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How do I explain THIS one?

komencanto

Thinker
K
Joined
Jun 13, 2003
Messages
168
Alright, typical skeptic challenge, how do I answer this guy:



guy says:
and i look it up after i dream, and it answers questions to my life.
guy says:
direct answer to it
guy says:
but that is to my own expereince again
me says:
ok...... pretty hard to give an answer to that one
me says:
can you give me more specifics
guy says:
spalsm 51 5
guy says:
psalm 51 5
guy says:
because i was upset about being gay
guy says:
not that it would destroy me
guy says:
im not that weak
guy says:
but i was very disturbed
guy says:
i wanted some understanding as to why
guy says:
is it like this
guy says:
this passages says you are born evil
me says:
and you dreamt of that number?
guy says:
a me ssage of forgiveness
guy says:
yeah
me says:
5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me .
me says:
so you dreamt : psalm 51 5
guy says:
yes
me says:
hmmmm
me says:
that's pretty crazy
guy says:
it can also be read
me says:
had you read it before?
guy says:
I have been evil from the day I was bron, from the time i was convieved i have been sinful
guy says:
i have never
guy says:
it was the first time in my entire life
guy says:
i swear upon that

What do you reckon?
 
What's that passage actually about? It's easy to attach a meaning to a single sentence from any book.

For example, I just picked up a book which was lying next to me, stuck my finger inside and found the sentence "Two small boys were jeering at me" (From The Cuckoo Sister, by Vivien Alcock).

That could also be seen as relevant to that guy's dream.
 
komencanto said:
Alright, typical skeptic challenge, how do I answer this guy:
Click to expand...

The Bible is full of stuff about sin and forgiveness and all that, so the odds of him hitting something that resonated with a random lookup are fairly reasonable.

More importantly if he'd looked it up and gotten something like "And Shmooziel begat Fnunkiel, and made a burnt offering unto the Lord", which made no sense, he'd just have forgotten about the whole thing and moved on.

It's not really surprising that people dream of numbered Bible verses and find something relevant in them. People are probably dreaming about Bible verses all the time, and they just forget the misses.
 
Bibliomancy has been around for some time.

One can flip open any sufficiently long book and read passages that are then interpreted to their situation.

The book itself is not answering questions, but the guy. He is the one interpreting what he reads.

I'd also wager he is not keeping track of the times it didn't 'work'.

Psalm ch 51 verse 5 says: "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me."

and he interprets this as having something to do with being homosexual, etc.
 
Bibliomancy is cool.

Imagine a depressed guy seeking some comfort from God (and conveniently disregarding all the injunctions about divination etc).

Flip flip flip... stop:

"And Judas went out and straightway hanged himself."

Hmm, not that clear. Try again.

Flip flip flip... stop:

"Go thou and do likewise."

Hmm.
 
Welcome, V, and nicely said. :)

I used to try bibliomancy in my youth, not that I knew that was what I was doing. Sometimes the results were eerie, other times, simply meaningless. I stopped doing it as I grew up because it became apparent to me that it was pure luck.

Same thing goes for the I Ching & Tarot, except they're built in such a way that it can be intepreted as having meaning no matter what shows up. :D
 
Heh... I loved the I Ching. All the oracles were vague & mystical but it was the responsibility of the questioner to relate the oracle to their situation. Classic "Cold Read" but in a self-abuse kind of way!

Hmm. Should I apply for this new job or not...

(rattles yarrow stalks)


The mountain rests on the earth:
The image of Splitting Apart.
Thus those above can ensure their position
Only by giving generously to those below.
Click to expand...

Ok. Hum.. Maybe the director of the new firm will give me a good salary... or maybe it means my old boss will try to give me a raise to make me stay... or ... um... The Mountain could be my mortgage and uh...

DAMN I'm just not wise enough!
 
"V" said:
Heh... I loved the I Ching. All the oracles were vague & mystical but it was the responsibility of the questioner to relate the oracle to their situation. Classic "Cold Read" but in a self-abuse kind of way!

Hmm. Should I apply for this new job or not...

(rattles yarrow stalks)




Ok. Hum.. Maybe the director of the new firm will give me a good salary... or maybe it means my old boss will try to give me a raise to make me stay... or ... um... The Mountain could be my mortgage and uh...

DAMN I'm just not wise enough!
Click to expand...

Maybe I can help. Let's see... ah, yes, you were close - SO close!

"The mountain rests on the earth" clearly refers to the weight of this decision, where the earth is your life, and the consequences of your decision is the mountain.

"The image of splitting apart" clearly refers to you leaving your current job.

However... this is modified by:

"Thus those above can ensure their position only by giving generously to those below."

This means that when you tell your current boss you have a job offer, if he makes the wise choice, he'll give you a raise to stay and all will be well. But... if he doesn't offer you that raise, you'll depart, and he'll eventually get fired for incompetence for not realizing your value to the firm.

Ah, my fortunate friend, you CANNOT lose! Unless, of course, it's just complete drivel... :D
 
Brilliant, brilliant! You are indeed very wise, and there is no doubt in my mind that your interpretation is correct!

I shall instantly start a new religious movement based around your pronouncements, and look forward to sending in my first donations.

Unless, as you say, it is all drivel. In which case we can set up the new religious movement together and consciously fleece the punters...

:D
 
Shhhh! Don't say that too loudly... the Illuminati are everywhere... ;)
 
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