inaneventure
Some dude
Hi, I discovered the Paracast within the past few months and have been binging, so I have a lot on my mind, as you might imagine. I thought I'd introduce myself and possibly start a conversation about some of my fascinations and frustrations with the paranormal.
I'm in my mid thirties, originally from new Jersey (a nexus of wierdness, you might say), and I've long been a "fan" of the paranormal. I have a history degree from a respected university.
I would describe myself as an atheist with a healthy sense of wonder, like Carl Sagan (a fellow ethnic Jew from the New York area): extremely skeptical but open-minded. I like the slogan "separating signal from the noise." With that in mind, here are some thoughts on what I think might be "signal" and what is probably "noise":
I'm in my mid thirties, originally from new Jersey (a nexus of wierdness, you might say), and I've long been a "fan" of the paranormal. I have a history degree from a respected university.
I would describe myself as an atheist with a healthy sense of wonder, like Carl Sagan (a fellow ethnic Jew from the New York area): extremely skeptical but open-minded. I like the slogan "separating signal from the noise." With that in mind, here are some thoughts on what I think might be "signal" and what is probably "noise":
- I'm fascinated by the idea of inter-dimensional beings. It makes my brain melt just trying to wrap my head around the concept of time as the fourth dimension. Going beyond that is super-fun wackiness that is way, way more interesting than boring old grays. It allows for the possibility of alien entities without upsetting that buzzkill Einstein and his pesky relativity. I love the idea of things that are literally weirder than we can conceive.
- Cryptozoology: I saw something weird in the woods of New Jersey one night - 2 large bird-like things about 4 1/2 ft tall. I saw them from my car. It's a jarring and frustrating experience to see something you can't immediately peg to a ready slot in your mind. There was something about its head that was awful, but I can't describe it. I don't even recall if it had feathers or not. Maybe I'm too skeptical to let my imagination fill in the blanks and start describing the Jersey Devil. I've seen wild turkeys, herons and cranes, but this was not one of those. Or maybe it was one of those, and I was in trance from driving by myself along a familiar route. Maybe I'm adding the extra height and the horrible dinosaur head. Anyway, I think Bigfoot and other cryptids are probably out there and that's exciting. We have to be patient, which brings me to my next point. Until then, there are some great encounter stories to read the internet.
- On Science: I'm often frustrated when I hear people say "Science is wrong." Science can't be wrong. Scientists can be wrong, and often are, but Science is not a religion or faith or something you believe. It's something you accept philosophically as an approach to examining your reality; the idea that we all exist in a shared external objective reality that is indifferent to our petty desires. This reality can include all the weirdness of parallel dimensions or multiverses or whatever you like, but in this reality there is no such thing the supernatural. Everything and Anything can be explained, but it's possible that the explanation won't ever be understood by us and the meat computers in our heads. That's just something you have to come to terms with if you accept science: There are no answers, just better and better questions. It's semantics, I know, but I think it's an important point to understand. Scientists are human beings whose judgements can be misguided by stubbornness or clouded by passions, but we should not let these failings lead us to dismiss out of hand the whole of the western scientific establishment – the magnificent institution that has dragged humanity kicking and screaming out of the Dark Ages over the course of many centuries. Science demands empirical evidence and replicable results, otherwise it's not science. Sometimes you just have to be patient and persistent and accept that those things just aren't there yet, or may never be. For example, Plate Tectonics was thought to be a crackpot idea well in to the twentieth century, but eventually the evidence overwhelmed the stubbornness of those personally invested in some other theories.
- Hypnagogia: Followers of the paranormal should be more open to Occam's Razor. I think most abductees are telling the truth about what they think happened to them and are not crazy. But they're wrong about the reality of what happened. Hypnagogic hallucinations are the glaringly obvious explanation for the phenomena, especially since every human culture in every era or history seems to have a variation with the same parameters. I've experienced mild hallucinations of the type when I was younger (figures standing over my bed or in a corner, talking to me), but snapped out of it somehow. I can only imagine the terror if I was unable to do so. I think this is a fascinating subject that deserves more serious study, first of all because it might ease the suffering of those experiencing these terrifying episodes and second, because it would help us separate signal from noise again: something is inducing these events. Is it something happening entirely at random, within the physiology of the subject, or is something external triggering the events?
- It's impossible that there aren't billions of planets with intelligent life on them. Interstellar travel or communication seems really really tricky, though.
- The face on Mars is bunk.
- Egyptians built the Pyramids.
- We did land on the moon.
- There had to be one or multiple conspiracies behind the political assassinations in the US in the sixties. There is no way there wasn't.
- Jet planes brought down the Twin Towers, not explosives. Number Seven might be a different story (but probably not). And the whole thing does have a stink of False Flag about it.
- Ghosts and poltergeists seem to be real phenomena. Many ghost stories are convincing, and often don't have the taint of hypnagogia about them. I wish there was a way for hard science to study them: I'm sorry, but is there anything out there that isn't pseudoscience?
- On Ancient Mysteries: Did you ever play "telephone" as a kid? It's the game where you sit in circle, a person whispers something in your ear, and you then whisper in the person's ear next to you what you thought you heard. It goes around the circle and by the time it reaches the last person, the phrase has become humorously garbled. Ancient history is a 5,000 year game of telephone. There are kernels of truth, but you can't accept things at face value – especially the bible. I think there was, without a doubt a very ancient civilization somewhere around the Mediterranean or Near East that suffered a catastrophic flood. However, it probably was not as advanced or as grandiose as many fantasize it to be. And the book of Exodus seems to encapsulate the self-defining legend of an ancient volcano cult.
I am currently listening to a podcast from Lincoln Nebraska (I'm in Tuscaloosa, Alabama so I had never heard of it.) Anyway, they are interviewing a guy that I have mentioned on the forums before. Nigel Kerner. While I don't agree with everything (if at all for that matter) that he says it is really an interesting take on the whole ufo and abduction experience. He wrote a book called Grey Aliens and the Havesting of Souls. I haven't read it and don't know if I will. But, it's worth a look in google or Amazon just for the blurb and the idea that he is putting forth. That being said I remain skeptical of the whole thing. Again, welcome to the forum.
