Chemical explanation to superstition?

by JanH 34 Replies latest jw friends

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  JanH

  Lots of interesting comments here.

  What really convinces me that the supernatural is bunk, is how fantastically ineffective it is. Every time someone tries to use it for something in a verifiable way, it slips away. Imagine how effective just a vague idea on future stock exchange rates would be. A 1% advantage over a wild guess would yield tremendous income. Yet, psychists don't get rich. They make a lot of excuses for why it never works when the results could be verified, though.

  The police have, also, tried on many occasions to use psychics to find missing persons. This is actually something the psychics claim to be good at, and tabloid journalists tends to believe them. Yet, when we examine the record, we find they are pathetically incapable of finding anything. The police in Norway has recently concluded that despite hundreds of attempts, psychics haven't helped in a single case. In one case, the psychic was sitting darned near on top of the body of the missing person, and yet "seeing" it in some river or sea somewhere else. A good dog would have done better.

  Believers in the paranormal seems to lack imagination in the right places. If people could communicate long.distance reliably without radios and cable, it should have had a tremendous impact on the history of humanity. Just compare with the real impact of modern communication. The superstitious have claimed to be able to do this for millennia, and its impact has been zilch.

  - Jan

  Edited by - JanH on 25 July 2002 9:47:7
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  LyinEyes

  Interesting Jan. I recall a similar experiment on the discovery channel. Can't remember all the details, but it was about near death experiences, seeing the white tunnel,or white light. I just don't know how to feel about these things, I have had some werid things happen to me, yet at this point my beleif in some higher power is is almost gone. I am open to both sides of the issue for now, but I totally think that our brains are so complex , they will never know all the power we possess. Right now I want to beleive in a higher power , some supernatural exsistance, so that may be why I sometimes "see" things . These things could be just coincidence or the earth's gravitational pull, who knows. But I can attest to the fact that our brain can do the same thing to us, like in dreams, or when we are under medication, it seems real, but that doesnt ,mean it was real. I have enjoyed everyones post under this topic.
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  Sirona

  Jan

  Yes, you are right about it being ineffective as far as the world is concerned. I find that it is extremely effective for me personally. Not so much "supernatural" but getting in tune with the natural to enhance your life.

  The archetypes provide a good basis to analyse yourself and your life. Working magick is accepted by those knowledgeable to be mostly working on yourself. Better people make a better world, too.

  Of course, being pagan or whatever is not NECESSARY to be a good person, or to know yourself. Some people just find it suits them, thats all.

  It must be admitted that there are energies in this world that we cannot see but nevertheless they affect us. E.g. Electricity. Thats just one that we've managed to scientifically test. It is a possibility that other energies exist that we haven't been able to measure yet. Those into paranormal may be touching it but not able to really know what its all about. Maybe in a hundred years we'll have figured it out. Scientists propose theories of a 5th dimension. It is claimed that monitoring at the aura of a plant can tell you if it is healthy or not, and this has been used to predict if crops are doing well. Its OK to be skeptical, but we need to allow a little part of us to be open minded. Maybe science has not answered all the questions yet? Not that long ago people would have thought you mad if you'd described electricity.

  Sirona
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  Sirona

  http://www.photonics.com/Content/Feb97/appsHyper.html
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  LittleToe

  At what point does a coincidence stop being a coincidence?