rem

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Posts by rem

• 
  207

  Into the mystic (an experience).

  by El blanko in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the following i wrote to a friend this morning and doctored slightly for this forum.

  can any of you relate to this kind of mystical experience and if you would be kind enough, would you mind me quoting any experiences listed to my friend?

  please be aware that the letter uses language to detach me away from the watchtower (thus church, instead of congregation etc).

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  rem

  Onacruse,
  
  Experimental results are never overturned - theories based on them are. There is no coherent theory of the paranormal. Period.
  
  Rationalism is not a figment of my imagination. It is a epistimilogical process invented by human beings. It is real. No human can possibly perfectly follow it due to our biases, but it does exits. It is more real than a platonic form.
  
  You are presumptous when you assume what would constitute good evidence of the paranomal or god for me. Needless to say, personal revelation is not the only option.
  
  rem
• 
  207

  Into the mystic (an experience).

  by El blanko in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the following i wrote to a friend this morning and doctored slightly for this forum.

  can any of you relate to this kind of mystical experience and if you would be kind enough, would you mind me quoting any experiences listed to my friend?

  please be aware that the letter uses language to detach me away from the watchtower (thus church, instead of congregation etc).

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  rem

  Robyn,
  
  It sounds like we are saying the same thing. I'm just saying that there is no longer any benefit to studying alchemy, though it did lead to other beneficial sciences. Perhaps you believe about a century of intense study is not enough time to reap all of the benefits of parapsychology. I believe it probably is and that advances in psychology and other real scientific fields have grown along with the field and have now superceded it. That's all.
  
  Still, there has been no evidence of the supernatural, no matter how sensitive the tests.
  
  rem
• 
  207

  Into the mystic (an experience).

  by El blanko in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the following i wrote to a friend this morning and doctored slightly for this forum.

  can any of you relate to this kind of mystical experience and if you would be kind enough, would you mind me quoting any experiences listed to my friend?

  please be aware that the letter uses language to detach me away from the watchtower (thus church, instead of congregation etc).

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  rem

  Haha,
  
  Apologies to *Robdar*! :)
  
  rem
• 
  207

  Into the mystic (an experience).

  by El blanko in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the following i wrote to a friend this morning and doctored slightly for this forum.

  can any of you relate to this kind of mystical experience and if you would be kind enough, would you mind me quoting any experiences listed to my friend?

  please be aware that the letter uses language to detach me away from the watchtower (thus church, instead of congregation etc).

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  rem

  Please Bradley,
  
  Show me the money. Show me the replicated experiments. I'm not saying that fellow "skeptics" such as Randi can't be overly dogmatic. I'm just coming at it, as best I can, from a purely rational standpoint - something new-agey types won't even begin to do.
  
  I admit, I believe the probability of the supernatural realm to be so small as to be practically zero. The same is true of my belief in god. All I need is some good evidence. In fact, down deep, I think I really want to believe.
  
  Anecdotes are not evidence. I've seen both sides of the story.
  
  For every example of plate techtonics you give, I can give you 10 more along the lines of cold fusion, lamarkian evolution, etc. Remember, it was evidence that turned the tide for plate techtonics theory - not anecdotes.
  
  Regarding SETI, I happen to have been running it on my PC for quite some time. I don't view it as a hard science (though it is based on hard sciences such as information theory), and plus it's just in it's infancy. If the skies had been as thoroughly searched as the field of parapsychology, then I think you would have point, and I wouldn't be wasting cycles on my PC.
  
  rem
• 
  7

  A spin off thread from El Blanko's "Into The Mystic"

  by Sunnygal41 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  we've been having such fun discussing mystical and scientific paradigms, thought i'd throw this article i found out here for discussion.

  as you can see, it was written c1974.

  those of us who read and enjoy such information are totally aware of the great strides in research and acceptance these thoughts have gained.

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  rem

  If somebody has to rely on paranormal powers to bend a spoon, then he's doing it the hard way. Ask any trained magician - those spoon bender people are just using well-known illusions.

  rem
• 
  207

  Into the mystic (an experience).

  by El blanko in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the following i wrote to a friend this morning and doctored slightly for this forum.

  can any of you relate to this kind of mystical experience and if you would be kind enough, would you mind me quoting any experiences listed to my friend?

  please be aware that the letter uses language to detach me away from the watchtower (thus church, instead of congregation etc).

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  rem

  Rodbar,

  Another thing: What you are saying reminds me of ancient alchemists looking for the elusive recipe for making gold out of other common elements.

  Even Newton practiced alchemy. For centuries they tried and tried, but gold was not made. Today we know that alchemy is pseudoscience - they would have never found the recipe for gold because it does not exist! But progress did come from this field and today we know of it as chemistry. Amazing progress has been made in the field of chemistry - our modern lives depend on it.

  It is analogous with parapsychology and psychology. For nearly a century parapsychologists have been looking for the tiniest incling of paranormal activity. They have been disappointed time after time after time. So far, there isn't one indisputed positive result. On the other hand, scientists have learned much about human psychology with studies of parapsychology. That is where the real advances are being made. Parapsychology is about as dead as alchemy right now.

  I wouldn't waste my time on studying alchemy and nor would I waste my time studying parapsychology - except for learning about how it relates to psychology and other sciences.

  If you can show me one amazing advance that the study of parapsychology has made (that doesn't have to do with psychology), then I will eat my words. Of course, I can list of thousands made by real science.

  rem
• 
  207

  Into the mystic (an experience).

  by El blanko in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the following i wrote to a friend this morning and doctored slightly for this forum.

  can any of you relate to this kind of mystical experience and if you would be kind enough, would you mind me quoting any experiences listed to my friend?

  please be aware that the letter uses language to detach me away from the watchtower (thus church, instead of congregation etc).

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  rem

  Rodbar,

  Many of the "mystical" experiences have no way of being measured, it's true, but why just sit there not doing or thinking anything and shrugging it all of to probability? Nothing ever gets done, no advances ever made, with that kind of lackadaisical attitude.

  This attitude is ironic to me. The fact is that incredible advances have been made in the scientific era specifically because superstitious beliefs were cast aside for rational ones. And scientists have studied this field for a long time now. No progress has been made in finding paranormal causes - but you know what? Scientists have made progress by studying it - they have made tremendous progress in the field of psychology and biology of the brain.

  No, let's not go back to the days of superstition ans pseudoscience. That is when real progress will come to a halt.

  rem
• 
  207

  Into the mystic (an experience).

  by El blanko in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the following i wrote to a friend this morning and doctored slightly for this forum.

  can any of you relate to this kind of mystical experience and if you would be kind enough, would you mind me quoting any experiences listed to my friend?

  please be aware that the letter uses language to detach me away from the watchtower (thus church, instead of congregation etc).

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  rem

  The prosaic answers are usually so simple that believers don't want to hear them. Usually it comes down to probability. Believers tend to think the probability of certain things happening is far smaller than it really is. Studies have shown that non-believers have a better grasp of probability and that is why when we experience the exact same phenomenon we easily understand that it is inevitable - not cosmically special.
  
  There are, of course, other explanations for other phenomenon. Some phenomenon don't have any explanation at all yet. The difference between skeptics and believers is that believers just make up their own radically improbable, non-falsifiable theories instead of just honestly saying "I don't know" like the non-believers can.
  
  rem
• 
  207

  Into the mystic (an experience).

  by El blanko in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the following i wrote to a friend this morning and doctored slightly for this forum.

  can any of you relate to this kind of mystical experience and if you would be kind enough, would you mind me quoting any experiences listed to my friend?

  please be aware that the letter uses language to detach me away from the watchtower (thus church, instead of congregation etc).

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  rem

  LT,
  
  Skeptics have the exact same experiences and the exact same feelings that go along with them. You are not *special* just because you believe the experiences are supernatural - just naive. ;)
  
  I like the "open-minded" language that believers use: They *know* these forces exist. I guess their minds are not open to more prosaic explanations. Somehow someone who expects evidence for extraordinary claims is closed-minded. I just have to laugh. :D
  
  rem
• 
  8

  Anyone here in the east bay

  by nb-dfed in

  1. watchtower
  2. medical

  anyone here in the east bay/sf area who can reccomend a good therapist?

  looking for a therapist that works well with us ex-dubbies.

  thanks.

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  rem

  I used to be in the East Bay... living in SF proper now. Sorry, I don't know of any good therapists in the area.
  
  Take care,
  
  rem