Philosophically speaking there are two main approaches to epistemology (seeking truth). Rationalism (use logic) and empiricism (use observation and experiment). A combination of these two things makes up the scientific method. Philosophical debates have historically been had over which comes first in our search for truth: do we know experience is useful from reason or do we only know reason works from experience? Paranormal claims are interesting because logically there may well be things beyond or outside normal physical laws or things the scientific method has missed (yet). Do you believe in the paranormal because you have seen/felt something paranormal happen or because you logically worked it out? Or do you believe for some other reason?
A spell attempts to achieve desired results by exploiting hidden sympathies or connections that exist in reality. Prick a voodoo doll with a needle and your enemy gets hurt. Alternatively, a spell perhaps can be a bargain with a supernatural being: give me this and I will sacrifice this to you.Has anyone ever seen something like this work? Work in a way that could not have been coincidence?
>>43147675Always believed it, always wanted it to be real, always was fascinated by it, pretty much since childhood. Obsessed even. Never had any such experiences myself though (beyond a few lucid dreams, synchronicities and particularly successful meditations). Was really looking to experience anything paranormal for a long time - at one point was even challenging a lot of self-proclaimed magicians and what not to show me anything, anything at all, even like a curse or anything negative would've been completely fine - I'm not afraid of death.But nothing. Ever. Happened.To make things more ridiculous, reality itself has been consistently mocking me by gravitating people who are into occultism themselves, or who know such individuals, or who have had experiences, towards me. So I'm frequently like a blind man hearing descriptions of the environment without ever seeing it myself.A few of the "practitioners" I know told me I'm basically an "anti-mage" - unable to perceive but also immune to any "paranormal" forces. Nothing works on me - spells, curses, hypnosis, mind-reading, illusions. Nothing. Even astrological predictions end up being largely false. Yet I still believe all of it is real cos I've studied the subject for many years, and all the theory and second-hand evidence cannot all be just fabrication.
>>43147675Well I believe in the paranormal because of the testimony with corroborating evidence of others, and later on had my own personal experiences. I guess that’s empiricism? On the topic of the search for truth and the paranormal, how much do you think we can trust eyewitness testimony? I sometimes hear skeptics argue that eyewitness testimony is unreliable because of criticism of its use in the legal system, but when you look at the critiques of eyewitness testimony in the legal system it’s very focused on the ability of witnesses to recognize the faces of the accused, which is a completely different level of precision to what some paranormal cases would require to debunk. When someone witnesses gnomes for example, the question people investigate is not whether the witness saw Jerry Redcap who lives in a tree stump or Johnathan Mosswood who lives in a ruined castle, the question is whether the witness saw gnomes at all and if such beings can really exist. Here’s a relevant article:https://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/articles/eyewitness-testimony-analysis/
>>43147675I’ve had 20+ UAP sightings, I’ve summoned UAP multiple times, I’ve BEEN summoned, I’ve remote viewed, I’ve seen through my eyelids in a meditative state, I’ve had random moments where I predict something for no reason, and I’ve discovered a faction of NHI that have influenced belief systems across the world for thousands of years. They even have a flag!I don’t believe, I KNOW.https://youtu.be/LHeqcFOSx50https://youtu.be/kMSEI2ELkBIhttps://youtu.be/JkUrVh8knj8https://youtu.be/LMv1k49sAM0https://youtu.be/VlRqTgobV3ohttps://youtu.be/1Jvr4O7pG9I
>>43147690i sat on a chair with a broken leg on it, and then i broke my leg
>>43147675>Philosophically speaking there are two main approaches to epistemology (seeking truth). Rationalism (use logic) and empiricism (use observation and experiment).No, there are six methods of truth.Perception, Inference you got. But there is also comparison, postulation, and non-perception.
>>43148034Oops, forgot postulation/implication.Basically the opposite of inference.
>>43147675Both. It's juvenile to assume we, at the current moment, understand the full extent of everything that exists. We don't. We can't even explain what comes after death, its purpose, or how the universe came to be, beyond assumptions and theories. People in previous eras also thought their groundbreaking discoveries of the day were remarkable- but they did not have the hubris to declare that they had reached the horizon, as science "believers" today do.I don't remember what my line of thinking was when I was younger that led me to the conclusion that the paranormal exists and that atheism is the only wrong pov, but I did use some abstract rationalizing to get to my decision.And at this point, I've had so many low-level paranormal experiences that it seems pretty mundane. It's simply one of those things you can't foist on people. They need to experience it and come to the conclusion first-hand. And if they don't, it's because they cannot handle it (yet) and need to reject it.
>>43147709Got Bella Swan itt
