The Paranormal (Where is it now?)

by dhw, Sunday, December 28, 2008, 13:03 (5808 days ago) @ BBella

Just before Christmas, which I hope gave everyone a great deal of enjoyment (secular or otherwise), BBella told us about more of her own and her family's psychic experiences, and theorized about their origin. I find all these experiences and theories fascinating and thought-provoking. - I'm struck by the fact that there are two different sorts of vision here: one seems like a direct projection of the subconscious in the form of dreams, while the other comes from outside ... the UFOs and the message given to your niece while she was driving with her sister-in-law. In the first type, one might well argue that your subconscious is coming up with answers and information that your conscious doesn't have access to. In some ways, this is analogous to the creative process. When a writer writes a play or novel, there are all kinds of scenes, events and characters in the imagination. The characters may well be projections of himself, but they take on a life and an impetus of their own. He's aware of what's happening, and he treads a very fine line between watching and directing, though generally the subconscious seems to know what is right. Interestingly, a newspaper report caught my eye the other day, with the statement: "Scientists have found that our unconscious brains are designed to make the best decision possible." The report concerns a study of decision-making at the University of Rochester in New York, published in the journal Neuron, but unfortunately doesn't offer much detail on the extent of the research. - Your visions originally included prophecies of death, and that means that the subconscious ... if it really was responsible ... also has access to future time. The implications of this are enormous, of course, since knowing the future suggests that things are preordained. David Turell quotes Dr Puthoff's prediction: "we will find that the universe is an 'energetic/information cosmological unity' and that physical and metaphysical have no boundary between them." All your experiences, even the prophetic ones, seem to fit in with this idea, except for the UFOs. Those would mean that there are other physical beings like ourselves in the universe, and so I would put them in a different category. - It seems to me that if we can shake off the prejudices associated with religion and with materialism, we might yet come to a deeper understanding and appreciation of the mysterious world we live in. On the other hand, it would be interesting to know what our theists and our atheists make of these particular experiences. Once again, BBella, thank you for opening up these avenues.