by Marilyn 68 Replies latest jw friends
funkyderek
Firstly of all I am not superstitious. Neither to I consider myself to be gullible.
You clearly think you are more intelligent than anyone who would believe in anything unusual or unexplained. How dare you insinuate that you "understand" more than me! Just because I believe in something different doesnt make me stupid. Stop being so narrowminded.
Sirona
BTWMr Moe when did you become agnostic?? I thought you believed in God?
One time I turned off the TV.....and the tv shows stopped appearing
AAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! Man, that is just too good! I'm dyin' here! Love it, Naeblis!
I saw that horse-math trick once on that show, "That's Bamfoozling" or whatever it was. The horse came out, the guy axed him a math question, the horse started tapping, the guy turned to the audience and raised his hands in a "ta-dah!" gesture when the horse had tapped the right number of times, the horse quit tapping, and the hosts all said "That's inedible!" in unison. It was painfully obvious that the horse was stopping when the guy raised his hands. I was so disgusted I never watched the show again.
COMF
Sirona,
Firstly of all I am not superstitious.One of the definitions of superstition according to Webster's is:
You seem to believe that ouija boards work, and that this is due to some supernatural force. If so, you are superstitious. If I misinterpreted your earlier comments, I apologise.
Neither to I consider myself to be gullible.Well, nobody does, do they? But the oppositite of skepticism is gullibility. The skeptics here have provided possible rational explanations for any claims that needed them. People who just accept the claims you and others here made about ouija boards are by definition superstitious and gullible.
You clearly think you are more intelligent than anyone who would believe in anything unusual or unexplained.No, I don't but I do think it is irrational to believe in "unusual and unexplained" things without sufficient evidence.
How dare you insinuate that you "understand" more than me!You used anecdotal evidence and hearsay to support an irrational belief. How should I react?
Just because I believe in something different doesnt make me stupid.No, but if you believe that ouija boards have mystical powers it makes you auperstitious, gullible and wrong.
Stop being so narrowminded.Stop being so gullible.
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Those who can induce you to believe absurdities can induce you to commit attrocities - Voltaire
(edited for typos)
LOL! You got me!
Ok superstitious. There are varying definitions of it.
www.webster.com says
1 a : a belief or practice resulting from ignorance, fear of the unknown, trust in magic or chance, or a false conception of causation b : an irrational abject attitude of mind toward the supernatural, nature, or God resulting from superstitionI dont think I do any of the above. Yours said
2 : a notion maintained despite evidence to the contrary
Belief in the direct agency of superior powers in certain extraordinary or singular events, or in magic, omens, prognostics, or the likeWhich I think includes most people who believe in God, the extraordinary events being miracles, or appearances of God, or prayers coming true. In this sense, perhaps I am "superstitious". In this sense, its not an insult.
You also said:
No, I don't but I do think it is irrational to believe in "unusual and unexplained" things without sufficient evidence.I feel I have sufficient evidence to satisfy ME.
You used anecdotal evidence and hearsay to support an irrational belief. How should I react?In my comments earlier, yes I did use anecdotal evidence and hearsay. However, clearly there are other things in my life which have lead to my belief...not just the two things I mentioned. I simply think that we cannot rule something out because we havent personally experienced it... Mindchild in another post hypothesised that nothing is "real" anyway, like in the film, The Matrix. All sorts of possibilities come into play when you consider that to be an actual possibility.
No, but if you believe that ouija boards have mystical powers it makes you auperstitious, gullible and wrong.I dont think you have any conclusive proof, do you, that I am wrong? Have you conducted studies of Ouija boards? Are you able to say that the experiences of thousands of people were ALL wrong and are you sure 100%?
I understand where you are coming from because you need proof of these things yourself. However, I have had experiences that have convinced me of the existence of some other "energy" whether that be dead people or something else. I have had a message given to me which has proven to come true at a later date (at the time of the message I told other people who also found it to be true) etc.
I realise you will view that as unbelievable, but from my standpoint it happened.
Why can you just not accept that there MIGHT be things out there that you dont understand and that science hasnt found yet. I accept that there might be some other explanation for my experiences, but I can think of none other than I tapped into something which gave me knowledge ahead of time.
Sirona
Yes Ive tried it with some pals once, after a session in the pub.
Board on the table, everyone sits around with a finger on the glass and asks a question.
Is anybody there? We all lurch the glass to the yes box. What is your name? All lurch to the J letter. Obviously we all slide to the O, then the H, then the N. Hmm, synergy!
Where did you live when you were alive? Lurch towards the O. I wonder where that is, what town starts with O? We automatically assume that the "spirit" is English, so we all subliminally can only think of 1 place in England that starts with O. Sure enough, we all spell it out, just as you can, now that you know the first letter.
Its just a tuning in of minds, IMHO.
Englishman.
Nostalgia isn't what it used to be....
I feel I have sufficient evidence to satisfy ME.
But many people believe things which are incompatible with your beliefs. One of you must be wrong. How can we tell which one?
Mindchild in another post hypothesised that nothing is "real" anyway, like in the film, The Matrix. All sorts of possibilities come into play when you consider that to be an actual possibility.If that's the case then anything may be possible depending on the whims of whoever's in charge. I don't see much difference between that universe and one controlled by supernatural forces. Our universe however appears to be rational, and obey constant physical laws. In every testable way, it appears to be real and not subject to supernatural forces. There's always the possibility that it could be, but there are an infinite number of such possibilities and no reason to believe in any of them.
I realise you will view that as unbelievable, but from my standpoint it happened.But did it actually happen. All sorts of people believe all sorts of things, many of them mutually incompatible. If the beliefs are extraordinary - and not disprovable - then it is reasonable to disbelieve them, and if there is no solid evidence, to dismiss them. We all do this at times.
Why can you just not accept that there MIGHT be things out there that you dont understand and that science hasnt found yetI do accept that. But when science does find them, science will be able to test them, as it is able to test ouija boards. I won't base my belief system on things not known to exist and I certainly won't base it on things which appear to be nothing more than phenomena of the human psyche. Anything not testable is not important.
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Those who can induce you to believe absurdities can induce you to commit attrocities - Voltaire
Joseph:
Yes Elwood was in the room. First, when using the board, one is concentrating on the board, not looking around the room .Second, If Elwood were indeed a part of this game, he would have spelled it correctly. The board spelled it Lwood. The boards tend to spell how things sound.
Naeblis:
Why didn't I warn the person about to be murdered? In a city the size of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, one just does not know everyone. The board did not say where it would take place. Name and date only.
I found it to be a scary thing to fool around with. I would never touch one again. Not everyone has these same type of experiences.
I have no idea why that is. I just know what happened to me.
Target
FunkyD
I dont care who is right or wrong. We could all be right. We could all be wrong. I believe based on my experiences and knowledge, and it enhances my life.
You said that anything not testable is not important, well I think that maybe is the basis of where we differ. I think that things not testable are very important. It is difficult to test emotion, reason, awareness, even thoughts and their effects, in any true "scientific" way. Studies have been done, but there are very many conflicting theories. I like this diversity. I would hate my world to be full of "proven facts" and nothing more. No debating, no differences of opinion, everything would be tested and proven, end of story. YAWN.
Sirona
I dont care who is right or wrong. We could all be right. We could all be wrong. I believe based on my experiences and knowledge, and it enhances my life.
I do care who's right or wrong. I hate the idea of someone spending their life devoted to a belief that's demonstrably untrue. That's one of the reasons so many people visit this site. Human subjectivity is not always reliable which is why people believe ridiculous things, why people are willing to die and to kill for beliefs that cannot possibly be true.
You said that anything not testable is not important, well I think that maybe is the basis of where we differ. I think that things not testable are very important. It is difficult to test emotion, reason, awareness, even thoughts and their effects, in any true "scientific" way. Studies have been done, but there are very many conflicting theories. I like this diversity. I would hate my world to be full of "proven facts" and nothing more. No debating, no differences of opinion, everything would be tested and proven, end of story. YAWN.Let me clarify. When it comes to understanding the nature of reality, either supernatural beings exist and affect our lives or they do not. If they do, then this should be verifiable. If they do not, or appear not to affect us in any way, then it is pointless and possibly dangerous to pretend they do.
For what it's worth, I think it would be a very boring world if everyone was the same, but that doesn't mean people have to believe things which are clearly false. We can have different opinions based on the same facts, but some things either are or aren't. Sometimes there's no middle ground.
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Those who can induce you to believe absurdities can induce you to commit attrocities - Voltaire
