Questions for Red Pill Junkie

[red_pill_junkie]

Also, could you please sketch out for those of us not in the know what these offstage operations look like and how he manages to keep the two cleanly separated? (Sorry if this has been covered elsewhere).

Never even met the guy in person, amigo. To be honest, I don't waste too much time thinking of him or the Disclosure project.

 

[red_pill_junkie]

What happens when you take the red pill instead of the blue one ?

You get to be interviewed on The Paracast, you dummy!

 

[red_pill_junkie]

1. inny or outy ??

2. I have always been an advocate of synchronicity...still am....but of late my reading has been focused on the production of dopamine in the brain as it seems that one who has a plentiful supply of it in their system is apt to see patterns all about them. For my part I am also sensitive to the passage of time, i.e. it seems like it's speeding up, and I am fairly lucid in my dreams and have pretty good dream recall. from what I understand these attributes can also be traced to having a healthy supply of dopamine in the system. Also if one has TOO much dopamine in their system they can be susceptible to bouts of schizophrenia which could be responsible for paranormal experiences. DO you have any insight or opinion on this?

So I think I've answered this on the 'post-show' thread. Great question, though

 

[red_pill_junkie]

do you ever wish you had taken the blue pill? I often do

Sometimes. But most of the time I'm convinced it was the best decision I've made in my life.

By 'taking the red pill' I mean becoming actively involved in the Fortean blogosphere, and specially agreeing to be a News Admin for The Daily Grail. I know this sounds overtly dramatic but I honestly believe becoming a Grailer saved my life.

It's no secret that many people who have a deep interest in 'the paranormal' suffer from depression. Call it a serotonin deficiency if you will; I consider it 'the splinter in your mind, driving you mad' to plagiarize a certain movie I'm pretty fond of.

Before I became RPJ a good week was when I only thought once or twice about doing something really stupid to myself. A bad day would have at least 3 or 4 episodes of self pity & contemplation of how the world would be better off without me.

Now that I've become a blogger, commenter & God knows what else, those episodes have reduced considerably. Sure I still get frustrated during traffic, or when I receive my credit cards' balance, or when my car breaks down, but I find myself more emotionally capable of dealing with what the world is constantly throwing down my path.

So taking the red pill is not about smoking cigars & enjoying juicy steaks in fancy restaurants. It's about opening your eyes & contemplating the limitless possibilities this world & this life have to offer.

That is enough for me. I hope it's the same for you

 

[red_pill_junkie]

What are your thoughts on the ever increasingly popularity of cryptozoology on TV and the web?

Great question.

Maybe it's simply a matter of producers looking for 'the next big thing'; and after the public got bored with ghosts, Sci-Fi & Animal Planet decided to blast Bigfoot down their retinas.

But sometimes I've pondered whether there's s deeper 'zeitgeist' behind the popularity of certain Fortean phenomena. Maybe UFOs became so popular during the Cold War scare because people were looking for ways to be saved from the nuclear blast & mutually assured annihilation. And maybe ghosts became so big in America after 9/11 because the public was looking for reassurance that death is not the end of all things.

So then, what about cryptids? Could it be there's a certain subliminal drive towards the concept of Bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster & the Orang Pendek, fueled by our increasing perception of the degrading state of our ecosystems? Do we perhaps feel a hidden clock ticking & that there's only a limited time to find these creatures... before it's too late?

...Or maybe it's just that stoned viewers like to get their kicks watching a bunch of dudes running around the woods with night vision goggles yelling "did you hear that??"

 

[stonehart]

Sometimes. But most of the time I'm convinced it was the best decision I've made in my life.

By 'taking the red pill' I mean becoming actively involved in the Fortean blogosphere, and specially agreeing to be a News Admin for The Daily Grail. I know this sounds overtly dramatic but I honestly believe becoming a Grailer saved my life.

It's no secret that many people who have a deep interest in 'the paranormal' suffer from depression. Call it a serotonin deficiency if you will; I consider it 'the splinter in your mind, driving you mad' to plagiarize a certain movie I'm pretty fond of.

Before I became RPJ a good week was when I only thought once or twice about doing something really stupid to myself. A bad day would have at least 3 or 4 episodes of self pity & contemplation of how the world would be better off without me.

Now that I've become a blogger, commenter & God knows what else, those episodes have reduced considerably. Sure I still get frustrated during traffic, or when I receive my credit cards' balance, or when my car breaks down, but I find myself more emotionally capable of dealing with what the world is constantly throwing down my path.

So taking the red pill is not about smoking cigars & enjoying juicy steaks in fancy restaurants. It's about opening your eyes & contemplating the limitless possibilities this world & this life have to offer.

That is enough for me. I hope it's the same for you

Nice post .. thanks for that RPJ

 

[trainedobserver]

I'm not familiar with the ghost photo you mention, but I think you were talking about the Solway Firth or Cumberland Spaceman photo. It has been a while since I looked into that one, but I recall reading several good explanations for it. It's one of those that the photographer doesn't remember seeing through the viewfinder.

The fact that there are so many photographs being taken in any given location at any given time now where people are present makes me seriously wonder why more "accidental" alien, ghost, bigfoot, UFO, or what have you photographs aren't taken. The odds of accidentally catching something must exponentially increase on a yearly, perhaps, monthly basis as more cameras of various types go "on line" and start taking snap shots and CC camera footage. We should be seeing more "Cumberland Spaceman" photos if taking random or unintentional photos of these things yields the best results or is even possible. The fact that no one can remember to take a photo when seeing something weird manifest in front of them shouldn't preclude the event being captured by other cameras aimed in the general direction.

I don't know, just seems odd to me. Instead of a proliferation of fakes on youTube we should be seeing an ever increasing number of genuine articles.

 

[manxman]

as soon as people start recording their whole day, as in a google glass's type of device, thats when lots of interesting stuff will out.

 

[Burnt State]

It's not just a headscracther, this lack of photos and/or video, given the immense amount of cameras, some constantly recording large swatches of the sky. It seems to be much more indicative of something else.

 

[red_pill_junkie]

It's not just a headscracther, this lack of photos and/or video, given the immense amount of cameras, some constantly recording large swatches of the sky. It seems to be much more indicative of something else.

You can go on several paths with this one. Either taking into account that most sightings last a very short amount of time, and witnesses don't have enough time to take out the smartphone, activate the camera app, point it, focus it & snap a pic; there's also the fact that many witnesses claim they were so 'mesmerized' by the sheer WTF sighting of such an odd phenomenon, that taking a picture literally doesn't cross their minds --and you could even take THAT one step further, and posit the possibility of some mind control originated by the phenomenon itself.

Lastly, Vallee & others have also speculated that ALL sightings are staged. And I've toyed with that idea many times, because I think these phenomena are 'multi-layered', with one part of the sighting which is directly aimed to the witness itself, other that was perhaps aimed to the 1st researcher that looked into the case, and maybe even a little Easter egg left for the benefit of someone who will learn about it 10, 100 or 1000 years after the fact.

Maybe we're just acting like cats, trying to pounce on that little red dot that appears on the floor & walls of the house we live in, not realizing the dot will ONLY appear when our owner is in the mood to play with us

 

[Burnt State]

You can go on several paths with this one. Either taking into account that most sightings last a very short amount of time, and witnesses don't have enough time to take out the smartphone, activate the camera app, point it, focus it & snap a pic; there's also the fact that many witnesses claim they were so 'mesmerized' by the sheer WTF sighting of such an odd phenomenon, that taking a picture literally doesn't cross their minds --and you could even take THAT one step further, and posit the possibility of some mind control originated by the phenomenon itself.

That accounts for the 'stunned sheep' factor but in all those photos people are already recording, should we not see many more examples of those 'accidental' sightings? & what about all that security camera footage that is everywhere including on mobile vehicles i.e. russian meteorite footage? That was a pretty rare event and yet we got enough footage of that to make a feature film and biography of that crashing visitor to earth.

Lastly, Vallee & others have also speculated that ALL sightings are staged. And I've toyed with that idea many times, because I think these phenomena are 'multi-layered', with one part of the sighting which is directly aimed to the witness itself, other that was perhaps aimed to the 1st researcher that looked into the case, and maybe even a little Easter egg left for the benefit of someone who will learn about it 10, 100 or 1000 years after the fact.

Maybe we're just acting like cats, trying to pounce on that little red dot that appears on the floor & walls of the house we live in, not realizing the dot will ONLY appear when our owner is in the mood to play with us

i totally agree with the staging possibility.


maybe one day, after we get a brain, we'll sneak up on that damn owner of ours and give him a kick in his asx!

 

[Wade]

Well if it's staged, that means "it" has an agenda. So I guess one has to ask what would be the agenda of an entity that could present itself to the percipient as a deity, a lizard, a hairy biped, a demon, and whatever else you want to n throw in the pot.

I can fully understand if "it" would present itself in front of people with magnetic personalities and influence the Better to gain a following, and try to achieve a greater purpose. But Most people who report these things seem ill-equipped to handle the "honor" of being among the select few and blow the opportunity, and end up questioning or Causing people to question their sanity, meaning that "it" doesn't seem very discriminating in picking it's messenger. It misses more than it connects, or so it would seem.

 

[red_pill_junkie]

what about all that security camera footage that is everywhere including on mobile vehicles i.e. russian meteorite footage? That was a pretty rare event and yet we got enough footage of that to make a feature film and biography of that crashing visitor to earth.

Those security cameras are rarely pointed to the sky

And as for the Russian meteorite, the thing I found the oddest about it was how during the early days after the event, a poll conducted showed the vast majority of the Russian citizens didn't believe the event had happened!

So maybe it's time to stop thinking a photo is gonna convince anyone of something they refuse to believe.

 

[red_pill_junkie]

But Most people who report these things seem ill-equipped to handle the "honor" of being among the select few and blow the opportunity, and end up questioning or Causing people to question their sanity, meaning that "it" doesn't seem very discriminating in picking it's messenger. It misses more than it connects, or so it would seem.

Well, 1st we need to consider that a true alien intelligence, by the very definition of the word, is CRAZY. Meaning their thought process would be so different from ours as to be possibly completely incomprehensible.

And secondly, perhaps we need to entertain the possibility that a grassroots-type of contact --and that seems what's been happening, instead of the fabled landing on the White House lawn-- might be the most efficient way to influence a culture in the least disruptive manner. Perhaps contacting a bunch of Regular Joes instead of abducting Stephen Hawking has a much powerful rippling effect in society, eliciting a change from the bottom-up, instead of the top-down.

 

[Randall]

Well, 1st we need to consider that a true alien intelligence, by the very definition of the word, is CRAZY. Meaning their thought process would be so different from ours as to be possibly completely incomprehensible.

I think that's a rather large assumption. The observable universe appears to be made of elements and governed by forces of nature that are common throughout. Based on these commonalities it's entirely reasonable to propose that any intelligence capable of recognizing those commonalities would also logically have the same understanding of them as we do, and therefore it is also logical to propose that some form of communication could be established that is based on those things. This was the basic idea behind the development of the plaques that were fastened to the Pioneer and Voyager spacecraft.

And secondly, perhaps we need to entertain the possibility that a grassroots-type of contact --and that seems what's been happening, instead of the fabled landing on the White House lawn-- might be the most efficient way to influence a culture in the least disruptive manner. Perhaps contacting a bunch of Regular Joes instead of abducting Stephen Hawking has a much powerful rippling effect in society, eliciting a change from the bottom-up, instead of the top-down.

Perhaps. But with the aliens calling all the shots on access to them, the grass in such a grass roots effort could get pretty long before anything happens. Or do we start running around the countryside at night shining bright flashlights into the sky like some other people, hoping to attract the alien's attention?

 

[red_pill_junkie]

I think that's a rather large assumption. The observable universe appears to be made of elements and governed by forces of nature that are common throughout. Based on these commonalities it's entirely reasonable to propose that any intelligence capable of recognizing those commonalities would also logically have the same understanding of them as we do, and therefore it is also logical to propose that some form of communication could be established that is based on those things. This was the basic idea behind the development of the plaques that were fastened to the Pioneer and Voyager spacecraft.

And it was a pretty BIASED idea

A New Scientific Model that Defines Alien Intelligence

No doubt, aliens could be really, really weird. At least compared to us. And not just in terms of their physical morphologies or cultural and technological adaptations. The very way they think could be vastly different from the way we do it. Extraterrestrials could have alternative modes of intelligence, communication, and social cooperation that we can scarcely imagine.

Thankfully, there are other intelligences we can study. As a new paper published in Acta Astronautica suggests, our efforts to profile nonhuman animal intelligence can help us develop unbiased tools for describing other types of intelligence, both on Earth and beyond. What's more, these intelligence profiles can provide a new perspective on how we should look for aliens and what we might expect to find.

Perhaps. But with the aliens calling all the shots on access to them, the grass in such a grass roots effort could get pretty long before anything happens. Or do we start running around the countryside at night shining bright flashlights into the sky like some other people, hoping to attract the alien's attention?

For entities that may exist completely outside the stream of space & time, what difference does it make 60, 600 or 6000 years?

 

[Randall]

And it was a pretty BIASED idea

Exactly the opposite. Bias would have been to make assumptions based only on variables primarily associated with us as opposed to making a concentrated effort to use variables that are common throughout the observable universe. I've also read the article you linked to, and others similar to it, and the idea that it's a "it's a safe bet" that intelligent aliens look very different from us is not substantiated in the least. Why? Firstly, given the vastness of the cosmos, all bets are based on probabilities, and if the universe is infinite, all probabilities have an equal chance of being correct.

But even if the universe isn't infinite, from what we've been able to observe, the rules of physics appear to be the same, or at least can be safely presumed to be substantially the same everywhere, which in turn means that the same circumstances that gave rise to us here on Earth are likely to be repeated over and over again elsewhere, which in turn means that the probability of humanoid life forms should be higher, not lower. That's not to say that there may be some life forms that are very different, but to be dominant and/or so different as to be "incomprehensible"? I don't think so.

For entities that may exist completely outside the stream of space & time, what difference does it make 60, 600 or 6000 years?

I like your idea of a "grass roots" movement to initiate communication between aliens and the population at large, but I don't see how the above comment is relevant to that.

 

[red_pill_junkie]

Exactly the opposite. Bias would have been to make assumptions based only on variables primarily associated with us as opposed to making a concentrated effort to use variables that are common throughout the observable universe. I've also read the article you linked to, and others similar to it, and the idea that it's a "it's a safe bet" that intelligent aliens look very different from us is not substantiated in the least. Why? Firstly, given the vastness of the cosmos, all bets are based on probabilities, and if the universe is infinite, all probabilities have an equal chance of being correct.

Taking aside issues of biological evolution, we would also need to look at the issue of cultural evolution as well. If a man from ancient Athens were to be transported back in time to the XXIst century, he would conclude that the world has gone insane! He's from a time where it was perfectly normal to own slaves & women weren't allowed to vote or even watch the Olympic games; where it was customary for grown men to kidnap young boys, take them to the forest & engage in sexual acts with them while they also fulfill the role of mentors & teachers. Think of how the world has changed in the last 25 years due to the Internet! If it were us the ones going forward in time, do you think we'd be able to make sense of the world in the year 3000?

I like your idea of a "grass roots" movement to initiate communication between aliens and the population at large, but I don't see how the above comment is relevant to that.

The point I was trying to make is that these beings seem to be VERY patient with us. It's something I discussed with Nick Redfern back in 2012, when we met at the Paradigm Symposium: he said that it was so frustrating how the aliens never seemed to change their modus operandi, and they kept repeating the same antics over & over again; I replied that if we took a hard, honest look at the evolution of our species, our behavior & intentions haven't really changed THAT much since we left the caves & discovered fire! We're still driven by greed & base needs, we still engage in tribal warfare & fight over resources, and we look with suspicion anyone who doesn't have our same skin color, creed or sexual orientation.

Perhaps they are just really, REALLY patient teachers

 

[trainedobserver]

Perhaps they are just really, REALLY patient teachers

What is the lesson I wonder? If they are teachers they seem to be ineffectual ones. I cannot remember one single actionable, practical, or otherwise useful teaching, bit of information, or lesson conveyed in any alleged alien communication or activity in the history of the phenomenon. What we have are regurgitated religious thought, and dime-store philosophy outfitted in silver lame and passed off as cosmic wisdom.

I may be wrong, but I think one of the fundamental mistakes that gets made is the assumption that ETs or some other type of alien non-human species would give a rip about humanity, even if they did stumble upon us in the void. Our egos demand that everything is about us. The universe was thought to revolve around Earth at one time for Pete's sake.

 

[red_pill_junkie]

What is the lesson I wonder? If they are teachers they seem to be ineffectual ones. I cannot remember one single actionable, practical, or otherwise useful teaching, bit of information, or lesson conveyed in any alleged alien communication or activity in the history of the phenomenon. What we have are regurgitated religious thought, and dime-store philosophy outfitted in silver lame and passed off as cosmic wisdom.

I may be wrong, but I think one of the fundamental mistakes that gets made is the assumption that ETs or some other type of alien non-human species would give a rip about humanity, even if they did stumble upon us in the void. Our egos demand that everything is about us. The universe was thought to revolve around Earth at one time for Pete's sake.

You're actually right. Perhaps thinking of them in terms of 'good' or 'bad' is missing the point entirely.

But just a few hours ago I was listening to Brad Steiger on BoA, and he's offering a lot of tantalizing musings. He says that the phenomenon has always decided to show itself just a little bit more advanced than our current technological level; perhaps it's a method to pique our curiosity and propel our level of advancement. I'm sure there were a lot of people in the 50s who looked at cases of flying saucers & started to wonder whether a lenticular craft would be more aerodynamically efficient than a winged plane

To me ultimate lesson the UFO phenomenon has to offer is this: Our world is far bigger, stranger & wonderful than we are even able to imagine. Whether that was the original intention of the aliens themselves is besides the point. I'm running with it anyway