Comments on: Speaking to the dead http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2006/10/20/speaking-to-the-dead/ I am an astronomer, writer, and skeptic. I likes reality the way it is, and I aims to keep it that way. My real name is Phil Plait, and I run the Bad Astronomy blog. Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:58:18 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: bigboy http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2006/10/20/speaking-to-the-dead/comment-page-1/#comment-22368 bigboy Sun, 02 Sep 2007 09:42:40 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2006/10/20/speaking-to-the-dead/#comment-22368 hello all, obvoiously your not to skeptical about speaking to the dead if youre onthis website. i do it a fair bit. but it canget out of controll as deamons try to discuise themselves as the dead you hope youre talking too. probaberly not somthing worth persuing. the unfortunate thing is the spirita that hang around are normall the ones with unfinished business or feel guilt about the bad things thyve done not alloing them to pass onto the other side peacfully. they are the head case ones but bless them anyway,. hello all,
obvoiously your not to skeptical about speaking to the dead if youre onthis website. i do it a fair bit. but it canget out of controll as deamons try to discuise themselves as the dead you hope youre talking too. probaberly not somthing worth persuing. the unfortunate thing is the spirita that hang around are normall the ones with unfinished business or feel guilt about the bad things thyve done not alloing them to pass onto the other side peacfully. they are the head case ones but bless them anyway,.

]]> By: annonymous http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2006/10/20/speaking-to-the-dead/comment-page-1/#comment-22367 annonymous Wed, 08 Nov 2006 06:06:55 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2006/10/20/speaking-to-the-dead/#comment-22367 I strongly believe in speaking to the dead... all that agree say I!!! I strongly believe in speaking to the dead…
all that agree say I!!!

]]> By: Dunc http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2006/10/20/speaking-to-the-dead/comment-page-1/#comment-22364 Dunc Tue, 24 Oct 2006 14:51:39 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2006/10/20/speaking-to-the-dead/#comment-22364 <blockquote>When I was younger, I was heavily involved in the occult from several years. The things I experienced, heard, saw, were very real. Even now 30 years later I shudder at some of the things I experienced. Unless someone has for themselves investigated and experienced what the occult can do, they have no idea.</blockquote> Yeah, and I can say exactly the same thing about LSD. Doesn't mean that any of those <i>real experiences</i> accurately reflected <i>objective reality</i> though.

When I was younger, I was heavily involved in the occult from several years. The things I experienced, heard, saw, were very real. Even now 30 years later I shudder at some of the things I experienced.

Unless someone has for themselves investigated and experienced what the occult can do, they have no idea.

Yeah, and I can say exactly the same thing about LSD. Doesn’t mean that any of those real experiences accurately reflected objective reality though.

]]> By: TheBlackCat http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2006/10/20/speaking-to-the-dead/comment-page-1/#comment-22336 TheBlackCat Mon, 23 Oct 2006 03:58:50 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2006/10/20/speaking-to-the-dead/#comment-22336 Of course it is conceivable that speaking to the dead might be possible. But until it is demonstrated under controlled conditions and in front of people who are able to detect the trickery that is so common in the business then it will be nothing more than that...a possibility. Our brains are just too good at playing tricks on us and there are just too many charlatans for it to be worthwhile believing anything just because someone says so. The fact is that everyday people cannot tell whether this stuff is real or not in many cases. Nor could I unless they use one of the very limited range of tricks I know. So any claim to have communicated with the dead by someone without proper training to detect trickery and recognize common sensory or mental illusions is immediately suspect. It does not make them wrong, but it does mean they cannot be considered reliable sources of information because they do not have the qualifications that would make them reliable. Of course it is conceivable that speaking to the dead might be possible. But until it is demonstrated under controlled conditions and in front of people who are able to detect the trickery that is so common in the business then it will be nothing more than that…a possibility. Our brains are just too good at playing tricks on us and there are just too many charlatans for it to be worthwhile believing anything just because someone says so. The fact is that everyday people cannot tell whether this stuff is real or not in many cases. Nor could I unless they use one of the very limited range of tricks I know. So any claim to have communicated with the dead by someone without proper training to detect trickery and recognize common sensory or mental illusions is immediately suspect. It does not make them wrong, but it does mean they cannot be considered reliable sources of information because they do not have the qualifications that would make them reliable.

]]> By: Gary Ansorge http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2006/10/20/speaking-to-the-dead/comment-page-1/#comment-22340 Gary Ansorge Sun, 22 Oct 2006 20:54:27 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2006/10/20/speaking-to-the-dead/#comment-22340 Sounds like Robert Heinliens Witness, in Stranger in a Strange LAnd, who, when asked to describe the color of a building on a nearby hill, said, " It appears to be white, on this side." Consensus is formed by our perceptions of reality at a particular place and time. GAry 7 Sounds like Robert Heinliens Witness, in Stranger in a Strange LAnd, who, when asked to describe the color of a building on a nearby hill, said, ” It appears to be white, on this side.”

Consensus is formed by our perceptions of reality at a particular place and time.

GAry 7

]]> By: Elwood Herring http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2006/10/20/speaking-to-the-dead/comment-page-1/#comment-22337 Elwood Herring Sun, 22 Oct 2006 18:11:24 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2006/10/20/speaking-to-the-dead/#comment-22337 Somehow my reason for posting that last comment got lost along the way... the thrust of my argument was that even though such charlatans exist and are willing to take your money to put you in touch with your relatives "on the other side", that alone does not prove or disprove that such a thing is possible. I could claim to be able to conjure up kangaroos in my kitchen, but my claim (whether successful or not) does not alter the fact that kangaroos quite likely *do* exist (I can't be certain you see, as I've never actually seen a real life kangaroo!) Three philosophers travelling by train through England, one of them sees a field with a white sheep in it. He says "That proves that there are white sheep in England." The second says, "No, it proves that there is at least one sheep in one field in England". The third says to the first, "Wrong again. It merely proves that you claim you saw a sheep in that field that appeared to you to be white on one side..." Somehow my reason for posting that last comment got lost along the way… the thrust of my argument was that even though such charlatans exist and are willing to take your money to put you in touch with your relatives “on the other side”, that alone does not prove or disprove that such a thing is possible. I could claim to be able to conjure up kangaroos in my kitchen, but my claim (whether successful or not) does not alter the fact that kangaroos quite likely *do* exist (I can’t be certain you see, as I’ve never actually seen a real life kangaroo!)

Three philosophers travelling by train through England, one of them sees a field with a white sheep in it. He says “That proves that there are white sheep in England.”
The second says, “No, it proves that there is at least one sheep in one field in England”.
The third says to the first, “Wrong again. It merely proves that you claim you saw a sheep in that field that appeared to you to be white on one side…”

]]> By: Elwood Herring http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2006/10/20/speaking-to-the-dead/comment-page-1/#comment-22366 Elwood Herring Sun, 22 Oct 2006 17:51:37 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2006/10/20/speaking-to-the-dead/#comment-22366 Question 1: Is it possible to speak to the dead? My answer: Unlikely, but I wouldn't rule it out completely. (in the same way that Richard Dawkins doesn't completely rule out the possibility that God might actually exist.) Question 2: Are there people around who take advantage of the gullibility of the general public and claim that they *can* speak to the dead (or God, or whatever you like) My answer: Of course there are, and there always will be. My point here is that people will always make such claims whether they are possible or not, in order to fool the public and benefit from them, usually financially. It doesn't matter what you answer to question one, it does not affect the answer to question 2 (which I think we all agree with). Question 1: Is it possible to speak to the dead?
My answer: Unlikely, but I wouldn’t rule it out completely. (in the same way that Richard Dawkins doesn’t completely rule out the possibility that God might actually exist.)

Question 2: Are there people around who take advantage of the gullibility of the general public and claim that they *can* speak to the dead (or God, or whatever you like)
My answer: Of course there are, and there always will be.

My point here is that people will always make such claims whether they are possible or not, in order to fool the public and benefit from them, usually financially. It doesn’t matter what you answer to question one, it does not affect the answer to question 2 (which I think we all agree with).

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