Parapsychology: Spiritualism, Science & Naturalism
Thursday July 17, 2008
Parapsychology and the interest in spiritualism and various alleged psychic powers did not develop out of thin air. They are all, at least in large part, the product of religious hopes and aspirations - but more specifically, religious hopes and aspirations which have become disconnected from the anchors of traditional religious dogma and church structures.
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Pardon a somewhat, hopefully tangential, somewhat questionable, and perhaps way too lengthy (and biographical) a comment, here.
After initially writing it, for another somewhat recent Post, concerning the notion of “Soul”, I decided, on second thought, to shelve it…perhaps for good.
Reading this Post reminded me of it; and sooooo…Yeah…here goes…(feigns biting fingernails)
[Oh, and, Trust me; it does relate to the subject of Parapsychology]…
“Foist”…
I’m definitely an atheist…I have no belief in any gods, whatsoever. Actually, in my opinion, there’s really no need for any gods in Cosmology. I was raised and schooled in RCC Christianity; so I grew up believing in Monotheism…ONLY…I repeat…ONLY…because I was carefully TAUGHT to believe…with absolutely NO evidence, of course! Childhood Religious indoctrination, even with no malicious intent by parents, is just another, unrecognized form of brainwashing! Children, in my opinion…when old enough, of course…should FIRST be taught to THINK…not to believe without question, or certainly, without any evidence. I, for one, didn’t need a Richard Dawkins to point that out to me. I experienced it first hand through attendance in Catholic schools from Kindergarten through College!
My atheism gradually grew out of decades of personal investigation, and almost constant day-to-day subjective questioning; which also led me through myriad variations of many possible alternative beliefs. In retrospect, I’ve been an atheist for almost two decades. I’d characterize myself as similar to Dawkins’ description: that he’s 95% sure there’s no such thing as ANY deity; or a 6 on a scale of 7.
[Correction; I’m more like 99.99%…or a 6.99 on a scale of 7.]
If anything; a Spinozian or Einsteinian-like “Pantheism”(?) might exist; BUT certainly nothing related to the existing rather childish, tribal/mythological doctrines of all the proposed “Anthropomorphic” style Religions.
Here’s my real point…I think the use of the word “Soul” is particularly unfortunate; linked by long association, of course, mainly to the ‘Western’, Abrahamic Religions. It’s also linked, and perhaps “emotionally laced and ladened”, because of that, with all kinds of Guilt, Fear, false and ridiculous assumptions, almost ad infinitum; and based on absolutely NO evidence.
Personally, I prefer something like “Consciousness” which tends not to be quite so anchored in religion. Even “Consciousness Energy”…akin to the Quark, or some other more recently found particle of matter? Yeah…still undetected in the usual ‘laBORatory’; ala…Quantum Physics.
The detection of which is “too close to home” for the accepted and expected “Out There” of the Scientific Method. Indeed, it’s right under (or even within?) our noses…or scalp?…too subject, of course to a more ‘objective’ criticism of ‘personal bias’, perhaps…ala our own individual, assumably ’shared’, Consciousnesses.
[We all ‘assume’, I presume, that we’re not just talking to our own made up…solipsistic selves!]
Like…This is all Austin Cline’s creation…and only ‘really’ exists in his mind!
What’s that?…
“Huh?”
Don’t worry (as if y’all are concerned) , I’m still a long practiced, hard core skeptic about everything; open minded…Yes…with brain still in its rather mundane, skull residency.
“Hmmm…Is that a curiously warm wind I hear, softly whistling…and a slight draft tickling my brain’s right hemisphere?”
OK…
Cutting to the metaphorical “chase”…At the present state of our rather recent collective ’sojourn’ into, at least, more “MODERN” Science; we have absolutely no acceptable known evidence that consciousness is in any way separate from the brain. Does that mean that we’ve reached the state of affairs where we can, without any doubt, conclude that the case is closed regarding the consciousness/brain association? Meaning, of course, that there is absolutely no possibility of any consciousness separate from the physical brain.
I’d like to point out (D’uh!) that, BEFORE Einstein, and some other Scientists, we not only had absolutely no CONCEPT of “Black Holes; but even early Science fiction writers were consistently ‘mute’ about dreaming it up. After Einstein’s General Theory, and others like Hawkings; not only have we heard from Experimental Scientists about the theory; and a plethora of Science Fiction on the subject…ala “Worm Holes”…we now have all too credible Scientific EVIDENCE, not only that they exist…but that they’re quite common in every Galaxy in the Universe!
“Yikes…what a rather disturbing surprise that amounts to!”
OK…
I’ll leave off, finally, with what I think is one intriguing, relatively unknown, recent theory, proposed by a Physicist named Thomas Campbell…that the Universe is essentially DIGITAL. In other words reality is totally based on a form of “Digital Consciousness”.
Everything is, in essence, ala modern Physics, or Quantum Mechanics, if you will…Digital.
According to his theory, one goes beyond any mere ‘belief’ of what someone else posits, by directly experiencing one’s own independent consciousness…ala Robert Monroe [”Journeys Out of the Body”] style…OOBE (Woo-Woo?) experiments.
[He spent some 35 years investigating; and originally started with Monroe back in the 1970s.]
The whole theory, at first blink, sounds somewhat akin, perhaps to the popular Sci-Fi Fantasy-like…MATRIX shtick?
Or kinda…”Games within Games” on a Cosmic level…Indeed, “we” sure do LOVE games a lot, me thinks!
Like…as has been almost jokingly proposed…this Universe could be some teenager’s “Game Lab” experiment in some parallel Universe. Or, perhaps like a Michio Kaku might propose…bubble-like Universes create other Universes. All speculation, of course.
Something like “Will man ever Fly?”…before the Wright Brothers came along to actually PROVE it could be done.
‘Nough said! I suggest, for anyone of a curious bent; check out Thomas Campbell and his “Big TOE”, at:
http://www.mybigtoe.com/
For a YouTube playlist of his somewhat long lecture (in 18 parts) given in London:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=CE5EA05F1F683940
“Is this all…somehow…just a (weird and crazy-ass) Digital Simulation?”
NO, Austin…I haven’t left my body…yet…so I’m still rather skeptical…
but open minded, nevertheless! (cue: soft wind whistling sound FX!)
Thanks Y’all, for putting up with my…Ugh…
‘Sermon’?