So...How much of "the unknown" do you believe in?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
21

I believe there probably is life on other planets. However, I’ve never seen any credible evidence that any aliens have visited Earth.

I believe Oswald, acting alone, shot Kennedy. I don’t think Johnson, Castro, the Mafia, the Vietnamese, homosexuals, the KGB, the CIA, the KKK, the FBI, or anyone else was involved in any conspiracy. However, I think it’s possible that the FBI may have concealed some evidence about this case after the fact to protect its image.

I think it’s possible that Edward de Vere wrote the Shakespeare plays.

I think it’s possible Aaron Burr was up to no good in Louisiana.

I’m not sure about the whole Sacco and Venzetti thing.

I don’t believe in ESP, ghosts, dragons, vampires, werewolves, bigfeet, or the existence of anything bigger than a salmon living in Loch Ness.

22

Extraterrestrials exist. Some of them are probably intelligent. None have ever visited Earth.

Other than that, I don’t believe in anything unproven. No bigfoots (bigfeet?), no Nessies, no ESP, no astrology, no Heaven/Hell, no ghosts.

23

I think that there may possibly be, somewhere out there, large sea creatures of the sea serpent and pleiosaur (a.k.a. “Loch Ness Monster”) types still alive from the Mesozoic that we just haven’t found yet. But not that one or more of them live in Loch Ness. Of course, I don’t know much about oceanography or marine biology, so my idea could be completely unfounded. I don’t believe in any of the other things usually found in those “The Unexplained” type books.

24

I don’t know, do you really not believe in anything that hasn’t been proven? Scientists, despite years of inconclusive theories, have yet to fully determine the reasons why some people are homosexual and others are left-handed. They believe that it is genetic, but they admit to not finding those genes yet. Since there’s no proof that there are reasons that some people are gay and some are lefties, do you think they don’t exist? To me, believing that there is no reason for either because there’s no proof seems more like a leap of faith than believing that the reasons are simply as of yet unknown. Science is full of the as of yet unprovable.

25

“If you walk around with an open mind, people are going to stuff garbage into it.”

Our guidance counsellor always said that, I don’t know where he got it from.

Aliens
I believe that they might have existed or will exist, but I don’t think we will ever meet them. I think the chances of two space-exploring races existing at the same time and actually locating each other are pretty slim.

Still… I’m not certain. It’s not something that presses me. If I get my anus probed, there’s usually a very terrestrial reason.

**Dragons[/b}
Here I don’t believe in the European dragon. I don’t really believe in the Oriental dragon, either, but it’s more likely than the European one.

ESP
I believe that people can be so self-aware and knowledgable of their surroundingss that they can percieve and anticipate things that they layman can’t. I don’t believe it’s in any way mystical, I think it’s more a practised skill. Reading minds? No. Predicting the future? No (well, yes and no. It can be done, but only through vagueries). By anticipating things that the layman can’t, I refer to the actions of other living things. High monks are good at this. Successful generals are good at this. Chess players are good at this. Con artists are good at this. Primitive healers have a sensitivity for the nuances of the body.

I think that because the average person is too dense and ignorant to understand how this works, they attribute it to something magical.

I believe many beliefs, such as astrology, stemmed from a few people who were very good empaths and could only think of the heavens as an explanation.

Ghosts
My mother claims she was twice visited by the ghost of her uncle. At the time this happened, my mother was also in a set of some of the most terrible, grueling circumstances imaginable, so I’m not sure what to think.

I have not seen a ghost.

Bermuda Triangle
Do I believe there is a Bermuda Triangle? Yes. Do I believe aliens are behind it? No, see above. Do I believe anything mystical about it? No, as I believe magic is just how we percieve someone who is really good at doing things we can’t. Do I believe something is amiss in the Bermuda Triangle? I don’t know. I don’t think about it much. Things have stopped disappearing, perhaps correlating with the improvement of airplanes.

Bigfoot
Check out:
http://www.canoe.ca/CNEWSWeirdNews0106/19_bigfoot-ap.html

I don’t know what to think about this one. It’s unlikely, but… I don’t know. I need to read more about the topic from skeptics. Is there an explanation for what could leave these tracks?

Can anyone recommend a good site on this? My interest is piqued.

Loch Ness Monster
I’m almost willing to believe in Bigfoot more than the Loch Ness Monster. Bigfoot seems to have a kind of integrity. Because he’s nomadic (“Well, no wonder we haven’t found him. He keeps moving away from us.”) a tourism industry hasn’t been able to get set up around him.

But I’d be more willing to believe in the Loch Ness Monster than Ogopogo.

Crop Circles
Haven’t the hoaxers come forward and demonstrated how they did some of it?

I’m assuming it’s all “jibber jabber”, in the words of the illustrious Mr. T. Is there any record of crop circles before aliens became en vogue? Again something I’ve avoided because scientists say no and millions of people who live in their parent’s basements say yes.

Withcraft
See above for mysticysm.

I believe people who were very perceptive were called witches because they found a way to live that was much more “in tune” with the image we want to be. Evil. Bad.

I also believe there are people who call themselves witches as a political or religious shell. If a person calls themselves a witch, I don’t think they’re a witch. If a person is called a witch, I might consider them a bit more intuitive to the workings of the world than I.

Iridology
I’ve met people who don’t believe in this. I’m not sure if I believe in iridology, but I believe in my iridologist. He tells me things about myself that he simply shouldn’t know.

He tells me my left shin is chipped.

He tells me my left knee has been paining me now and then.

Tells me I had a cold recently and how it affected me.

He tells me genetic traits of my ascendants that are more difficult to predict than hair colour. I.e. he said I have a genetic disposition to a weak heart. Makes sense, most of my relatives on both sides of the family have heart problems.

And many other strange and wondrous things that he simply shouldn’t know.

I believe he is so perceptive towards people that, even if iridology is a sham, he makes it work. He could probably make astrology work if, he’s just that empathic.

Vampires and Werewolves
I believe there were people who exhibited vampiric tendencies. I once read a book called BIZARRE DISEASES OF THE MIND that had a crapload of scientific explanations for, and examples of, people drinking blood.

I believe in Lyncanthropy, and perhaps other werewolf tendencies (though I can’t think of any at the moment. They were all in the aforementioned BIZARRE DISEASES OF THE MIND), but not some anthropomorphic being.

26

This is not a good example. The why may still be in doubt but there is objective evidence that both groups exist. As a result, I can tell you for certain that they are gays and lefties in the world (and even some gay lefties), but in neither case can I tell you why. I can only posit the theory that seems to have the best evidence behind it at the time.

To be honest, in each of the fringe beliefs you mentioned (assuming you meant earth visiting aliens and not the type SETI is in search of), there is no plausible proof of existence. If you have some, present it. In the absence of any reason to believe these things exist, I’ll once again give my answer: they don’t.

27

Well, I believe in the soul, the cock, the pussy, the small of a woman’s back, the hanging curve ball, high fiber, good scotch, that the novels of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent, overrated crap. I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. I believe there ought to be a constitutional amendment outlawing Astroturf and the designated hitter. I believe in the sweet spot, soft-core pornography, opening your presents Christmas morning rather than Christmas Eve and I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last three days.

All that other crap? Not a bit, except for extraterrestrial life but I don’t believe they’re in orbit sticking things up people’s asses.

[sub]Hey! Who’re you? Where’d you come from? How’d you get in here? What’s with that giant forehead? What are you going to do with that thiiiiiiiiiing!?![/sub]

28

I wouldn’t count that, Cruncy. After all, the Vietnamese knew they were there. It’s not a new species that nobody knew about or could prove existed…

29

Why was God(s) left off the OP and every other post there after?

30

About the only thing I’ve seen so far on this topic that I’ll buy is “Aliens” but only in the sense of “there is probably some form of life elsewhere in the universe.” I’m not yet convinced that such life has arrived at Earth.

I try to be a good skeptic and say that I don’t disbelieve in these things, I just haven’t yet seen any convincing evidence for their existence. However, with some things, there’s only so many times you can listen to the same kook claims until you say, “No, I’m sorry, we can close the book on that, it’s done, it’s over, it doesn’t exist.”

What I firmly don’t believe in is shrugging your shoulders and saying, “Well, since I don’t hold the sum total of all possible knowledge in my head, I guess I’m forced to believe in these currently unproven things!” I think we can make healthy extrapolations based on current evidence.

31

God, angels, heaven (I’m not sure about the definition of hell yet), extraterrestrial life (visited? eh, maybe).

I do believe there is a lot of the spiritual side of life that we don’t know enough about yet because we haven’t arrived at a point, scientifically, to be able to study it correctly. Make sense?

32

Well, I believe the children are our future. We have to teach them well, and let them lead the way, and to show them the beauty they posses inside.

Lets give them a sense of pride to make this easier, and let the childrens laughter remind us how we used to be.

[sub]Runs and hides…[/sub]

:smiley:

33

Lack of evidence, compared to things like Bigfoot and Dragons. I mean, people have video of Bigfoot, fer chrissakes. When was the last time God showed up on Meet the Press?

34

Aliens, yes, although I doubt they’ve been buzzing around the earth. Just based on how darn big the universe is it seems likely to me there’s some other form of life out there (or has been), and unlikely they’ll be stopping by for a visit anytime soon.

Ghosts, undecided but doubtful. The only reason this is not an unqualified “no” is that I once saw a person that wasn’t there, and the guy next to me saw it as well. I think it was just a weird reflection off a window but I’m not sure.

ESP, no. I go with the idea that some people are very empathetic and can pick up on small clues that others miss, but I don’t believe genuine ESP exists. If it does, let’s see someone claim that million dollar prize from Randi.

Crop cirles, no. There have maybe been a very few instances where simple ones were caused by a small whirlwind or microburst or something similar, but those big elaborate patterns? Man-made.

Bigfoot, no. Yes, there have been some relatively large mammals “discovered” in just the past few years but under different circumstances. As rugged as the Pacific northwest is, it’s not a jungle, and there have been lots of loggers, trappers, etc. tramping through it for a while now. And as someone else pointed out it’s not that the species of deer discovered was unknown to the locals, it was just unknown to the world at large.

Nessie, no. And frankly that’s too bad, I love the idea of a sea monster swimming around in that loch. What finally convinced me (aside from the lack of any firm evidence) was an analysis I read of how much food was available in the loch and how much it would take to sustain any viable breeding population of creatures the size of Nessie. Unless these things are nuclear powered, it just doesn’t work. On the other hand I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to find out there’s some big ocean-going beastie we haven’t found yet.

Any ancient structure (the pyramids, the Sphinx, the Nazca lines, the heads on Easter Island, or anything else) being built by aliens? Nope. The lost city of Atlantis? Nope. A vast buried treasure on Oak Island? Nope. “Worlds in Collision”? Nope.

Elvis/JFK/RFK/MLK/Lennon/Morrison/Joplin/Diana? All still dead.

It’s too bad, as the world would be a more interesting place if at least a few of these things were real, but such is life.

35

Things I believe:

  • There is life out there somewhere among the stars, but they’re not coming here and harvesting cattle rectums.
  • Crop circles are made by a bunch of guys with ropes and 2x4’s.
  • John Edward is a fraud.
  • Miss Cleo doesn’t exist. What you’re actually seeing is swamp gas, or perhaps the planet Venus.
  • The face on Mars issue is over. It’s a hill. Deal with it, and move on. No, those aren’t ancient glass subway tubes, either.
  • There are no ghosts. If some sort of spirit lives on after death, I’d be off exploring the mysteries of the universe, not hanging around here with you chumps.
  • There is no Loch Ness monster. Nothing that big could live in such a small area and remain undetected for so long.
  • Bigfoot is very highly unlikely to exist, but I doubt it for the same reasons Nessie doesn’t exist.
  • The government isn’t spraying us with chemtrails.
  • There was no Badge Man on the grassy knoll.
  • There is no ESP, remote viewing, telekinesis, or clairvoyance.
  • There is no magic, or majick, or however however you want to spell it.
  • There was a Santa Claus, but he died flying a sortie in 'Nam.
  • Big Oil isn’t keeping the 100-mpg carburetor or turbine engine down.
  • Atlantis is not laying on the bottom of the ocean.
  • A woodchuck would chuck 900 cubic feet (or about 7 cords) of wood per year, if it could.
36

Ghosts

Overall, I don’t beleive in them. I beleive people have ‘personal ghosts’ that visit them that aren’t really ghosts per se. But there are no ghosts haunting houses. I notice that most account of historical based ghost make a lot of mistakes.

Aliens

Sure there’s aleins out there somewhere. But not buzzing around our skies. I notice that in spite of the proliferation of video cameras and the like, the number of ‘UFO’ photos and such has gone down quite a bit inthe past few years. What is left is just a handful of old, poorly detailed accounts. Roswell is nothing more than a money-mkaing machine for people who’s memory seems to get conveniently better with every passing year.

Bigfoot

Forget it. Bigfoot is just a legend like the Yeti, Swamp Monster, Jersey Devil. No evidence worthy to date.

Loch Ness

Nope. They’ve already pointed out how the Loch doesn’t have enough oxygen to support such a monster. Every search ash turned up nothing. Photos from the 70’s were overenhanced to look better.

ESP

Folks have been looking for years and have not been able to find it. There’s a cool million from Randi waiting for the person who does.

Oh and I am certain Shakespeare wrote Shakespear’s works.

And Oswald acted alone.

37

Hey everybody, there’s a classic sig line going wanting…

38

I’m sorry, I guess I worded that badly. I wasn’t implying that you didn’t believe in gays or lefties. The “they” is supposed to refer to “reasons that some people are” not to the groups of people themselves.

39

The Loch Ness Monster? I’m still waiting for that Giant Squid. I feel like every year we’re getting assurances from the Discovery Channel that we’re on the verge of Giant Squidness, but every time is just another crushing disappointment. There are little teasers during Shark Week. There are reports of the Giant Squid, which turn out to be grainy photos of Dead Squid, possibly Giant, Parts. I know people are fed up with frivolous lawsuits, but if I could figure out who to sue over these empty Giant Squid promises, I would.

I am refusing to believe in absolutely everything until someone produces a Giant Squid. If Bigfoot wants to talk business, he’d better ante up with a Giant Squid.

40

Without knowing how likely it was that life happened the one time we know about it is impossible to determine if the odds indicate that other life had/does/will exist. A decent overview of this that I read recently was Are We Alone by Paul Davies.

I come down in favor of thinking that live probably has/does/will exist somewhere in the universe other than here. I also think it is quite possible that we are the only live within our galaxy at this moment (it really depends on the variables which I can’t even begin to assess). Or possibly even within the horizon of our ability to see.

The odds are almost zero, in my opinion, that we are being visisted by extra-terrestrials of any sort. Evidence of extra-terrestrial life, in my opinion is most likely to be microscopic or mechanical. In my opinion, I am saying in my opinion too much.

But of the list presented, aliens are the mostly likely to be proven, in my opinion.

Ghosts: No evidence they exist, and no phenomena requiring their existence in order to be explained.

Bigfoot: I grew up in Washington, I spent much time hiking some pretty out of the way places. One thing about a place as modernized and as populated as the United States is that there aren’t many places you can go that many people haven’t gone before. Its possible that an individual large mammal could go its whole life without crossing paths with people. However, we are talking about a creature sighted throughout the Pacific Northwest and well up into Canada. I just find it horribly unlikely.

Loch Ness Monster types: Depends on how broadly you define “types”. If you mean, large aquatic creature previously uknown then I will concede it is possible, if not too likely anymore. If you mean a large, air-breathing aquatic creature, then it is much less likely. If you mean a large, air-breathing aquatic creature living in a lake in a well populated, well explored area, then I am going to say no.

There is not enough bio-mass in Loch Ness (nor in most lakes) to feed a creature the reported size of the Loch Ness monster. And keep in mind that if this is some leftover dinosaur, then there was a population of them in that lake great enough to maintain the line for millions of years. Even supposing the Loch Ness Monster is the final individual of some unkown species, it is really starting to push the envelope for lifespan.

Combine this with the failure to produce convincing photographic evidence and the failure of repeated sonar arrays I just don’t see it happening.

ESP: Nope, I don’t even see this one evolving. I don’t know why so many people think this is the obvious evolutionary path for humanity. A) There is no obvious evolutionary path. B) Such an evolutionary change would require that there be some physical force that can be manipulated through chemical reactions in the brain. Until someone can even develop a theory that would explain a physical mechanism for ESP, I’m not sure how people jump to the conclusion that we’ll evolve it.

wishbone: You made a claim that is easily tested (and has been tested many times). You claim you can tell when someone is watching you. Are you willing to have this claim tested?

Magic and God fall into the same category as Ghosts. Except for pagans, neo-pagans, New Agers, etc., who define “magic” so broadly as to mean “rituals I follow to change how I feel.” If that is “magic” then “magic” exists; however, in that case, homemade macaroni and cheese is my magic.

The phenomena involved here fall into two categories.

A) Possible within the understood rules of our universe, just unlikely.

B) Not possible within the understood rules of our universe, would require serious re-evaluation or expansion of that understanding.

In my opinion (there it is again), aliens visiting earth, loch ness monster type (defined broadly), and bigfoot fall into category A.

Ghosts, ESP, God, and magic fall into category B.