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Optimus

Do you believe in the supernatural? [bump]

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No, but I am very fascinated by it. I used to read (and still do sometimes) all about it in magazines, books, etc and I was especially fascinated with UFOs or extraterrestrials (even though there is no proof that UFOs and aliens are necessarily related).

In fact I would like to have encountered anything seemingly supernatural. It hasn't occurred so far and the more I learn the more I think that most people see the paranormal in places that it doesn't seem to be. Like, wishful thinking or something. That's just my feeling of it after years of reading about these stuff from both believers and skeptics.

As for the question "do you believe in aliens" it is not well defined. Does it ask whether I believe there are other intelligent beings somewhere in the universe? Of course it's a Yes (more precisely, it's a 99.99999.....9% definite yes with a very unlikely 0.000000.......1% that out of all the universes we live in one that only humanity exists and all other places are barren. Who knows, we may be living in a boring universe). Or does it address the questions "Do you believe that aliens are visiting us?" or "Aliens are visiting us and UFOs are their spaceships". Because then I am mostly uncertain and hold bigger confidence that aliens might have visited us in the ancient times than nowadays. There are so many strange records and unexplained structures in the past that it's more believable that today's alien craze. And maybe UFOs are not spaceship of aliens but something else I can't identify, and I believe that there is still a good deal of mystery in the UFO phenomenon besides wishful thinking. But then I just have these opinions by reading specific books on the subject, especially from Jacques Vallee.

Ranting ends here..

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Nice 8 yo bump you did there. And to answer your ranting. Aliens as a concept is by definition not supernatural.

Supernatural is things that are outside of the natural world, and can not have any impact or influence on the natural world, since they are not a part of it.

I think Tim Minchin summed it up nicely when he said, "throughout history, every mystery ever solved, has turned out to be - not magic."

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Optimus said:

necrobump of 2005 thread, not even specifically responding to anyone

You might as well have started a new thread about this and posted what you think about it.

Supernatural-themed discussions on Doomworld are always entertaining, but they can't just happen when they get locked forever. :(


EDIT: No, I don't. For years I sat on the fence about the supernatural, but I felt a personal need to come to an assertive opinion.

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I'm open to evidence for the supernatural (if that's not a contradiction), but no, I don't "believe" in it. I think any serious discussion beyond that about metaphysics and the like will require some level of philosophical training. It's probably not worth anyone's time to explore it outside of that.

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Optimus, make new threads instead of bumping ancient ones, or Cthulhu will come and get you!

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I find it interesting and I definitely won't say that I DON'T believe in it, but I haven't seen good evidence it exists. Heh, this coming from a Christian...

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I believe that supernatural things can happen, but not "flashing exploding pretty lights" supernatural. Subtle stuff. Things spontaneously flinging themselves off shelves when you're not looking, maybe. Random anomalies in the way things are expected to function, possibly. Things that simply can't be explained by the laws of nature - and hell, that's the actual definition of supernatural, right?

...Also, I really should have started the post with this pithy comment, but I do believe in the Supernatural, as it is on every Wednesday night on The CW. =P

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It exists poison to damage the brain and to cause hallucinations and it exists robotics (like the car creations robotics) that are very powerful. There are no supernatural things in the world, it just seems so that there are ones.

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WildWeasel said:

Things that simply can't be explained by the laws of nature - and hell, that's the actual definition of supernatural, right?

In my opinion the instances you're describing would be nothing more than an ascription of a natural phenomena which just hasn't been documented to a supernatural cause. Freaky, if captured on film and proven to be both uncontrived and having nothing to do with seismic activity or a gust of wind, but nothing more than that.

Also, "subtle" things are precisely what paranormal investigators look for; supposedly abnormal amounts of EMF activity for instance. A spurious investigative method at best, because EMFs exist in virtually every building in the world. Even if there was a shred of evidence to support the idea that someone's "soul" could continue to exist after the person's body had died, there's no way of telling them apart from the wealth of electronic circuits and devices in the typical modern house or such, unless you believe that it's haunted in the first place, in which case the power of suggestion has won you over to begin with.

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Clonehunter said:

I think ghosts exist in some way. And if they are real, then it's natural. I think.


Ja, if one could prove the existance of said "ghosts" and back it up with scientific evidence, that is. But still, ghosts, as in souls of dead people, would probably be categorized as supernatural even if we were able to prove it, due to the bizarre nature of it all. If there is more to these kind of phenomena than what meets the eye, I would suspect the truth to be far weirder and perplexing than just "spirits of the dead".

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TheEndOfUs said:

If there is more to these kind of phenomena than what meets the eye, I would suspect the truth to be far weirder and perplexing than just "spirits of the dead".

The problem lies in capturing this stuff in the first place, with an unbias scientific approach. The only "evidence" we have is purely anecdotal. I like a good ghost story as much as the next guy, but it's just not enough to prove anything or even suggest that we should still be taking it seriously in this day and age.

That's not to belittle anyone who believes. I just feel inclined to present people with the same problems I wrestled with before I concluded that my personal beliefs weren't grounded in reality.

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Most, if not all "supernatural" phenomena are unfalsifiable claims, lacking any evidence to support them. The right thing to do is to reject them until convincing evidence is presented.

That's all there is to it, really. The fact that, for example, millions of people seem to believe in ghosts, yet nobody has ever presented a convincing photo of one, or demonstrated the existence of one, is a pretty good reason to think that no such thing exists.

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Of course, but if you leave out myth, folklore & religion, there is still a plethora of unexplained phenomena out there, just not of the supernatural kind (probably)

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