Thoughts on the Supernatural?

[Greenie]

No, not the show! *frowny face*

Due to an earlier discussion as well as it being Spooktober and ever nearing Halloween, why not have a discussion about the supernatural!

So, do you guys believe in things that others may shun vehemently? Ghosts and spirits? Witches and curses? Fairies and the like? If yes, any reasoning?

What about naysayers? How do you deal with such topics, or rather, people who insist on believing in what you feel is silly?

​

 

[Vars]

I am basically Mulder:

"I want to believe"

But I am also a huge skeptic.

So ultimately what it normally gets watered down to is "I'm pretty sure they exist, but 99.9% of experiences can be explained by other things."

I've had a few experiences myself and it's been years. I still think "maybe it was, or maybe it was something else (explainable)." Which can sometimes be a frustrating uncertainty of staying noncommital with my experiences but... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Hatsune Candy]

When I was a lot younger I used to be super obsessed with ghosts, which is kinda weird since I've never had a supernatural experience in my entire life. Maybe it had something to with my religious upbringing, but I just latched onto the idea and wouldn't let go for the longest time. In fact, I think it was right around the time I realized that I was an atheist when I stopped believing in the supernatural altogether. I just kinda asked myself, "If I don't believe in God, then why do I believe in all this other stuff?"

I'm still fascinated by the idea of ghosts and the supernatural, I've just become a lot more skeptical. You really can't trust other people's experiences, or even your own, given how easily the brain can be fooled into thinking it saw something that wasn't actually there. Also, a lot of people like to lie for attention; I was guilty of that myself for quite some time.

 

[Shiri]

I don't see myself as superstitious, but I have a healthy respect for stories of the supernatural. I am always willing to believe science has an explanation for everything; however, I'm not exactly the type of person to waltz into a supposed "real" haunted house on a dark night.

I have had some strange experiences that give me pause. Whether there's something to it or not, I don't know. I remain cautiously optimistic, I guess.

 

[Legens Legentis]

Although I am a religious man, I am skeptical of ghosts and whatnot. I do believe in UFO's/aliens, however.
Cryptids are also more plausible. Bigfoot, Nessie, etc. I am partial to believing in those.

 

[Joan]

I am Christian, and as such, I believe in the devil, demons, and spirits. I do believe that a large amount of "supernatural incidences" should be taken with a grain of salt, but I also believe that they aren't all fake or imagined. So, be careful guys, please o_o

I would have elaborated more but I am braindead because my rl dnd crew is crayyyyyy

 

[IntrusivePenDesperateSword]

Firstly, I find "supernatural" to be a very bad term for the things in question. If they were truly supernatural, beyond nature, then why would people see and/or be affected by them? Something supernatural should, by definition, have no control over things in our nature.

I am very fun at parties, thank you for asking.

As for me believing in these so far unexplained creatures, I'll reserve my faith for when conclusive evidence comes.

That said, alien life most likely exists somewhere, but chances are very low we'll ever meet, and any eventual aliens that would come our way would least likely draw crop circles and leave.

 

[Greenie]

I am very fun at parties, thank you for asking.

Every party has a pooper...

 

[Dipper]

I'm 50/50 on the whole deal. Part of me thinks that people do hang around in some form after death. Possibly. Maybe. Some of the stories I've heard are too much to not be real somehow.

25% of me is fairly sure it's just coincidences. The other 25% believes it's crafty little demons.

I do think aliens are out there. Whether they're more or less advanced than humans is a mystery.

 

[Astaroth]

Firstly, I find "supernatural" to be a very bad term for the things in question. If they were truly supernatural, beyond nature, then why would people see and/or be affected by them? Something supernatural should, by definition, have no control over things in our nature.

I am very fun at parties, thank you for asking.

I'mma be that other guy at the party!

su·per·nat·u·ral
ˌso͞opərˈnaCH(ə)rəl/
adjective

1. 1.
   (of a manifestation or event) attributed to some force beyond scientific understanding or the laws of nature.

Ergo, a supernatural manifestation, i.e. a ghost or demon, is caused by a force that is beyond scientific understanding or nature's laws. The entire theory of the supernatural is that it can affect nature but is not itself born of nature. 8D

BUT, you are correct that some of the phenomenon being discussed in this thread falls under the topic of paranormal rather than supernatural. (Such as aliens or cryptids.) These things are understood to have a scientific explanation, but none that is recognized by normal (mainstream) scientific thought.

Ghosts, interestingly enough, can be considered as either supernatural OR paranormal. It depends on what you pin the explanation on. Are they some kind of scientific afterimage that we don't properly understand, or are they the manifestation of a human soul?

(Side-note, this is why the "paranormal romance" genre drives me nuts. Almost all of it is supernatural or some kind of urban fantasy.)

Moving on to my actual opinion on this kind of thing rather than just being annoying:

I'm a skeptic. This means that while I have an open mind, I do not accept things as true until they have been proven to be true, or at least proven to be the most likely explanation. (Until then, it is speculation, and is more or less plausible depending on how much evidence is produced and how reliable that evidence is. Obviously I'm not going to just ignore evidence that holds up to scrutiny, even if it hasn't been empirically proven.) I have heard accounts from many people who have had experiences with the paranormal or supernatural or whatever you want to call it, and I don't think they're making it up. I also think that not all of them are being rational about it, and are instead jumping to a conclusion without properly examining the situation and taking time to see the alternative and much more likely answers. Sometimes I have witnessed people outright ignore these facts.

That said, I have had some experiences myself that are very hard to explain at all. I simply don't have satisfactory answers. I'm not going to say that scientific answers do not exist, though; I can't say either way. I don't know.

Because I do not know for sure, and because I am a cautious person, I'm not going to do anything dumb as fuck like mess with a ouija board. Better safe than sorry.

Besides. If you believe in that stuff? It's dumb because there are a lot of indicators that you can invite bad things that way. If you don't believe in it? It's dumb and a waste of time, and there are better things you can be doing with your life.

I think this is good advice for anyone interested in this stuff. Don't play Hitori Kakurenbo or try to summon Satan, dumbasses, because what would you do if it worked? :|

 

[IntrusivePenDesperateSword]

Welcome to the party, Astaroth.

Supernatural beliefs may have arisen due to a variety of factors, such as the human tendency to seek explanation, pareidolia, and pattern recognition.[3] A strain of prey species whose threat detection system does a good job of spotting potential predators in the background clutter, but with some false alarms, survives better than a strain which does not startle easily, but occasionally misses a leopard in the trees. In other words, we were bred to be spooked by shadows. The inducement of altered states of consciousness may also have played a part.[4]

From Supernatural - RationalWiki

I feel like most, if not all, supernatural (or paranormal) occurrences can be waved off as just placebo, statistical coincidence, or fear. So far, I have little reason to believe otherwise, and thanks to methodological naturalism, that's probably not gonna change

 

[Legens Legentis]

Welcome to the party, Astaroth.


From Supernatural - RationalWiki

I feel like most, if not all, supernatural (or paranormal) occurrences can be waved off as just placebo, statistical coincidence, or fear. So far, I have little reason to believe otherwise, and thanks to methodological naturalism, that's probably not gonna change

Checkmate.

 

[IntrusivePenDesperateSword]

Checkmate.

Well duh, everyone knows of the aliens' secret alliance with the lizard people.

 

[Applo]

I don't believe in the supernatural but at the same time I always try to keep an open mind on the grounds that I might be dead wrong. If I met an ardent believer I would probably challenge them a bit if that's the way the conversation turned but not too much. I have better things to be doing with my life.

Aliens on the other hand, they probably exists. I doubt they buzz mid western cornfields for giggles though.