---Introduce yourself---

Hello everyone, I'm Whiskers! After falling into the pit called an "existential crisis" (still in it by the way), I started doing some research on what this whole circus is about and what will happen when the tents finally close and the clowns go home. I've looked into the the cases suggestive of reincarnation (I believe these are the strongest evidence in favor of survival), afterlife communication, mediums, paranormal activity, and NDEs (I'm still looking into these more, but I'm on the fence a little because of the little annoying voice at the back of my head who doesn't know when to hush). After discovering Jim Tuckers segment on Skeptiko, I decided to join the forums with the hopes of finding out the truth. Now please forgive me if my knowledge of science/quantum mechanics is lacking, as a graphic artist my forte has always been art. I can create you a beautiful logo to start your first restaurant, but I can't really put my thoughts into words when it comes to complex subjects such as the above without sounding like an infant trying to speak for the first time. However, I will try to the best of my abilities! I hope discussing these topics with like minded folk will help me climb out of the pit I have found myself in.
 
Hello everyone, I'm Whiskers! After falling into the pit called an "existential crisis" (still in it by the way), I started doing some research on what this whole circus is about and what will happen when the tents finally close and the clowns go home. I've looked into the the cases suggestive of reincarnation (I believe these are the strongest evidence in favor of survival), afterlife communication, mediums, paranormal activity, and NDEs (I'm still looking into these more, but I'm on the fence a little because of the little annoying voice at the back of my head who doesn't know when to hush). After discovering Jim Tuckers segment on Skeptiko, I decided to join the forums with the hopes of finding out the truth. Now please forgive me if my knowledge of science/quantum mechanics is lacking, as a graphic artist my forte has always been art. I can create you a beautiful logo to start your first restaurant, but I can't really put my thoughts into words when it comes to complex subjects such as the above without sounding like an infant trying to speak for the first time. However, I will try to the best of my abilities! I hope discussing these topics with like minded folk will help me climb out of the pit I have found myself in.
Welcome Whiskers!

I find it a bit strange writing that, because we used to have a cat with your name!

You sound like you will enjoy the forum, and you certainly don't need to worry if your quantum mechanics is a bit rusty (!!) - this place is for anyone who takes the nature of consciousness (including the question of what happend after death) at all seriously.

Feel free to write about your existential crisis if you think it will help you, or maybe be of more general interest.

David
 
Welcome Whiskers!

I find it a bit strange writing that, because we used to have a cat with your name!

You sound like you will enjoy the forum, and you certainly don't need to worry if your quantum mechanics is a bit rusty (!!) - this place is for anyone who takes the nature of consciousness (including the question of what happend after death) at all seriously.

Feel free to write about your existential crisis if you think it will help you, or maybe be of more general interest.

David

Thank you for the kind welcome! I too used to have a cat named Whiskers! He was my first cat growing up.

I really don't know if writing about my crisis will help, but I'm willing to give it a shot. As a child I grew up in a Christian household, yet I didn't believe any of it. (Thinking back, I wish I did as I believe I wouldn't be in this predicament now if I was a believer of some religion). Growing up, I was able to lock away my thoughts on what I am and my own mortality until a few months ago when those thoughts broke free. I was outside looking at the stars when suddenly I randomly thought to myself "One day, you will never see beauty like this again. You will die and the universe will go on until it eventually ends too." (though it may not for all we know) Since then, nihilistic thoughts have been sapping away all the joy and beauty I used to see in life and its wonders. I've since looked into many studies, such as those I've listed above, with hopes of restoring those lost feelings. However, I'm still not sure what the grand scheme of things is. Is there an afterlife? Will I be reincarnated? Is my conscious and sense of self separate from my brain? Or am I no different from the beetle I accidentally stepped on while on my way to work, now dead and forgotten to the world forever.

Sorry for the rant, posting it did help some. I can't keep these thoughts bottled up without it eating me up inside. I know questions like these have plagued the minds of people for countless years, so I'm not sure they will be answered any time soon. All we can do is to keep researching with the hopes of finding an answer to the biggest question known to man. I just hope there is a happy ending.
 
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Thank you for the kind welcome! I too used to have a cat named Whiskers! He was my first cat growing up.

I really don't know if writing about my crisis will help, but I'm willing to give it a shot. As a child I grew up in a Christian household, yet I didn't believe any of it. (Thinking back, I wish I did as I believe I wouldn't be in this predicament now if I was a believer of some religion). Growing up, I was able to lock away my thoughts on what I am and my own mortality until a few months ago when those thoughts broke free. I was outside looking at the stars when suddenly I randomly thought to myself "One day, you will never see beauty like this again. You will die and the universe will go on until it eventually ends too." (though it may not for all we know) Since then, nihilistic thoughts have been sapping away all the joy and beauty I used to see in life and its wonders. I've since looked into many studies, such as those I've listed above, with hopes of restoring those lost feelings. However, I'm still not sure what the grand scheme of things is. Is there an afterlife? Will I be reincarnated? Is my conscious and sense of self separate from my brain? Or am I no different from the beetle I accidentally stepped on while on my way to work, now dead and forgotten to the world forever.

Sorry for the rant, posting it did help some. I can't keep these thoughts bottled up without it eating me up inside. I know questions like these have plagued the minds of people for countless years, so I'm not sure they will be answered any time soon. All we can do is to keep researching with the hopes of finding an answer to the biggest question known to man. I just hope there is a happy ending.
I dare say others will offer their thoughts on this, but I sort of believed in Christianity as a child, but then I decided against it while at university because of its supernatural underpinnings - which would not worry me now! However, I later came to feel that most religions - certainly including Christianity - maybe built on something valid at the bottom, but a huge human power structure has been built on top - some people simply love to control others.

For me, at least, the trick has been to give up on the idea that we are going to get definite answers in this life, and the best we can do is to explore the facts as they seem to be, and then take it as it comes. The most certain facts are the negative ones. Science does not understand consciousness, and evolution simply isn't driven by natural selection - because deep in the cell, life is incredibly complex. It also fails to account for the phenomena that Stevenson and Tucker explored that strongly suggest reincarnation. Science also tries to ignore the evidence from vast numbers of NDE's.

Just remember that, unlike religions, we are not offering certaintity!

David
 
I dare say others will offer their thoughts on this, but I sort of believed in Christianity as a child, but then I decided against it while at university because of its supernatural underpinnings - which would not worry me now! However, I later came to feel that most religions - certainly including Christianity - maybe built on something valid at the bottom, but a huge human power structure has been built on top - some people simply love to control others.

For me, at least, the trick has been to give up on the idea that we are going to get definite answers in this life, and the best we can do is to explore the facts as they seem to be, and then take it as it comes. The most certain facts are the negative ones. Science does not understand consciousness, and evolution simply isn't driven by natural selection - because deep in the cell, life is incredibly complex. It also fails to account for the phenomena that Stevenson and Tucker explored that strongly suggest reincarnation. Science also tries to ignore the evidence from vast numbers of NDE's.

Just remember that, unlike religions, we are not offering certaintity!

David
I’ve been thinking about that too as well. Maybe there is some truth in most religions, but it ended up becoming lost and or changed over time. I am also well aware of sciectists sweeping research that doesn’t conform to their beliefs under the rug. That’s why I believe the evidence of past life memories gathered by Tucker and Stevenson is incredibly compelling. A lot of the arguments I’ve seen against it seem to be nothing but grasping at straws. Arguments such as either the kid/parents are lying, the parents feed the kid the knowledge, lucky guess, or my personal favorite in which they ignore the research and go straight into attacking the researcher.

I will definitely take your advice on giving up on the idea that we are going to get definite answers in this life, and instead follow the research wherever it may lead.
 
Hello, Johannes from Sweden here. I've been listening to Skeptiko for quite some time with a particular interest in NDE's, I had one myself when I was around 10 and have been "haunted" by the experience ever since then really. Used to work as a concept-artist at a video-games company but are now looking for other things. We'll see. The entertainment industry is quite hollow and empty, at least thats my experience so far, but this might change.. who knows what the future holds :) I'm also very interested in most things paranormal and the UFO-topic is one I find particularly fascinating.
Have a good day//Johannes

Video games are ultra violent and only get more realistic. It's amazing how easy it is to build a gaming loop out of killing people! And I used to love them.

Complaining about video game violence isn't normal where I am from, unless one likes hanging out with certain conservative Christians, which is ironic in all kinds of ways.

Market demand for new behaviors have to be created. Sadly this won't happen when everyone is trained to like violence.
 
ProudCatDad,

I am bound to say, those studies are awfully suggestive, and taken together with the masses of NDEs that people experience, and the hypnotic past life regressions (probably the weakest strand of evidence), I feel the evidence is converging on a remarkable concept of a sequence of lifetimes separated by non-material periods.

Note also that I seem to remember there are NDEs in which people remember the process by which they selected the life they are in!

David
I wish their was better methodology with the past life regression research given how amazing some results appear to be with hypnosis.
 
I happen to be looking for a good hypnotist. And I really cannot tell who is good or not.
How much do they charge - I mean can you just risk one payment and see how it goes?

I decided to try an alternative practitioner for sciatica because the NHS has become excessively slow and too keen on various scans - so you don't get anything effective done for ages (if ever).

I chose a man in a group of alternate medicine practitioners (on the basis that the group possibly vets newcomers to see if they want them to join - I don't know. I had a lengthy discussion with the guy (for free), and he decided to use acupuncture plus some exercises. I was very impressed. My sciatica had been a nuisance for many weeks, and after the first visit I could feel an improvement within a few days, and it was completely fixed after 4 treatments. I know that place offers hypnosis as well - but you always need to remember that some people can be hypnotised better than others.

Unless you want to be hypnotised for 'research' reasons, I think it is best to go to a place such as I have described, and let them decide what treatment is best.

David
 
How much do they charge - I mean can you just risk one payment and see how it goes?

I decided to try an alternative practitioner for sciatica because the NHS has become excessively slow and too keen on various scans - so you don't get anything effective done for ages (if ever).

I chose a man in a group of alternate medicine practitioners (on the basis that the group possibly vets newcomers to see if they want them to join - I don't know. I had a lengthy discussion with the guy (for free), and he decided to use acupuncture plus some exercises. I was very impressed. My sciatica had been a nuisance for many weeks, and after the first visit I could feel an improvement within a few days, and it was completely fixed after 4 treatments. I know that place offers hypnosis as well - but you always need to remember that some people can be hypnotised better than others.

Unless you want to be hypnotised for 'research' reasons, I think it is best to go to a place such as I have described, and let them decide what treatment is best.

David
Wow!

Its for my sister. Schizophrenia. Reading this:

http://dare.ubvu.vu.nl/bitstream/handle/1871/51911/2014 Gaag The effects of individually ta #2.pdf?sequence=1

Treatment resistant, nothing helps. She lives in texas.

A few sessions? Sure they are millionaires. If her husband loved her money wouldn't matter. But he doesn't love her. Its complicated, but schizophrena played a big part. Though she says after she realized she wasnt loved the voices swooped in.
 
Wow!

Its for my sister. Schizophrenia. Reading this:

http://dare.ubvu.vu.nl/bitstream/handle/1871/51911/2014 Gaag The effects of individually ta #2.pdf?sequence=1

Treatment resistant, nothing helps. She lives in texas.

A few sessions? Sure they are millionaires. If her husband loved her money wouldn't matter. But he doesn't love her. Its complicated, but schizophrena played a big part. Though she says after she realized she wasnt loved the voices swooped in.
This is a whole different ball game, of course. I have seen forums that discuss ways to cope with hearing voices by arguing back rather than taking drugs. Indeed there was a video posted here somewhere by a dissident psychiatrist who was advocating something of this sort - maybe you posted it! Perhaps you should find what you consider the best of those forums, and try to introduce your sister to it.

I was thinking about this discussion :

https://player.fm/series/the-deep-s...a-possession-and-freedom-with-jerry-marzinsky

If her marriage is over, perhaps it would be better if she moved in with you for a bit, to get a chance to recover. If the voices arrived under stress, taking some of the stress away, might help - but heck I'm not an agony aunt (or uncle), so I'd start with one of the forums devoted to this subject.

David
 
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Howdy folks.

I'm just an interested party....

Had a UFO experience at age 15 (decades ago), but it didn't have any lingering paranormal effects, sadly. I would've liked those.

I've read broadly on the topics of NDE, UFOs, and various paranormal and New Age topics. I was hoping to do my part to bring about and participate in the awakening or raising of human consciousness, but now have less hope of that, and see it was rooted in ego to a large degree. I've become turned off by the narcissism and ego inflation that seem widespread in the new age community at large. One gets tired of hearing self-described incarnated angels, aliens, and masters after a time, esp when many of them are just regurgitating Seth.

I like the podcast, but I find I'd rather hear Alex have wide-ranging discussions (as opposed to interviews) with other folks equally well-read. He seems to tug at the leash at times, constrained by the role of interviewer.
 
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Welcome Meurs,
I agree in your assessment of the new-age crowd although I'm not following it all that closely (thinking about the ghaia network and such - or large parts of it at least)... but it can only go on for so long before it selfimplodes and I'm not that worried actually, as in every other field of human activity you're going to have both the good and the bad actors, the charlatans and the truthtellers. UFO-disclosure is ongoing and could potentially be the spark which ignites a big paradigmshift imo... nomatter who is behind it. I'm excited :)

 
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Welcome to both of you - Meurs and Johannes.

I think the idea of having a wider discussion - at least as an experiment - rather than a simple interview podcast, is an excellent idea. One practical problem is that it might be really hard to get several suitable people together at one time. Possibly a solution would be for Alex to attend one of the conferences on UFOs, NDEs, or consciousness, and grab people for an interview that way.

I don't understand why the existing recent disclosures about UFO's haven't sparked any real interest. Maybe even if the landed on the WH lawn and talked to the president, the media would push the story to the 'back pages'. Possibly that non-reaction should itself tell us something important about reality.

David
 
Oh believe me, it has... or at least I believe it has. People are often just too afraid being made fools of, and to voice their opinions, and busy living life I suppose. As to the podcast, I actually much prefer the one-on-one format as it lets the interview subject expand on his/her ideas in a relaxed way without getting into too many arguments. Alex is pretty argumentative on his own and I think its a great balance. A debate with more people sometime perhaps, more of a paneldiscussion, could be interesting.. I guess. But nah, one guest at a time, digging deeper and exploring the subject is just perfect - imo.
 
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Howdy folks.

I'm just an interested party....

Had a UFO experience at age 15 (decades ago), but it didn't have any lingering paranormal effects, sadly. I would've liked those.

I've read broadly on the topics of NDE, UFOs, and various paranormal and New Age topics. I was hoping to do my part to bring about and participate in the awakening or raising of human consciousness, but now have less hope of that, and see it was rooted in ego to a large degree. I've become turned off by the narcissism and ego inflation that seem widespread in the new age community at large. One gets tired of hearing self-described incarnated angels, aliens, and masters after a time, esp when many of them are just regurgitating Seth.

I like the podcast, but I find I'd rather hear Alex have wide-ranging discussions (as opposed to interviews) with other folks equally well-read. He seems to tug at the leash at times, constrained by the role of interviewer.
sure. I'm game. It really comes down to the guest and what they're comfortable with. do you have anyone in mind?
 
Hello.

Im an approaching middle age man with a university education, I have had an interest in esoteric subjects for over 20 years, I also have an interest in ancient civilisations with a particular affinity to Egyptian and Sumerian cultures.

My book shelf holds anything from Robert Monroe to Joe McMoneagle to Sylvan Muldoon, Graham Hancock to Homer and Aldous Huxley.

I have a fantastic non human friend in my black lab Finn. And enjoy the outdoors as much as the internal.

Thought is the key to the kingdoms.
 
Oh believe me, it has... or at least I believe it has. People are often just too afraid being made fools of, and to voice their opinions, and busy living life I suppose.
Don't forget - if you are responding to someone else's remark, it is best to quote them - as I just have - it makes what you write a lot clearer.

You can do this in any of three ways.

1) Press the 'Reply' button at bottom right of a post you wish to reply to.

2) Select a section of someone else's post, and a little 'reply' menu will appear as you let go of the mouse. Hit that button and you will just get that section of what was written in your reply.

3) If you examine the structure of a quoted reply, you will see that the quotes have a very simple structure, so you can roll your own method more or less.

David
 
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