18 May 2011

Paranormal Proof

Nobody likes to be wrong.

That is the problem with proof. When something is proven right, another thing is proven wrong, and there is natural resistance to that.

Was watching one of those "ghost hunter" shows on TV earlier. They are interesting, not because they prove or disprove life after death, but because they are generally an interesting window to human nature. Tarot is too.

Why the need to PROVE anything? Who is being convinced? What does it matter if we prove our way of thinking to another human being or not?

I have a hunch it is tied to that basic need to "belong" and the even stronger need to communicate. After all, communication and social, coordinated effort is a survival skill from way back. And, we like to convince people to our way of thinking...that way we don't have to be wrong.

Why can't the answer be "yes" or "all of the above", though. Isn't tolerance of other views a compassionate thing?

Both science and religion have a sort of dualistic bias. If it can't be scientifically proven, then it is dismissed, ridiculed, even oppressed (like scientific medicine oppresses holistic medicine through archaic legislation, but that is another, off-topic rant).

Some religions are well known for its "believe what we believe or to hell with you" attitudes.

A certain amount of judgment and classification is needed for us to understand our world and get along in it...But I wonder how far beyond our own judging and understanding we should venture. If the journey is what matters, more than the destination, perhaps the process of reasoning, deciding, rejecting, believing is all more important than the final conclusion. And if the process is what matters, can't each conclusion have validity? No matter which lens of understanding we use, shouldn't each lens be respected by virtue of the process that formed/chose it?

Like everything, it seems to me, it is a balance of opposites. We must test, judge, rationally (scientifically) test what is true and valid for us. We choose what to believe. The two together form what we know. *

So why run around shouting at ghosts, chasing them with emf meters and digital recorders? Why tell people that they will suffer an eternity if they don't join a particular belief-group? Why not just live by the basic agreed-upon rules of society (don't kill anybody, don't take anybody's stuff, keep your promises and don't tell outright lies) but beyond that, believe what you believe and that's that.

Sounds pretty ironic, coming from a blog-writer that does nothing but spout opinion...

Also ironic...this is an exercise in just that believe-what-you-believe and not care about proving anything to anyone motif.

After decades of self-editing and keeping opinions to myself, this blog has been a fascinating practice in running ideas up the flagpole...if anyone salutes, thank you! If not, that's ok too. I have no proof to offer, and no interest in doing so. It is a hard-won but good place to finally be.

And you?

*"Believing is one thing. Knowing is another." ~Chris Fleming

"...I would like to make one thing quite clear...I never explain anything" ~ Mary Poppins

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