OK- can you explain the popularity of Michael Jackson then?
I Dare you!!!
And here I thought evil would look more like Elizabeth Dole.
:rolleyes:
I do believe that evil exists, but not as an external force of some sort, but rather as an aspect or potential of the individual mind. I generally don’t play with things that are considered occult in nature, as I don’t think it’s a game to explore those aspects of the mind. As a species, we often seem to be a suggestible lot who can talk ourselves into anything, including extremely unpleasant perspectives.
I don’t suggest that people should not examine or acknowledge their own darker aspects, (and by acknowledge, I in no way mean act out), as denial of self knowledge doesn’t seem to be too healthy either. But I would hope that it wouldn’t get treated as a parlor trick or party game. If someone is truly interested in further exploring more hidden corners of the mind, they would probably be better served by doing so through meditation or dream journals.
I don’t believe in that stuff, really. Although, I will admit I’ll watch any documentary about it, because I think it makes for one hell of a story. It’s interesting, but not real.
I think most of the supernatural, New Age neo-pagan stuff is kind of hoky, myself, perhaps because it’s so trendy. Like if you watch the people who think they have mystical powers and are vampires and all that.
Still, it’s the same reason why I like watching “In Search Of”, even though it’s fake. I like the stories.
I do believe in spirits-guardian angels, in a way-in that our loved ones are still with us, and are guiding us and all that. But that’s about it.
Whoa! Logic check:
You believe in spirits and guardian angels, and that the spirits of the dead are guiding you, yet you dismiss a perfectly valid religion (Paganism)? Uh, wanna explain that, please?
No, not paganism as a religion. Just the whole trendy movement you see nowadays-you know, the Teen Witch types? The ones who watch Charmed and think that they can cast luv spells and what have you.
I’m sorry-I should have used a different phrase. I didn’t know how to describe it exactly.
My bad-I appologize. Sincerely.
OIC! Just a miscommunication. Yeah, I know what you mean: a 19-year-old of my acquaintance once solemnly confided in me, “I have a spell for making fire.” In the same tone of voice I replied, “I have a lighter.”
Cervaise, that’s a fascinating theory you have there about placeholders. Would you say that as we become more and more sophisticated that people will become more and more superstitious? Or are we already seeing this in the resurgence of religious fervour?
Gracious me that’s funny! This is related to featherlou’s question, there seems to be a correlation between periods of historical and technological growth and the resurgence of popular belief in the supernatural and otherworldly. The invention of photographic technology in 1839 might be an example of this, as after the Civil War there was a cultural interest in the dead and the afterlife. Trick photography that showed phantom images–“extras”–seated behind or floating near the posed subjects both increased and confirmed belief in the supernatural and ghostly.
Well, I don’t know if I’m qualified to make predictions, for two reasons: First, it starts getting into philosophies of thought, and my background in philosophy comes from An Incomplete Education and other “teach yourself the basics” type sources. And second, it posits a rather counterintuitive view of the world – to wit, you’d think that with the ever-expanding amount of information available, people would take advantage of it and rationality would spread, but we see the opposite, and my hypothesis is sort of a reaction to that. I’m not confident enough in myself as a thinker to offer up the hypothesis for consideration in its own Great Debates thread (or maybe IMHO); I’ve seen enough half-baked notions get torn to shreds pretty fast to warn me away. That doesn’t mean I think it actually is a half-baked idea; it just means I don’t think I’ve got the chops to present it in a way that makes it seem anything but half-baked.
Roughly, though, even with the caveat above, I honestly don’t think superstition and supernaturalism will ever completely go away. Locking onto an early explanation, even an incorrect one, is sort of the default human thought pattern, in my view. As illustration, here’s another example: If I flip a coin and get heads, how does that affect the odds of getting heads on the next flip? The correct answer, of course, is that it doesn’t; each flip is its own event, and the odds are the same for each. But be honest: How many people do you think will give that answer because they know intellectually, and have been told repeatedly, that it’s the right one, but will still secretly harbor some deep, barely articulated suspicion that the coin is in reality more likely to come up tails?
Our brains compulsively seek patterns, and overapply observations in a generalized way; we’ll never get away from that. We can learn to recognize it, but it’s a constant battle against our own instincts. Most people will never be conscious of this, because it isn’t “natural” (whatever that means), and thus I don’t think the species as a whole will ever shift into rationalism, or at least in the short to medium term (a few hundred years, say). It just isn’t the way we’re wired.
Well, I do believe that there are more things in heaven and hell than are dreamt of in our technologies, and I also believe in the great power of the human subconscious. But in any area, there is bound to be a high moron percentage, and magic/Paganism is no exception.