tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post5973492330443996762..comments2024-03-28T12:17:44.126-05:00Comments on TYWKIWDBI ("Tai-Wiki-Widbee"): Things we can't explainMinnesotastanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01382888179579245181noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-49685532602212674082011-01-24T21:46:13.011-06:002011-01-24T21:46:13.011-06:00What's so mysterious about gravity? Objects a...What's so mysterious about gravity? Objects are attracted to one another because they are following the shortest path in spacetime, which is curved by mass.<br /><br />You might be helped by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geodesic_%28general_relativity%29" rel="nofollow">this wikipedia</a> link, in particular: "In general relativity, gravity is not a force but is instead a curved spacetime geometry where the source of curvature is the stress-energy tensor (representing matter, for instance)."<br /><br />There are certainly mysteries in physics, but throwing up your hands and saying "F---in' Gravity -- how does it work?" isn't the way to go about finding them...<br /><br />To the original post, it is certainly a fascinating account due to the number of witnesses, but I'm with le_sacre, Sherlock, and William of Occam: there are too many mundane possibilities to accept something which would require so many unbelievable things to be true.Bennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-62528737470585157092011-01-24T10:59:00.675-06:002011-01-24T10:59:00.675-06:00Swedenborg probably hired someone to set a fire on...Swedenborg probably hired someone to set a fire on that night.<br /><br />My favorite unexplained phenomenon is gravity. Seriously. We've lived in its presence for the entirety on humanity, and we've come up with equations to describe its effects, but we still lack a concrete understanding of what actually makes 2 separate objects pull on each other from a distance. It seems mundane because we're so accustomed to it, but it's an unexplained phenomenon of force-at-a-distance that is every bit as strange as a wizard levitating objects with a wand.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-86192014795138722362011-01-23T04:15:33.851-06:002011-01-23T04:15:33.851-06:00I was driving in the UK between Birmingham and Lon...I was driving in the UK between Birmingham and London when I clearly heard my Father shouting for help. I was so freaked out that I turned off at the next exit and headed home.<br />Dad was fine, and had been sitting quietly at home reading all morning.'<br /><br />Spooky, or what ?.\\axxxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11785414672224688375noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-79296660661243919902011-01-22T17:23:12.810-06:002011-01-22T17:23:12.810-06:00I'm going to keep this in the air, as part of ...I'm going to keep this in the air, as part of whether or not there is a 6th sense. We need mysteries as a whole because without them, life would be pretty dull.<br /><br /> I guess that's why I like reading these kinds of things.CloudSampsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05459873067554831037noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-87794012698334201972011-01-22T10:08:10.513-06:002011-01-22T10:08:10.513-06:00I grew up with the utterly clear dreams - true ref...I grew up with the utterly clear dreams - true reflections of our waking world, with events minor and otherwise I did not know of, these dreams would repeat themselves sometimes daily for years. All have come true some within days some within years. As a child it terrified me to no end yet I told no one for many years. We are I have come to believe part and parcel of a much larger fabric more varied and wide than we have yet dreamed. It is one of the few beliefs I believe that has helped kept me sane in this modern world.caferacers66https://www.blogger.com/profile/16451843719983191290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-21848028501048835022011-01-22T04:46:09.464-06:002011-01-22T04:46:09.464-06:00People are often eager to ignore and ridicule the ...People are often eager to ignore and ridicule the existence of that which cannot be proven.<br /><br />Myself included.<br /><br />But as soon as I actually experience something that gives me, even a glimpse, into phenomena outside the realm of common human understanding: I certainly do not ignore it.<br /><br />My first serious relationship resulted in the strongest "6th sense" occurrence I have ever felt in my life. I was rather emotionally invested in this person, and<br />after months of a fairly common relationship, she went to a party one night. It was not the first time she went and did something with friends and I had absolutely no reason to suspect anything out of the ordinary. And I didn't "suspect" as much as I KNEW something terrible was happening.<br />I suddenly went crazy in my own apartment. Like a high powered anxiety attack when absolutely nothing else in my life could have brought it on. I knew it was over before I even saw her again. She did everything she could to hide it for weeks as our relationship deteriorated. I finally found out that she had slept with someone that SAME night I was freaking out on the other side of town; While I had never actually suspected infidelity... just nondescript "loss."<br /><br />Seeing the above comments, many of you will easily dismiss this story, which is understandable, because I will never effectively describe the emotions I felt. All I can say is they were wildly out of place and as vivid as if I was witnessing the act myself.Robbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06006923196574479926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-14134474491519998632011-01-21T21:56:06.793-06:002011-01-21T21:56:06.793-06:00DaBris, your experience sounds very much like a hy...DaBris, your experience sounds very much like a hypnagogic hallucination; it's almost like an episode of sleep paralysis, tho as you describe it without the paralysis and shortness of breath.<br /><br />Eventually I hope to write some blog posts on that subject.Minnesotastanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01382888179579245181noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-44627194922886970892011-01-21T21:52:55.586-06:002011-01-21T21:52:55.586-06:00Actually, I had an incident something like that my...Actually, I had an incident something like that myself. I was lying in bed prior to getting up on a day when I didn't have to work and was in a kind of dreamy state when I became aware of this presence... I don't know how else to describe it. There was a woman (I'm male) sitting on the side of my bed talking to me. I could see her quite clearly, I could feel the warmth and pressure of her body against my own, I could her weight on the mattress, and I could "hear" her talking, except that I could not understand a single word of what she said, but I could understand the jist of what she said. And I could kind of see her. But, when I opened my eyes, I was completely alone.<br /><br />I had never seen this woman before, but I did meet her in real life several months later; she was a clerk in a toy store where I stopped to get some change. I have not seen her since.<br /><br />DaBrisDaBrisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-54414253641093917792011-01-21T20:53:08.960-06:002011-01-21T20:53:08.960-06:00This concept of "preferring to believe" ...This concept of "preferring to believe" is very alien to me, and also, frankly, strikes me as dangerous. Seems like it's devaluing truth. And lots of people end up making pretty terrible decisions based on what they choose to believe instead of basing their decisions on evidence-based beliefs.<br /><br />I'm kind of stodgy that way. :-)le_sacrenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-12833024084662695742011-01-21T19:30:47.631-06:002011-01-21T19:30:47.631-06:00Z, I can downplay my example myself, by postulatin...Z, I can downplay my example myself, by postulating that my uncle phoned his home town long-distance from a hotel in Montana to talk with a secret girl friend who told him of the accident, and after returning he made up this story to keep the girl friend unknown to the family.<br /><br />I just prefer the more mystical possibility...Minnesotastanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01382888179579245181noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-80699774855373208682011-01-21T19:25:39.464-06:002011-01-21T19:25:39.464-06:00Dr. Elizabeth Loftus has done extensive work in me...<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Loftus" rel="nofollow">Dr. Elizabeth Loftus</a> has done extensive work in memory which would speak to Mark and le_sacre's skepticism.<br /><br />It is not only possible but <i>likely</i> (given the tendency toward <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias" rel="nofollow">confirmation bias</a> amongst paranormal believers) to attribute paranormal forces to everyday occurrences.<br /><br />Not to downplay your example, but of all possibilities is it not more likely that your uncle remembered his vague feeling of unease as something more specific ("a voice") when returning to find your grandfather in distress?<br /><br />Loftus' body of work would suggest that every time your uncle thought back on what compelled him to return, the association would be reinforced - over time, he may have effectively "rewritten" the memory into something he'd swear by.Z. Constantinehttp://blog.operator-speaking.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-34621752874112819282011-01-21T19:22:01.968-06:002011-01-21T19:22:01.968-06:00Unfortunately, Mark's rationale isn't true...Unfortunately, Mark's rationale isn't true. The story is well–attested in its current form from contemporary sources. That doesn't mean it wasn't myth–making on the part of Swedenborg's inner circle, however.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-43849712860885000382011-01-21T15:25:39.220-06:002011-01-21T15:25:39.220-06:00Mark's point is a good one. To add three more...Mark's point is a good one. To add three more:<br /><br />1. A general problem with these sorts of "psychic" or spiritual phenomenon is their apparent rarity. If it were a real phenomenon, one would expect it to have occurred often enough that at least one event would have been documented in a convincing way (i.e., not merely through heresay and oral-history style accounts). In fact, if nature permitted such phenomenona at all, what reason could there be for their being so rare that most of us have no experience of them? What could plausibly be so remarkable about your grandfather or uncle or that accident, for instance, that this happened to them but not to the astronomical numbers of similar people and events?<br /><br />2. Speaking of those astronomical numbers of events, there is the sampling bias issue. Because so many events are happening to so many people all the time, it's inevitable that spectacular coincidences occur. The vast vast majority where coincidences do not occur don't stick in anyone's memory, and are not told as stories; only the tiny tiny minority that are coincidental in some way get that treatment. This effect is mathematically sufficient to explain the lopsided ratio of normal:abnormal I remarked on in point 1 above, and is more parsimonious an explanation than something involving spirits or psychic abilities for which we have no convincing evidence or plausible mechanisms.<br /><br />3. This is a less rigorous point, but in my experience, the acquaintances I've had who report such spooky phenomena as personal experiences just happen to also be the acquaintances I already considered to be the least hard-nosed, skeptical, and logical. It's been well documented how susceptible both perception and memory are to bias, so I find it very likely that these folks unconsciously bent the truth somewhat to favor a more startling explanation for an experience that felt startling to them.le_sacrenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-62953800935804595662011-01-21T15:00:08.102-06:002011-01-21T15:00:08.102-06:00The rational explanation is 200+ years of hindsigh...The rational explanation is 200+ years of hindsight and story-retelling. The original story may have been an interesting and possible coincidence, which was amplified over 200 years into a ridiculously impossible scenario.Markhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05337533198347182909noreply@blogger.com