No politics today. Since I already waxed politico on Wednesday about the State of the Union speech, I won't do a second politically inspired (if you can call anything I write “inspired”) piece. Instead I will remind you that I mentioned psychics the other day. I do not believe in psychics. I should clarify that. I do not believe people have supernatural powers to read the future, discern secrets of the past, read minds, or even bend spoons.
This puts me solidly on the side of one James Randi, otherwise known as The Amazing Randi, a magician and escape artist whose Million Dollar Challenge has yet to uncover a real psychic.
I do not consider all psychics frauds. A fraud is someone who pretends to be what he is not, like Bernie Madoff. Or Uri Geller. Some people who call themselves psychics are not frauds but they are not actually psychics either. They truly believe they have these supernatural powers.
If you follow this blog at all, you know I am atheist. This means more, to me, than not believing in gods or religion, it means not believing in anything supernatural. No ghosts, no spirits, no auras surrounding people's bodies revealing anything about them, no telekinesis, no mind-reading, no out of body experiences (AKA “astral flights”), or anything like that.
But I am intrigued by such people. The ones that believe they have powers, that is. The frauds are well aware they can't and merely perform tricks.
If anyone reads this post, I might get a few comments or emails telling me how wrong I am and possibly relating stories of some amazing feat or ability of someone they have seen or known. If you wish to believe, go ahead. So long as you don't pay them more than you can afford I see no harm in believing. But I would like to present my view on what the abilities are that they appear to have.
We know the brain is an amazing organ and we really do not understand how it works. On a rudimentary scale, we do. But not much more. I like to think of it as an organic computer attached to a number of sensors (ears, eyes, tongue/taste buds, nasal passages, and skin) which feed it data and which it absorbs and records. It is not magical, however, anymore than that computer you own is.
Think of what were called “Idiot Savants” at one time. The term is, rightly, seen as derogatory. These people are seemingly “idiots” but possess some ability way beyond what is perceived as their capabilities. Beyond, sometimes, a “normal” person's ability. Heck, we have all seen “Rain Man” by now and know what I am talking about here.
I place psychics in this category. Like the savant, the so-called psychics I speak of have no idea how they do what they seemingly do. What I think is going on, in my view, is that they collect data subconsciously, crunch it, and produce something which appears to be a supernatural feat.
Since we do not yet understand this (yet), it seems magical.
14 comments:
Awww, man...another balloon burst. I'm bummed, but not as bummed as I was when I found out that, indeed, the word 'gullible' IS in the dictionary (grin)
Sounds a bit like the brain might fall into a subcategory of Clarke's 3rd Law: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
You see Douglas, I told you that we were more alike than we are different! (Smile)
Seriously, on the supernatural front, I am 93% in agreement with you. Perhaps at some point, I will share a series of strange events I experienced a few years ago to force me to question my non-belief.
Irish, By George, I think you've got it!
Inspector, 93%? I'd like to see the math on that one.
James Randi himself is a fraud. He has no answer for Leslie Flint so he denies he even existed.
Leslie is the real deal. The greatest voice medium of our time who for over 40 years willingly subject himself to whatever controls the endless army of scientists and skeptics placed on him. Yet, the voices came anyway, seeminly out of thin air. There was no 'scientific' explanation nor could this feat be reproduced. James Randi knows this so he pretends not to even have heard of Leslie Flint. James is a liar and a fraud. Another mythe busted...
Anonymous, so you believe in ghosts then? Because something cannot be explained it must therefore be supernatural? I don't think Flint was a fraud, I think he was sincere. I just don't think he was what he (as well as you and others who believe) thinks he was.
Yes Douglas, I believe there are ghosts. I believe in God and the afterlife. I believe there is life on other planets and I believe there are UFO's. And you know, I'm probably right.
Oh yes, one thing I don't believe is that is a scientific 'earthly' or 'real world' explanation for everything, or being so absolutely certain that it must as to not be open to the possibility that it can't. What is 'supernatural' is not supernatural at all, but completely 'natural'. It is just foreign to our way of thinking and far beyond anything science can observe, at least at this point in time. Paradyms will need to shift for science to evolve to the point where the 'supernatural' as you can it can be understand and be made natural. There is too much resistance for this to occur at this time, but this will not impede the progress.
All the best.
Anonymous, we are not so far apart in our thinking as you might surmise. You make my point clearly with this statement:
"What is 'supernatural' is not supernatural at all, but completely 'natural'. It is just foreign to our way of thinking and far beyond anything science can observe, at least at this point in time."
I believe it what we call psychic phenomena and supernatural is just things we have yet to observe in a quantitative and qualitative manner. Science simply hasn't caught up yet. The more we learn about the mind, the less magical this stuff will seem.
Again, there is a difference between the frauds (such as Uri Geller) and the ones who believe they have some psychic power or gift (such as Leslie Flint).
On the other hand, I do not believe in ghosts or anything 'supernatural' so we're probably quite far apart on that score.
Far apart - absolutely. As far as 'supernatural' goes, not everything can be accounted for as a trick of the mind. That explanation is too simplistic and in many circumstances, totally illogical. For instance, when more than one person observes the same 'supernatural' event.
In Leslie Flint's case, I assume you conclude that the voices were a product of his mind? I can't buy that at all. Often times voices would provide information only their loved ones who were present would know. Many of the people or 'voices' that would come through were unknown to leslie, yet accurate, verifiable information was provided that he could not have previously known. No, I don't think you're going to find his talents to be a trick of the mind. It makes far more sense to believe that what occured was exactly what he said occured. That really is'nt too hard to believe is it? I have no problem with it. Here I am in a body I did not create, in a world and in a universe I had no hand in making making happen. Yet I am here nonetheless. I cannot possibly make the claim that no other realities could be possible when we have this one before us created by forces far beyond our involvement. I don't think I can put a lid on what is possible and what is not. There is so much we all don't know to put a lid on possibilities. That's why I have less resistance to believing than others. To me it is a balance of probabilities based on the evidence. What is a reasonable conclusion? makes the most sense? I do not go into a trial with a pre-determined verdict regardless of what is presented before me. I searched long and hard for evidence to discredit Mr. Flint. I was not an easy sell. But I could not find anything that cast logical doubt at all. One claim was that Leslie produced the sounds from his stomach. There seemed to be no end to what people were willing to believe as long as it was not the obvious - that what was happening was what he said was happening.
Take care.
Anonymous, I am not going to convince you that I have an answer to all that is mysterious or "supernatural." I am not even trying to. I am offering my opinion of what I think is behind these phenomena. You have a mind of your own and you have determined logical conclusions that suit your needs. I, too, look at this as a "balance of probabilities based on the evidence" and have arrived at my conclusions. These conclusions fit within my own parameters. They obviously do not fit within yours. I would be surprised if they did.
I do not think that what Flint is alleged to have done is a 'trick of the mind", I think it is something that is a product of his mind, however. Read my most recent post for some more detail of the logic I have used.
I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.
Take care Douglas,
all the best.
Anonymous, I could not ask for more. Stop by anytime.
Far apart - absolutely. As far as 'supernatural' goes, not everything can be accounted for as a trick of the mind. That explanation is too simplistic and in many circumstances, totally illogical. For instance, when more than one person observes the same 'supernatural' event.
In Leslie Flint's case, I assume you conclude that the voices were a product of his mind? I can't buy that at all. Often times voices would provide information only their loved ones who were present would know. Many of the people or 'voices' that would come through were unknown to leslie, yet accurate, verifiable information was provided that he could not have previously known. No, I don't think you're going to find his talents to be a trick of the mind. It makes far more sense to believe that what occured was exactly what he said occured. That really is'nt too hard to believe is it? I have no problem with it. Here I am in a body I did not create, in a world and in a universe I had no hand in making making happen. Yet I am here nonetheless. I cannot possibly make the claim that no other realities could be possible when we have this one before us created by forces far beyond our involvement. I don't think I can put a lid on what is possible and what is not. There is so much we all don't know to put a lid on possibilities. That's why I have less resistance to believing than others. To me it is a balance of probabilities based on the evidence. What is a reasonable conclusion? makes the most sense? I do not go into a trial with a pre-determined verdict regardless of what is presented before me. I searched long and hard for evidence to discredit Mr. Flint. I was not an easy sell. But I could not find anything that cast logical doubt at all. One claim was that Leslie produced the sounds from his stomach. There seemed to be no end to what people were willing to believe as long as it was not the obvious - that what was happening was what he said was happening.
Take care.
James Randi himself is a fraud. He has no answer for Leslie Flint so he denies he even existed.
Leslie is the real deal. The greatest voice medium of our time who for over 40 years willingly subject himself to whatever controls the endless army of scientists and skeptics placed on him. Yet, the voices came anyway, seeminly out of thin air. There was no 'scientific' explanation nor could this feat be reproduced. James Randi knows this so he pretends not to even have heard of Leslie Flint. James is a liar and a fraud. Another mythe busted...
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