Unproved "sciences"

Orchid

Nonchalant Onlooker
May 5, 2001
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www.thalesband.com
What are your thoughts on the marginal areas of research, or sciences, such as astrology, astral projection (&OBEs), channeling, healing, etc.?

Have you experienced something that has made you believe in these things, or do you usually discard them as "new age mumbo jumbo"? Do you read some kind of daily horoscope for your sign every day, and do you believe in it?

Anyway, I found this more thorough horoscope, which was very surprisingly accurate (describing personality etc.)


Now, I'm pretty sceptical about horoscopes in general, 'cause of course anyone can write all-round crap that "might" come true, but what that site told about me holds quite true.

Feel free to skip the following, I just thought I'd paste my stuff here, in case someone's interested. :)



Section 1: General Personality Characteristics

You are a person who thrives on challenge, and you often feel that you must battle your way through life, depending upon no one and nothing but your own strength, intelligence, and courage. You believe in being totally honest, true to oneself and one's own vision and convictions, even if that means standing alone. Honesty, integrity, personal honor, and authenticity are your gods, and you have no sympathy for weakness of character in others.

You crave the freedom to do things in your own way, and you work very well independently. Cooperating with others or carrying out another's will is not your style. You like to be the chief -or to go it alone.

You love action and if others are settling down into a nice, comfortable little rut, then you are always ready to stir things up, do something new, make changes, bring in some fresh blood. Routine and sameness are like death to you. You are not afraid of trying something that's never been done before, and even though you may be seen as a fool sometimes, you also discover, invent, and initiate things that others will later emulate. Taking risks and following your own star are the breath of life for you, and you wilt (or get very frustrated and angry) if you cannot do this.

You are spontaneous, impulsive, direct, enthusiastic, and assertive. You believe in the power of positive thinking and positive action, and you think of yourself as a strong person -even invincible. You hate being ill or in any way in a position of dependency. Accepting your own human limitations and emotional needs is often difficult for you.

You are basically aggressive in your attitudes and have less facility in the receptive arts of relating to others, picking up subtle messages and nuances, listening, nurturing, and harmonizing. Often you are so fired up about your own projects or goals that you inadvertently run over or ignore other people's feelings and interests. Being receptive and appreciative of others' contributions, ideas, and feelings would go a long way in improving your relationships. Your impatience to get on with things causes you to be rather insensitive, and to therefore alienate others unnecessarily. You also frequently try to accomplish your ends by using anger or some version of a temper tantrum. You would gain much by learning to slow down, relax, and just let things be sometimes, but your energetic, restless nature rarely allows you to do this.


Section 2: Mental Interests and Abilities

You are more of a poet than a rational scientist, for your mind does not function in a strictly logical, linear fashion. The language of music, art, or poetry is natural to you, and you are also able to think in highly abstract and symbolic terms. Translating your thoughts and impressions into concrete, everyday language may be difficult for you at times and consequently you may appear less intelligent or at least less quick-witted and verbal than others. This was especially true of you as a child, and you probably daydreamed a good deal also. You are intuitive and are able to sense what others' thoughts and feelings are, even before they say anything to you. You often form an opinion about a person or situation without much factual knowledge of them, and your impressions are usually correct. You can be somewhat absent-minded and you become so immersed in your own thoughts that you overlook things in your immediate, tangible environment. You are extremely open-minded and believe that anything is possible. Intangible or spiritual forces seem just as real to you as anything in the concrete world. Your imagination and your sympathetic understanding of other people are two of your greatest gifts.
 
Why are you trying to explain things? Do not missunderstand me im the number one sceptic when it comes to astrology or any other form of "unproven science" ( but all science its unproven concepts as basics as time an space redefine it self in matter of years ) what do you seek to understand? is it so hard to just go with your normal life and say " hey what do you know the somehow where right " ? I understand, more than you think i do, but it really concerns me the human nature trying to control absolutely all aspects of its life and failing at it and getting frustrated and desillusioned just to try to figure out why are they frustrated. For every "because" there is a "why" and it seems like there will always be that way....
 
Originally posted by Misanthrope
1) Why are you trying to explain things?<clip>
2) what do you seek to understand?

Err... QUE?! :confused:

I didn't know my English was so bad that people (well, Misanthrope) are actually able to misinterprete my sentences like that.

1) I'm not trying to explain anything at all.
2) I seek to understand Life, but that's not the topic of discussion nor will the answer be found here.

Conclusion: I'm merely asking and gathering other people's (Opeth fans' mainly, that's why I posted this here) opinions, thoughts or experiences on the subject. I'm not trying to control anything or force these things into some physical formulas.

And to avoid more "What? Why? How? Daddy, what's that?" questions: I'm asking these things because I'm kinda interested in the subject, and I'm fairly sure we'll get a good debate going, which is always quite entertaining. ;)
 
Originally posted by Orchid

I'm merely gathering experiences on the subject. I'm not trying to force these things into some physical formulas.

And "What? Why? How? Daddy, what's that?" questions: I'm asking these things because I'm kinda interested. ;)

hmm.... it didn't say anything about this in your personality type.

Seriously though, I think it's a bit egocentric to believe that the outcomes of ones life can be read in the stars. Considering there are over 6 billion people, and relatively few planets and stars used for astrological purposes, it would appear there is a lack of potential for the neccessary variety to satisfactorily describe such a large number of poeple. This is complicated both by being vague, and using flattery to distract the subject. A significant part of any 'fortune' will be things that people would like to hear, or qualities that we would like to ascribe to ourselves. After all, self analysis is only accuate to the point that we allow it to be. You could probably read anyone's chart and with enough loose interpretation convince yourself that it was accurate... there will always be enough coincedences to allow you to suspend your disbelief.
 
hmm.... it didn't say anything about this in your personality type.

Heheheheh. No, it didn't, just like you said, horoscopes are so vague that you can always find something in them that fits you.

I dunno why I got so excited about that particular "prophecy".

What about the other things mentioned? OBE?


Now, I don't want to sound like some New Age hippie freak. :) This is something I found and hadn't heard of before (well, on a bigger scale, just bits and pieces of useless all-round info) and I felt like inspecting this new thing somewhat further.
 
Regarding horoscopes: I too was pretty amazed by the character analysis stuff (not that daily horoscope stuff). I'm am just such a typical Aries, but I dunno, maybe it has something to do with the interpretation. I read the character sketches of my friends too, they were beyond accurate. However, 4 people is hardly

I saw this on tv once: and university professor handed out "personalized profiles" (according to astrology) to his 50 or so students, which they read. Then he asked the question, how many of you think this was an accurate fit to your personality? Every single student raised his/her hand, and about a third were literally amazed at the accuracy.

All the students had the same character sketch.

Is astrology "true"? Or is it all just interpretive bullshit. I dunno, but I suspect it's probably a bit of both.

Satori
 
Everything we are came from the stars, but I guess believing a horoscope is like believing what your fortune cookie says. I'll admit I've been shocked a few times by what was supposedly being read as my horoscope, but I don't believe it really. It goes in the same category of belief as calling the "Psychic Friends Network."

Anyone ever see "Crossing Over" with Jon Edwards? I've been trying to find a flow in his work for a while now. I guess it's not totally impossible, but that's different than a pre-written statement that's supposed to mean things to you. If the person is right in front of you, that seems like it could be a LITTLE bit more possible.

And David Blane? I think these people can read minds maybe. I don't know. They're strange. Did anyone catch Blane levitating?

:lol: It was nuts...
 
Originally posted by Satori
Regarding horoscopes: I too was pretty amazed by the character analysis stuff (not that daily horoscope stuff). I'm am just such a typical Aries, but I dunno, maybe it has something to do with the interpretation. I read the character sketches of my friends too, they were beyond accurate. However, 4 people is hardly

I saw this on tv once: and university professor handed out "personalized profiles" (according to astrology) to his 50 or so students, which they read. Then he asked the question, how many of you think this was an accurate fit to your personality? Every single student raised his/her hand, and about a third were literally amazed at the accuracy.

All the students had the same character sketch.

Is astrology "true"? Or is it all just interpretive bullshit. I dunno, but I suspect it's probably a bit of both.

Satori



I think horoscopes state very broad ideas, therefor everyone is able to relate it to something in their life.
 
Since there is no concrete evidence in the origin of evolution, or in God, why not explore these "other" avenues?

Astrology, psychic ability, etc. are just as believable as God or evolution, since none of these have been proven without doubt. Other lives in space? How can I say yes or no? Predict the future? Read minds? Ghosts? Whether I believe in these or not, does not make them exist or not - until proven, anything is possible.

In any case, I find these topics quite interesting.
 
The fact that police have been successfully using psychics for decades to help solve crimes is, to me, pretty conclusive evidence that something is going on.

Did anyone ever see that show where the host picks people out of the audience and tells them about their dead relatives in super-amazing-uncanny detail? He even tells them things about their relatives that they didn't know themselves. He goes into such detail too, providing names, places, detailed circumstances, etc. I forget what the show is called, but it's pretty wild.

As a side note, I don't think anything is actually "paranormal". I think paranormal is a word used to describe things which we have no way of explaining (yet).

I have some theories:

- we will eventually be able to explain almost everything using scientific methods (expect perhaps the orgins of the universe itself, simply cuz we have no way to test any theories about that)

- human beings are the orgin of all the whacky paranormal shit that goes on, from ghosts to psychic powers, everything

- humans will continue to experience more paranormal stuff as we continue to intellectually evolve over the next few million years (if we last that long).


The universe is a very bizarre place and something we still have much to learn about.

Satori
 
Originally posted by Satori
The fact that police have been successfully using psychics for decades to help solve crimes is, to me, pretty conclusive evidence that something is going on.

Did anyone ever see that show where the host picks people out of the audience and tells them about their dead relatives in super-amazing-uncanny detail? He even tells them things about their relatives that they didn't know themselves. He goes into such detail too, providing names, places, detailed circumstances, etc. I forget what the show is called, but it's pretty wild.

As a side note, I don't think anything is actually "paranormal". I think paranormal is a word used to describe things which we have no way of explaining (yet).

I have some theories:

- we will eventually be able to explain almost everything using scientific methods (expect perhaps the orgins of the universe itself, simply cuz we have no way to test any theories about that)

- human beings are the orgin of all the whacky paranormal shit that goes on, from ghosts to psychic powers, everything

- humans will continue to experience more paranormal stuff as we continue to intellectually evolve over the next few million years (if we last that long).


The universe is a very bizarre place and something we still have much to learn about.

Satori

If it's true that humans use a small amount of brain matter - say 7-10%, and beyond water content, there is untapped brain matter left for geniuses and beyond, how can we possibly be taught how to harness this power?

I correlate brain usage with the ability to see paranormal activity, thus, until we can individually learn to utilize our brain power, for most people these other areas will always be questioned, never fathomed, and left in the void between belief and disbelief.
 
lol,

psychics? brain power and paranormal activity?

LOL :lol:

LOL :lol:

LOL :lol:

What rubbish! :tickled:

The brain is but grey organic matter and it serves to store data by plain and mundane rules (though these rules have not been understood as of yet.)

One would have to beleive in things such as a metaphysical world of minds and souls and such, ghosts and ghoblins and magic, a purely fanciful realm where the laws of physics, up and down, cause and effect wouldn't apply. It's a world that leads to a series of possibilities including but not restricted to the Devil (pronounced deveel), God, the tooth fairy, heaven, a meta heaven, a seventh heaven and a cosmos composed primarily of anthropocentric souls that orgy with eachother as they somehow filter into the minds of these psychic frauds who come on tv and clearly don't know what the fuck they're talking about. How funny is this! :tickled: pfft.


The ultimate (and valid) conclusion: new age mumbo-jumbo
 
Why close any options? Nobody here really has any evidence for/against all this stuff. So why write it off? Or, why fully believe it?

Maybe we're living one big urban legend after another.
 
i absolutely don't believe in god, and yet, i'm very intrigued by ghosts. can't say i don't believe in them. but i'm not able to reconcile that with my other beliefs. :rolleyes: