15 Jun 10
Originally posted by r99pawn77Not only is the misuse of "spiritual abilities" a "graven sin" but the use of any psycic powers should be avoided by many. Unless you are " cut out " for that path, I think you should steer clear of trying to directly use spiritual abilities.
Law enforcement has been using psychics for decades. And, before that, kings had court psychics who did the same thing.
Hypnotism is a scientifically proven tool. That comes from shamanism, not science, and is thousands of years old.
There have been professional scientific studies that prayer is effective. Here is an article on one:
http://www. ...[text shortened]... or the Nobel Peace Prize by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev)
One can get caught up in the pursuit of such power ,(and the resultant ego), and miss the main point of life.
In my adventures I've followed this policy of not pursuing psycic powers/spiritual abilities, and have found they have come to me, stayed a while , and then left me.
They are the introduction into something greater, but until you know what that greater thing is, psycic powers will remain an elusive enigma that will continue to be debated.
15 Jun 10
2 edits
Originally posted by karoly aczelSupposing there are about 6.4/12 billion people born with each zodiac sign, please explain how the lives of half a billion people are influenced in a predictable way by the movement of the planets and/or stars (ie: half a billion people will have a crap day on Thursday but there will be a well received glimmer of hope in the end because of [insert piece of relevant information about] planet Neptune etc...).
Whats wrong with astrology?
15 Jun 10
Originally posted by AgergOh you guys mean THAT kind of astrolgy! ...yeah, that stuff is crap.
Supposing there are about 6.4/12 billion people born with each zodiac sign, please explain how the lives of half a billion people are influenced in a predictable way by the movement of the planets and/or stars (ie: half a billion people will have a crap day on Thursday but there will be a well received glimmer of hope in the end because of [insert piece of relevant information about] planet Neptune etc...).
15 Jun 10
5 edits
Originally posted by karoly aczelWhat kind where you referring to? The kind that makes ever so small inferences from planetary movements which one hopes would be recognised, favourable to 'practitioners', as statistically significant???
Oh you guys mean THAT kind of astrolgy! ...yeah, that stuff is crap.
15 Jun 10
Originally posted by AgergThe one that uses the language of astrology to help individual divination, rather than fortune telling.
What kind where you referring to? The kind that makes ever so small inferences from planetary movements which one hopes would be recognised, favourable to 'practitioners', as statistically significant???
15 Jun 10
Originally posted by twhiteheadRight. Any psychic who claims to be able to fool rigorous experimental examination with controls for body language, verbal cues and any prior information with respect to the experiment for the psychic etc...will fail. It's not magic. It needs communication and normal human perception to work.
Its not real. I guess some psychics might claim that there is some clause in their practice that causes them to be unable to prove their abilities scientifically - rather like the one used by Christians to explain the inefficacy of prayer or absence of proof for God.
But if this was the case it would tend to rule out the common attempts to 'explain' psyc ...[text shortened]... being entirely natural in some way eg the comments about utilizing an extra 90% of our brain.
15 Jun 10
Originally posted by ZahlanziAh ha! This one allows for Hercules and Samson and stuff in the past but not the present I suppose. Interesting.
i personally believe that god doesn't usually tweak each human so they get extra special powers. in the old testament and the new, the prophets and apostles were not really x-men but rather conduits of god's power. they really were messengers through which god was performing.
so my belief is that god triggered evolution and through it there is a possibil ...[text shortened]... ion why would an organism develop super speed or super strength in a world of cars and cranes.
I'd be fascinated to study Samson's super strength gene that requires long, luxurious hair to work and is now dormant due to the easy access to explosives and forklifts.
15 Jun 10
Originally posted by karoly aczelso for example horoscopes: i am a Taurus. are you telling me that the dunno how many stars that make up the constellation, each at different distances from earth, each light years away have influenced my birth so that i have a set of characteristics that aren't unique to me? and every Taurus has the same characteristics? and every Taurus is incompatible or compatible with people under a certain other sign? and a lot more insane notions that have absolutely no scientific basis and furthermore do not stand even when not asking for proof, just taking them as is? not to mention characteristics as stubbornness are really subjective and cannot be quantified?
Whats wrong with astrology?
no, nothing is wrong with astrology.
15 Jun 10
1 edit
Originally posted by AThousandYoungi can see how you would find that funny. it is funny. and totally not logical.
Ah ha! This one allows for Hercules and Samson and stuff in the past but not the present I suppose. Interesting.
I'd be fascinated to study Samson's super strength gene that requires long, luxurious hair to work and is now dormant due to the easy access to explosives and forklifts.
some stories in the bible are unbelievable. take your samson for example. he had great strength.(let's say that samson is real, it helps with the proving of points). what you must understand is that the intent of samson story was to show that our strength comes from god. if we are exeptional, god had something to do with it. god gave samson great strength. not to win weightlifting competitions but to protect his people. one of the conditions was not to cut his hair. not because it was the source of his power. but as a reminder that the extra muscle didnt' come from him but from god. how does that hair get cut in the end? while sexing up delilah, in other words while slacking on his job.
god demands sacrifices. god hands out rewards. some stories from the bible are really gruesome. in my opinion the samson story is not. it has a perfect amount of punishment and teaching.
dunno what you meant to say by mentioning hercules.
16 Jun 10
Originally posted by ZahlanziA lot of the ancient peoples of the Earth got into astrology. They farmed. They fished. They did unbelievably accurate representations of the stars and planets Why? Was there some connection between ancient peoples and the stars? I think there was.
so for example horoscopes: i am a Taurus. are you telling me that the dunno how many stars that make up the constellation, each at different distances from earth, each light years away have influenced my birth so that i have a set of characteristics that aren't unique to me? and every Taurus has the same characteristics? and every Taurus is incompati ...[text shortened]... ornness are really subjective and cannot be quantified?
no, nothing is wrong with astrology.
As i already indicated before, I'm not a fan of modern day astrology that aims to fortune tell your life by means of the 12 zodiac signs. Thats just hooey!!
16 Jun 10
1 edit
Years ago, I bought the paperback by James Randi called 'Test Your ESP Potential' figuing that because of his history of exposing charlatans, this would set up a true test. It came with the 5 cards with different symbols on them and instructions on how to set up the test. Person in one room would randomly turn over a card and a person who could not see or hear the first person would then record whatever symbol they thought the first person saw. A third person sat as a control and could see both of the other people. When the first person turned over a card, the control nodded, to indicate it was time for the second person to record the symbol they received mentally.
We followed the guidelines exactly and whenever any two people did either the sending or receiving, we always got the random result Randi said we would, which was 20% correct. But when my one friend's daughter and I did the sending or receiving, we always got 40% right, regardless of whether we did ten in a row or a hundred in a row. According to the Randi book, that meant we had some kind of psychic connection. Very odd.
As far as most psychic stuff goes, I think it's hokum, but I could never come up with an explanation as to why that experiment with the cards worked like it did. We tried it multiple times over a month-long period and it was 40% every time, but only between me and my friend's daughter. We got bored with it after that because it was a novelty at first but after awhile you're like ok so what?
16 Jun 10
Originally posted by sbacatWhat, you didn't want a million bucks?
Years ago, I bought the paperback by James Randi called 'Test Your ESP Potential' figuing that because of his history of exposing charlatans, this would set up a true test. It came with the 5 cards with different symbols on them and instructions on how to set up the test. Person in one room would randomly turn over a card and a person who could not see or hea ...[text shortened]... h it after that because it was a novelty at first but after awhile you're like ok so what?
16 Jun 10
1 edit
Originally posted by avalanchethecatCouldn't think of a way to profit from it. 🙁
What, you didn't want a million bucks?
I've tried using Kreskin's technique for picking lottery numbers and it's worked a couple times but not with enough regularity to make it worth quitting my day job! 😉
16 Jun 10
Originally posted by karoly aczelthey also sacrificed goats (the nice ones) or humans (the less nice ones). should we go back into those practices because they did it?
A lot of the ancient peoples of the Earth got into astrology. They farmed. They fished. They did unbelievably accurate representations of the stars and planets Why? Was there some connection between ancient peoples and the stars? I think there was.
As i already indicated before, I'm not a fan of modern day astrology that aims to fortune tell your life by means of the 12 zodiac signs. Thats just hooey!!
you are confused: accurate representations of the stars and planets is not astrology. that is astronomy. astronomy basically says "that star is there". astrology is the "science" that says that because "that star is there", "even x will happen here". that is hooey.