Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
i was having a discussion with my dad last night......he's an atheist as well (i think?), but there are still some superstitions that are too deeply rooted for him to get away from....(it seems).
So, the discussion went the way of 'personal experience'.....and how there have been instances for him where he's had a dream of someone's death without knowing anything about them or being close to them in any way.....or all of a sudden having anxiety out of nowhere only to learn later that a best friend's mom has suddenly died.
he said that there are things we still don't understand and so i shouldn't be too quick to write them off, in my 'evidence-only' based way of life.
i really didn't know how to answer the above 'examples'....i was only able to mention the phenomenon of 'coincidences' and the fact that there have been thousands of dreams/feeling that didn't pan out but him not taking any notice of those....
i was wondering if you guys have any better explanation or different thoughts on the above.
Last night I had this dream that a snake attacked me in the restroom of my Mom's house, and a few weeks ago I had a dream that my toddler fell down the stairs. Luckily neither of those have come to pass.
On the other hand, I had a dream years ago that I went to visit my Grandmother in her bedroom, and she was brushing her hair. She turned to me and said she "had to go away now" and then walked away into a fog. The next day my parents told me she had passed away the previous night. I was very freaked out. In my dream she was wearing a metallic and black dress, and that is the dress she was buried in. I was then further freaked out.
But, had I been hearing my parents talk about her health? Was I afraid she might die and that influenced my dream? I really don't know, but I'm still inclined to believe it was a coincidence.
01-16-2014, 11:34 AM
2K5Gx2km
n/a posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thinking-man
i was having a discussion with my dad last night......he's an atheist as well (i think?), but there are still some superstitions that are too deeply rooted for him to get away from....(it seems).
So, the discussion went the way of 'personal experience'.....and how there have been instances for him where he's had a dream of someone's death without knowing anything about them or being close to them in any way.....or all of a sudden having anxiety out of nowhere only to learn later that a best friend's mom has suddenly died.
he said that there are things we still don't understand and so i shouldn't be too quick to write them off, in my 'evidence-only' based way of life.
i really didn't know how to answer the above 'examples'....i was only able to mention the phenomenon of 'coincidences' and the fact that there have been thousands of dreams/feeling that didn't pan out but him not taking any notice of those....
i was wondering if you guys have any better explanation or different thoughts on the above.
There might be other answers but I think your point regarding coincidence is probably the best one. Given the permutations of the everyday existence of every individual it would be odd if things like what your father experienced did not happen.
I disregard "examples" like those. There are many logical explanations. I treat them no differently then when someone says they "feel god" or "god talks to them or directs them".
There are coincidences in life. I once attended an outdoor rock concert on a hog farm near Archer, Florida. It was a hot weekend and my group decided to wander off into the woods looking for any sort of swimming hole we might use to cool off some. After tramping around for a time, we found a watering hole and were splashing about when the property owner showed up with a shotgun and ordered us off his land immediately. We exited hastily and I left behind a beach towel I had brought which featured a map of the state of Florida, distinguished by a hole where Jacksonville should be.
We were now lost in the woods and wandered around for a goodly time until finally coming upon a road where we hitched a ride back to the concert.
That had been Saturday. On Monday morning we departed, it was about a two mile walk to where we had parked and half way there I spotted something familiar looking on the side of the road. It was my beach towel, map of Florida, hole where Jacksonville was supposed to be. How the towel got from the farmer's pond to the side of the road many miles away remains a mystery.
I would imagine the odds against the above described event taking place as it did must have been enormous, yet it happened. I did not interpret any of it as an indication of divine intervention, why would god be fooling around with low rent, pointless miracles like that?
My own line is that these can't be explained. I don't care to come up with glib skeptical dismissals like a TV Vulcan. There could be some explanations based on factors that were not mentioned. regular worries of that kind but we only hear about the ones that 'gell'. Some forgotten information that was passed on that might have been in the mind, or thinking on old age and death or illness and thinking of a likely candiidtae -'I wonder if 'x' or 'y' is allright?'
On the other hand, there could be such communication or insights. It is impossible to rule anything out. But taking as evidence that the supernatural, precognition, dreams and recalling previous lives, not to mention NDE's or the mystical experience is what we take it to be, when so much that was once felt to be proof of such things looks anything but, is simply not reasonable.
It isn't necessary that we come down on the 'believe' or 'reject' side. Note the (apparent) evidence and keep an open mind. Nobody is going to sue you for not opting for belief or not.
I agree that it is a bit annoying not to know, but I have long learned that picking a preferred belief rather than not have one, is basic error.
And none of this is really anything to do with atheism. Even if precognition or telepathic messages were proved to be true, that would prove nothing whatsoever about the soul, afterlife, existence of God, and would of course, not even scratch the polished veneer of the coffin in which the claims of religion are being laid to rest.
There might be other answers but I think your point regarding coincidence is probably the best one. Given the permutations of the everyday existence of every individual it would be odd if things like what your father experienced did not happen.
My own line is that these can't be explained. I don't care to come up with glib skeptical dismissals like a TV Vulcan.
Yes. I had exactly one "paranormal" experience in my lifetime that I can't explain, cannot draw firm conclusions from, and all speculative explanations assume way too much. An attempt to reproduce the experience failed. I have filed this under "I don't know" and moved on. This is the appropriate response to such things. I don't have an obligation to believe in woo based on an interesting experience that has some aspects that are consistent with some people's ideas of the supernatural, just because I can't explain it offhand in naturalistic terms. The mind plays too many tricks too readily.
And none of this is really anything to do with atheism. Even if precognition or telepathic messages were proved to be true, that would prove nothing whatsoever about the soul, afterlife, existence of God, and would of course, not even scratch the polished veneer of the coffin in which the claims of religion are being laid to rest.
I used to think deja vu was real until I read more about the plasticity of memories and how the brain works. Now I think it's most likely a glitch in your memory circuits.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
