Believing in the Paranormal

darqdean wrote: clarke2001 wrote: Ghosts? Nah...60 000000000 people lived so far on this planet, since the beginning of human kind. Where are those folks? Is each one of us surrounded by 10 souls? I don't think so...our rooms should be overcrowded with poltergeists... I think your figure of 60 billion is a little conservative - I'd put it at closer to 100 billion, which works out at 1800 dead people per square mile of earth, or one skeleton every 150 metres. If we consider that only a small proportion of land is actually populated, then this grave-density increases dramatically, which means that there must be some parts of the world where the ghosts must be standing shoulder to shoulder.

Atkingani wrote: darqdean wrote: Atkingani wrote: None of the above...   However, telepathy is an interesting issue IMO although not really paranormal. How is telepathy not paranormal? Telepathy is a form of ESP, namely thought transference. (usually done with those circle, square, cross, wave, star - cards)   Shouldn't it be a sense, just like hearing or vision? In this case it would be biological and/or physical, not a gift IMO.

Ghosts? Nah...60 000000000 people lived so far on this planet, since the beginning of human kind. Where are those folks? Is each one of us surrounded by 10 souls? I don't think so...our rooms should be overcrowded with poltergeists...

Aliens visiting us? Nah. Too naive. I believe in existence of life forms on other planets, even the intelligent ones, but visiting us? Why us? There are another 150000000000 stars only in our galaxy.

ESP? Clueless...but I think there is something. As Arthur C. Clarke once pointed it out - 95% of all that is rubbish...but which 5% is right?

Prediciting the future? I do not believe in that, nor in destiny. On the other hand, there might be something in the theories of parallel universes, warmholes, streams of happenings and cosmical mechanics...but that's a huge stretch.

Astrology is one of the worst piles of rubbish ever invented by the human kind, and it should be banned by the law in all the countries. It's too bad that inquisition in the dark ages didn't made astrology extint - by using the pyres for those who had tried to earn something on poor, naive people, desperately searching for a luck in their cruel reality.

In my humble opinion, of course.

Peter wrote: Not to start any fights, but I think that if you believe in God, you pretty much believe in the "paranormal," by definition. look at the powers commonly ascribed to God: mind reading onniscience omnipresence immortality the ability to create matter from nothing the ability to work "miraculous" cures the ability to resurrect the dead invisibility etc.   Therefore, it should not tbe too big a stretch, I think, for a religious person to think that some humans or "spirits" could from time to time manifest similar "paranormal" powers.    Essentially, I equate belief in the paranormal with belief in magic, and I think that any "god" is essentially a "magical" entity.    Whattayall think? Belief in God = belief in magic = belief in paranormal? Is it the same? Are religous folks more likely to believe in such "non-scientific" things?   Or is belief in an all-powerful, single God incompatible with, say, a belief in astrology?

Well, according to Catholicism (or the Catholic Church that I was brought up under) belief in ghosts, astrology etc is blasphemy and somehow comes under the commandment "thou shalt not bear false gods before me"

However it is perfectly logical in my view that people who believe in God or gods would also believe in all manner of other manifestations, magical powers and whatnot.It stands to reason that once you believe in an entity that you cannot see then anything goes..

One cannot prove or disprove the existence of Gods (or gods etc) and so it goes for most of these amazing powers that people claim. However, when spiritualists, mind readers et al have been subject to the strictest laboratory tests they have ALWAYS failed totally.

Take ghosts, for example. To me they either exist or they dont. If they exist why arent they commonplace and more perplexingly why do those that claim to have seen ghosts always presume that they are in some way blessed with a "gift" or special sensitivity that others do not possess?

The parsimonious view to take would be that these people are over-sensitive...


Edited by Tony R - June 23 2007 at 18:53

el böthy wrote: Telekinesis, although I like to call it  "The shining"

Telekinesis, although I like to call it  "The shining"

I've got Deja Vu...excellent album

That's better, no one believes in ELP anymore 

Blacksword wrote: Incidentally, does anyone think that if you believe in ghosts, it automatically follows that you believe in God?

I don't believe in any of those things. 

And I don't think dreams can tell you anything or can predict the future or whatever. Or maybe it's just sour grapes because I never remember my dreams.


Edited by Arsillus - June 23 2007 at 01:16