by Blueblades 35 Replies latest jw friends
If the paranormal did NOT exist or the
possibility of such, then there would be
no need for institutions such as these.
Well of course!
And, since the following institution exists:
http://www.theflatearthsociety.org/
...using the same logic, the earth is flat! After all, it really were round, why would such an institution exist?
Mary loves Dick, "Most Huanted" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEP0usvErRI&mode=related&search=
Dear sir82:
I really cannot comment about the flat-earth society
because the organization is unknown to me. However,
a satellite picture could quickly confirm the shape
of the earth.
Regarding the paranormal and psychic ability is a
little different because there are videos, pictures
electronic voice phenomena (evp's), thermal images,
scientists, scholars, law-enforcement agencies and
peer-reviewed articles and magazines to leave open
the possiblities of such.
Respectfully,
The Wanderer
The simple fact is that all stories of supposed psychic phenomena are either anecdotal or the products of flawed research. Not a single case of such has been verified in a proper scientific study. Indeed, whenever competent observers are present, the phenomena never appear. Claimed psychics might put on demonstrations like spoon bending before naive audiences, but when a skeptical magician like James Randi shows up, and the psychic knows it, his 'powers' disappear. People like Randi easily duplicate the demonstrations. Psychic phenonema are for the gullible.
AlanF
People have believed in the paranormal for ages.
They have also variously believed in illness being caused by the paranormal, in swallows burying themselves in mud during the winter (to explain their absence from Europe in the winter), in the sun being at the centre of the solar system, in the Earth being flat, in the Earth being less than 10,000 years old, in there having been a Global deluge at a point there was a flourishing Egyptian civilisation without the Egyptians noticing it, in being able to control the weather or other events by asking for paranormal powers to intervene, and lots of other nonsense.
I would ask anyone who has evidence that differentiates current claims for the paranormal from the beliefs everyone knows are silly nowadays to provide it.
Please note, people saying it happened or there being organisations that support such claims are not differentiators. Those silly beliefs none of us believe nowadays used to have people say they were true, and used to have organisations that supported the claims - there's still a Flat Earth society for Pete's sake.
Differentiators would be scientifically acceptable evidence - the kind that would get published in peer-reviewed journals or stand up in a court of law.
Now, if you gentle reader, accept other things as differentiators between current claims for the paranormal and the old silly stuff, that is entirely your business and good for you if it makes you happy.
But until the paranormal believing community actually prove what they believe in in a reasonable fashion, they shouldn't get too bent out of shape at being lumped in with old fashioned nonsense as to science there's no difference between the two. It's your belief, you prove it if you want it accepted. If a physicist said Quarks were made of green cheese, they'd have to prove it. Until they did, as their claim was totally impossible given what we know about the Universe, they'd get laughed at. Oh how unfair life is. As Quantum Cheese Mechanics and paranormal claims have to get over the same hurdles, it's not as though there is any double standard operating.
You would think in thousand of years of paranormal practice and belief, especially in the past few decades where gathering documentary evidence has become vastly easier, there would be some proof by now.
I think ghosts know more about quantum physics than humans do and they use thier superior knowledge to play tricks on us. Then they laugh.
-Amber Rose
Heir to the throne of Atlantis
Dear Gentlemen:
I do not know the sources that you are referring to
regarding this matter. However, if it is true that
it is all "flawed research", I would like to know
the nature of the source and what evidence and
research that was done to reach such a conclussion.
I could show enough evidence regarding this matter
however, with the reply's on this topic I seriously
doubt that it would be taken into consideration.
However, just to make things clear, this subject is
a science regardless of said opinions.
Respectfully,
The Wanderer
I would invite Abaddon and Alan F. to my haunted office, but it seems like the spirit(s) have left, with the death of the property owners wife. They have been gone about a year or so.
I'll let you know when, and if, they come back.
Warlock
Parapsychology is a pseudo-science, just as astrology is. And it has been thoroughly debunked by real scientists and competent skeptics such as James Randi and Martin Gardener.
For information on the James Randi Educational Foundation, see here: http://www.randi.org/
For Randi's longstanding $1,000,000 challenge to paranormalists to prove they can do what they claim, see here: http://skepdic.com/randi.html
While believers in the paranormal always scream bloody murder at their favorite bit of nonsense being debunked, they never manage to come through with proof.
AlanF
If we acknowledge that intuition exists and has real practical effects ( as outcomes), then it is
reasonable to think of it as part of a spectrum of information gained by means we cannot reduce.
I'm sorry about that last sentence but it's hard to articulate this stuff.
Let me try it this way: An idea comes crashing into your head from out of nowhere. It helps you with
your job or hobby or investments. You accept that intuition exists and appreciate it. However, when
somebody claims that that they can predict tomorrow's lotto numbers, you reject it as "psychic".
Yet, to me, they are just shades of grey on a monochrome scale. You can have "intuitive" or
"psychic" experiences in life that range from the subtle to the dramatic.
metatron
