Can All Weird Experiences Be Explained?

[nailit]

I'm generally sceptical of the paranormal and view with suspicion the claims of psychics, spiritualists and the like. However I personally know many people who have had some very strange and inexplicable occurences.
Can ALL strange experiences really be explained by science, psychology etc?

[WaldoMcFroog]

"how do you explain this:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151468755072460&set=vb.560267459&type=2&;theater"

Really? You don't believe that this kid's survival could be attributable to non-supernatural means? You believe he was literally pulled up by disembodied arms?

[China Doll]

Not ALL yet but I imagine in the future they will be. I think most can already be explained.

[naomi24]

Joko, //i also wonder why we never see ghosts etc in shops, cafes, any public places in the middle of the day ... its always night when people are alone//

How do you know you never see 'ghosts' in shops, cafes, and public places in the middle of the day? And it doesn't always happen when people are alone - and it doesn't always happen at night.

Birdie, //strangely not a single person has got even close to passing it [James Randi's challenge].//

That could be because these things happen randomly and are not - and cannot be - conjured at will. Personally, I believe investigation of this is currently way beyond our tecnological capabilities - but I really don't think it is wise to dismiss it. We're not as smart as we think we are.

Magsmay's experience (posted19:54 Mon 04th Mar 2013) is interesting. She seems to be an intelligent woman, and I have no reason to believe she is making her story up. Why would she? Any offers?

[joko]

naomi - well, obviously i wasn't saying every single encounter ever only happens in those circumstances.
i thought that i didn't really need to clarify that, since i do not and cannot, know about every single encounter ever, so why would people think i was speaking for all of them - i meant in general, that is the format they tend to take.

regarding the shops etc - i havent heard many people claim to be walking through b&q when a glowing, floating cloaked old lady walked towards them and disappeared into thin air (or similar) - my point, again, was that those sorts of reports are rare...

[mrs.chappie]

Something I don't understand.....why are the messages from the other side so cryptic?

What's wrong with, "Hello, Aunty Vera here. You keeping well?" :o/

Perhaps they are sometimes like that. I've had no personal experience of it.

[naomi24]

Joko, //i havent heard many people claim to be walking through b&q when a glowing, floating cloaked old lady walked towards them and disappeared into thin air (or similar)//

I can't speak for others, but my experience is not of floating, cloaked old ladies who disappear into thin air.

Mrs C. Excellent question. Dunno. :o/

[joko]

again, do i really need to clarify that other types of ghost exist?
i was just making a point.

if they are just normal looking, you would not know it was a ghost or even notice it, so therefore you have not seen one.

the ones most people see do not just look like a normal living person standing there... there is usually something 'ghostly' about them

mrs chappie - yes always vague, "i'm getting someones name beginning with ...m ... anyone? ... no? err.... could be an n? no... perhaps its an upside down u? or a w...? no hang on, its a T, yes... at T
if they can give letters why not more than one? or full words?

then its "ooh now i'm getting the colour blue, and a smell of perfume..."

i have also seen some psychics, when it appears their message has hit a dead end, say something like ' oh well it will probably make sense in the future some time, keep it in mind", or even just shrug and say something like 'oh well not sure what that must mean then, maybe its for someone who was here the other day' - or some other excuse

[joko]

no birdie, i know many totally convinced they have powers, but as you say fail even the slightest test

[mrs.chappie]

Something unusual was said to my sister by a spiritualist.

My mum liked a little bet on the horses. In those days, ladies going into betting shops was quite rare (going back about 25 years or so now).

Spiritualist said to my sister, recently, "Your mum did enjoy her bets on the gee-gees, didn't she..."

Mum always called them "the gee-gees".

I know it must've just been a coincidence, but it was strange, all the same.

[naomi24]

Birdie, //I was speaking about people who claim to have supernatural powers such as psychics, dowsers and people who claim to have x-ray vision, etc, etc. These people most definitely claim to be able to use their unexplained powers at will and yet when challenged to do so under test conditions - the parameters of which are agreed between both parties - they consistently fail and fail spectacularly.//

True. The Derek Acorahs of this world don’t do this, as a serious subject, any favours – but I can’t help thinking of the double-slit experiment and wondering if, in certain instances, ‘test conditions’ don’t produce the expected results.

Joko, //the ones most people see do not just look like a normal living person standing there... there is usually something 'ghostly' about them//

Really? How do you know? As you say, unless frequenting an unusual location those that look ‘normal’ are likely to go unnoticed. In my experience real ‘ghosts’ – if there is such a thing – don’t usually appear as floating diaphanous spectres, but as people with apparently solid bodies.

Mrs C, your sister’s experience is similar to Magsmay’s. I’d like someone who doesn’t believe anything like that is genuine to have a go at explaining it.

[jim360]

The thing about the double-slit experiment is that actually its outcome is totally expected. Not, perhaps, before it was first performed. But definitely now a well-understood experiment. By contrast as has been stated all psychic, spiritual and supernatural ideas have consistently failed to pass the test of experiment. Why this is isn't clear, of course -- it could just be that the spiritual world doesn't reveal itself willy-nilly

[jim360]

or as is frankly to my mind more likely, that it's all wrong. But again, despite that not everyone who has a weird experience is mad or deluded and shouldn't be mocked at. We can't rule this out definitively and weird things that seem to defy explanation do happen.

[naomi24]

Morning Jim, I’m not sure we can say that //all psychic, spiritual and supernatural ideas have consistently failed to pass the test of experiment.//, but perhaps rather that we are currently incapable of testing some.

[jake-the-peg]

No for the simple reason that there isn't enough evidence to examine.

It's self fulfilling because initially weird experiences that do and then become explained fall off the list.

People also make things up, when they tell tales that's often not possible to disprove.

The brain also plays weird tricks on us and we can become quite convinced of things that were quite different - lawyers know this very well

Change blindness is a good example check out the video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWSxSQsspiQ

[jim360]

If the experiments aren't perfect that's another matter to be sorted out. But it's still true that these things are failing the test of the experiment. No reason not to keep testing though, but anything that cannot survive experimental rigour is unscientific. Given how successful the methods of Science have been, that's a bad test to fail.

[WaldoMcFroog]

"Spiritualist said to my sister, recently, "Your mum did enjoy her bets on the gee-gees, didn't she..."

Mum always called them "the gee-gees".

I know it must've just been a coincidence, but it was strange, all the same."

Not necessarily a coincidence; it's entirely possible it's just basic fraud. So-called spiritualists often share information with each other and many will have confederates that carry out research into the people coming to see them. It's not unknown for the receptionist to strike up a conversation, "Who are you here about then? Oh, what was she like?" and then text it to the spiritualist in the next room.

[naomi24]

Jake, I don’t think the video is relevant at all to what we're talking about. The pedestrian was completely oblivious to the physical appearance of the man – so his brain wasn’t playing tricks on him. He simply didn’t notice it was a different person, and why would he? If someone stopped me to ask for directions, the chances are that minutes later I wouldn’t be able to identify him simply because I would have had no reason to take note of his physical appearance.

[mrs.chappie]

I see where you're coming from, Waldo, but my sis is definitely not the sort to be taken in by questions asked beforehand (a pretty obvious ploy, really).

She'd also never visited any other spiritualist, so the info couldn't have been passed on in that way.

And my mum had been dead for over 25 years, and no-one else in the family is remotely interested in horse-racing, never talked about it.

But yes, I do agree with you, a lot of information can be gleaned if said spiritualist does a bit of "behind the scenes" work. In fact there was a video clip posted on AB fairly recently, about a similar thing, which made very interesting viewing.

[magsmay]

If someone was transported back in time 100 years with an ipad or smartphone, no-one would understand what they had, and they would have no technology to prove or disprove if the ipad was 'real' or a magicians clever illusion. This is how I try and understand ESP episodes or whatever you want to call them -we just don't know and maybe someday will , maybe not. There are a lot of clever people out there that use psychology and trickery to gain money and fame pretending to be able to contact people from the other side. I have mixed feelings about this as sometimes 'contacting' a loved one can give comfort to the relatives, but is rarely done for free and sometimes becomes addictive, people spending hundreds of pounds with psychics when grief counselling may be more appropriate. I've had a few experiences which I haven't gone looking for and can't explain - including seeing in my peripheral view a man in broad daylight on my OH's family farm I was looking after while they went to a funeral - when I described the man to them when they returned it was the exact description of the relative that had died -in the very place he used to stand and look at the view - I had never met the man -I can't explain that -maybe its energy left over from emotional experiences that some humans can sense - but I doubt its something anyone can turn on or off at will.