Posted by Larry Hoover on December 31, 2005, at 20:28:42
In reply to Re: Astrology » Larry Hoover, posted by alexandra_k on December 31, 2005, at 18:34:17
> lets have a go at a little conversation...
>
> 'hmm... i am sensing you have been through hard times'
> <patients eyes light up a little in amazement>
> 'yes... hard times... i am sensing something to do with a person... maybe a family member... [watch closely for approval or disapproval]Fair enough, except it wasn't like that.
When I said, "I am attuned to semantic issues, and I'm conscious of ambiguity of speech, and simple statements masquerading as the profound.", I was meaning that I was not participating in that sort of dialogue. I do believe my capacity for critical thinking was sharper then than now. And I'd wager that I'm still able, in that regard.
> > And I woke up with my bum knee pain free.
>
> have you heard about administering placebos and telling people it is asprin / morphene?
> placebo affect is very strong for True Believers...True Believers in what, exactly? I'm a born skeptic, but I make a concerted effort not to prejudge anything. And I mean that. Anything.
And I don't care what explanation one might give for what occurred that day. I felt things in my body that I have neither felt before nor since. I had my eyes closed, so I can't see how I could have placeboed anything at all. All I knew was that she was near, from her voice. And yet, her nearness was felt within me. She didn't ever touch me. And yet, she did.
If anything, the simplest of "events" that might have happened that day was nothing at all. I.e., I lay there for 40 minutes. She gets $30. I leave. With nothing. Well, $30 less than nothing.
But that's not what I'm alleging occurred. If I expected anything, it was nothing. But, like I said, I try not to prejudge. I didn't get nothing, although I'm not sure what it was that I got.
> > She predicted that I might think I was presently at a bad point, but that things were going to get worse. Much worse. And she proceeded to lay out the next eighteen months or so, in terms of financial, health, home, love, relationships. I do forget just all that she said, the details.
>
> Hmm. I've had similar style predictions courtesy of community mental health...Based on what? Do they do charts?
> > But I won't ever forget that she was right. All day, everything she said, was specific, detailed, and right. And all her predictions, too. She wrote them out. Mailed them to me. All correct.
>
> and in the spirit of 'self fulfilling prophecies' (which True Believers are prone to)... she was right.
>
> sigh.Again, what's with this "True Believers" thing? It would be easier to falsify her predictions, I would think. And frankly, given the nature and specifics of her forecast, I would happily have had it so.
Just in case you might have the wrong idea, I didn't know astrology had the slightest thing to do with what she was up to that day. I was there for Reiki. I sure didn't go in there expecting one word about my "stars", my "chart", or whatever.
> sorry. but i have less faith in her than in community mental health. how DARE anyone prophesy doom and gloom in my future. talk about negative forces at work... and there is scientific evidence regarding self-fulfilling predictions...
>
> thats why i consider these kinds of things to be dangerous.
>
> not because their is much to them...
>
> but because the True Believers the faith the True Believers have in them... that is where the greatest harm can lie...Well, let me tell you how I processed her "prophecies". When things did get worse for me, I felt less affected by them, because I had been forewarned. And, for example, getting mugged the day before I was to start a new job (after three years of disability), is not something I would call a self-fulfilling prophecy. I would call it an unexpected worsening of my circumstances.
> > P.S. Ghosts exist, too. Data points not in accord with accepted knowledge.
>
> is that what a ghost is?
>
> an anomaly?That's one descriptive term that applies, yes.
> are all 'data points not in accord with accepted knowledge' ghosts?
Of course not.
You meant to trick me. <finger wagging>
> what do you mean by 'ghost'?
You know. Spirit thing. Haunted premises. "not in accord with accepted knowledge" spooky things.
Lar
poster:Larry Hoover
thread:592960
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20051225/msgs/593833.html