The Paranormal... [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

Adlan

2009-09-19, 02:31 AM

I'm with h_v, I believe there are things as yet unexplained by science, and I believe that thing some people call supernatural may be caused by as yet unknown forces.

I don't believe that they are 'unknowable' and they will one day be explained, or have already been explained, and it's just not common knowledge.

I detest the idea of the 'super natural' Everything that effects this material universe will have cause, and we can use the scientific method to find and understand this cause.

Before you know what it is, Magnetism and Electricity are supernatural.
I mean, take magnetism, Invisible waves of energy that arrise from rocks and effect objects far away, and the earth itself has a field which can be detected and tell you various things, including things about the past.

Sounds supernatural right? it isn't. Untill it's explained and understood I'd argue it's paranormal, but once it's under stood, it's normal, and no one really cares.

Also, pretty much all cases of human manifestations of paranormal ability are faked, and belived because, as james randi puts it, we like 'woowoo'.

banjo1985

2009-09-19, 05:19 AM

I remain unconvinced, though I'm willing to entertain a wide variety of possibilities. I believe that 99% of things reported and stories told are malecowspoo to be honest, but I'll never say never.

Gan The Grey

2009-09-19, 05:49 AM

I believe there are things that are outside our realm of perception. What kind of things, you say? I don't know. They're outside my realm of perception.:smallsmile:

Mystic Muse

2009-09-19, 05:58 AM

I swear my house is haunted and the ghosts like playing tricks on me.

At least they haven't tried to kill me. yet.

actually to heck with my house my entire street is haunted.

Mx.Silver

2009-09-19, 06:13 AM

I remain deeply sceptical regarding any 'paranormal' explanations of phenomena.

Ichneumon

2009-09-19, 07:11 AM

It is illogical to believe in things that make stuff more unexplainable than the alternative, at least without prove. Therefore I don't believe in the "paranormal", however dismissing it as "it can not be true" would be unscientific.

Galileo

2009-09-19, 07:28 AM

I believe that humanity's curiousity and ingenuity make it impossible for anything to be unknowable. Eventually, someone will figure out the principles behind anything. Even if they lose 2d6 SAN in the attempt.

Belkarsbadside1

2009-09-19, 08:18 AM

I believe in the paranormal insofar as it currently cannot be explained. It also may be that science may never explain it. But I definitely believe in it.

SDF

2009-09-19, 08:34 AM

No, but I do believe in human delusion, illogical thinking, and stupidity. The placebo effect factors in there somewhere.

Arachu

2009-09-20, 11:31 AM

No, but I do believe in human delusion, illogical thinking, and stupidity. The placebo effect factors in there somewhere.

You probably shouldn't address the subjects of your argument as delusional, illogical, or stupid to their face. This kills your argument, and makes everyone side against you. Just thought I'd mention that, not calling you out or anything. It's just that a good reason for disagreement distinguishes an argument from a belligerent comment, and not a person will listen to the latter...

As for belief, why yes I do believe in the 'supernatural' (quotes because I regard it as natural anyway), and have had some very... Unusual experiences over the years that prove it to me.

Neoriceisgood

2009-09-20, 11:57 AM

The moment something paranormal manages to pass through a proper empirical double blind test that's roughly 100% fool proof is the day I'll give it some thought.

Right now though, I don't believe anything paranormal/supernatural.

I do, however, believe that some things are as of yet unexplained. :smallsmile:

Sneak

2009-09-20, 12:09 PM

Haha, nope.

Kallisti

2009-09-20, 12:19 PM

I'll go ahead and join the chorus in that I believe in the paranormal, things science cannot explain yet, but not in the supernatural. I mean, just listen to all the different theories about dark matter. We can't detect it, we can't explain it, we can't even know for sure that it exists. it is paranormal. That's no reason to conclude that dark matter is the ashes of burned vampires and we must collect it to ward off the demons that lurk in the dark. It's a reason to conclude we need to give larger research grants to scientists working on refining sensor equipment.

Perenelle

2009-09-20, 12:50 PM

I dont believe in the paranormal. I have never had any sort of experience with any ghosts or anything. I would have to see real scientific evidence about something like that to believe it, and I have yet to see anything that proves it.

though I do end up scaring myself sometimes by thinking about stuff like that at night, even if I dont believe in the paranormal.

Closet_Skeleton

2009-09-20, 03:10 PM

As an agnostic, it might be hypocritical to claim to not believe in the paranormal. But I will do so anyway.

Yora

2009-09-20, 03:27 PM

Sure "there are more things between heaven and earth as humans can ever imagine", I think even physicists will agree to that.
But in any way, that wouldn't make them supernatural, just natural.

But to this day, I have not seen a single piece of evidence that there's something like a soul that can exists beyond a creatures death, or that any human has any ability to know or experience things except through the analyzation of physical sensations.
And when it comes to if something exists or not, I take non-existance by default until any convincing evidence is shown. Not that I would deny anything, but until it's proven, I assume it doesn't exist.

Darius Midnite

2009-09-20, 03:34 PM

I've never had any paranormal encounters, or perhaps I have and deducted the event to be something more explainable. Let's just say I want to believe. *Hums tune from The X Files*

Mando Knight

2009-09-20, 05:26 PM

I believe they are possible, but still meet any claims of such encounters with skepticism. If a paranormal event happened to me, I actually wouldn't care, due to my beliefs as to what paranormal activity would be capable of.

UnChosenOne

2009-09-21, 05:38 AM

I belive that there is just things that haven't yet be explained by science, not that there is anything supernatural (magic, souls, sprits...).

Lioness

2009-09-21, 05:45 AM

I don't know...however, I do have some really random premonition dreams.

For instance, I'll dream something, and then have one of those 'I just had a nice random but realistic dream. ...but I don't remember exactly what happened'

Then a few weeks/months later I'll be doing something, and get extreme deja vu. Like extreme to the point of clearly remembering what I did, and what is about to happen (i.e. someone will come and talk to me)
It happened once. I dreamed I was posting on a forum (Which, for me, is an everyday occurrence. At last count I'm active on 6). All is well and good. I am typing a post, and the dream views it word by word. A month or two later, I'm posting on the forum in real life. Typing the same post. Same words.
Thing is, back when I had the dream, the forum didn't exist. It was newly created.

Frankly, it creeped me out. I'm pretty open to claims of supernatural events.

Faceist

2009-09-21, 06:57 AM

I've had a few weird experiences, and a couple of instances of premonition. The most egregious of these was when my grandmother died. I felt that she had died, I just knew it, and when my parents called me to tell me I pre-empted them - "don't tell me. Nana died." (It wasn't a prolonged illness, either; she died of an aneurysm and was perfectly healthy.)

That said I'm willing to believe in a few flashes of good old fashioned intuition without throwing the boat out and believing in ghosts. I do try to keep an open mind.

J.Gellert

2009-09-21, 07:06 AM

I want to believe, but I don't.

:smallfrown:

pendell

2009-09-21, 10:09 AM

I've led a Bible study for witches for five years, and yes, I believe in both the paranormal and the supernatural. I've simply been through too much to credit any other explanation.

Of course, since my view of the supernatural and the paranormal is near-inseperable from my religious worldview, it'd break about fifteen different forum rules to go into more detail. So PM for further discussion. Or register at Pagan and Christian Moot (http://paganandchristianmoot.co.uk/pcvbforum/), where we can talk openly.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

KataraAltinaII

2009-09-21, 10:54 AM

I gues it depends on what a person defines as supernatural or paranormal.

that aside, I can probably say that I do.

Miklus

2009-09-21, 12:31 PM

The Neoclassic

2009-09-21, 12:45 PM

No. As others have said, of course there are things which science hasn't or can't yet explain. But paranormal or supernatural in the sense of ghosts or pyschic powers or such? Certainly not.

The only evidence I've ever heard for such things in anecdote. Any serious investigation seems to have produced other explanations or entirely discredited the supernatural claims.

As far as premonitions and such, I think we tend to discount all the times we do have realistic dreams and nothing happens. Or we incorrectly remember what our dreams were like based on what happens. Stuff like this (http://www.spring.org.uk/2008/02/implanting-false-memories-lost-in-mall.php)makes me seriously doubt anecdotal evidence- that and it isn't reproducible (which all good scientific evidence must be).

chiasaur11

2009-09-21, 01:16 PM

I once decided to test myself for extra-normal abilities with this experiment:

Flip a coin while concentrating mentally on heads and get it three times in a row in the first and only attempt. If succesful, I would admit that there might be something to it, otherwise I would just forget all this nonsence once and for all.

I flipped heads eight times in a row...:smalleek: So maybe I'm special after all!

Lessee....

You were doing a test with 1/8 odds. That's better than you get in Vegas.

What you got had one in 256 odds.

Unlikely, but not impossible. And if we factor in the possibility of subconscious bias or an unfair coin I wouldn't convict a dog on that kind of evidence.

Now, if you got to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead levels with a fair coin, then maybe it'd be something.

Yora

2009-09-21, 01:41 PM

What I find much more interesting than any "magical stuff" is what regular humans are really mentally and physically capable off, but we just don't are possible.

Of course our regular human abilities have limits, but they are often much higher than we think. There's nothing magical or supernormal about it, we're just amazed because we've never seen anyone do it before.

I don't think you can read minds, but you can definately see body language and hear slight variations in speaking. There's a lot of information a person shows about his thoughts, that you just have to learn to recognize.

Our consciousness has only limited capacity, so the brain does not bother us with most sensations our senses get. We can read one word on a newspaper page, even though our eyes see every single letter at the same time. We can listen to the words of one person, even though there are hundreds of other people around, who's voices also reach our ears. But even though these information don't reach our consciousness, they still all get into our brain. And while the consciousness remains oblivious, our sub-consciousness can still analyze and interpret all these sensations. That's why we can feel that something is near, even though we don't hear or see anything. This ability allows us to know we've made a mistake even though everything seems fine now. Humans can sense natural disasters just like animals do, but we've raised in the knowledge that we are rational beings and our consciousness has to ignore any such feelings.
But if a person learns to listen to these feelings again, we can greatly increase our mental abilities. Nothing magical, it's just using what you've got all the time.

pendell

2009-09-21, 07:15 PM

Lessee....

You were doing a test with 1/8 odds. That's better than you get in Vegas.

What you got had one in 256 odds.

Unlikely, but not impossible. And if we factor in the possibility of subconscious bias or an unfair coin I wouldn't convict a dog on that kind of evidence.

Now, if you got to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead levels with a fair coin, then maybe it'd be something.

48 tails out of 50 tosses with a fair coin in high school biology class. It was part of a statistics experiment. The teacher threw out my results as an outlier.

Good enough?

But then again, I wasn't actually trying, so it could still be circumstance. People *do* win the lottery, after all.

Hmm ... perhaps I will share one experience.

Readers of this thread may have seen the 'Fair Oaks rocks' thread here, in which I praised the hospital and its doctors for their quick action in saving my wife from a life-threatening emergency.

What I didn't mention at the time was that there was more to the story.

In fact, the day before I had had one of my unusual dreams ... there's the normal kind where walruses dance or whatever, which is just my subconscious showing movies, but the *second* kind ...

... well, I was told bluntly that my wife "was about to discover something about herself." In those words. By a person in my dream.

Well, given the circumstances on our life and past history, I expected it to be something to do with her health. And surprises with health are hardly ever good ones.

Which is why ,when my wife started complaining about stomach pains, I was alert and on guard and suggested we go to the hospital rather quickly. Several hours of excruciating pain later, she finally relented.

We drove straight to the emergency room. And there we found that her liver was malfunctioning and need repair IMMEDIATELY. Which she received.

What would have happened if we'd tried to tough it out for a day or two more?

Hard to say. All I know is, we moved much more quickly and caught the problem much earlier than we might otherwise have done ... because we were warned.

Nor is this the only time this has happened. Things of this nature have happened again and again in my thirty eight years, of one sort or another, so that I can no longer deny there is a spiritual world, and Something out there. It can be contacted, and can sometimes be of service, although (as I mentioned before) my faith prescribes some very specific ways of dealing with the supernatural world and utterly forbids others.

Although I'd be lying if I said this was an all-the-time thing. Months, years go by and there's nothing at all, during which times I'm tempted to agree with the skeptics here. Then something happens again and it all comes back.

Somebody mentioned that they would not be convinced except by a double-blind test.

I wouldn't hold my breath ... spirits aren't butterflies. Experimental evidence requires complete control, the ability to eliminate all other factors, and some way to compel a degree of cooperation from the test subjects. All of these factors are lacking in the supernatural world. I don't know of any way to convince a spirit to travel through a maze to find cheese, or press a button to get a pellet of food. 'Ghostbusters' movie aside, I don't know of any reliable way to capture one, in fact.

All of this means that evidence for the paranormal -- the supernatural -- is and probably always will be anecdotal, not experimental.

That may be just as well ... are there any Star Control 2 fans here? In that story, a group of human descendants (called the Androsynth) in game found a way to contact the Other Side reliably. It didn't end well for them.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

chiasaur11

2009-09-21, 07:27 PM

This is my *house*. Do you want to know a *secret*? Do not *think* it too *not campers*.
You are so many *lonely* *juicy* *bubbles*. It is so sad.
Now that you are *campers* you will have more *parties*
and no more *sad* *lonely* *bubbles*.
This is the *secret*.

Ichneumon

2009-09-21, 11:40 PM

I just want to say that I do not consider "double-blind tests" the only way in which we can gather "real" scientific knowledge. Yes, it is the most preferable way to gain knowledge, but you can also gain knowledge by only looking at anecdotal "evidence", if that's the only thing you've got. You would need to consider the reliability of these anecdotes and the odds of things being a coincidence, but science wouldn't have gotten where we are today if we only accepted double-blind tests.

Serpentine

2009-09-22, 01:49 AM

Pendell: Your mention of your wife's history of health problems suggests to me that it is as likely that you subconciously picked up on some subtle warning signs, stirred them around your mind, then translated them to a "direct" warning in dream form (sleep is where the things we learn and find out are consolidated in our brains, after all). Not that that's definitely what happened, but rather that your explanation isn't the only, nor the most likely, possibility. You've gotta admit though, even if it wasn't "spirits", and "merely" the more subtle workings of your brain, that's still pretty cool.

I have a request to make of all the premonition people: Keep a diary for all your dreams and "feelings". Every time you have one, write it down immediately, in as much detail as you can, including the time and date, leaving some space. Then when something happens that you believe can be linked to one of those, write that down in as much detail as you can, again including time and date.
Yes, anecdotal evidence is a valid (if near-least prefered) form of evidence. But there are ways and ways of making sure such evidence is as reliable as possible. Anecdotes are far more an indication that there is a field worthy of further investigation, they are not enough to confirm a phenomenon and certainly not enough to determine its cause - unless, perhaps, it is gathered in a metholodical and comprehensive manner. If you won't at least make an attempt to adhere to science's standards, don't be surprised if it doesn't take you seriously.

Arachu

2009-09-22, 06:22 AM

Psychic abilities aren't as... Reliable as people think. Sometimes the mind interferes or false information gets in the way. It's like asking an infant to break into a run, or asking an out-of-shape adult to cut a backflip. It's just not going to happen, because they aren't able to do these things as they are.

But, how about this: in 7th grade, I read the minds of a good 30 people (probably even more).

Sometimes I saw fears (the one I remembered was afraid of vampires), and these were almost always accurate (save once when someone was thinking about a movie...).

Sometimes I saw habits, such as reading or... Other things :smallyuk:. I did not have to see some of the things I saw there, but they were spot-on. To my extreme disturbance.

Usually, however, I saw surface thoughts; people thinking about movies, or 'last night's game', or whatever hobbies they had. One girl even thought of herself naked :smallconfused:. I wasn't able to gather complete evidence in this area (too many people with no good reason to ask), but almost half ended up actually doing what was predicted (and said girl actually admitted to picturing herself naked without being asked (don't ask me...)).

That sufficient? I ended up proving about 60-70 percent of those, and as I didn't even know more than half of them, I think my information holds a little more gravity than when my dog told me where he was going, I felt sad about my grandmother's death months before it actually happened, and I had real-time conversations with people who remembered the conversations.

Also, I once put a thought in someone's head where I said I was... I forget, but she looked across the playground, gaping in fear at me, and wouldn't talk near me for days until she batted the suspicion aside. :smallamused:

Illiterate Scribe

2009-09-22, 07:08 AM

Mulder! Swamp gas is known to explain all of the known phenomena in this thread!

pendell

2009-09-22, 07:10 AM

Serpentine: I wasn't, in my dream, told what Susan would discover about herself. The conclusion that it would be about her health was me using my reasoning once awake while thinking about the clues I experienced asleep.

I have a request to make of all the premonition people: Keep a diary for all your dreams and "feelings". Every time you have one, write it down immediately, in as much detail as you can, including the time and date, leaving some space. Then when something happens that you believe can be linked to one of those, write that down in as much detail as you can, again including time and date.

Already done. I started keeping such a diary in 2003 and it is considerably longer now.

A key point, however, is that I don't consider all dreams or whatever to necessarily be supernatural; I agree with you that there is also the subconscious. So I write them down, then compare and contrast with what other people experience and with what actually happened in the real world.

In the past five years, I can point to three specific major events that I was told would happen. The first two have happened. The third is still up in the air but appears increasingly likely.

I also have a considerable column of things marked 'false' or 'didn't happen'. Another column marked 'ambiguous' -- things that I'm not sure what they mean, and have not yet determined whether they are true or false.

I'm working on it; carefully analyzing the ones that come back 'true', determine what went 'right' in those situations and try to repeat in order to increase reliability. I'm a long, long way from tolerable but reliability is improving slowly. There's a reason why a certain rival belief system calls this sort of thing the Craft; it isn't something that's done in a day. It's something that takes time, patience, and effort to understand and master.

Perhaps one day I'll be willing to let scientists get their hands on it -- but I'll have to give it a good scrubbing first, as a lot of that stuff is as personal as a diary is.

But a 'diary' of the sort you describe is common in my belief system and others; my faith calls it a 'prayer journal'. Other faiths call it the 'Book of Shadows', a complete description of all interactions or attempted interactions with the supernatural world and their outcomes.

Incidentally, I have found 'feelings' to be almost totally unreliable. Dreams and visions are less so , and every once in awhile I experience an intuitive leap (which could, after all, be the workings of the normal brain), but 'feelings' as such don't seem to work. Not for me, anyway.

But, how about this: in 7th grade, I read the minds of a good 30 people (probably even more).

Very interesting, Arachu. Is it something you can still do? Are you prepared to demonstrate this capability? Or is it something you had and lost? If you lost it, why?

Again, if any of this starts to break the religion rule, feel free to respond in PM.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

thorgrim29

2009-09-22, 08:27 AM

No, I do not. Well, technically I'm what Richard Dawkins calls a teapot agnostic for all that is supernatural. Meaning that while I have no definite proof that it does not exist, there is overwhelming evidence that it does not. My reasons for that are simple, basically I think that the supernatural is an overapplication of Occam's razor (the simplest explanation is most often the correct one). When faced with something that they can not explain, a lot of people will assume that it therefore can not be explained at all, and call it the work of a ghost, a spirit, magic, psychic abilities, miracles etc... For example, take lightning bolts. To the ancient greeks, they were signs that Zeus was fighting someone. We now know that they're perfectly explainable,. natural phenomenons. Of faery fire, swamp gas. The Oracle of Delphi? hallucinogen gas. the list goes on. So maybe somewhere in all that mass of superstitions, there is some thruth, but reason leads to believe that they will all eventually be debunked.

Oh, and the dream premonition: I think it's like Serpentine said, you realised something was wrong on a very instinctive level (maybe her smell, the texture of her skin, something like that), and your subconcious mind made the link. However, due to your personal belief that such insight is supernatural in origin, and that most times prophets and such are portrayed as very cryptic, it came out like that. You were actually telling yourself that something was up in a way you would believe.

Trog

2009-09-22, 08:57 AM

I don't think one needs to believe in the unexplained. Something is either able to be explained or it isn't. :smallwink:

Semantics aside, I think that a large volume of unexplained phenomenon in the world is in people's heads. None of these people are crazy or anything like that - it's just that the mind can often play tricks.

For example. I have thought I have heard ghosts before. Now in this report I am not alone. At the business which my father owns there is an apartment above it. And across from that there is a large storage room. The storage room sits above the bar on the story below. Everyone that has worked there... or lived there (and I have done both) has heard noises from the storage room. Everyone. At all times of the day and night. Usually it's sort of a banging noise like someone slamming their fist against a wall. Anyone who has ever investigated these noises has found the room to be locked (skeleton key, appropriately) and empty. The employees have long joked about the ghost which lives there. Both my sister and my dad and I heard it just a few weeks ago in the middle of the day. A loud bang we all heard. No one bothers to investigate these occurrences anymore.

Is there a ghost? No.

Is there an explanation? Well it's possible that the 100 year old building makes noises. Framing beams expanding and contracting and the like. Nothing has been proven either way. But it is far more likely that there is a logical real world explanation for the noises than a supernatural one.

Some phenomenon are difficult to explain. But just because they are difficult to explain doesn't mean they don't have a rational, physical, reason for the phenomenon. People, all too often, like to come up with fanciful reasons for things that aren't readily explainable. Goblins and elves people don't believe in anymore but ghosts seem to hang on despite the years. It's easier to personify a fear of the unknown than to admit you might be scared over nothing, generally.

pendell

2009-09-22, 09:37 AM

Semantics aside, I think that a large volume of unexplained phenomenon in the world is in people's heads. None of these people are crazy or anything like that - it's just that the mind can often play tricks.

Oh, I agree. Don't think for a minute that because I believe in the supernatural that I also believe that every unexplained occurrence is supernatural. There is plenty of unexplainable phenomena with natural explanations; that is what science is for.

For me, diffrentiating between what is truly supernatural and what is a normal occurrence is a lifetime's work. I understand certain major religions even have offices devoted to debunking purported miracles which prove to be superstition; I believe it is (or was) called the 'Devil's Advocate'.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

Toastkart

2009-09-22, 09:59 AM

I'm open to all possibilities. Subjective experience is, to me as an existential psychology student, just as valid as objective experience.

As a psychology student you should learn pretty quickly (and some of them don't) that there are plenty of things that you can study scientifically, but there are also plenty of things that you can not. You do the best you can with what you've got.

While I've never had any direct experiences with what would be considered the paranormal, I have seen some of William Roll's research materials. His collection included a box of cutlery that was not bent but twisted and curled around themselves in such a way that if you tried to do it by hand the metal would snap or at least show stress marks. I'm talking about taking the handle of a metal spoon and rolling it up on itself as if it were made of putty or clay.

Lost Demiurge

2009-09-22, 01:18 PM

Well...

I believe that there is much that science has yet to explain. And that there are things in this universe that science will NEVER explain.

As such, I do not believe in the paranormal. I believe in the normal. And that there's more to it than our limited senses and thought processes consistently notice.

OverdrivePrime

2009-09-22, 01:55 PM

I believe in the possibility of all kinds of paranormal things: souls persisting after death, psychic abilities, energy manipulation, enjoyable disco, etc. I've experienced a few to a small degree:

I've been able to manipulate my own energy throughout my body to a point where I can cause - just through concentration and no physical movement - my right hand to become noticeably warmer than the rest of my body. I've also been able to transfer a strong feeling of self and love through touch to my sleeping wife - so much so that she suddenly woke up and said that, "Suddenly [she] very strongly felt that [I] was there." I had been there with her for almost 2 hours - she had fallen asleep in my arms while I was reading, and before I went to sleep I decided to try to pass as much positive energy to her as I could. She is a deeply skeptical person by nature and this amazed her.

I've also had very brief experience with remote viewing, and was able to describe a close friend's outfit to him over IM from 90 miles away.

Quite frankly, this sort of stuff freaks me out to the 10th degree and after the remote viewing and the energy transfer to my wife I've intentionally stayed away from experimenting with this sort of thing. I don't want to accidentally do something I don't intend, and I don't have time in my life right now to seek out training in energy manipulation.

As for ghosts and such, I think it's possible, if not likely, but I'm highly skeptical about dead souls affecting the world of the living.

Kulture

2009-09-22, 02:01 PM

I take a quantum metaphysics take on the whole ghosts thing.

The human body is a mass of atoms held togeather by a mass of electrical charges that attract one another.

This pattern of charges affords the subject sentience (perhaps even the over way around).

The charge pattern, the matter therein and its interaction with light and sonic energy dictates the majority of our perception.

Under certain circumstances I believe that a recurrance of the charge pattern may occur, be it in the receptors (and thus false perceptual input) or with other physical matter (causing an external image/manifestation, leading to multiple possible sightings and/or interaction)

It may just be a case of interaction between seveal forces causing the pattern to reccur.
If this is the case, it's the re-emergence of either the sapience, the physical pattern, or both.

Zanaril

2009-09-22, 02:03 PM

hamishspence

2009-09-22, 02:11 PM

Zanaril

2009-09-22, 02:16 PM

hamishspence

2009-09-22, 02:21 PM

yes- experiments might be done differently for all three.

If the experimenters go out of their way to make it as hard to cheat as they possibly can, and the results show strong repeatability, then it might be possible to move "psychic powers" as a subset of the paranormal, from the unproven, to the "Some scientific evidence for it" category.

I believe a lot of such experiments have already been done- no successes reported so far, as far as I know.

Any more info on this?

B isn't always C-

Psychic: "My next random number will be a 6"
(Presses button)
Experimenter: "its a 6"

is different from

Experimenter: "What is this face down card"
Psychic: Jack of hearts
(Experimenter looks)
Experimenter: "So it is"

Because, in the first case, the prediction takes place before the roll.

It might be a bit difficult to separate A from B though- how do you prove you are predicting the future and not changing it?

pendell

2009-09-22, 02:25 PM

I'm curious.

Playgrounders who have experienced things like the voice telling you to stop your bike ..

.. well, I can imagine a psychiatrist scribbling away in his notebook. "So, you hear voices, do you? Hmmm..."

They're coming to take me away, ha ha!

Somehow I don't think they're at all the same thing.

There has been one, and only one time, in my entire life I have heard an audible voice while awake.

The time: College, 1990. I am considering dating this very attractive young lady. I pray about it. You don't expect an answer right? Certainly not an audible.

I got both. It was audible. It was loud. It was five words:
SHE! IS! NOT! FOR! YOU!

Like that.

I was in shock for some time.

Of course, I didn't listen. It didn't end well. Memo to self: The next time the spirit world goes to that extreme to get a message through, *listen*.

And that was the one and only time in my entire life.

Somehow I don't think that voice -- or the voice that the poster above described warning him off his bike -- is the same as 'voices in my head', which psychiatrists are on the watch for. Can anyone speak to the difference?

Respectfully,

Brian P.

Yora

2009-09-22, 02:30 PM

Isn't Random Number Generators the preferred choice for this sort of test?

If you announce "I am trying to influence the generator to produce an increased number of 1's" (using on that generates random numbers between 0 and 9) and, over 1000 trips, the number 1 came up more than twice as much as any other number, that would be unusual.

(Though not impossible.)

If it worked every time, whatever number was specified, with new generators, lots of work done to prove no cheating, etc, that would be suggestive.
I don't think that would really work. Because statistic tells us, that these events are not only not impossible, it's almost neccessary that they do happen for some very few times.

Take the example with the 1000 trips with numbers of 0 to 9. Any given number, let's say 1, appearing twice as often as any other number (on average), would mean it has to appear 182 times. (And on average any other number appears 91 times.)
I don't know the math right now, but I don't think it's that improbable to happen.

I also don't see why supernatural abilities should manifest themselves in such a trivial way. I think we can agree that everything is the reaction of something that happened before. Cause and effect.
Wouldn't it be much easier for a psychic to predict the result of a big event, where many big things are in motion and you only would have to tell the general outcome? Like pedicting a disaster or a conflict. A group of demonstrators does not escalate into a riot by random. There are lots of people under great stress and all reacting to each other, with no single one directing it.
On the other hand, a coin flip is a very specific event, clearly located in time to within a window of the next 5 seconds, with only the exact position of my fingers and the force of my movement affecting the outcome.

Assumed that everything in the universe is connected and certain people have the ability to sense these connections, wouldn't it be a million times easier to predice disasters and riots than a coin flip?
It's like saying "Oh, there's a huge avalance coming down that mountain" or "An ant picks up a seed on the other side of the room". If you have eyes, you'll most probably will notice the first one much easier than the later.
Yeah, the coin flip is more precise, but I don't see how that should work, even if people have the power of premonition.

Zanaril

2009-09-22, 02:34 PM

Somehow I don't think that voice -- or the voice that the poster above described warning him off his bike -- is the same as 'voices in my head', which psychiatrists are on the watch for. Can anyone speak to the difference?

Maybe people don't hear voices because they're insane... but some people are insane because of the voices? :smalltongue: Maybe not...

But the times such a thing has happened to me, it's left me pretty shaken up. It's probably worth noting that I've always been considered pretty weird and slightly... unhinged.

Ravens_cry

2009-09-22, 02:37 PM

No I do not. I believe we may very well find things, at this time, we can not explain. But if they do exist they have to be explainable, even if by some means or natural laws unknown to us at present. If ghosts are real, then there must be a way of explaining them within the way the world works, by the natural laws of the universe, even if they are ones we as yet do not know.

hamishspence

2009-09-22, 02:43 PM

I don't think that would really work. Because statistic tells us, that these events are not only not impossible, it's almost neccessary that they do happen for some very few times.

True.

But for improbable things to consistantly happen, the same way, you can build up the evidence. And make sure its not applied after the fact.

a common scam involving prediction, is to do it enough times as to ensure that its apparently implausible to the individual when, in fact, because its been done across a whole group, its not an implausibility but a certainty.

I think Derren Brown demonstrated how it was done.

If the person specifies number in advance before starting the generator, and every time, without exception, they are correct in the number they specify, coming up quite a lot more often than the others, then we can have improbabilities increase, to the point of chance being so implausible as to be ruled out.

(Note that cheating and natural biases in the program must also be ruled out before any claims can be made).

Ichneumon

2009-09-22, 02:50 PM

Once, when I was biking home from school I suddenly felt very strange, almost like I was having a heart attack, or at least that is how I imagine a heart attack to be like. Everything started to throb, my hands, my feet, including my entire vision. It quickly stopped but I had this intense feeling there was something wrong and shouldn't just go home like I normally do. (Just so you know, I have no medical history and feel quite fine). I did go home the normal route and just a few minutes later I encountered someone I hadn't seen in a very long time. A boy who used to bully me together with someone else and now he threatened me and the other person had a knife and etc etc I thankfully escaped without being harmed (long history, not going into details, not so interesing). Anyway, if I had taken the other route or even returned to school when I had that feeling (I was just 1 minutes away from school when it happened) I wouldn't have seen him again.

Trog

2009-09-22, 04:31 PM

Oh, I agree. Don't think for a minute that because I believe in the supernatural that I also believe that every unexplained occurrence is supernatural. There is plenty of unexplainable phenomena with natural explanations; that is what science is for.

For me, differentiating between what is truly supernatural and what is a normal occurrence is a lifetime's work.
I do not believe the supernatural exists. i.e. invisible forces/beings that have no basis in the physics of the real world. While there may be explanations which rely on the supernatural I believe these are either 1.) delusions or simply wrong or 2.) on the right track but are merely describing a scientific reality yet to be proved.

Take the idea of Ki or Qi or Chi or what-have-you in the human body. On a heat sensing camera the heat of this "force" can be actually seen moving through the body. Some might take this to mean that Ki and all the concepts that go with it are real but I offer the idea that Ki was a mystical explanation for real-world physics within the body and not in the least supernatural.

hamishspence

2009-09-22, 04:39 PM

that is an interesting way of looking at it.

I'm inclined to think a similar way- if somebody ever creates experiments that actually prove certain phenomena to exist (a big if), I would expect something like this to be the explanation for them.

Yora

2009-09-22, 04:54 PM

I think when we are dealing with asian concepts of body and mind, we're dealling with lots of bad translations. I don't know about chinese or japanese, but there are many asian languages that are quite "colorful" conpared to european languages.
Maybe they translated the words correct, but did not got it right that a symbol in one culture can have a different meaning in another. And it's entirely possible that a highly scientific concept can be seen as magic when badly translated into another context.

For example, when we're talking about a device that needs more juice, we're not talking about any liquid we've got from pressed fruits, but about electric energy. Or when we say a sound of thunder is "cracking" we don't believe that any hard object got broken. I don't know much about asian scientists or scientific culture, but it's an effect that has been confirmed with imigrants who were seeking psychological help. Many psychologist thought the people were outright crazy, because they described symptoms that are physically impossible. But in fact they only wanted to say they feel depressed and translated the words of the expression of their native language one by one.
Maybe "traditional chinese medicine" is supposed to be magic, I don't know. But I think it's very likely that this is just a translation error.

And there's nothing mystical about ki. It's no special power, but just effectively using all the power you normaly have.

Arachu

2009-09-22, 08:51 PM

Very interesting, Arachu. Is it something you can still do? Are you prepared to demonstrate this capability? Or is it something you had and lost? If you lost it, why?

I could do it now, but I stopped checking individuals months ago. It started to creep me out when I sensed spirits every waking second (it's like paranoia, but more annoying), but I finally did my best to 'turn it off' when I started to pick up on every mind in the area as this white, background static. Of course, that didn't last too long (you know how loud highschoolers are outside of your head?), but at least some barriers I set up finally shut out the spirits...

It helps that most of my perceptions aren't audible...

Well, I already got this far, might as well stay in; I've wrestled malevolent spirits, read a handful of minds (intentionally) since, got possessed once (it frickin' sucks), and even figured out how to make a tiny, strange breeze over my skin. Though, admittedly one could call imagination on the last one...

There's also another incident, from the other day. I've often desired to control the weather (I don't enjoy the sun very much), but nothing ever happened no matter how hard I thought (making me feel very, very stupid). The last week, I got the validation I sought well enough, because we went outside during P.E., and the sun practically stung, throwing glare all up in my eyes, so I stopped and meditated for a second. A cloud actually covered the sun after that. I tried it twice more that day, and once on Friday (it was clearer out on Friday).

And, hell, while I'm at it, I even slowed my heart until it virtually stopped through meditation. It didn't want to work right all morning...:mitd:

And, on a lighter note, I was once playing Halo 2 split-screen with a friend. He kept honking the Warthog's horn for, like, five minutes non-stop. I finally yelled, "Dude, stop doing that!" and it just stopped. Even when he pressed it again and again. A few minutes later it worked again. That could just be the button, but we got a kick outta it :smallsmile:

Also:

Maybe people don't hear voices because they're insane... but some people are insane because of the voices? :smalltongue: Maybe not...

A little of Column A, a little of Column B. I cannot stress how many mental breakdowns I've had over the years... I still have an alternate side floating about somewhere from it...

But the times such a thing has happened to me, it's left me pretty shaken up. It's probably worth noting that I've always been considered pretty weird and slightly... unhinged.

As far as I can tell, that's to be expected. All the psychics I know (a whole handful of 'em) are quite out there. It kind of comes with seeing impossible things happen in front of you.

On a final note, it's worth mentioning that I'm actually atheist; that is, I take my experiences to prove that it's all scientific, and therefore natural and inevitable. I also believe in reincarnation (I kind of have to, at this point), which leads me to believe that souls recycle from body to body rather than concluding that a being (or beings) control it all.

I take this 'supernatural science' quite seriously, in fact; once I translated the extent of my concentration into numbers (I can't remember a one, though :smallsigh:).

Roukon

2009-09-22, 09:32 PM

I have a very strange dichotomy of this. I am a huge skeptic of any paranormal/supernatural/psychic claims and experiences. However, I am also a huge believer of the same. It was one of the ways I got into psychology was parapsychology. While I don't want to go into that specific sub-field anymore, I still have an interest in stuff like that.

It has increased in the past 8 years, due to my best friend. She believes she is psychic, mainly precognitive and some of her premonitions have come true. Some have been about me, and I did not tell her any specific details about things she has told me. However, I realize that situtuations like that may be due to her being very perceptive about things, and she is. However, I am divided, she may be psychic, or she may be mildly schizophrenic. I am not sure, but I have told her what I feel. In my opinion, she does fit the diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia, but I am also biased, so I am not the person to make that decision.

This is all more background for my own experience. I was in Japan and sitting out on a dock at about 10 pm local time with my friend. Closest light source was about 100+ feet away from us, and it was more of a streetlight, so we had no real illumination aside from the moon and the small light we used to make sure we didn't fall in. We had turned off the light so we could see the stars really well. Looking more towards the water, I saw a humanoid shadow cross in front of us. Neither one of us had moved (we were sitting next to each other, so I would have felt her move), and there was no one else on the dock. There was no way for anything to make that shadow, but I saw it very clearly. Spooked me out a bit.

I consider myself rational for this stuff, and I tried to make a rational explanation for this, but that was half-hearted, because I knew that I could not make an adequate explanation. The only other light source was too far away to produce that large of a shadow so clearly. I have no idea what it was. Still don't. Probably some sort of something, but I am at a loss to say what. I have some feelings on it, but nothing for sure.

Roukon

pendell

2009-09-23, 12:52 AM

; I've wrestled malevolent spirits,

Interesting.
Many people mis-identify schizophrenia, psychosis, and Tourette's syndrome as 'possession'. How is the real thing different?

read a handful of minds (intentionally) since

If you can demonstrate that ability reliably and pass a polygraph, I imagine the intelligence community would *love* to talk to you. You know that extracting information from prisoners in a reliable way that doesn't require physically or psychologically harming them is something lots of people would like to have.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

Arachu

2009-09-23, 05:55 AM

Interesting.
Many people mis-identify schizophrenia, psychosis, and Tourette's syndrome as 'possession'. How is the real thing different?

Not sure what Tourette's is, but by my reckoning, schizophrenia is voices rather than multiple personality and psychosis develops. With possession, you're fine one moment and insane the next, not to mention that you may remember possession (unlike psychosis, which is near-always forgotten). It can be difficult to tell the difference at first, but if it's you, you can tell, as can a psychic or medium. There's also the fact that some spirits make you forget, and many don't possess you all the time (one case I witnessed, it possessed its host only occasionally, preferring often literal voyuerism :redcloak:).

Anuan

2009-09-23, 06:54 AM

Have been followed (not led, contrary to usual stories) by a min-min light. Had an incident that may have involved a featherfoot, but may have been a burgler with coincidental timing and long, frayed pants.

Both of the above was with a cousin of mine.

Was warned by -something-, be it angel, ghost, wierd earth-spirit, whatever, when I was a kid. I was told to leave the area, and that it wasn't safe. I sprinted all the way home, terrified. Later, another, older kid wandered into the same area and was mauled by dogs.

Zanaril

2009-09-23, 03:31 PM

It might be a bit difficult to separate A from B though- how do you prove you are predicting the future and not changing it?
How would you know you're not changing the outcome by predicting it? :smalltongue:

Arachu

2009-09-23, 08:33 PM

Visions vary, actually; some (like mine) are actually that which would occur (that is, I become a variable and can alter it). Others are absolute, and happen no matter what.

It's also worth noting that lack of action or inability to change events (distance, for example) never changes anything. So, even the probable outcome is useless in the wrong hands... It's annoying when that happens.

On another tangent, anyone else ever converse with an animal? I got about three dogs and four cats, though that's all I can recall (probably more).
It's also worth noting that cats are freaking geniuses most of the time, and a lot of dogs are smarter than they act:smallsmile:

As usual, it wasn't audible, but they all reacted properly ('cept for that cat, but she was kind of... Distant).

pendell

2009-09-24, 07:13 AM

Visions vary, actually; some (like mine) are actually that which would occur (that is, I become a variable and can alter it). Others are absolute, and happen no matter what.

Hmm .. those dreams I have are usually in the way of information; If you think of the world as music, it is insight into the piece.

Very rarely have I received information that I could change, either because the events were too large for me to have control over, or because it is rather the flow of events that I must fit myself to, something I must accommodate, rather than something I can change.

According to our text, it is possible to change the outcome of a vision through prayer or through activity, but I have rarely done so.

It's also worth noting that lack of action or inability to change events (distance, for example) never changes anything. So, even the probable outcome is useless in the wrong hands... It's annoying when that happens.

IME, if I'm given information, it is because I am to act on in it in some way, either personally or by passing it on to someone else who can make appropriate use of it. But then again, it's possible we're receiving from different sources.

On another tangent, anyone else ever converse with an animal? I got about three dogs and four cats, though that's all I can recall (probably more).
It's also worth noting that cats are freaking geniuses most of the time, and a lot of dogs are smarter than they act:smallsmile:

Not I; I rely on body language and regular empathy (knowledge of how animals think/act in general). Dogs can be quite communicative even to normal people e.g. jumping up with a leash in their mouth.

I do know certain females in my circle of friends who would KILL for the ability to speak to animals -- but it's my opinion that animals do speak with their body language and the sounds they make etc. They just don't necessarily have human-type things to say. You listen to bird song , it's often saying things like 'Go away, this is my bush!' or 'Have sex with me, my chest is big and red!' -- as Terry Pratchett would say.

I'm not saying this either to downplay or endorse your abilities. I'm just saying that supernatural abilities aren't required to understand everything animals are trying to communicate.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

The Neoclassic

2009-09-24, 10:18 AM

Ghosts and odd sounds got mentioned at some point earlier...

When I'm in my basement, I often hear very distinct creaking noises. It's identical to how footsteps sound in the rest of the house. However, there has never been anyone in the room above the basement at that time. In fact, usually there's no one else home. I thought I was just being jittery, but one time my boyfriend was with me (again, no one else home) and we heard the same footsteps noise. "I thought you said no one else was home?" he asked. And no one was.

Of course, I always figured it was just my house sucking (even though it's really not /that/ old; probably from the '70s or so), not that it was anything supernatural. I suppose other people might have interpreted it differently, given the same situation though?

Also, if anyone does have any links to anecdotes which are fairly reliable and no experts can find another reasonable explanation for, that'd be cool. Then again, there are some weird things out there without any known explanation (there was one involving radiation, snow, and people disappearing, but I can't find it with google-fu now sadly), which I suppose some might say are linked to paranormal/supernatural happenings.

Jack Squat

2009-09-24, 10:43 AM

Ghosts and odd sounds got mentioned at some point earlier...

When I'm in my basement, I often hear very distinct creaking noises. It's identical to how footsteps sound in the rest of the house. However, there has never been anyone in the room above the basement at that time. In fact, usually there's no one else home. I thought I was just being jittery, but one time my boyfriend was with me (again, no one else home) and we heard the same footsteps noise. "I thought you said no one else was home?" he asked. And no one was.

Of course, I always figured it was just my house sucking (even though it's really not /that/ old; probably from the '70s or so), not that it was anything supernatural. I suppose other people might have interpreted it differently, given the same situation though?

It's your house settling. Most buildings do this to some extent or another. I remember someone telling me how when their house did it, it sounded like someone stomping around their attic/roof. Even shook the chandelier.

The Neoclassic

2009-09-24, 11:20 AM

It's your house settling. Most buildings do this to some extent or another. I remember someone telling me how when their house did it, it sounded like someone stomping around their attic/roof. Even shook the chandelier.

Whoa nifty. Or kinda weird. Is it, like, the house wasn't built 100% steady or something (instead like 99.5%)? I haven't really heard of that before. I wonder if that partially explains anyone else's "ghosts." :smalltongue:

Jack Squat

2009-09-24, 11:46 AM

Whoa nifty. Or kinda weird. Is it, like, the house wasn't built 100% steady or something (instead like 99.5%)? I haven't really heard of that before. I wonder if that partially explains anyone else's "ghosts." :smalltongue:

Sometimes it's settling into the ground, but that's mostly not the case. Generally it's caused by thermal expansion and contraction.

When the sun is out, it heats up everything, your house included. As things are heated, they expand, and when they cool down (evening-early night), they contract. Different materials heat and cool at different rates, and since your house is probably insulated, not all of it is going to heat and cool on a daily cycle anyways. This means that all the bits of your house will move out of alignment slightly throughout the day. Not enough to cause any structural damage (most of the time), but enough to cause small gaps.

The creaking is what happens when the boards/shingles/bricks/whatever else settle back into place and close up the gaps.

hamishspence

2009-09-24, 11:51 AM

How would you know you're not changing the outcome by predicting it? :smalltongue:

No idea. Any suggestions as to an experiment which would show different results for the two?

Yora

2009-09-24, 01:08 PM

I'd see about that once any evidence for any mental ability to affect phsical objects has been found.

The creaking is what happens when the boards/shingles/bricks/whatever else settle back into place and close up the gaps.
Happens right now in my top story apartment. :smallbiggrin:
About 45 minutes after sunset, I'd say.

Arachu

2009-09-24, 07:33 PM

I'm not saying this either to downplay or endorse your abilities. I'm just saying that supernatural abilities aren't required to understand everything animals are trying to communicate.

Oh, I never insinuated that. It's just that you can speak using bits of language they picked up on through the mental link, which is a more... Comfortable conversation. I never really figured out the subtleties of body languages, sadly (though I understand the gist of it well enough). Nice job with that, by the way :smallsmile:

True, though, they are quite objective (my cousin's dog kept saying "pet me"; during my conversation with her; she said "What's that (TV image)... Pet".

In other words, "What's that on TV?" and then "Pet me".
(Note that all manner of things will substitute images in place of words in their heads sometimes)
She's kind of lonely :vaarsuvius:

Trog

2009-09-27, 11:34 PM

I think this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T69TOuqaqXI) little bit is a good contribution to this thread. :smallwink:

GoC

2009-09-28, 12:57 PM

I'm very curious, do Playgrounders believe in the paranormal, the supernatural, the unexplained?
By "believe in" do you mean the theories in question (which describe the appropriate "supernatural" events) modify my expectations with regards to future events?
Also, please define supernatural and paranormal as I'm a bit fuzzy on their definitions.

Have any Playgrounders witnessed any unexplained phenomenon?
Yes, many times.

Also, please see Eliezer Yudkowsky's article on Occam's Razor.

You probably shouldn't address the subjects of your argument as delusional, illogical, or stupid to their face. This kills your argument, and makes everyone side against you.
People should never shy away from stating which way the evidence points. Even if it hurts.
Whether this applies to SDF's particular point is up for debate.

The Neoclassic

2009-09-28, 01:00 PM

I think this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T69TOuqaqXI) little bit is a good contribution to this thread. :smallwink:

I love Qualia Soup. That sums up my opinions precisely. I wish I'd remembered it sooner!

Amiel

2009-11-03, 08:45 AM

I've never told anyone this, actually that's untrue, told my family, they didn't believe me. But I saw, witnessed something that nearly gave me a heart attack, the fear was so intense. The only thing I can recall is the general outline, it was ugly-looking with features that was obscured by shadow. It was also short and squat yet looked quite powerful. It also had a most pungent, disgusting reek. That was one that stuck in my memory.

I had one look at the thing and ran upstairs. Then stayed there to settle down. Then went back down to turn off all the lights and such. Time for bed.

At night, resting in bed, I could hear this heavy, heavy tread, like someone or something was walking around our front lawn. Now, what was disturbing and freaky was that a normal person would only make a slight noise when walking on what was mostly grass, this sound, the sound that thing made, sounded heavy.

I told family and friends; they didn't believe me, and said that I should maybe try to catch a glimpse of it again to make sure I actually saw and didn't imagine it. Let me tell you, one instance is more than enough, I assure you. :smalleek:

evisiron

2009-11-03, 09:07 AM

Time to break out the Science! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euWOP895q9I)

Dirk Kris

2009-11-03, 09:27 AM

I believe that there are things currently beyond our understanding. Perhaps science will define these things more clearly at a later date, but for now, they are still supernatural or paranormal. I believe, and have had one close call that shook me. Really, though, I wish for more. The concept is fascinating.

Look at what Einstein said - "Energy is never created or destroyed. It merely changes forms." So what happens to us when we die? Sure, we could be burned or buried, become nitrogen and stuff eventually, but what happens to US? Our essence, spirit, soul, ehatever you want to call it. It's GOT to go SOMEwhere, right?

Trog

2009-11-03, 10:09 AM

So what happens to us when we die? Sure, we could be burned or buried, become nitrogen and stuff eventually, but what happens to US? Our essence, spirit, soul, ehatever you want to call it. It's GOT to go SOMEwhere, right?
The mind, or consciousness, is the operation of the brain. The brain is to the mind as computer hardware is to computer software. When brain death occurs the mind software shuts off. Medical science argues that a permanent cessation of electrical activity in the brain indicates the end of consciousness. Consciousness beyond death has not been proven.

Perhaps we should move on from this specific supernatural subject as deviating from basic scientific claims about this begins to skirt subjects forbidden by these boards. :smallwink:

Lost Demiurge

2009-11-03, 10:20 AM

I have to admit something. I have dreams of future events, or dreams that show me knowledge I don't yet possess.

Mind you, it's rarely anything I can find a use for. And it's never anything important so far... Just minor stuff. Like I'll have a dream about playing a video game with some pretty awesome stuff in it, wake up, go "Gee, that was fun!", and forget about it for a while. Then three months down the road I'll read about a game that just started development that matches my dream. And sure enough, when I get the game, it feels very like my dream. Not precisely like it, never 100% precisely, but too close for coincidence.

Or I'll have a daydream, come up with what I think is an idea about a golem made about luncheonmeat, and laugh my ass off at the idea. Then not two hours later, I'll read a story about a demon possessing a bunch of chopped steak and frozen turkey and using it as a body. Idea never occured to me before that day, but it occured to me a mere two hours before I read about it.

Or have a metaphorical dream about something I didn't know at the time. Like dreaming about dracula chasing me with a bright red sword. Then two months later, flipping open an encyclopedia and looking at flags of the world, and seeing that the old Transylvanian flag had a red sword on it.

Or I'll see myself in an unfamiliar place, and years later I'll end up in that place. I'm not always doing the activity that I was doing in the dream, but usually I'm doing something similar.

I think... I think that time is a lot looser than we think it is. I'm pretty sure it doesn't work the way we assume it does. Either that, or we as humans are connected on some level that's currently inexplicable by modern science. That would explain some of the dreams.

It's not very useful, sadly. Most dreams I remember don't turn out to predict anything accurately. And the ones that do are next to impossible to tell from regular dreams.