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Thrice · 05-04-2009, 01:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Veridical Fiction

I observed something recently that made me evaluate the line that divides ignorance and superstition, and tried to visualize the distance between those shores without being blinded by the invariably murky waters between them.
I didn't get far.

The scenario:
I was lying in bed and I heard the door knob to my room rattle as though someone were trying to open it. I wasn't asleep, and no one else was in the house.
The process:
My first thought was "someone's trying to open my door".
The following thought was "no one is here but me".
The third thought that followed became:
The superstition:
Is there a supernatural force causing my door to rattle?

Now, I'm a huge skeptic of all things paranormal. But due to not having an explanation at the time, my instinct was to challenge my own belief system to provide an answer.
Are my beliefs set in such a shakeable foundation? Are everyone's?

I was able to recover my questionably infallible sense of logic when, upon inspection, I remembered that my printer makes a rattling noise when it auto-aligns itself after a period of inactivity. It sounds like a door knob.
And it's sitting on a shelf, right next to my door.

I'm using that experience as a way to ask these questions:
Is superstition merely a comfort, or just a stand-in solution to a riddle until it's finally solved?
How do believers in the paranormal justify their stance? Have they had experiences they can't explain, or never had an experience and just believe because it fits their way of thinking?

I know what youre saying, I feel the same. I think its because it is always in the back of my mind. If there was no initial idea what so ever of paranormal events or activity in our minds, I think these thoughts wouldnt even canoe down our stream of conciousness. I had a semi-similar experience last night. I had a crazy ass dream about gremlins. Then when I was awake I was terrified that they might be in my house. I logically ismissed the entire thought knowing 100% it was a dream, yet I was still pretty scared. The best part is they were only like a foot tall, so in real life I would have just kicked the shit out of them. This also pertains in the slightest degree of how I feel about people that 'hallucinate' on MJ. I have had a few strange experiences on it where I thought I might have seen something out of the corner of my eye, but I didnt believe it. I think thats the difference between real hallucinations. While tripping, I definently believe whole heartedly the event that didnt eally occur, or even the object that I didnt really see. Something that sort of ties in, but is an opposite of the original discussion, is an experience I had not too long ago while experimenting with research chems. I was outside walking through the woods/graveyard at about 3am and saw a man standing there smoking a cig. I tried talking to him but he didnt talk back at all. As I approached him, I realized maybe I was just hallucinating, but had a very difficult time dismissing it from my mind. In this instance I knew I was more positive it was real then false, and this event confuses me about reality. Maybe it was a ghost! Kidding, sorry for gettin so off track. Twas a long Natty Light night.