, but not to you, so i suppose it depends through which eyes you look at it.
>Everything that can be observed is by definition natural. If we discover that humans have a subtle telepathic ability, it will be a wholly natural phenomenon.
Yes indeed, why have we then not yet discovered anyone with telepathic abilities, all i see is modern day tricksters. Prove me otherwise.
>For instance if a psychic says, "I cannot have any hardened skeptics actively observing me or in the general vicinity, because their aura creates a null field that blocks out all psychic transmission,"
Wow what a convenient excuse. There tricks work on the gullible but when someone looks critically at it, it blocks there aura. Its stuff like this that makes one especially skeptic of these readings
>Randi, for one, basically refuses to provide the people he tests with suitable conditions. So Randi doesn't solve the mystery.
All participants sign off on a testing protocol, stating that it is a fair test of their abilities. Then afterwards they make up excuses etc. I don't buy it. Burden of proof for a paranormal claim properly lays with the supposed mediums etc, its not randi fault that they are fake mediums and fortunetellers using simple conjurers' tricks to prey on the public. Of course, many self-professed psychics and other purveyors of legerdemain do not like being tested. A reasonable person might suspect that this otherwise uncharacteristic shyness might be due to fear that they will not pass a rigorous test of their alleged abilities. The psychics have many more creative reasons. I believe these people to be naïve and self-deluded, the best way of making people believe is to create circumstances were mediums believe there tricks are actually connected to a paranormal phenomenon when it is clearly not. I suppose this is due to the fact that anyone claiming to have paranormal abilities who is at all aware of what they are doing has already figured our that they are not going to fool the investigators for the psychic challenge. Therefore, all that is left for the challenge are the self-deluded. And then of course those who know they will fail the test make up the convenient excuses as mentioned above.
>At the very least it says incredible things about the human mind - stuff that modern psychologists are not able to rationalize away.
Indeed!
>Are you willing to take the red pill and see just how deep the rabbit hole goes? Or are you just here to taunt some crazy nutjobs?
I have explored the rabbit hole, and there seems to be a reasonable explanation for everything, if you open up your mind of course.
Could there be spiritual entities? Sure. Could there be a god, or some other vastly superior entity? Sure. Could we all just be brains in a vat - think Matrix - or lost souls in Hell being toyed with by demons? Sure. For these and any number of questions about reality beyond our perception the answer is always "sure". In the end it always comes down to the important question: Is there any evidence whatsoever to suggest that there actually is such a thing, or any way that I could test the idea? The answer to that question is always no.
I'm here to see if someone can convince me of paranormal activities.