---Introduce yourself---

Hi all, my name is Billy. I'm from the States, and I'm a musician, amongst other things. I was raised in a Protestant household, but have more or less shed the title since. However, it pretty much sums up my metaphysical beliefs for most of my life leading up till the last year or two.

The reason I got into the subjects everyone here has such as parapsychology and the whole lot, was because of a existential crisis I feel into not too long back. Somehow or another, I was exposed to the whole skeptic movement and was just overwhelmed with their hostility and criticisms. Much of it was just in the rhetoric, but it made me wonder for the first moment in my life: "Am I the crazy one?"

So I started looking around at all these things skeptics bashed and even flat out denied. PSI/ESP, survival of consciousness, etc. I was drawn to Skeptiko after a couple months of researching and loved it's forum. So I started an account in July but didn't start posting till now, as my interest in the subjects talked about here kind of wane on and off. But I really look forward to posting finally.

I guess you can consider me a proponent, but not the most confindent one (on a personal level). Mainly just because I'm a born worrier and a little unsure of myself sometimes when I shouldn't. I'm spiritual but wouldn't call my self a new ager. I tend to think of myself as a idealist of one kind or another.

Anyways, happy to be participating in the forum finally!

For those of us here who believe ( know)there is something else aside from the material realm, we attempt to wean through the data and try to make sense of it. It’s confusing and difficult to know what to make of it mostly. But there is so much consistency and spillover in in the content of experiences reported and studiedin several different areas, that we one is able to learn a fair amount about the other side, while still remaining largely clueless. At least that’s what I believe.
 
Hi all, my name is Billy. I'm from the States, and I'm a musician, amongst other things. I was raised in a Protestant household, but have more or less shed the title since. However, it pretty much sums up my metaphysical beliefs for most of my life leading up till the last year or two.

The reason I got into the subjects everyone here has such as parapsychology and the whole lot, was because of a existential crisis I feel into not too long back. Somehow or another, I was exposed to the whole skeptic movement and was just overwhelmed with their hostility and criticisms. Much of it was just in the rhetoric, but it made me wonder for the first moment in my life: "Am I the crazy one?"

So I started looking around at all these things skeptics bashed and even flat out denied. PSI/ESP, survival of consciousness, etc. I was drawn to Skeptiko after a couple months of researching and loved it's forum. So I started an account in July but didn't start posting till now, as my interest in the subjects talked about here kind of wane on and off. But I really look forward to posting finally.

I guess you can consider me a proponent, but not the most confindent one (on a personal level). Mainly just because I'm a born worrier and a little unsure of myself sometimes when I shouldn't. I'm spiritual but wouldn't call my self a new ager. I tend to think of myself as a idealist of one kind or another.

Anyways, happy to be participating in the forum finally!


If you don’t mind me asking, what kind of music do you play/enjoy?
 
Hey everyone, my name is Mike and I'm from the US. I've had a mostly christian metaphysical world view for most of my life up until my late teens earlier 20s. During the time of my transition, I felt myself going down more of an atheistic path, but this was discarded as I formed a more mature and data driven spiritual world view.

What got me interested into the subjects that are discussed on skeptico was that I had what I would consider a mystical experience when I was younger. I was really into Dragonaball Z in my youth and I wanted to somehow harness the power that the characters displayed in the show. My 11 year old self googled how to shoot energy waves from my hands. The instructions on this one site stated that one should meditate after working out because that helps build up ki or something like that. I had basketball practice at night, so I would usually meditate once I got home from practice. One night during meditation, I was able to see myself! After this experience I was little spooked and didn't try it again. It wasn't until years later that I heard about "out of body experiences", is when I really tried to figure out what was going on at that time. I haven't been able to put myself in a deep meditation as I once was able too. This experience also kept me away from atheism because there definitely had to be more just from my personal experiences. I could give a few more less intense experiences if anyone is interested :D.

Some of my hobbies include developing and designing video games, creating music (I play the guitar), and researching narratives that challenge the status quo. Thanks for taking the time to read!
 
Hey everyone, my name is Mike and I'm from the US. I've had a mostly christian metaphysical world view for most of my life up until my late teens earlier 20s. During the time of my transition, I felt myself going down more of an atheistic path, but this was discarded as I formed a more mature and data driven spiritual world view.

What got me interested into the subjects that are discussed on skeptico was that I had what I would consider a mystical experience when I was younger. I was really into Dragonaball Z in my youth and I wanted to somehow harness the power that the characters displayed in the show. My 11 year old self googled how to shoot energy waves from my hands. The instructions on this one site stated that one should meditate after working out because that helps build up ki or something like that. I had basketball practice at night, so I would usually meditate once I got home from practice. One night during meditation, I was able to see myself! After this experience I was little spooked and didn't try it again. It wasn't until years later that I heard about "out of body experiences", is when I really tried to figure out what was going on at that time. I haven't been able to put myself in a deep meditation as I once was able too. This experience also kept me away from atheism because there definitely had to be more just from my personal experiences. I could give a few more less intense experiences if anyone is interested :D.

Some of my hobbies include developing and designing video games, creating music (I play the guitar), and researching narratives that challenge the status quo. Thanks for taking the time to read!
Welcome Mike! I think you have come to the right place, because we are interesting in exploring ψ phenomena, but most of us do not belong to any organised religion.

I gave up Christianity at about the same age as you, but I didn't have any of the interesting experiences you have had (you should definitely tell us about your less intense experiences too). I was totally materialistic for many years, but it became more and more obvious to me that phenomena such as NDE's and psychic phenomena could not be explained sensibly from that standpoint.

David
 
heya :D , i'm just a weird autistic (t) girl going about the internet trying to learn science but .... becoming very confused, worried.... etc

see i've not really had a run in with anyone, my debating skills are bad and i dont really know too much about science apart from the feeling that there is weird things and a certainty of things beyond

the only trouble is, i've read into the skeptical movement who are pretty adamant that there is nothing, and all these weird things are tricks of the mind, yet.... the things i've experienced myself, i'm not so sure i follow , so i'm kind of looking for evidence to back up what i've experienced and such.

i'm kind of horrorfied by the potential possibility of the skeptic movements world view that we are just meaningless meatsacks tbh
 
heya :D , i'm just a weird autistic (t) girl going about the internet trying to learn science but .... becoming very confused, worried.... etc

see i've not really had a run in with anyone, my debating skills are bad and i dont really know too much about science apart from the feeling that there is weird things and a certainty of things beyond

the only trouble is, i've read into the skeptical movement who are pretty adamant that there is nothing, and all these weird things are tricks of the mind, yet.... the things i've experienced myself, i'm not so sure i follow , so i'm kind of looking for evidence to back up what i've experienced and such.

i'm kind of horrorfied by the potential possibility of the skeptic movements world view that we are just meaningless meatsacks tbh
You don't need to know any science to enjoy this site!

Yes, we do have a lot of scientific discussions here - as I expect you have noticed - but that is mainly because we think the skeptical movement isn't really using science in an honest way. As you will find out here, there are a lot of scientific studies that show evidence of non-materialist phenomena. Near Death Experiences (NDE's) are probably the best place to start.

Also, if you have had weird experiences yourself, you can talk about them here, if you feel comfortable doing that. I would suggest that you start a new thread to do that. This thread is really just for introductions, and it is so big that people can discuss all sorts of interesting things on this thread, and they just get lost!

David
 
You don't need to know any science to enjoy this site!

Yes, we do have a lot of scientific discussions here - as I expect you have noticed - but that is mainly because we think the skeptical movement isn't really using science in an honest way. As you will find out here, there are a lot of scientific studies that show evidence of non-materialist phenomena. Near Death Experiences (NDE's) are probably the best place to start.

Also, if you have had weird experiences yourself, you can talk about them here, if you feel comfortable doing that. I would suggest that you start a new thread to do that. This thread is really just for introductions, and it is so big that people can discuss all sorts of interesting things on this thread, and they just get lost!

David

Thank you X)

i do have some reservations about the skeptical movement, and specially seeing as there is somethings i noticed that are outright alarming (i do probably want to ask about in another thread since it's some bits and pieces i may have came across i need to validate, i could ask you in PM if so)

also there is one thing i do wanna ask about but i probably will make a thread about it :D
 
Thank you X)

i do have some reservations about the skeptical movement, and specially seeing as there is somethings i noticed that are outright alarming (i do probably want to ask about in another thread since it's some bits and pieces i may have came across i need to validate, i could ask you in PM if so)

also there is one thing i do wanna ask about but i probably will make a thread about it :D
Yes, do start a new thread, because one problem here, is that threads meander from one topic to another - which means that ideas can get buried.

Most of us have reservations about the sceptical movement. They appear reasonable, until they are dealing with the real problems. I mean one of the core issues, is what is consciousness? That is a deep problem, and most of them try to avoid it. A philosopher called David Chalmers, put his finger one one of the problems. He said (in effect) that the really hard problem about the materialist stance is that if consciousness is reducible to materialism (the physics and chemistry of the brain), explain how something made of matter can actually experience anything - like pain, or pleasure, or colours of light, or love. This is known as Chalmers' 'Hard Problem', and most materialists try to evade the issue.

BTW, you seem to manage very well for an autistic person. Do you feel being autistic gives you a special insight into the world?

David
 
Yes, do start a new thread, because one problem here, is that threads meander from one topic to another - which means that ideas can get buried.

Most of us have reservations about the sceptical movement. They appear reasonable, until they are dealing with the real problems. I mean one of the core issues, is what is consciousness? That is a deep problem, and most of them try to avoid it. A philosopher called David Chalmers, put his finger one one of the problems. He said (in effect) that the really hard problem about the materialist stance is that if consciousness is reducible to materialism (the physics and chemistry of the brain), explain how something made of matter can actually experience anything - like pain, or pleasure, or colours of light, or love. This is known as Chalmers' 'Hard Problem', and most materialists try to evade the issue.

BTW, you seem to manage very well for an autistic person. Do you feel being autistic gives you a special insight into the world?

David

oh man i can't answer that question too well, :')

in terms of autism, i feel like it's a 3rd leg in a way, it takes some getting used to, it'll screw you up if you aren't careful but in a way what it can give you is some cool insights and some nice uses if you can manage it well C:
 
souls.jpg

David Cardill. Small town Canada, 50 people here while I was growing up. This image above is why I'm here, I believe there are not enough people talking about this, and there need be. Living for the moment is killing my Home World, and people need to know that the one rule governing all of our existence SHOULD BE: You need to prepare this world for your own arrival.

Also, this picture above says "stages of reincarnation" which is grammatically incorrect, it should say "stages of incarnation" since jumping species only occurs very infrequently, and most often it is incarnation to the same species.
 
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David Cardill. Small town Canada, 50 people here while I was growing up. This image above is why I'm here, I believe there are not enough people talking about this, and there need be. Living for the moment is killing my Home World, and people need to know that the one rule governing all of our existence SHOULD BE: You need to prepare this world for your own arrival.

Also, this picture above says "stages of reincarnation" which is grammatically incorrect, it should say "stages of incarnation" since jumping species only occurs very infrequently, and most often it is incarnation to the same species.

Very well said. I'll add nothing more.
I'd welcome you to the forum, but am newer than you. Good to see yours as the latest introduction post.
 
Hello Skeptiko folks,
I first heard of the podcast when Alex was on Michael Tsarion's Unslaved. I've since listened to probably half of all the podcasts and wondered if Tsarion would ever make an appearance like Alex had said he wanted. To my surprise, he got Michael to go in depth on something I wished to hear him elaborate on: race. I have national and ethnic pride and went through all of the spectrum of thinkers, from ethno-Nationalists, to White-Nationalists, to straight up Neo-Nazis. Too fixated on the materialist worldview, even when some espoused Paganism or mystical Christianity. I equally find no use for Pagans and Christian mystics who turn their noses up at questions of race/ethnicity without investigation. I hope to learn and share here on Skeptiko.
 
Very well said. I'll add nothing more.
I'd welcome you to the forum, but am newer than you. Good to see yours as the latest introduction post.

Thank you Deaglan, and welcome, good to see you here too and I'm sure the sentiment isn't being used incorrectly :)

FYI I've heard Michael speak on race several times too, and he does seem to be a very proud Irishman. There isn't anything wrong with that per say, however there may be an incongruence if full realisation of who those ancestors are becomes the norm. My belief is that, you know all those people in the 1400's? Yeah, that was us. And all of those people in the 1700's? Ditto, that was us again too. We have cameras now that can photograph in the electro-magnetic spectrums, and it is only a matter of time, I believe, before I will get to use the very same tools that I have acquired in this lifetime, in the next lifetime too.

Also, the name Cardill has the same origin as the name Cardiff. It doesn't get any more Welsh than this, and it is from 2 Welsh words which means "river fort" There is a river which meets the sea in Cardiff, and there is a fort on that river, hahaha. Speaking Welsh though? Pffft, I've never come across a language as difficult as that one. My fathers' family has been in Canada for coming up on 400 years now, so, this is the language I use these days :)
 
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Also, the name Cardill has the same origin as the name Cardiff. It doesn't get any more Welsh than this, and it is from 2 Welsh words which means "river fort" There is a river which meets the sea in Cardiff, and there is a fort on that river, hahaha. Speaking Welsh though? Pffft, I've never come across a language as difficult as that one. My fathers' family has been in Canada for coming up on 400 years now, so, this is the language I use these days :)

The future, even under Globalism, is shaping up to involve the re-emergence of regional Celtic languages. Scotland, Wales, Manx, and the Basque are putting a lot of energy into reviving their ancestral tongues (with us Irish lagging behind by decades). Welsh is definitely the most complicated, but I'd say it would be worth it as the survival rate of English to taking a nosedive.

We're of the same mind Re: we are our ancestors. We're telling stories with our multiple lives through history. Very real stories involving pain, loss, hope, joy, and success. I look forward to hearing more of your perspective.
 
OK, the main body of work is done, and I can just add frills and colour to it now to make it better (links to outside material, reiterations of the same material, etc.) In the forum here called Extended Consciousness & Spirituality there is a thread called Incarnation.
 
Hello everyone, my name is J.T., and I'm here to gain a deeper understanding about heavy things and deep stuff. I was raised Southern Baptist, which I rejected in my teens and slowly shed the weight of dogma and guilt throughout my 20's, and eventually devolved into a bitter atheist, angry that I didn't share the beliefs of my family, and fearing that I was looked down on for it. I was well versed in every reason they were wrong, and was cynical of all religions and spiritual practices, and thought of them as always being a tool for control and exploitation. After having a life changing paranormal experience, I found myself questioning all of the conclusions I had settled into, and found myself in a new place, of not being a "believer", but believing there is more to our existence, and seeking to find out what that means. I'm eager to meet other apostates and heretics that were raised in Christian families, and learn how they mitigate those tensions over belief, and more specifically disbelief.
 
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Hello everyone.
I have joined the forum a long time, have posted a few posts but have not introduced myself any time.
My name is "Hai". I am from Vietnam and now I am 23 years old. I joined this forum to learn about spiritual phenomena and evidence of afterlife. After an incident I was haunted by death and constantly looking for scientific evidence of afterlife, but what I saw was just ignorance of formal science and a lack of understanding of the nature of reality. and consciousness, at that time I was quite desperate until I watched alex's program and joined the forum since then I have found a lot of interesting information.
 
Hello everyone, my name is J.T., and I'm here to gain a deeper understanding about heavy things and deep stuff. I was raised Southern Baptist, which I rejected in my teens and slowly shed the weight of dogma and guilt throughout my 20's, and eventually devolved into a bitter atheist, angry that I didn't share the beliefs of my family, and fearing that I was looked down on for it. I was well versed in every reason they were wrong, and was cynical of all religions and spiritual practices, and thought of them as always being a tool for control and exploitation. After having a life changing paranormal experience, I found myself questioning all of the conclusions I had settled into, and found myself in a new place, of not being a "believer", but believing there is more to our existence, and seeking to find out what that means. I'm eager to meet other apostates and heretics that were raised in Christian families, and learn how they mitigate those tensions over belief, and more specifically disbelief.

Welcome BigBlurr,

I was also raised as a Christian, though it was the much milder Church of England (I am British).

I ditched Christianity while an undergraduate and only began to suspect the standard materialist narrative much later in life. Because I did a science degree and PhD, I tend to come to the whole issue from a scientific perspective. I have only had about 2 suggestive paranormal experiences, but perhaps my first doubts came as I realised that consciousness was not really understood at all. By now I am rather sceptical about a lot of modern science.

David
 
Hello, my name is Lucas. I am 24 years old and first came across Skeptiko when I was interested in exploring the field of consciousness. While investigating various topics, including UFO sightings, poltergeists, etc.. I have come to the conclusions that there is perhaps more to this reality than meets the eye. I am interested in exploring research and the implications that are on the very edge of science. Through my own investigations, I am convinced that poltergeist phenomenon, UFOs, lucid dreams, NDEs and perhaps even cases of psychokinesis are connected in some way. I have yet to come up with a comprehensive theory that could possibly tie them all together, however.

One question I have about NDEs is why some people don't have them? I never understood that. I understand that there are many extraordinary things about NDEs, in which materialism cannot conventionally explain, but why are they so rare? Why do some people report essentially nothing happening during cardiac arrest? I understand that drugs can potentially block memory, but what would be other explanations?
 
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
 
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