Julian Cope presents Head Heritage | The Modern Antiquarian Forum

Steve Gray

931 posts

Re: reality

May 19, 2004, 23:37

"There's no such thing as "the supernatural", because ALL is a part of nature."

I like that. I guess people use the term to mean "that which is outside what is known".

The problem with solutions such as poltergeist and apparitions is that they are, in a sense, a religious reaction; something like: "this is beyond human understanding so let's attribute it to a deity (in this case a ghost)". Deities are almost always of human temperament and are invented by us to explain some otherwise inexplicable phenomena and are endowed (by us) with the power necessary to overcome the limitations of those particular phenomena, e.g. omnipotence, immortality, lack of corpereal constraint, power over natural forces, etc. They act as proxies for us; they do what we are unable to do.

Personally, I find this a totally unnecessary exercise. I am always willing to consider wide-ranging theories, but would not adopt one of them unless and until it both fits the observations and is supported by rational evidence. Almost all so-called "supernatural" phenomena (including God), fail this test and therefore I continue to reserve judgement. I neither believe, nor disbelieve.

In reply to:
Re: reality (TomBo)

Replies:
Re: reality (TomBo)

The Modern Antiquarian Forum » The weekend	Log In to post a reply

138 messages	Topic View: Flat \| Threaded