Parapsychology

[Virgil]

I was wondering if you guys can help me out with something. I have to do a little survey of my community for Psychology class. I was planning on doing this in my RL community but everyone seems to think I'm selling something and just slam the door in my face >.>. Anyways, it's only two questions:

1) Do you believe in parapsychology? For those who might not know what that is, it's things like numerology, astrology, palm readings, e.t.c.

2) Have you had any psychic experiences, like a dream that predicted something that happened the next day?

Thanks in advance

On an unrelated note is my avatar too big? it's 100 x 300 pixels but it looks too big

[Avenius]

Re: Parapsychology

Put simply: No and no.

I have experienced deja vú's before, but I don't believe them to be predictions of any kind.

[DieselBoy09]

Re: Parapsychology

Same, no and no, but for some reason the women in my family: grandmother, mother and father's mother believe that they all have psychic abilities. Sometimes I wonder if women carry this "fantasy gene" sometimes. I bet honestly, no bias on my part, that you will get a larger percentage of females believeing to it, afterall the viewers of day time shows are predominantly women, and half the time those shows have some "psychic" on it.

[jiral]

Re: Parapsychology

1) Do you believe in parapsychology? For those who might not know what that is, it's things like numberology, astrology, palm readings, e.t.c.

To an extent, yes. Numberology I've never even looked into, astrology I believe does have some merit, palm readings I don't hold a lot of stock in.

2) Have you had any psychic experiences, like a dream that predicted something that happened the next day?

I think "precursor" dreams happen all the time.

[Rodin]

Re: Parapsychology

I was wondering if you guys can help me out with something. I have to do a little survey of my community for Psychology class. I was planning on doing this in my RL community but everyone seems to think I'm selling something and just slam the door in my face >.>. Anyways, it's only two questions:

1) Do you believe in parapsychology? For those who might not know what that is, it's things like numberology, astrology, palm readings, e.t.c.

2) Have you had any psychic experiences, like a dream that predicted something that happened the next day?

Thanks in advance

On an unrelated note is my avatar too big? it's 100 x 300 pixels but it looks too big

Ahem....(Sorry for any of you who are upset/bored/angered by my fascination with psychology.)

Okay, I'm still teetering on the decision of if I believe in Parapsychology or not. Now, the fact seems to be that numerology and astrology can be put down to coincidence, and natural law. The law of odds stating that the long an event occurs, the more the expected outcome reaches one. (Not big on mathematical laws). Which basically states the fact that you'll eventually find what you're looking for, because the outcome will arrive due to pure chance.

Now, on the basis of things like premonitions and deja vu. This, I'm certain is true. I've seen shows about the government and their fascination with this. There's a little phenomenon called detatched viewing. The study involved the study of six individuals. What they had to do was trace the path of a person who was out riding a motorcycle. Every one of them marked the path down correctly after their "viewing". Not only that, but many of them also drew buildings the person passed, and described smells and sounds. They also got the race, hair color, hair style, sex (female biker), and the clothing she was wearing exactly right. Now, this shouldn't be put to co-incidence, or can it? Many parapsychology studies are inconclusive because the second time these people were studied, they ended up getting everything wrong. I'm not totally disqualifying it, but I do believe that since we only use 10% of our brains, what does the other 90% do? There's a good chance that there's something out there we're capable of that we don't know about. It's actually statistically possible that telepathic and prenominative abilites are capable of being achieved by humans.

Now, much of this also comes down to interpretation. Remember this statement "There's truth in everything." Now, the fact that interpretation is a big variable in this can make or break your decision on the existence of parapsychology. Some see the glass as half full, some see it as half empty. You can believe that you've been in the room before, but others might believe it's just a coincidence and shrug it off. It's really all up to the human being. Really, when dealing with these type of feelings, you should note them, but not act upon them and believe you have psychic abilities. When you do that, you end up looking like a crazy person.

Same, no and no, but for some reason the women in my family: grandmother, mother and father's mother believe that they all have psychic abilities. Sometimes I wonder if women carry this "fantasy gene" sometimes. I bet honestly, no bias on my part, that you will get a larger percentage of females believeing to it, afterall the viewers of day time shows are predominantly women, and half the time those shows have some "psychic" on it.

My mother believes this too. She actually thought I was psychic after I took this color guessing test and got 100% 3 times in a row. Supposedly it was a test you're supposed to take to see your proficiency in detatched viewing. I just put it down to chance, and told her to stop acting silly. Just one question DieselBoy, were your grandmother and mother homemakers? To me it seems that most women who are a part of the corporate world will dismiss this whole parapsychology phenomenon, but women who work at home will tend to believe in it more. I put it towards the sheer boredom of home-making that contributes to this.

By the way, anyoe who watches those "Crossing Over" type shows. It's a farce. People are giving up the information the host wants to know. If you've actually been in the live audience of the show, it's much longer than the TV show, because most of the "talking to the dead" is just chance, which over all, is either clever editing, or a chance occurance. Those people should not be encouraged, because they're giving grieving people false hope.

[Neomage]

Re: Parapsychology

Erm... the first one to an extent, yes to the second one.

[Mog]

Re: Parapsychology

No and no. Don't really care to explain myself, but those are my answers.

[Feba]

Re: Parapsychology

basically, the thing is, it's all in your head. you'll see what you want to see.

If I have a dream where I can't move or speak, and the next day I'm hiding in the back of a gas station as it's getting robbed, your brain could easily link them. It's full of crap. It's the same thing as a horoscope, you beleive it because you want to. "you were born on xx date, these are your traits". Those are traits most people have, you just see that, and think it's something that stands out. It's not. You're human, just like the rest of us, you're just imagining things.

[Jei]

Re: Parapsychology

Well, I've had a few palm readings in my country from very popular place... I was careful and didn't talk to her much at all, but she pretty much told me about my life correctly in every details... She didn't tell me much about my future, only saying I'll be studying and working aboard which strangely is true atm...

[Caspian]

Re: Parapsychology

1. No
2. Maybe, but I think it was really just a coincidence and the fact that dreams are so hazy to begin with that your mind manipulates them into being more relevant than they actually are. (I had a recurring dream when I was little that a midget clown used to come into a room I was in and scared me so much I couldn't leave. He'd then proceed to screw with me and poke my nose and crap. To this day I've never been tormented by a clown. Dreams are just dreams.)
I'd buy telekinesis and mind reading before I'd buy predicting the future.

THANK YOU Rodin. I swear that show just makes me want to go to California and beat the crap out of him for screwing with people. All these people are, are people who are exceptionally good at reading people and getting information from them w/o you picking up on it.
....."Is there someone here who has a dead relative whose name starts with a 'J'?"
What? Someone happens to have a dead uncle named John? Well, he must be in contact with the dead then.
Now, the pet psychic is just pure entertainment.

[Rodin]

Re: Parapsychology

THANK YOU Rodin. I swear that show just makes me want to go to California and beat the crap out of him for screwing with people. All these people are, are people who are exceptionally good at reading people and getting information from them w/o you picking up on it.
....."Is there someone here who has a dead relative whose name starts with a 'J'?"
What? Someone happens to have a dead uncle named John? Well, he must be in contact with the dead then.
Now, the pet psychic is just pure entertainment.

Manipulating people is VERY easy. There are so many different things you can do. I know people don't like psychology, they don't think it's a science, but most of those people I call "sheep". I said it in another thread. They go along with their daily lives being fed information from a media that doesn't tell them the whole truth. This is one form of manipulation. I know many people will deny this, saying they don't fall victim to it, but many people take a stand without knowing all the facts. Do some research, and you won't be manipulated. I actually had a funny converastion with my cousin on MSN the other day. To make a long story short, I ended up feeding her so much bullshit, I ended up making her belive that you could get drunk off of milk. Basically, all you have to do is say something that makes sense to a person, and they'll believe it. Once I told her I was making it up, she's like "OMG, NO WAY!!!!!!!!!"

It's fun, try something out like that on your parents, brothers, sisters, aunts, or uncles.

Also, don't EVER believe anything until you know what's true, or else, you'll be manipulated.

[DieselBoy09]

Re: Parapsychology

Yeah, they were both homemakers.

[Matera]

Re: Parapsychology

No, then yes.

There's been times where I've had something happen to me that I had dreamed long ago.

I think I'm crazy.

[Ryouken]

Re: Parapsychology

1) Uh... no
2) Hmmm... also no

I agree with Feba, ppl believe what they want to believe

I think ppl use parapsychology because they are afraid of the unknown and use it to try and cope with that fear. Ppl who use mediums (ppl who "talk" to the dead), use them because they can't get over the lose of a loved one and will settle for cheap parlor tricks in order to gain closure.

Fortune-telling is also another mechanism to cope with fear, generally ppl who are afraid of change use this in order to feel like they have "control" over what is happening in their life. Of course this doesn't always apply, sometimes ppl use fortune-tellers purely for fun (like at carnivals and whatnot), but even then they don't usually take them seriously.

Numberology... obviously used by math geniuses because in their minds everything can be solved using the one thing they do best, math! And half the time they use numberology as a way to calculate the chances of them getting laid (which turns out to be 26.9878865435678% ).

What I'm saying is that if you're into that stuff, that's perfectly okay, that doesn't mean what I stated above applies to you. But generally most of the ppl that DO use it really have deeper, un-resolved issues with themselves.

BTW, the guy who does Crossing Over is John Edwards (not the senator!).... better known as the BIGGEST DUESCHE IN THE UNIVERSE!!!!! (South Park said it not me )

[little ninja]

Re: Parapsychology

isnt it numerology an not numberology?

yes for question 1, since i had a palm reader once call me by a name only 1 person who is deceased ever called me by it.

yes for number 2. if you want a full scoop on that one, just hit me up in a P.M