I agree snare&racket about being stuck in old WT beliefs that probably need revision and rejection. In my case as a young JW I encountered certain paranormal phenomena that challenged what the JWs had taught me. Being in the cult mentality at the time, I rejected the conclusion that was the most logical because of them for a really bad and unhealthy one. The conclusion I should have kept did not include the rejection of paranormal occurrences. Fortunately when I left the JWs I managed to re-examine and reject what they told me for what I should have listened to at the time years before.
Do you beleive in ghosts??
by quellycatface 142 Replies latest jw friends
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cofty
So you decided that the fantasies of your 5 year self was worth founding your adult beliefs on.
Well done.
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Seraphim23
Not really because there is more than one type of paranormal phenomena than ghosts.
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snare&racket
We know the brain makes faces, makes bodies and tries to make logic of shapes and darkness it cant intepret etc, it can even hallucinate numerous people, conversations and events. We know it does this.....
Despite thousands of years of talking about our dead loved ones wandering around our periphery, turning on taps ..... No evience. Never seen it myself. Is it logical to accept it? Is there a motive or bias involved in believing?
For me, it is a case for Occam and his Gillete 10 blade.
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KateWild
there is more than one type of paranormal phenomena-seraphim
Like what? Love Kate xx
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Seraphim23
KateWild, ghosts would be one. Another would be dreams of future events that come true. There are still others.
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Apognophos
Seraphim23, memories are unreliable, due not only to the limits of our perceptions, but because they are not read-only; they can be retroactively overwritten by the subconscious for multiple reasons. Fleeting experiences are thus not a good thing to build a worldview upon.
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Seraphim23
Apognophos, perceptions whatever its limits, which beg the question of the supernatural anyway, can all go into memory. The limits of perception and what exactly perception is is not as yet known. I agree with you regarding memory being fallible but I know what I saw. For me that’s not in question. Something was perceived, whether through a misfiring of brain cells of something else more exotic. However I don’t have false memory syndrome as far as I know. Obviously though you would agree that memories from a week or so ago would be more reliable, depending on circumstances, than memory from years ago. However this has to be considered in light of the fact that some memories from years ago can be better than memories from last month. The reason for this is often to do with the unusualness of the event being remembered. Also the facts of an event can be remembered much better even if the details of the event fade. People often forget the clear mental images of loved ones after they die, but not the fact they were loved ones and who they were in relation to them.
You also seem to make the mistake of assuming that as far as supernatural events are concerned, that I only experienced one many years ago. This is not the case. Also as far as world views are concerned, I have more than one of those also. One of these is that science works and should be pursued as far as it can go in attempting to explain things. However I am not limited by a science only way of thinking. The reasons for this are many. Memory may be fallible, but it’s not so fallible generally speaking as you suggest because if it was, one would have to seriously doubt everything in reality, including science.
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Jeffro
Seraphim23:
Another would be dreams of future events that come true.
Got any evidence?
For this to be reliably tested, the details of the dream would need to be recorded in detail and publically available prior to the alleged fulfilment.
The following kinds of events could not be counted as 'evidence':
- Mundane occurrences
- Frequent or recurring events
- Anticipated or reasonably predictable upcoming events
- Merely similar details
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Witness My Fury
Deja Vu doesnt make you a prophet or mean it is any manifestation of the supernatural, i get it quite often and very strong myself as do lots of people.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A9j%C3%A0_vu
Dreams within dreams can even contain deja vu making you wake up thinking you've dreamed a dream that came true, all kinds of crazy shit can go on in the mind, and that is exactly where it is all taking place.
You think you saw a (one per your 1st post in this thread) ghost aged 5, You claim you KNOW what you saw, ... you don't, you only know what you think you saw, you also vaguely claim dreams that come true as another supernatural experience as well.
You still believe in Satan, I assume you still believe in God, demons, angels, heaven, bible prophecy etc etc too. Thats is not a very good basis to formulate logical unbiased conclusions about the stuff you think you experience, you are almost guarenteed to seek an external explanation because of it. In fact you may well DESIRE the supernatural explanation of it as that might mean you are special somehow. Many take that road.