Paranormal Experiences and Sleep Paralysis

[George-ananda]

Please re-read my post. I said that there is nothing about the 'hard problem' that argues for or infers any paranormal dimension to consciousness. And no mate - 'paranormal' does not mean 'not understood yet' - look it up. Science has never claimed to be complete, that many, many things are not understood yet does not make them paranormal. Thanks for the nasty, rude and completely unecessary inference regarding my intelligence. Notice how I have not flung any such unsults at you.

You are getting delusional and paranoid. Not to mention you didn't understand my comments about 'paranormal' at all.

 

[George-ananda]

Gee thanks - so your argument here is basically how stupid anyone who disagrees with you is? Brilliant mate. Is that all you have? There is no reliable scientific evidence of the paranormal - insulting everyone who disagrees is bigotry - not an argument. You also know that I am not in fact a supporter of 'hard materialism'.
Your 'newer paradigm' is not the new paradigm at all - it is the old, archaic magically minded paradigm of the past, not the future. More than a century of research science has failed to demonstrate anything remotely paranormal. You are clinging to the flat earth mate, not me. Insulting others for rejecting the evidence you do not actually have is a useless debating tactic.


For all of you attacks on my character and intellect - you are yet to identify any reliable evidence for the paranormal - neither of course has science. Just calling anyone who disagrees names is not an intelligent rebuttal. Milk leaking statues and Ganzfield's unexplored anomalies are not things that are particularly impressive, or that in any way challenge science. In honest debate one must not endlessly retreat to diminishing, insulting or otherwise attacking the characte of your opponant - but instead adress the argument in hand. The fact that science has shown no reliable evidence for the paranormal can not be discounted simply by trying to portray your opponant as a fool in denial - you have presented nothing to deny.

I would like to debate these issues beyond the point of simply being dismissed as an ignorant denialist over evidence that nobody ever gets around to presenting - and that frankly does not exist.

Let's start here: what is you definition of 'paranormal'?

 

[Bunyip]

You are getting delusional and paranoid. Not to mention you didn't understand my comments about 'paranormal' at all.

Im neither paranoid nor delusional - what I am asking is if you can try to stop simply dismissing points as bias, paranoia and delusion. I have made no claims that I can not support - nor are they even particuoarly controversial. I am happy to clarify any claim or statement I have made. I do not dismiss your claims as paraniod delusions.

 

[Bunyip]

Let's start here: what is you definition of 'paranormal'?

I just go with the standard dictionary definition.

 

[George-ananda]

"

There is another side to this though, perhaps someone just because THEY believe it to be paranormal or supernatural doesn't get the right information or treatment for a known disorder.

Not clear on your overall point, but yes I believe in both; that which is colloquially called 'paranormal' and treatable mental illnesses.

 

[Alan McDougall]

Sleep paralysis, scientific name is "Hypnogogic Sleep.

It is often a precursor to an Out of Body experience.

 

[Alan McDougall]

Why can't I post my own thread

 

[George-ananda]

Why can't I post my own thread

On the Home page in the upper right, don't you have a "Post New Thread' button?

 

[Penumbra]

I've had a few experiences of sleep paralysis in my life. They occurred on the transition from sleeping to waking.

The first time was when I was a young teenager. I had an experience that lasted for an atypically long time (a few minutes), where I could not move at all, and saw out of the corner of my eye a dark figure hovering over me and I couldn't do anything about it. I couldn't scream, I couldn't move any part of my body from my head all the way down to my toes even the tiniest bit, so I was in a state of silent unmoving panic, basically. For a few years after that I believed that ghosts most likely exist because I had not ever heard of sleep paralysis and had no other better explanation for it.

The next time was when I was in college, and I couldn't move for a while and there was a figure over me. But this time, I identified it as a state of sleep paralysis so I just calmly waited until I could move again. I used that time to basically just observe the experience because it was novel.

The third time was a couple months ago where I couldn't move and someone was over me, holding me down. Rather than assume a supernatural event, my initial panicked impression was that it was a home intruder and I was being raped. I tried to fight back but couldn't move. Within a few seconds when the paralysis subsided, I sat up and screamed and then immediately realized I'm fine and it was sleep paralysis. It was a pretty frustrating few seconds because I kept thinking like, "I could totally take this guy but I can't move!" and then when it was over I was like "oh. -_-'"

 

[George-ananda]

Mainstream science would of course say any experience of entities is just a hallucination. How do we judge? The main researcher of this phenomena David J Hufford has done extensive research on this and does seem to think there is a paranormal element involved. I vaguely recall him presenting some pretty strong but strange evidence but I'd have to go back and re-study this.

But, like all things in this paranormal forum, the answers depend on who you ask.