this post was submitted on 28 Nov 2024
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Lets take a little break from politics and have us a real atheist conversation.

Personally, I'm open to the idea of the existence of supernatural phenomena, and I believe mainstream religions are actually complicated incomplete stories full of misinterpretations, misunderstandings, and half-truths.

Basically, I think that these stories are not as simple and straightforward as they seem to be to religious people. I feel like there is a lot more to them. Concluding that all these stories are just made up or came out of nowhere is kind of hard for me.

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[–] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 3 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (2 children)

I think there may be some scientific explanation for a variety of things that are attributed to the supernatural; and not necessarily just mundane things like knocks and creaks in your house, paradolia causing images of faces in image noise and shit like that. For example, with how places that have unusual geomagnetic activity tend to also have higher than average ghost sightings, I think some people may just be extra sensitive to magnetic fields which causes them to hallucinate.

So many myths and monsters are basically caused by misunderstandings, not seeing something clearly enough to identify it, or even exaggerating a story that's been passed down verbally over a long time. Not to mention things caused by mental illness in times before advanced medicine and psychology. Many alien abduction stories and succubus sightings are almost certainly the result of hallucinations induced by sleep paralysis.

[–] clockwork_octopus@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I have a “theory” that in these places where there are higher than normal “ghost sightings” and “encounters” that the spaces between our universe (think of the string theory of the universes) and another are even closer than “normal”, and that these “sightings” and “encounters” are a part of that crossover, and we just don’t currently have a way to measure it or interact in a meaningful way.

I also don’t really understand string theory all that well, I mostly just have a half-baked idea of what it is and how it works, so be gentle, please!

[–] magnetosphere@fedia.io 2 points 5 days ago

I think the vast majority of people who are even aware of the term “string theory” only have a half-baked idea of what it is. You’re in good company!

I know that some physicists think that the force of gravity is inexplicably weak, and that gravity isn’t as powerful as it “should” be. There’s a theory out there (or maybe it’s part of a larger theory, I don’t remember) that what we perceive as gravity is just “leaking” from (or possibly to) another dimension. That dovetails nicely with your own perspective.

[–] aLaStOr_MoOdY47@lemmy.world -1 points 5 days ago (2 children)

Lets have a fun conversation.

What is a hallucination?

[–] richieadler@lemmy.myserv.one 2 points 5 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

I'm not the person you asked, but is no "fun" if you intend to be educated by each of your interlocutors without even attempting to investigate anything yourself. It's lazy and disrespectful, and reeks of sealioning.

[–] aLaStOr_MoOdY47@lemmy.world 0 points 5 days ago (1 children)
[–] richieadler@lemmy.myserv.one 2 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

You are not "talking" to people if you do that, you're requiring that they educate you because you're lazy.

And besides, your assumptions are faulty.

You're discounting misperceptions, allucinations, altered states, and plain simple lies (for entertainment or for profit). Why do you exclude all those possible reasons for reporting supernatural experiences?

[–] aLaStOr_MoOdY47@lemmy.world -1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

What are you on about lol. I asked people about their thoughts on the supernatural, and I'm sharing my thoughts back. Conversation. I also haven't denied that there are false claims out there. You sound like the many argumentative pseudo-intellectuals I usually meet on Reddit. Always looking to start shit. You're really crashing out because I asked bro what a hallucination is. I know what it is. I'm just trying to talk to him, but unfortunately, you hijacked our conversation for unknown reasons.

[–] richieadler@lemmy.myserv.one 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I also haven't denied that there are false claims out there.

You have this reversed.

Before entertaining conversations with you, you need to prove that the phenomenon is true, something nobody has done.

Always looking to start shit.

You confessed to enjoy trolling people in the other subthread. Your horse is so high you can call him Pegasus.

I asked bro what a hallucination is.

There is a known definition that's easily googleable. Fucking do it and stop trolling people.

[–] aLaStOr_MoOdY47@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

Bro, you're retarded lmfao.

[–] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

A phantom sense of something that isn't actually there. Be it feeling a touch, seeing something, hearing something, smelling something, etc. As real as it may seem to the brain experiencing it, it's entirely a product of that brain and can be caused by all sorts of things from illness and physical trauma to chemicals, lack of sleep, or even simply being deprived of stimulation.

[–] aLaStOr_MoOdY47@lemmy.world 0 points 4 days ago

So, a hallucination is not real, right? But how can we tell if we aren't even sure if the current reality we're currently experiencing is true reality?