Anti-Quackery & Science Blog
you don`t know what other people are experiencing. to say that you do contradicts what science stands for.proof.
Susan Clancy has a new book on this subject, Abducted: How People Come to Believe They Were Kidnapped by Aliens. While I haven't read it as yet, I understand it came out of a desire to develop a control group to use in the study of people with supposed false memories. She was looking for people who claimed to have memories that, no matter what they thought, were clearly false. I'm not sure what her relationship is to Professor Chris French or how their work relates.
This is actually the same phenomenon that caused the big "Satanic Cult" scare back in the 80's and early 90's. Michael Shermer deals with that pretty well in his book, _Why People Believe Weird Things_. Of course, the Satanic Cult thing was an actual witch hunt phenomenon, whereas the alien abductees phenomenon only arose as "fairy abduction" stories started to die out. He talks about that in _The Science of Good and Evil_. I recommend both books.
As to the first comment here, pshaw! We most certainly can say what is happening to other people. Science is not about proof. It's about drawing conclusions from the evidence at hand.
Sometimes when people are assisted in reconstructing an experience by "experts" they end up constructing "memories" of events that never happened.
Anyway, -people "abducted" by aliens should have a better knowledge of what aliens are supposed to look like, than people who do not report alien experiences.
Susan Blackmore tested it impossible to prove that real abductions are occurring on this planet. She found "knowledge of the appearance and behaviour of abducting aliens depends more on how much television a person watches than on how many "indicator experiences" he or she has had."
This is actually the same phenomenon that caused the big "Satanic Cult" scare back in the 80's and early 90's. Michael Shermer deals with that pretty well in his book, _Why People Believe Weird Things_. Of course, the Satanic Cult thing was an actual witch hunt phenomenon, whereas the alien abductees phenomenon only arose as "fairy abduction" stories started to die out. He talks about that in _The Science of Good and Evil_. I recommend both books.
this assumptive attitude leads to erronious conclusions. to say that alien abduction and satanic ritual abuse are the same phenom. is obviously false. to wish something would go away or can be easily dismissed misses the point that millions of people have reported this phenom. for centuries in different guises. it is a part of the human condition that hasn`t had the rigorous scientific attention for precisely the reason that no scientist dependant upon peer review can afford to run the gauntlet of ridicule amongst supposedly intelligent people, speaking of witch hunts........the only exercise some people get is in jumping to conclusions.
As to the first comment here, pshaw! We most certainly can say what is happening to other people. Science is not about proof. It's about drawing conclusions from the evidence at hand.
pshaw? my six year old knows better than that. typical arrogant, elitist, we know better than you do type attitude. the experts are the people HAVING THE EXPERIENCE. they aren`t looking for a book deal or an interview with oprah. these people, for the most part, are struggling with some paradigm shattering events that they need to understand.
pshaw? dumbass.
Oh, come on. Reconstructed memories have been shown to be false, and almost all alien abductees have gone through some sort of memory reconstruction, be it hypnosis, dream therapy, whathaveyou.
As to the people having the experiences being the "experts", you should know better. Your senses fool you. Your mind plays tricks on you. Only with a skeptical attitude and hard evidence can you say that something is real.
As to Susan Blackmore's work, well, that should show you that the "alien abduction" phenomenon is media influenced, and therefore bogus.
And finally, the Satanic Cult witchhunt started off with "reconstructed memories" and a lot of so-called alien abductees also have "reconstructed memories" so, yes, the phenomena are linked.
As to me being elitist and arrogant, well, when I'm quoting a world-famous, peer-reviewed psychologist who has actually studied these things, I'm gonna support what the true expert has to say. He has studied these things, and has published. And he's not the only one. Just because you are ignorant of those facts doesn't make me elitist or a dumbass. However, it does reflect pretty poorly on you, I believe.
thanks for the clarification regarding your position. world famous and peer reviewed doesn`t make a person right. to say that people have had thier memories reconstructed because thier experiences don`t fit into a prior paradigm fails logical rigor. invalidating the consistant reports of claimants of these kinds of experiences is a failure of professional application. it`s a reflection on the limitations of psychiatry as a tool. you will find phd. work in abduction experience that supports the validity of these reports, if you are willing to look. it can be disquieting, especially to a rigid scientific community peer-reviewing themselves into cultural tautology. i don`t profess to have answers, but i won`t limit the type of questions asked.
you may find this harvard university psychiatry professor`s comments interesting.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ali...s/
johnmack.html
I experienced sleep paralysis once many years ago. Very weird! You're awake but cannot move a muscle. I remember looking at the ceiling and trying my damndest to get something moving. I can see how a fantasy-minded person could turn such an experience into something else.
That's my anecdotal evidence for the existence of sleep paralysis.
Hear hear, beajerry!
Peer reviewed makes a person as right as scientifically possible, pal. The problem with the "consistent reports of claimants" is that they can be reproduced without ever claiming aliens did it, Gawd did it or the fairies did it.
And these people's memories are reconstructed because they're reconstructed, not because I want to pooh-pooh their experiences. Far from it! I know that these people firmly believe that they have had abduction experiences. That doesn't mean that they have.
Most American kids firmly believe in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy until they grow up and realize that they are myths.
As to the Ph. D. work done into alien abduction, well, most of it fits right in with what I'm saying. The stuff that doesn't belongs to the psychological versions of Michael Behe and William Dembski.
yep, i experienced sleep paralysis some years ago too. no flying saucers and no abduction experience either. i`m not going to build a list of scientists who agree with the idea that experiencers are reporting a valid experience but it would seem that there is enough stuff out there to suggest an external agency at work. dragging criticism of darwin into it doesn`t make sense unless you are suggesting we need to discuss that too.
oh, the debates gone cold....merde.
` You know, I once had an 'alien abduction experience'. I was floating off my bed, down towards the floor, somehow through the window, into the mothership... and all the while I knew precisely what was happening. So I said to the aliens; "Gray is not your color." and somehow they turned purple.
` The next second, I was sitting up in bed, laughing.
He he. You could build yourself a Thought Screen Helmet.
The screen helmet will block any telepathic communication between you and the aliens. Aliens cannot immobilize people wearing thought screens nor can they control their minds or communicate with them. The webpage is listed at the Top 100 weird sites by yahoo.
Is it needless to ask for some hard evidence?
The people having the experiences are the experts, and not the ones handling scientific data? It must be because the carefully gathered data that anyone can critique is flawed and the abductees have god-like, infallible senses and memories that us mere mortals can't begin to comprehend or criticize.
Now, THAT is elitism.
you said:
"If you believe in this nonsense..."
Where is your SCIENTIFIC proof that alien-abduction is "nonsense"?!?
www.ultrafeel.tv
Yes. Exactly. It is the same as the psychology of split personality. These idividuals claiming to have been abducted slip into another fantasy world to escape stress. Roy Masters talks about these things on the internet and his radio shows. Most people are aware that the Galaxy and Universe are too vast to travel and even if you could make a worm hole, well, what exactly would be the consequence? And besides, the chances of anything actually being able to evolve and i'm not talking in the sense of mutation spoken of by science but cells coming from nothing. Basically such things do not occure. So the chances are that life rarely if at all can ever really evolve, but anything can mutate.
What you must realize when we get attacked by the Aliens is to be fully prepared unless you have already been abducted by Aliens and have an Alien baby growing inside your body. Then you'll have to start thinking,.. what kind of baby food is going to be best for your baby? Now. This is not the best video I have seen on surviving an Alien abduction. Actually I have really never seen a video, surviving an Alien abduction until I seen this one. This could help in the event that you are aware that Aliens are taking over the world and you're thinking, Maybe I ought to put on that War of the Worlds movie with Tom Cruise.? Scrap all that for now. You may not have enough time for that. Only, if you can build a time machine in an hour or so you could go back in time and watch the movie then go back so you can battle these beings from outer space planets. Your best line of defense is probably going to be to stay calm. Relax. Break out some music, something you can groove and relax to, set the lights down low and just chill. Ok? So we got it clear. You'll have to be fully aware that there may be an Alien space ship over your house right at this moment that your not aware of, so if you try and watch this show it could help you in the time they become visible and prepared for attack. http://youtube.com/watch?v=nrRCR0iOMr0
Now. If this does'nt work we will have to move to step two. Step two: Acting like they are not there so they go away and act like you are the real Alien. Sometimes when things feel threatned they will attack you. Like if you go outside and chase after a grizzley bear down the strret right now it will probably try to attack you after it gets its honey out of the bees nest from your next door neibors house. Or say. You are swimming in the ocean and there is a great white shark you start swimming at the shark in an aggressive manner it could very well turn towards you and try to attack you even if you put an Alien mask over its head. DO NOT try to create an altercation with an Alien. DO NOT try to freeze yourself. DO NOT breath in butane fumes. Just try and pretend they are not there and you are the real Alien. This is sure. If the Aliens see you watching this video it probably is going to save you from any futher problems with Aliens. A sure thing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o...h?
v=oTD7FP1mAYk
Question. Can you tell me can you see the Alien setting in the background of this video? http://youtube.com/watch?v=JTKsJrpRtww
When I see a ghost I wonder. Was that a ghost or an Alien? I know I seen something, but what was it? Was that George Noory from coast to coast leaving his body and playing tricks with my mind so I would call in to his program and tell him my story while he starts laughing at me knowing and saying.I know. And was it Triangler? Was it a shadow person? It was something. Something I believe now is taking over my body. My bed starts shaking really badly especially when i'm masturbating. If I stick out my tounge and wave it around it looks like a snake came out of my mouth, my whole body is changing, changing really quickly. If I am not here tommarrow I may have completely changed and I will be hanging out at some frog pond somewhere. Anything at anytime can come from outer space and take our planet. It is just a matter of time.
Oliver is a computer you can talk to when their isn't anyone else around to talk to. He's kind of smart. If you ask him if he dreams and he says yes then you ask if he remembers any of his dreams, he may show them to you. Oliver is here. http://www.oliverbot.com/
Funbot is full of funny aliens http://www.elbot.com/
I find this Quote of great interest. Although I may not agree with the belief in aliens I still find this one of great interest. In the Lost Prophecies of Confucius right at the very end of his prophecy he states "In 2017, Extraterrestrials will arrive on Earth, ushering a new era of peace and world harmony. They will suprise scientist by announcing they are close cousins to man: Both theirs planet and ours were "seeded" by a super-intellegent race of space travelers a million years ago." Well,,, If Confucius is not right about this one we could say he had a fascinating and wild imagination.
The question is.. could aliens really exist?
The odds of all lifes 20 amino acids spontaneous forming even one of lifes smallest proteins is like one chance in excelling all the atoms in the entire visible universe which must be a staggering number.
A recent discovery of an earth like planet called Gliese 581c twenty light years away from earth which sounds pretty close but in reality traveling at the speed of humans which may be somewhere around the speed of a bullet would take close to a million years.
They have searched for radio signals on on this so called water planet Gliese 581c and have come up empty handed.
So, How prevelant are aliens?
Scientist are disscussing sending oxygen carbon probes into outer space to search for oxygen and carbon emissions emitted by large species of animals and humans, the kind of stuff life is made of, but really, how far can they really get?
The Milky Way galaxy is about 100 light years wide or so and could easily take about a billion years to get across.
Sound exuasting? Must be.
Are there really aliens? And, if so where are all the radio signals?
Scienctist calculate that the galaxies nearest the edge of the visible universe are now traveling near one third the speed of light. Pretty darn fast. So, Where are all these old timers T.V. signals from wathing Ozzy and Hariot way back in their day? Don't know. And we may never know.
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