The supernatural. Your thoughts.

[SanteeFats]

The new horror film thread inspired me to start this one. Do you have an opinion one way or the other about the supernatural? Please remember to not insult any poster you may not agree with. Let's get it going. There are the "reality" shows about hunting ghosts, mythical creatures, and other such. I have watched a couple and believe they are hokum. Are there spirits? There are the biblical angels and the Holy Ghost so why not.
Vampires, wolf men, and other ancient tales may actually have had a basis in fact. There is a rare disease that causes people to grow hair all over their bodies, it is called hypertrichosis . Imagine some one like that in the Dark Ages?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypertrichosis

Others have their own origins. What do you think?

[cicciobuki]

In short: there is no supernatural, but in stories i do enjoy it a lot.

In detail: some things, like the examples you gave, can be explained (hence they are not supernatural), or they cannot be explained (yet) hence they are not explained yet, but they theoretically can be.


The hairy diseased people, i'd pity them in this day and age too, though in older times it would suck even more, for sure!



edit: by the way, i would have loved there to be a supernatural.

[rotobott]

People back then were very uneducated, so anything unusual seemed supernatural, but sometimes they saw stuff like ufos, maybe it was true, they didn't have the background of science fiction like we have

[howerd]

Originally Posted by SanteeFats

There are the biblical angels and the Holy Ghost so why not.

It's interesting you say angels & the Holy Ghost exist but you haven't explained how you (or anyone) know this, only that it is known. Well I could also claim mermaids exist in the ocean somewhere -Captain Cook reported seeing them, or that unicorns once roamed the earth (also Biblical claim) but how does that make them into 'known facts' rather than unverified (not necessarily unverifiable) claims? The plural of anecdote is not 'data'.

I think the bigger question is what could 'The supernatural' really mean anyway? Yes there are things which are unknown -in which case they are not known so why pretend they can be spoken of as 'knowns' of any sort? That's self evident really. Then there are 'strange phenomena' which once may have been mysterious like thunder & lightning which were assumed must be supernatural beings like Thor or Zeus showing their rage. Now we understand those phenomena & appreciate there's nothing supernatural there at all, so why make a similar assumption whenever another mysterious phenomena occurs? There's never been one that has turned out to be supernatural so why imagine any others might? And how could we know something was 'supernatural' rather than for instance be an advanced alien technology we can't explain? That's always a possibility we could never really discount.

So does 'The Supernatural' really mean anything at all? Perhaps it does so I'm open to answers to this question -but please watch the attached video before responding. It's specifically about open mindedness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T69TOuqaqXI

[dennisomatic]

I have never encountered any type of supernatural event - ever. Always hear about the stories others have experienced but no one has ever been able to back up their claims with solid proof. For example - A friend from work claims his house is haunted. Various unexplained noises and such. OK fine. Can I come over to check it out - maybe experience it for myself? Sure, no problem. I go over there and nothing happens. I have done this on several occasions over the years with various people at a wide variety of locations. Not one of them panned out a single shred of anything. No ghosts, angels, demons, forest pixies, unicorn dung, ufo space zappers, gremlins, magic floating orbs, mind reading cats etc. etc. etc. Sorry, but our world is not a movie screenplay. It's just plain and ordinary.

[rotobott]

Here's one they're still puzzling over, after more than a century

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-33164668

[howerd]

Originally Posted by rotobott

Here's one they're still puzzling over, after more than a century

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-33164668

It has been carbon dated & it turns out it isn't old enough to be genuine.

'The Shroud of Turin (Turin Shroud), a linen cloth commonly associated with the crucifixion and burial of Jesus Christ, has undergone numerous scientific tests, the most notable of which is radiocarbon dating, in an attempt to determine the relic's authenticity. In 1988, scientists at three separate laboratories dated samples from the Shroud to a range of AD1260–1390, which coincides with the first appearance of the shroud in France in the 1350s.[1]

This dating has been questioned by some, and doubts have been raised in particular regarding the representivity of the sample that was taken for testing. These challenges have been refuted by experts using actual shroud evidence.'

Full details from Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioc...hroud_of_Turin

[rotobott]

As you say there are doubts about its age due to contamination, but how was it made, there are many theories, but none have been proven.

[haroldeye]

Because you cannot prove something exists doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. Most if not all so called supernatural phenomena are or will be perfectly explainable once we have the means to quantify and measure them. Not that long ago people believed that lightening was the Gods throwing things at each other. Now we know better.

[gordian_knot]

I was really into the occult when I was in my teens. There was an awful lot of esoteric literature around in the early '70s and I read loads of it. I even scared myself out of my wits with one book on magic rituals.

Now I'm in my 50s and it's now a case of wishing some of these things existed rather than believing them.

However, as has been pointed out, we're a long way from knowing everything. The BBC is running experiments on controlling a remote with brainwaves. It's not exactly ESP but technology will one day allow us to do all sorts of things with thought alone.

But it's not supernatural. If it exists it must be natural. If it's something weird it's just something we don't yet understand.