I had what I would best describe as a 'paranormal' experience when I was about 12 years old, so I'd say I believe in ghosts.
Woke up in the middle of the night. I was crazy thirsty but for some reason I felt it was a really bad idea to get out of bed. I can't explain why; I'd gotten out of bed for water many times before, but that night I felt like I should stay put. For about 5 minutes I looked across my room, into the restroom when all of a sudden a blue-ish white ball swelled up out of thin air and started moving away from me.
I screwed my eyes shut and have been a believer ever since. There were no windows near the bathroom. I still can't find a logical explanation for what occurred that night.
could be ball lightning, hallucinations, partial dream state, false memories etc. etc
perfect example of how i believe in something but always seek a logical explanation
Can't say it was hallucination or partial dream state; I was wide awake and in full control of my senses since I was so thirsty. I remember every detail of that ordeal and I'm not one to remember my dreams, ever. I'd put false memories to rest too. I told my entire family about it the next morning and I had to repeat the exact same story many, many times following to other friends and relatives. I haven't changed a single detail over the years and I can still picture what I saw.
Could you tell me what ball lighting is, though? I'm interested because this thing did have a sort of electrical sense to it. And it was about 2 feet in diameter I'd say, if it matters.
I'll take this one step further and say that Bush was merely an easily controlled puppet and Dick Cheney was really the one running the show.
I also believe that the government was at least somewhat aware of the attack on Pearl Harbor beforehand and allowed it to happen so that we could justify entering WWII.
http://theconversation.edu.au/ball-lightning-exists-but-what-on-earth-is-it-10419
in some cases ball lightning has been known to harmlessly pass through walls and people and in others a burn mark is left behind
again i'm a skeptic but one who isn't opposed to the existence of ghosts/demons/vampire/magical men in the sky
for all i know you really did see a ghost but until you catch it on camera to convince me then get a leading scientists to say he has no fucking idea what it is i am always gonna call bullshit
I not only believe in extraterrestrial life, but believe that extraterrestrials have visited our planet. (or at least probes)
I've kinda wondered how the hell humanity is is still alive. You know, with supernovas, asteroids, and all other types of cosmic crap being flung at us day-in and day-out. Then I remembered the dinosaurs and figured we've just been lucky for the last few millenniums. At some point, if we don't blow ourselves up, our luck will run out. This is most likely the case for most other intelligent life in the universe. Some races unable to escape impending doom have been wiped out by asteroids, growing stars, you name it. Simple logic.
But within the last one hundred years of not being blown up, we've gone to the moon and have sent objects out of our solar system. So I've figured that with enough time and enough luck, perhaps certain planetary races (not many, but a few)could reach a point where they can travel between star systems. If not themselves, merely probes.
No doubt they're finding plenty of lifeless planets, so when they find this little green and blue ball, why the hell wouldn't they stop by and study the things there? The only reason they haven't made direct contact is probably because that shit would be too complicated.
I'll take this one step further and say that Bush was merely an easily controlled puppet and Dick Cheney was really the one running the show.
I also believe that the government was at least somewhat aware of the attack on Pearl Harbor beforehand and allowed it to happen so that we could justify entering WWII.
The US government was actually supposed to know about the attack just before it happened, but still too soon for anyone to do anything about it, via a declaration of war. Unfortunately, the Japanese ambassador was a slow typer or something like that, and didn't get done decoding the declaration of war until sometime later.
http://theconversation.edu.au/ball-lightning-exists-but-what-on-earth-is-it-10419
in some cases ball lightning has been known to harmlessly pass through walls and people and in others a burn mark is left behind
again i'm a skeptic but one who isn't opposed to the existence of ghosts/demons/vampire/magical men in the sky
for all i know you really did see a ghost but until you catch it on camera to convince me then get a leading scientists to say he has no fucking idea what it is i am always gonna call bullshit
I've gotta admit, ball lightning really does fit the description of what I saw. I'm seriously beginning to think that's what it was all along.
Well, either way it scared the shit out of me when I was a kid. Not a fun night.
I believe that somewhere, probably somewhere so far away that we'll never even see the light coming off their star, is an advanced alien civilization, several of them in fact, and a good deal of less advanced ones as well.
In order to be willing to do something, the option to not be willing must be present, thus giving the willer a choice, which the willer will make using his free will, or his willie's free will.
I believe in determinism, though some may call it fate.
I believe that there is no free will and that all our thoughts as well as actions were determined. This means I don't believe in chance.
In order to be willing to do something, the option to not be willing must be present, thus giving the willer a choice, which the willer will make using his free will, or his willie's free will.
I sincerly hope you never take a philosophy course, or that you're just trolling.
Saying will does not prove free will. Will exists. Here's it's definition: Will
-Intend, desire, or wish (something) to happen: "he was doing what the saint willed".
I'm a pantheist, basically, so I believe universe is a conscious entity. I don't like calling it "god" though, because people then assign all sorts of christian-like or other-religion-like ideas to it which I consider being false and making no sense. Also, aliens, I consider them a statistical inevitability.
And magic, and supernatural. I consider them to be yet undiscovered part of physics, probably arising as a consequence of quantum effects.
Despite that, I think and act like an atheist, skeptic and rationalist. I've never pushed these beliefs on anyone, and rarely talk about them unless asked directly by someone of which I know to be genuinely curious and not just asking to start a discussion in which they can push their beliefs onto me. I am aware of the possibility of being wrong, am okay with it, and I'd be pretty much okay (though a little sad, and a little more confused than I am anyways) if they were proved to be wrong beyond the shadow of a doubt.
At the same time, I believe that my beliefs will at least partially be proven to be true during my lifetime.
(And that tiny parts of them already are, but nobody who would generally be considered sane or rational seems to be willing to connect the dots to realize it, maybe from the fear of losing that status, maybe because they're TOO grounded in evidence and unwilling to run with a hypothesis similar to what tends to be automatically waved-off as pseudo-science, because of all the other religious pseudo-science already out there.)
Also, I would LOVE to believe that I matter, that the things I cannot stop thinking about doing and wanting to do are things I'm supposed to do in this life, that they are meaningful and interesting and important ideas to share with the world, at least in a way, but it's hard and most of the time I am unable to believe that because the whole world seems to act like it doesn't give a frack.
In order to be willing to do something, the option to not be willing must be present, thus giving the willer a choice, which the willer will make using his free will, or his willie's free will.
I sincerly hope you never take a philosophy course, or that you're just trolling.
Saying will does not prove free will. Will exists. Here's it's definition: Will
-Intend, desire, or wish (something) to happen: "he was doing what the saint willed".
So who do you /believe/ (ie not know for a fact as you've put it) is in charge of this whole shebang then? Because it would have to be some sort of higher power directing the show. And so far he's a bit of a dick. Mind you, when I'm in charge in Civ 5 I always go for the bloody conquest route, maybe that's what the god(s) or spirits, or nymphs or genies were up to with the Nazis. They just got bored.
Either that or everything is just predetermined...because, because reasons.
Also, what does this lack of free will encompass? Animals are no where near as intelligent as us and function on instinct, or bactiria, or amobea or the single celled organisms we evolved from in the first place. If animals are not subject to this lack of free will, then at what point do we join the play? Simple enough creatures don't even lack the higher function necessary to do anything more than divide, yet are still living creatures, yet they wouldn't even begin to act on instinct let alone perform something resembling "free will". Are their paths all predetermined, or is it just us that are susceptible to the whims of the director?
Or do you believe that the Universe is sentient and is in charge? That the planet itself leads us? What of natural disasters, do they happen because they were "told" to happen, or are they anomalies in the plan? Are we essentially ad libbing in reaction to a world that isn't being controlled without even knowing we are commanded into our reactions?
I know neither of us can really argue either way, but I don't believe in any sort of mystical higher power, thus I'm inclined to agree with us having free will. Otherwise if we go with the fact that most dogma preaches a loving higher power, then he sure as hell isn't the one running things, because if it is, then he's a fucking dick, I'll tell you that for starters.
Note I'm not asking this in a "if a tree falls in the woods...." way, I'm asking you personally what the lack of free will means to you.
I feel like should move to Italy, take up my old family name, get coked up and write a book on the nature of free will now.
On Topic to get away from the tad philisophical nature of that debate, I believe in Aliens, mainly because it seems illogical to assume otherwise. The size and scope of the universe /has/ to have produced something capable of bearing the mantle of "intelligent" life.
No matter how "special" human development is and how rare what we call "intelligent life" is... in an infinite universe it?s an almost statistic inevitability that it has happened elsewhere. What I without a doubt do NOT believe in is ANY "evidence" that alien races have visited our planet. Any species advanced enough to actually TRAVEL here will easily have the technology to observe us without our detecting their presence, much less crashing into power lines and suffering through an autopsy.
In order to be willing to do something, the option to not be willing must be present, thus giving the willer a choice, which the willer will make using his free will, or his willie's free will.
I sincerly hope you never take a philosophy course, or that you're just trolling.
Saying will does not prove free will. Will exists. Here's it's definition: Will
-Intend, desire, or wish (something) to happen: "he was doing what the saint willed".
So who do you /believe/ (ie not know for a fact as you've put it) is in charge of this whole shebang then? Because it would have to be some sort of higher power directing the show.
I've seen no evidence to suggest that some kind of higher power would have to be in charge of the universe.
elvor0 said:
And so far he's a bit of a dick. Mind you, when I'm in charge in Civ 5 I always go for the bloody conquest route, maybe that's what the god(s) or spirits, or nymphs or genies were up to with the Nazis. They just got bored.
Also, what does this lack of free will encompass? Animals are no where near as intelligent as us and function on instinct, or bactiria, or amobea or the single celled organisms we evolved from in the first place. If animals are not subject to this lack of free will, then at what point do we join the play?
Everything is subject to this lack of free will, because it is a myth. I think you may be quoting the wrong person...
elvor0 said:
Simple enough creatures don't even lack the higher function necessary to do anything more than divide, yet are still living creatures, yet they wouldn't even begin to act on instinct let alone perform something resembling "free will". Are their paths all predetermined, or is it just us that are susceptible to the whims of the director?
Again, I have seen no evidence to the universe being sentient. I do not believe in any higher power.
elvor0 said:
I know neither of us can really argue either way, but I don't believe in any sort of mystical higher power, thus I'm inclined to agree with us having free will. Otherwise if we go with the fact that most dogma preaches a loving higher power, then he sure as hell isn't the one running things, because if it is, then he's a fucking dick, I'll tell you that for starters.
I am so confused right now. Why would there being a higher power make it so we don't have free will (actually, I can answer that one, but I won't go into that now)? Why would we have free will if there was no higher power?
No matter how "special" human development is and how rare what we call "intelligent life" is... in an infinite universe it?s an almost statistic inevitability that it has happened elsewhere. What I without a doubt do NOT believe in is ANY "evidence" that alien races have visited our planet. Any species advanced enough to actually TRAVEL here will easily have the technology to observe us without our detecting their presence, much less crashing into power lines and suffering through an autopsy.
I dunno, it's possible that one of their ships could've crapped out when they were flying over head and the only posibility was to escape pod and land in Roswell. Not that I necessarily believe that, but it's...somewhat plausible.
Captcha: The hell is with this sites hard on for Black Mirror recently, I don't fucking know when it starts airing, I just want to make a post!
You said on page 2, that you don't believe in Free Will, you also said in the post that I quoted that "Free Will on the other hand, does not exist". It's right there in the post you've quoted me for. I was questioning your belief, with points and questions as to what you believe a lack of free will encompasses. You even said in this post that I'm quoting now that free will is a myth, so I have no idea how I'm quoting the wrong person. It may not have been as direct as "What do you think a lack of free will encompases" because obviously that question is far too simple for the subject matter.
From what you've said here, I can only gleam that you don't believe in a higher power, and that things just happen because they are predetermined to happen, (regardless of species or standing in the universe) and no other reason.
It's a rather "philosophical" matter to be discussing, hence the long nature of my point discussing the implications of there being a lack of free will. Not that I'm attacking your belief, I'm actually quite enjoying sitting here musing on it while I take a break from my coursework. I just wondered what your particular thoughts on the matter were and was giving you food for thought in my post.
Had you said you did believe in a higher power, I could buy why you might believe in a lack of free will, but the idea that everything is predetermined from the beginning of time, to now, to the end of the universe seems a bit difficult to swallow if there's no supposed outside force governing it all.
I believe in ghosts to a small extent. When I was a kid a door opened and closed in front of me once while I was alone in a 170 year old building. No wind. Alone.
Hehe, I'm sorry, but opening and closing doors are always the biggest anecdotal proof that people who believe in ghosts give... I mean someone I knew in highschool was completely and utterly convinced that his grandpa haunted his house, because the fridge door used to open on it's own... disregarding the 40 thousand items weighing down the door and the fact that it was most likely just old... but nope, his grandpa used to leave the fridge door open in the middle of the night, so obviously ghosts, or spirits or whatever... actually they have an account on here... I hope they don't see this... but I'm pretty sure I made my opinion, that I think that they're wrong pretty clear, when he brought it up...<.<
OT: Hmm, I think of my self as someone who's well grounded, I don't believe in ghosts, or aliens, or gods, or any of that... honestly, I'm having a really hard time coming up with something that I "believe" in... maybe that the world doesn't really exist as definable objects or things, only stimuli that we interact with creating our own perception of it... that's always made sense to me... and I guess it's true on some level though maybe not in the extreme way that I think it is...<.<
Jack the Potato said:
I wouldn't classify this a "belief" because I'm fairly certain it's not actually true, put I have been pondering lately the idea behind quantum immortality: that since I've now come into existence and am aware of it, it's impossible for me to experience nonexistence again (death), no matter how low the probability of my survival is. For every reality where I could have died, there will always be one where I didn't, and that's the only one that I'll ever be aware of. Again, I'm pretty sure it's bogus, but it's something to think about, for sure.
Huh, that's a really interesting idea... I'm gonna have to look into that... though I have the feeling that I'll be convincing myself into believing it for comforts sake... though I'v avoided that so far, pretty well...
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