Do you believe in any mystical beings?

[Christof]

By using the term "mysitcal beings", I'm referring to: witches, ghosts, werewolves, vampires, demons, angels, poltergeist, spirits, aliens, sasquatch, and any other being I failed to mention. And with the beings I provided, I don't mean the human-wannabes either.

And if you can, provide a link on why you believe in this mystical being. It'd be greatly appreciated. :hi:

[HEyHEY]

1. Does and honest republican count as a mystical being?

There has to be ONE out there

[Christof]

4. Hmmm...

I guess you could call an honest republican a mystical being.

But no, I don't believe there is one out there.

[Shopaholic]

2. Ghosts, spirits

and possibly aliens--I'm still not totally convinced but I think it would be idiotic of us to assume we're the only intelligent life in a universe this big. And well, it explains Ann Coulter. And as to why I believe in mystical beings. . .uhm--I'm mostly Irish and we like ghost stories??????

[patrice]

3. I believe that the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts.

That is to say, I believe that physical systems have emergent properties which may or may not be identified. Whether that is what you mean by mystical or not depends upon your definition of mystical.

[Christof]

5. The definition is open-ended.

Could you elaborate a little bit on what you mean by "emergent properties"? Do you mean something like, to use Star Wars as an example, The Force?

[patrice]

36. In large and complex systems, the interactions amongst a

wide variety of properties that aren't immediately apparent in the properties themselves, but are the result of their relationships within the system.

This is also called "Gestalt".

e.g.? Meaning is an emergent property of the systems that produce it. It is not inherent in the elements of those systems themselves.

[BlueJazz]

6. To paraphrase Groucho Marx:

Any Being that I believe in wouldn't be worth believing in.....

[arwalden]

7. No!

There are no such things as gods, ghosts, spirits, alien VISITORS, angels, Bigfoot, loch-ness monster, etc.

I do believe that there's life in other solar systems and other galaxies. I think that it's very likely to be intelligent life. But considering the age of the universe and the distances involved, we are not being visited by interstellar alien life forms.

[Christof]

8. I already know your answer.

I've seen your posts in The Meeting Room. :P

LOL. :hi:

[arwalden]

18. You Know Me Too Well... Sigh.

I'll have to do a change-up so that I'm not so 'predictable'.

[comradebillyboy]

15. how skeptical of you

but for some belief is helped by evidence

[arwalden]

19. Evidence Indeed...

So far we have none.

[patrice]

37. Lack of what we call evidence is not proof of anything.

In scientific terms, lack of evidence is only lack of evidence. It does not "proove" nor dis-proove anything.

BTW, even "proof" itself is not 100%

[arwalden]

38. Yes, yes... I've Heard That One Before

I think it's most often quoted as "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence."

Unfortunately for those who believe in such magical things, such a statement does not relieve them of having to put forth anything that actually supports their fantastic claims.

Nor does that statement shift the onus to the skeptics. In all cases, the burden of proof will be on those who make the positive claim that some magical thing exists, or that some supernatural thing is true.

In all cases, the skeptic does not rely on an absence of evidence, because it's not the skeptic that has anything to prove. However, in some cases, when contrary evidence exists that disproves or directly contradicts the magical claims, it's entirely appropriate to point it out.

-- Allen

The old "100% certainty" argument has been tried too... to no avail.

[Jokinomx]

22. I am happy that you are so sure of yourself. You covered so many

different topics with your post...and to be so sure on all of them...mmmmm

If your so sure...you MUST have had zero experiences that could have convinced you otherwise. So... if you haven't experienced anything that could have given you first hand knowledge and a different point of view, you must have read or heard somewhere else informaiton to come to your conclusions. What were some of your sources that you used to make so many of these claims.

Just Wondering?

[arwalden]

25. Other Than My Admitted Hypothesis That Alien Lifeforms...

... likely exist on other planets, there is NO evidence to support the claims that such things are true.

You see, I don't have the burden of proving such claims to be true. It's not my responsibility to prove those claims as being false since I'm not the one making the claim.

>>If your so sure...you MUST have had zero experiences that could have convinced you otherwise. So... if you haven't experienced anything that could have given you first hand knowledge and a different point of view, you must have read or heard somewhere else informaiton (sic) to come to your conclusions.<<

You're working from the mistaken premise that such magical things are "known" to be true and UNIVERSALLY accept as such... and you assume that I must have had some sort of awakening experience that I ought to share with others. --- No. That's totally incorrect.

I have no reason to believe such superstitions because nobody has ever provided any sound evidence that supports the fantastic claims.

>> What were some of your sources that you used to make so many of these claims. <<

Being the skeptic, I don't need "sources". Surely you know this, but you're just inappropriately trying to shift the burden of proof. That's just not how it works. The person making the affirmative statement is the one who must demonstrate it to be true.

My question to you is, do YOU have any evidence that you'd like to put forth? (Aside from anecdotal and faith-based "proof".)

>> Just Wondering?<<

Yes, how true. I imagine you would be.

A question was asked, and I answered it. If you'd like to kick this discussion up a notch then, I'll see you down in the Meeting Room.


-- Allen

[Dookus]

9. I believe in one holy

catholic and apostolic gay duck.

[Christof]

10. LOL!

[arwalden]

31. You Always Quack Me Up

ya big poof!

[dogtag]

11. I know for certain

the the Douchebag for Liberty exists because I saw him again today on

Crossfire. Other than him, NO.

[Christof]

12. LOL

You mean him?

[jukes]

13. only myself

i'm afraid. my survival has been mystical, in itself!

sorry i can't help; am an atheist beyond my self-worship...

[Joe Chi Minh]

14. Mystical beings

There were some intriguing anecdotes on the "Mind and Spirit" board on the Salon TableTalk forum, concerning personal experiences in relation to ghosts, some extremely malign, but really a whole range.

One anecdote I found wonderfully quirky and fascinating concerned this woman's cat. Apparently, when he came back as a ghost, he seemed to get a great kick out of standing looking at her, while half on one side of a closed door, while remaining half on the other side. A kind of smart Alec mindset I have no difficulty associating with cats.

[comradebillyboy]

16. no

when one of these things is actually produced in the flesh, i'll consider the evidence

no evidence no belief

[soothsayer]

17. Of course I believe in "the invisible"---that there's more to life than

what is seen.

In tarot cards, the devil makes Mr. Spock's "live long and prosper" sign, which actually means "all you see is all there is"----in other words, the devil snookers you into believing in superficial reality. And if that's all you believe in, then, heck, ANYONE would be depressed!

[mitchum]

20. only John Coltrane

[pbg]

21. Dang! I was just about to say Aretha Franklin.

but Trane too..

[Eternal_Vigilance]

23. UFOs!!!!!!

OMG I USED TO BE OBSSESSED WITH UFOS! I used to read everything about abductions, sightings, Roswell, Area 51, i mean EVERYTHING. It was sooo fascinating and a little bit scary. I was into everything supernatural and paranormal, from the Lock Ness Monster to Bigfoot to crop circles and ghosts. But then a few years ago, i just sorta lost interest. Im still fascinated by it, but not to the same extent.

Fortunately, politics came into to fill the void and i've been a political junkie ever since!

[Jokinomx]

26. Welcome to the Underground Eternal_Vigilance...:-)

I have read tons of books on the topic myself... I am always looking for "new" information... but don't really need to be convinced of anything. There is a book you might be interested in though... if you hadn't read it yet... "The Gods of Eden" by William Bramely. Check it out if you have the time.... :-)

:toast:

[Jokinomx]

24. I feel we are beings of light that are temporarily using physical

bodies. We do this by choice and those who have passed on, visit us on a regular basis. My wife and I have experienced visitations from those who have passed on. We now consider it normal for this to happen ... even though it has only happened three times in the 21 years of us being together.

We can't prove it ... but it is not our responsibility to try to prove it. We know what transpired and that is enough. There are plenty of books and other people who have had similar experiences. The problem most people don't like to talk about it. I have personally spoken to several people that have had similar experiences to ours. As humans continue to mature, more people will experience this phenomenon.

It is part of our evolution.

Until you have been visited by someone presenting themselves as being of light... you will never quite understand what an event like that does to a person. It changes you.

It really isn't a necessity for anyone to come to this understanding ... but it does help answer sooooo many questions that a person has wondered in his/her life....starting as a child.

We are all on a journey... traveling through space, on the third rock from the sun.....and we all are having a hell of a ride...:-)

[jonnyblitz]

27. ha. of course not.. n/t

[tjdee]

28. I'd tend to think so. Course, I've seen Wings of Desire, LOL...

It's hard to shake that scene of the angels in the library (uh LOL, unless that's not where they were!)...

But seriously. To me there has to be something more than this mortal coil as it were, and of course it is unexplainable at this time. It's like, people used to believe the world was flat. People used to believe the devil made you sick. We just don't know all that is. Haven't you people ever seen Pi, LOL?

Why do I believe in these beings (particularly for me, a God and angels/demons)? I just do. The same way I know air is there even though I can't see it. And I've of course witnessed the requisite miracles, minor though they may have been. The mere fact that we are able to think and dream, to me, says a lot.

Of course there is a level of tinfoil hattery to the whole business...which brings to mind Karl Rove screwing with Mr. Hatfield, and (if they were forged, which they're NOT)'the memos', the truth wrapped fictitiously....
And I would add that the mixing of truth with fiction is not exclusive to politics.

[Christof]

30. Pi?

Yeah, I've seen pi. Pi equals 3.14159265358979323846264... :evilgrin:

Anyways, I know what you mean. Dreaming and thinking isn't common to any other being on this planet. It's weird.

And another thing about that...our brain can hold an infinite amount of information in a finite space (our head). According to science, that's impossible. So, I believe that we have a soul which keeps our memories and intellect and whatnot.

[gmoney]

29. "God's my favorite fictional character." -- Homer Simpson

Wisdom...

[truthspeaker]

32. No.

[noonwitch]

33. I believe in possibilities, but am skeptical of most claims

I love good ghost stories and I do believe that ghosts are possible. The same with spirits. There are some things that occur that defy scientific explaination.

Certainly, in an infinite universe, life on other planets most likely exists somewhere. That doesn't mean I believe people's claims of alien abduction.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

34. If I did, I wouldn't post it here.

Classic flamewar territory, I'm afraid.

[mairceridwen]

35. Yes

As a rogue feminist minister I believe strongly that such things exist; that there are things which defy rational scientific explanation. I don't believe in all the things you listed neccessarily, but yes, mystical beings of some kind...whether they exist as phenomena that people experience and/or *something* that is beyond the limits of our perception, something radically unknowable.

Read Fortean Times: http://www.forteantimes.com/

Also, my partner has Yeti ancestry