i need some skeptic input... dreams that come true (page 3)

tetrapod.sapien

google,

the best skeptical advice i can offer has already been offered in this thread. but another tool of critical thinking i can point you to is Occam's Razor, or the rule of parsimony. i posted in a similar thread a couple of days ago an example of its use. i think it applies here as well, so i will paste a bit of it for you:

in the case of spooky experiences, a simple mind experiment could help you determine the most likely truthful explanation for the spooky experience. using parsimony:

which of my explanations contain the fewest assumptions?

explanation 1: it is coincidence that i woke up at the moment my dear family member died. (one assumption: coincidence)

explanation 2: there are unseen forces. they work to help us or hurt us. an unseen force awoke me at the moment that my dear family member died. (three assumptions)

explanation 3: we are all somehow connected in the great universe. i was somehow connected to my family member because we were close. when my dear family member died, the connection was severed, or disturbed somehow, and a woke up. (three assumptions)

i hope this helps. fear of the supernatural is an old, ancient way of thinking. our species has a compulsive desire to explain things. when education, knowledge and science were not available to explain natural phenomenon, they still tried to explain it. it kept the tribe together, and fostered faith in the tribe leader. but we're modern. there is nothing wrong with throwing down, letting go of, the explainations our ancestors held to. who knows where we could go without them?

skyman

Heres one for all skeptics my nephew was shot and killed a few years ago. The morning before it happened my wife said she had a dream that was going happen. She has these types of dreams and is able to fortell future events as long as I have know her. Back to the morning she said ****** was going to be killed in the very near future. She told me how and were he was going to be killed. That afternoon just like how she said it would happen it did. I'll be even more exact she said he would be playing Russain r oulette. That how it happened, EXPLAIN that one away.

tetrapod.sapien

EXPLAIN that one away.

well skyman,

does she do this sort of thing often; have dreams and then tell you about them in the morning? what is her success rate?
did your nephew like playing russian roulette?

in a situation like this, the exact reason for the dream cannot be explained, therefore parsimony can help:

explanation 1: it was a coincidence (one assumtion)

explanation 2: there is a god(s)/spirit creatures. it communicates with us homo sapiens. it caused a dream to take place in your wifes brain that night. the dream was a prediction. (four assumtions)

explanation 3: we are all interconnceted in the universe. your wife has a metaphysical connection with your nephew. the connection was disturbed by a fluctuation caused by his future death. it caused a dream about russian roulette in her brain. it was a prediction dream. (five assumtions).

explanation 4: time travel is possible. your wife has a time machine. she used it whilst you slept to travel to the future to check on your nephew. she found him dead and came back. (three assumtions).

why is there such a thing as a skeptic? why is there such a thing as a believer? who is more modern? is modern better?

skyman

She does not do this very often only a once in a great while. I believe in the time travel theory and that is how I mentally deal with her abilty.

tetrapod.sapien

skyman, lol.

it's cool. i am not denying you guys had the experience. and you know, there is no way to know for sure, from my standpoint. maybe it really did happen because of a supernatural ability. it would be super interesting to know conclusively that it is possible. and you seem like a fair guy. i just want to show people that there are some tools to help them in their explanations other than credulity.

cheers,

TS

skyman

We never had any idea that he would do something so stupid. They thought the gun was totally empty. My nephew just happen to have gotten into a fight with the kid that gave him the gun. The kid left the room and came back and said here the gun do you trust me prove it and he put the gun into his mouth and my nephew said, "yes I trust you" and he pulled the trigger. The other boy was convicted of murder. They were not young kids when this happened but young adults.

tetrapod.sapien

skyman,

i am sorry. that is a really sad story.

peace be with you,

TS

jaffacake

There are excellent responses on here. What is there to explain? Unfortunately JWs are far more superstitious than the vast majority of people, but its disguised as something else.

Having said all that, and remaining the ultimate skeptic, I have had cause to wonder how far the human brain could evolve given time, and wonder whether some form of telepathic activity is feasible. This is the only exception I allow myself to consider to rational explanations for everything. That is because of a couple of experiences in my family, which might however be explainable. And maybe our memories have played some tricks.

skyman

I believe it is science not the spirits that gives someone the ability to see with their minds what others can't.

Tigerman

This is not skeptical, just my thought. Since a spirit keeps every human alive why is it difficult to believe that it may want to " talk " to us ?

i need some skeptic input... dreams that come true

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