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Split Thread Scorpion's Spiritualism

Pixel42 said:
I just posted this on another thread.

It's a 10 minute clip called Derren Brown Fools Psychic Readers & Talks To The Dead

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acnUkYNTk90

He gives three impressive readings at a spiritualist church and convinces the resident medium that he has a gift.

Embedded version:

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That was good. I can cold read to an extent, but hell, that was good.
 
Cosmic Yak said:
Oh, and Native Americans. Purple Hedgehog says be nice to trees, and that also proves the spirit world is real.
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More likely Purple Hedgehog says "Be um heap big nice to brother tree" in a voice that sounds like a middle class, white American doing a vaguely racist caricature based on TV programs of their youth.

The only real Native American spirit guide is One Man Bucket.
 
Scorpion said:
He obviously knew my case, as how else would he have known I did the martial arts ?
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You "do the martial arts"?

Any specific martial arts or do you just generally "do the martial arts"? It strikes me as an odd turn of phrase that probably wouldn't be used by someone who was actually into any form of martial arts.
 
P.J. Denyer said:
More likely Purple Hedgehog says "Be um heap big nice to brother tree" in a voice that sounds like a middle class, white American doing a vaguely racist caricature based on TV programs of their youth.

The only real Native American spirit guide is One Man Bucket.
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Cree Indian saying: "Only when we have cut down the last tree will we realise that we cannot eat hedgehogs. "

"Well, not unless you bake them in clay, but that's really fiddly. And then the saying doesn't sound as cool".
 
JesseCuster said:
You "do the martial arts"?

Any specific martial arts or do you just generally "do the martial arts"? It strikes me as an odd turn of phrase that probably wouldn't be used by someone who was actually into any form of martial arts.
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The police officer used the term, 'martial arts' I actually used to do Taekwondo.
 
Cosmic Yak said:
Yes, but he wasn't one of the special, real mediums that Scorpion encountered, that are really real and everything.
Or maybe the naughty bad spirits were speaking through Brown, and so this actually proves that mediumship is real.
Or indeed, any excuse at all to cling to clearly unsupportable beliefs, because you're a meanie.
Oh, and Native Americans. Purple Hedgehog says be nice to trees, and that also proves the spirit world is real.
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I attended spiritualist churches up and down the country for years. I had many evidential messages, and was careful not to give the medium any information. Also remember I have had a voice directly into my own head telling me I would have a lottery win before the draw. It told me something that proved to be factually true. I have heard other voices speak to me directly, but I do not take much account of them as they did not tell me verifiable facts. One voice said to me, after my pet bird died. "it couldn't have been quicker" . I think that was a spirit comforting me.
But generally I ignore voices.
 
Scorpion said:
The police officer used the term, 'martial arts' I actually used to do Taekwondo.
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How do you think the police knew that?

I'm asking because I've done various forms of martial arts for over 30 years, and the police (in every country I have visited or lived in) seem to be completely unaware of this fact.
Do you think they keep a database of martial arts practitioners?
 
Cosmic Yak said:
How do you think the police knew that?

I'm asking because I've done various forms of martial arts for over 30 years, and the police (in every country I have visited or lived in) seem to be completely unaware of this fact.
Do you think they keep a database of martial arts practitioners?
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You've clearly never trained in the famous Taekwondo form called "Doorsoki" practiced exclusively against shop fronts. It will prove essential should the stores rise up against humans in a bizarre and lethal form of reverse-looting.
 
I just felt a breeze

Scorpion said:
I attended spiritualist churches up and down the country for years. I had many evidential messages, and was careful not to give the medium any information. Also remember I have had a voice directly into my own head telling me I would have a lottery win before the draw. It told me something that proved to be factually true. I have heard other voices speak to me directly, but I do not take much account of them as they did not tell me verifiable facts. One voice said to me, after my pet bird died. "it couldn't have been quicker" . I think that was a spirit comforting me.
But generally I ignore voices.
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You didn't have to repeat your creed.
 
From page two of my book.

Psychology might be said to be less than a science, because it deals with consciousness which is not understood.At this time nobody knows how we are conscious, unless you take the title of Daniel Dennett's book 'consciousness explained' as literal. But in fact Dennett says in line six of the preface that his ideas are only a theory. Dennett says " I think I can sketch an outline of the solution, a theory of consciousness that gives answers [or shows how to find answers]"
He dismissed Descartes dualism theory that the mind is separate from the body in a couple of sentences, as not being worthy of further consideration. Therefore I feel equally dismissive of Dennett's book and it can be ignored, because it was his hubris made him claim false status for what is nothing but another failed theory. There are other new theories of mind that also fail to truly explain consciousness. I maintain that Descartes dualism is in fact the truth, and mind is different in its nature to the matter of the brain. Thought is a nebulous and non physical whereas the brain is made of matter that resembles porridge. If thought was caused by chemical and electrical actions I do not believe we would have the mental capacity to think freely, and therefore not be able to consider such concepts. The Descartes concept is we are 'the ghost in the machine', although Descartes did not invent the phrase, it was coined by a twentieth century critic of his work.
 
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Scorpion said:
At this time nobody knows how we are conscious, unless you take the title of Daniel Dennets book 'consciousness explained' as literal. But in fact Dennet says in line six of the preface that his ideas are only a theory.
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You still haven't bothered to educate yourself about the scientific use of the word theory have you, Scorpion?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_theory

A scientific theory is an explanation of an aspect of the natural world that can be repeatedly tested and verified in accordance with the scientific method, using accepted protocols of observation, measurement, and evaluation of results. Where possible, theories are tested under controlled conditions in an experiment.[1][2] In circumstances not amenable to experimental testing, theories are evaluated through principles of abductive reasoning. Established scientific theories have withstood rigorous scrutiny and embody scientific knowledge.[3]

The meaning of the term scientific theory (often contracted to theory for brevity) as used in the disciplines of science is significantly different from the common vernacular usage of theory.[4][Note 1] In everyday speech, theory can imply an explanation that represents an unsubstantiated and speculative guess,[4] whereas in science it describes an explanation that has been tested and widely accepted as valid. These different usages are comparable to the opposing usages of prediction in science versus common speech, where it denotes a mere hope.
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Don't you think it might be a good idea to educate yourself before posting, let alone publishing, your opinion of Dennett's book?
 
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Pixel42 said:
You still haven't bothered to educate yourself about the scientific use of the word theory have you, Scorpion?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_theory
Don't you think it might be a good idea to educate yourself before posting, let alone publishing, your opinion of Dennett's book?
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It was actually Dennett's mistake because his theory has not been tested and widely accepted as valid. There is doubt as to whether it can be even.
 
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Just found this on the web
"Critics of Dennett's approach, such as David Chalmers and Thomas Nagel, argue that Dennett's argument misses the point of the inquiry by merely redefining consciousness as an external property and ignoring the subjective aspect completely. This has led detractors to nickname the book Consciousness Ignored and Consciousness Explained Away"

Dennett's pet 'theory ' has not been widely accepted and is therefore not an established theory.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consciousness_Explained
 
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My point was that the title of the book and Dennet's use of the word theory in the preface of it are not, by definition, contradictory, as Scorpion seems to believe.
 
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