Only a few people seemed to support the idea that the dead can contact the living- or at least said “It cannot be proven that they can’t.”
They are right. But what about people who say stuff like the following (my story)
A friend of mine died almost a year ago. I remember that on his birthday, somebody gave him a big squishy red teletubby and a crowbar. I liked it a lot more than he did, and all night I kept hugging that teletubby.
He was the friend who said to me, when I was covered with embarrassing self-inflicted wounds- “What’s the matter? Not getting enough attention?” And made me laugh at myself and learn to quit doing that shit.
Well, earlier this summer I was at a Toys R Us during a really bad time for me. I was walking quickly but i stopped short at the baby toy aisle- where there was a large bunch of red squishy teletubbies. I picked one up and hugged it and hugged it and hugged it- then I whispered “thanks.”
When I came home, my roommate noticed I looked a little less distraught and i said “That’s because Christian said hi to me today.”
Now, I know a stodgy ol’ scientist would say
“The subject merely spotted a stimulus that triggered memories of the departed…”
So? Who’s really to say that it wasn’t somebody’s way of saying hello? What was I doing in a Toys R Us that day anyway? Why did I walk to the baby aisle? How come I stopped when i saw a flash of red out of the corner of my eye?
I do love science, but I also believe that the dead talk to us all the time-
We just have to listen more.
For example, every time there’s a disaster, someone says ‘I dreamt that would happen.’
Unfortunately these people never say ‘I dreamt there would be an air crash - but there wasn’t!’
I expect the latter happens all the time - but no one bothers to mention it.
I’m sorry about your friend. You obviously miss him.
OK, you still remember the red teletubby and the crowbar. You go into a toyshop, where, of course, red teletubbies are sold. When you see one, it reminds you of your friend.
I’m sorry, this shows nothing to confirm any theory of the dead being able to contact us.
Have you been in any other toyshops? Did you see a red teletubby in them?
Why didn’t your friend ‘show’ you a crowbar? That would be unusual.
Please don’t take offence at any of the above. I get upset at genuine people like yourself, who might be exploited by charlatans who claim they can contact the dead (and just want your money).
I have had several incidents of the “dead saying hello”, but since this phenomenon is usually viewed as crazy and mocked, I’d rather not share them here. Suffice to say I am absolutely convinced that the dead DO speak. Of that I have NO doubt.
Some believe the dead can contact us, some believe they can’t. Since we all pretty much agree that it can’t be proven one way or the other, why don’t we just share in each other’s experiences and appreciate them? I thought Turpentine’s story was beautiful, and I think it should be appreciated for what it was, not torn apart by skeptical questions and comments. Whether his friend really did send him a message, or whether Turp’s subconscious found a touching way to make him feel better, I cannot say. But the main point is this:
** at the end of the day, Turpentine felt better than he had in a while. **
I don’t pretend to know the reasons for this. And I won’t tell you whether or not I believe the dead can contact us. But I will say that I thought Turp’s experience was a special one - no matter what the source - and that he is very brave to share it here.
Ok, now gather round for a few choruses of “Kumbayah”…
I didn’t want to add it to the discussion in the Great Debates because I know that it is waaaayyyy to easy to be pulled apart and I have no way to defend it.
What I was wondering was along the lines of what Milossarian said, about how he had lost somebody and he knew that if that friend COULD contact him, he would have by now.
It made me so sad. Then I remembered how I heard Christian say hello by pointing me towards the awful teletubbies.
It’s a very personal thing that really cannot be shared among the masses, but I decided to put it in anyway, because even if it got pulled apart, there may have been some people who might get something out of it.
Mr. Milo might have been greeted by his friend, but just didn’t notice, or dismissed it the way mine can easily be dismissed.
I wonder if silly people or hyperactive imaginative people see these things more than others because they are- silly and hyperactively imaginative- or maybe they are that way because they can pick up on something more readiily than those who are more sensible.
Then again, even if it is MPSIMS, it’s still the Straight Dope and I know that we are not into whimsy here.
Sorry.
And I wasn’t telling this story as evidence that the dead do speak.
And yes, that con man on TV is an evil person for screwing with people’s emotions this way. The loved ones fo the departed are the ones who can communicate with the dead.
I’ve watched the guy in question on the other thread, John Edward a few times. It seems from his “readings” that the dead know what we are doing most of the time. He’ll make references to people going on trips, coming back from trips, going away to college, all manner of “living things” etc. So this is what seems a little creepy to me…Does my Nanny know what me the BF were doing up in my room last Saturday night? Don’t get me wrong but there are some things I just don’t think I want my Nanny to know, dead or alive. You can bet I won’t be one of those folks in the “Gallery”. My Nanny was one of those strong personality types. I can see her now giving me shit and embarassing the hell out of me from the afterlife.
As I posted, ‘Please don’t take offence … I get upset at genuine people like yourself, who might be exploited by charlatans who claim they can contact the dead (and just want your money).’
I appreciate that Turpentine remembers his friend with affection, and that being reminded of him by the toy made Turpentine feel better.
That’s a large part of what makes us decent human beings.
My worry is that there are plenty of people willing to exploit such feelings for money.
So please offer your stories of contact, because it’s very important if it’s possible for the dead to contact us.
But it’s not ‘mocking’ to ask for some proof of such an important claim.
Scarlett67?
Zette?
Of course it can be proven. We just need ONE case with some evidence.
I’m sorry, but seeing something (in it’s usual place) that reminds you of someone is not evidence of anything.
I know this is a very emotional subject, and I have no wish to upset anyone. But it is a public message board.
I’ve had a few experiences that can’t be chalked up to wishful thinking or coincidence, so I have to say that I believe the dead do contact the living.
Do they do it through mediums? No. I will only believe that when a stranger comes up to me on the street and says, “Is your name Cheryl? Well, I’m a medium and your brother Peter wants to say hi, that he’s having fun playing with Hamlet and Joey, and that Grandma and Aunt Louise are taking care of him.” Only then will I believe that the living can contact the dead and process verbal messages.
Hey, i’m not offended at all, I just knew that this was not the sort of thing that can really ever be proven.
I was just sharing something for whatever it was worth, and what i thought. I was not trying to start a debate or say “Look what happened to me- this PROVES that the dead can talk to us!”
Yes, I agree it can’t be proven and it makes no sense that I should interpret seeing a toy at a toy store (except I don’t know why the hell I was in there in the first place)
as somebody talking to me.
This was just a thought, a thing i wanted to share.
If you want to argue about it, I suggest you go the thread that I linked in the OP.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by glee *
**So please offer your stories of contact, because it’s very important if it’s possible for the dead to contact us.
But it’s not ‘mocking’ to ask for some proof of such an important claim.
Scarlett67?
Zette?
Well, glee, I’ll agree that proof would be nice. Unfortunately, I have no physical proof – just the word of Mr. Scarlett, who is straight as an arrow and would have been the first to scoff (as would I) if someone had told him a story that involved what he experienced. And we are not space cadets in any sense of the word.
Here is the eminently mockable part: He was contacted by our dead dog.
Still want to hear it, or are you doubled over laughing?
I think it’s safe to speak for my wife, who does believe in contact, as well as myself, who doesn’t, that we would love to hear your stories. That’s the kind of discussion I was hoping for, in part, by starting the GD thread. Stories such as yours are what I’m looking for.
Though I absolutely don’t believe in mediums, psychics or seances, I think that people sometimes get help that they need, and that may have happened for Turpentine. Most often it comes in the form what a priest acquaintance of mine calls “graced coincidences” – when there’s no supernatural explanation needed, but things seem somehow to be nudged into place at the right time.
