Things your head knows aren't there but your heart believes in still...
So there we were, in the pub, and the conversation got a little weird. Apropos of nothing, one of the group tells us that he harbours a belief that gnomes and other little people truly exist.
After we'd cleared up the beer spat out onto the table, and got down to a serious discussion (aka semi-drunken shouting match) it transpired that a few of us also had quaint/illogical/odd beliefs that our heads knew were highly unlikely but our hearts still believed in.
Ignoring the whole area of religion and live after death in this context - which was one minefield we wanted to avoid - we found that there was either actual or hopeful belief in a variety of cryptozoological issues: sea monsters or bigfoot for the most part, together with other areas including ufo's, hoaxed moon landings and - perhaps most oddly - thunderbirds.
So it got me to thinking - any Wossers confess to strange beliefs of a similar ilk that you'd care to share?!
My own is that there are still huge undiscovered creatures in the deepest oceans ;)
After we'd cleared up the beer spat out onto the table, and got down to a serious discussion (aka semi-drunken shouting match) it transpired that a few of us also had quaint/illogical/odd beliefs that our heads knew were highly unlikely but our hearts still believed in.
Ignoring the whole area of religion and live after death in this context - which was one minefield we wanted to avoid - we found that there was either actual or hopeful belief in a variety of cryptozoological issues: sea monsters or bigfoot for the most part, together with other areas including ufo's, hoaxed moon landings and - perhaps most oddly - thunderbirds.
So it got me to thinking - any Wossers confess to strange beliefs of a similar ilk that you'd care to share?!
My own is that there are still huge undiscovered creatures in the deepest oceans ;)
Post edited by Amfoot on
Comments
A couple of years ago, while walking in one of the huge forests near us, I came across a very excited couple who were in an animated discussion about the "little guy" they could see moving about among the trees.
I didn't see anything myself - but who knows?!? I half expected it to be a wind up - but there was no one else about.
Funnily enough, I was reading an article about such creatures this morning. One of those mentioned was the "Hook Island Sea Creature". Sounds almost plausible...
http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2008/07/07/hook-island-monster-tadpole/
Hang on, I'm debunking my own beliefs now - arse! :x
Record a best selling album
or
Get spotted by a talent scout and force my way into Liverpool's 1st team
As the years go by these both look less likely, but hope still flickers!
We're still finding new cat-sized mammals in the more remote jungles, so there's bound to be plenty more to find in the deep seas. Though something huge and radically different to known species is highly unlikely, as is it ever coming up to the surface of its own volition.
- IONIAN-GAMES.com -
Not sure that counts as the oceans are vast and basically unexplored, and are known to contain some freaky things already. I'd be more surprised if there weren't huge sea monsters unknown to modern science.
I think it's entirely plausible that The Kraken myth is based on sightings of giant squid for example. If they were caught up in fishing nets they'd likely be fairly pissed off too :)
Best quote from the blog post above:
"unknown animals are allowed to have their eyes wherever they like"
I've just had an image of an unknown animal with eyes in his ass, next to his b... well, you get the picture :P
Anyway, since oceans deeps are mostly unknown, it's perfectly possible some kind of pre-historic animal yet to be discovered still exists.
Obviously the logical part of your brain knows they must be hoaxes that just can't be absolutely proved as such, but a tiny romantic bit of me likes to wonder "what if one, just one, of those far-fetched stories is true?". You can't whack a decent bit of mystery, can you. :)
YESSSS! :D
The logic for this being a reasonable assumption is that if we're in the 'Real' world we can conceive of a time, maybe a few hundred years from now, when we should be able to make 100% convincing virtual worlds or where we upload our minds and simulate worlds around them. If that's possible, then when we can do it we'll create millions, maybe billions or more instances of a wide variety of scenarios. If we're uploaded brains it'd be easy to edit our memories so for the duration of a game/simulation we'd believe in it totally. So, we might already be there in the 'real' world and if that's the case it's billions to one against us being in the 'real' world rather than a historical or fantasy simulation.
If we're uploaded minds we'd need something to entertain our potentially immortal selves and realistic simulation with temporarily edited memories would probably do it :)
This may be considered strange by some, but I consider it quite likely. Does that count? I mean not believing in it 100%, just a high %?
Or is this something that most of you considered likely already?
David
I think the biggest question with the John Titor story is "Why?"
If we assume that it is a hoax, then why on earth did someone go to all the trouble of producing all the documentation? Plus, despite one or two inconsistencies in the story, there were never any real contradictions.
Another case in a similar vein is the mysterious Isaac and the CARET project/ drones which were apparently spotted in various parts of the US. Assuming this was a hoax, somebody went to the trouble of setting up multiple sightings, with multiple witnesses, a wealth of documentation and the follow-up "revelations" of Isaac.
Quite why someone would want to do this, is almost as mysterious as the case itself.
I like to keep an open mind on these sort of things. Blatent scepticism that "None of this could possibly happen" is just as bad as those who believe everything. I prefer to read the evidence, digest the issue and then make up my own mind as to what may, or may not have happened.
Amen. I've pretty much come to the same conclusion. The question remains however, why would anybody sign up for a flawed "reality" like ours? (Well, the Speccy is alright, but what's with all the war and crap?)
Also thumbs up for Numskulls and horses in car engines.
I'm pretty sure there are plenty of things still to be explained. The problem is with rare natural events is hugely unreliable witnesses. You simply don't get accurate reports of things like strange lights appearing at night, nor anything verifiable from a lousy phone camera. In the dark it's very difficult to judge distance, so you never really know if someone saw something close moving slowly, or very distant moving at mach 9 or something. But instead of reporting a light, some idiot assumes it must be a 'UFO', which to them means an alien spacecraft, rather than what it actually means, an UNIDENTIFIED flying object - and that's a huge assumption that it's actively 'flying' and even an 'object' rather than just an atmospheric effect or even a hallucination.
People have been reporting seeing odd, unidentifiable things in the dark for as long as there have been records. Whether they're put down as fairies, ghosts, or aliens is just whatever the contemporary fad explanation is. Maybe there is an explanation, or more likely there's a host of explanations of apparently similar phenomena. But what that may be isn't helped by amateurish and polarised speculation.
- IONIAN-GAMES.com -
Although sometimes it's worth watching for the hilarious accent of the lead presenter - "...where local fisherman have repawded seeing an aquoddick beast in the wodder."
- IONIAN-GAMES.com -
just an example...the accuracy/consistency/detail there is ridiculous. One night's work? in the dark? For no apparent reason? Hmm... :smile:
Well, it's not all done by cider-swilling yokels out for a lark, with boards and bits of string. Once you throw in GPS trackers, surveying equipment, garden rollers, etc. and allow for a big enough team of people, pretty much anything is possible.
And personally, I'd much rather believe they're faked than that there's some incredibly powerful alien species sending us cryptic messages whilst stubbornly refusing to openly make contact. That would be just plain scary.
I found a site or two a while back (which I'm not going to link to) with what I took to be fairly solid debunkings of the John Titor story and it actually spoiled it all a bit for me. It's far more fun and exiting to believe there might be something in it I reckon.
Maybe they're just shy?
Some of that cider the yokels have been swilling could help relax their inhibitions, which will hopefully will not result in them breaking out the Mega Super Death Ray! :D
besides, the real ones go back to the 20's to have their photo taken
and 50 "grate" games
ok, true in theory but still to get that kind of thing done overnight, without being noticed, would still be a monumental effort ...and for what gain/purpose? funny how you never see a half-finished crop circle or a botched one either...
couple of other things I've read seem to add to the mystery like people saying that the corn in crop circles they visited wasn't simply rolled flat, but each stalk was folded back on itself so that it was still upright but just half the height.
also read someone else say they flew across America and noticed fields full of them when travelling over vast unpopulated farmland.
etc, etc,... well it's a mystery to me anyway. 8)
Keanu Reeves has been photographed and even had his portrait painted several times throughout history :D
look at him now he still only looks about 30? :o
I bet if you shot him in the face he'd regenerate 5 minutes later with mass munchies for Fish Fingers n' Custard :D