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[Loud Whispers]

I don't like the flawed logic of "I don't know how to explain it, therefore you don't know how to explain it, therefore it's ghosts".
Namely, if someone doesn't know what it is, how can they then know that it's ghosts? Defaulting to assuming it being magic is some stone-age level shit.

I totally agree.  But I also haven't met too many people who actually think that way.  Maybe I'm just good at avoiding certain kinds of stupidity, but I often wonder how others seem to find it so common.

My favourite ghost ghosty thing is when people start talking about "energy." Mainly because it's true.
STUFF IS MOVING
ENERGY DID IT

CHANGE IN TEMPERATURE
ENERGY DID IT

ELECTRICITY IS WORKING
ENERGY DID IT

And it gives you an excuse to shout ECTOPLASMA

[Squill]

Even though I don't really believe in ghosts, I really enjoy discussing them or watching those stupid "ghost hunt" type shows.

[misko27]

We get some pretty weird events sometimes at my place.  I think it was three weeks ago I was sitting at my computer and I suddenly heard what sounded exactly like a grown man right next to me was stomping on the floor rapidly as hard as he could for several seconds.

This is why I enjoy living in New York with a cat. Everything can be immediately justified. "Stomping sounds": Stupid upstairs neighbors. "Crash from the other room": Damn it cat. "Demented moaning of a mad-man to the tune of 50s music": Shut up, Steve!*. "Suspiciously shut door": Cat, what're you doing in there?


It's so easy. Don't even need to know where he is, because I can assume he had a hand in it at some point.


*My Next door neighbor really does that.

[Flying Dice]

I do remember when that Ghost Hunters show did an episode covering a place where I worked. Every single thing they freaked out over was something I could instantly identify. I think their entire crew was startled and mystified by the same ice machine dropping more cubes into its reservoir. They're so goofy and fake it's not even funny to watch them stumble around being stupid any more, especially the new ones who don't even bother investigating, instead defaulting to "Weird stuff? OMG ITZ A GOST".

[kaenneth]

That reminds me of the time when I was little, and I was at my grandparents house in late december, and woke up and heard a rapping noise coming from the basement.

[Shakerag]

That reminds me of the time when I was little, and I was at my grandparents house in late december, and woke up and heard a rapping noise coming from the basement.

I'd be scared if I heard Vanilla Ice coming from my grandparents' basement.

[kaenneth]

That reminds me of the time when I was little, and I was at my grandparents house in late december, and woke up and heard a rapping noise coming from the basement.

I'd be scared if I heard Vanilla Ice coming from my grandparents' basement.

Turns out they were just wrapping christmas presents.

[Graknorke]

That reminds me of the time when I was little, and I was at my grandparents house in late december, and woke up and heard a rapping noise coming from the basement.

I'd be scared if I heard Vanilla Ice coming from my grandparents' basement.

Turns out they were just wrapping christmas presents.

Your grandparents must've been rather hip. Did they have some pounding bass going on too?

[GlyphGryph]

I had a dream I travelled back in time about 10-14 years.

Can't stop thinking about it.

I was so helpless - I knew what was coming, but there was nothing I could do about it, no way I could actually make use of my knowledge.

The only one I'd be able to convince is myself, maybe my family, but to what end?  - all I'd probably accomplish is insuring I never fell in love with my wife or made half my friends by doing so (all of whom, essentially, would have ceased to exists). I don't know anything of actual value - I'd possess only the ability to screw things up.

I'm still trembling and basically on the verge of tears.

[misko27]

I had a dream I travelled back in time about 10-14 years.

Can't stop thinking about it.

I was so helpless - I knew what was coming, but there was nothing I could do about it, no way I could actually make use of my knowledge.

The only one I'd be able to convince is myself, maybe my family, but to what end?  - all I'd probably accomplish is insuring I never fell in love with my wife or made half my friends by doing so (all of whom, essentially, would have ceased to exists). I don't know anything of actual value - I'd possess only the ability to screw things up.

I'm still trembling and basically on the verge of tears.

As much as I hate to be the guy, especially given it's me of all people, perhaps there is something behind that. Once in a blue moon I have relatively coherent, easy to remember dreams that seem have a meaning (Having dreams I can remember at all happens pretty rarely to begin with, and they're usually a hodgepodge of stuff). I remember a a dream i had going into high school, I was trying to cross the street near my apartment with my mom when I had a pain, some great intense pain, that brought me to my knees. The light was about to turn, and I was forced to quickly crawl home or I'd be crushed. That sorta dream seems to be telling you something (I disagreed with the point that dream was trying to make though.) But there have been others, ones with legitimate points too.

But yeah, perhaps that one has some meaning for you.

[SalmonGod]

Something that's always kind of weirded me out is the way people talk about their brains as if they are separate thing from themselves.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Generally in that sense they are referring to unconscious and/or involuntary actions taken by the brain, outside of their direct control. This can conceivably be described as a separate consciousness from your own.

[SalmonGod]

Generally in that sense they are referring to unconscious and/or involuntary actions taken by the brain, outside of their direct control. This can conceivably be described as a separate consciousness from your own.

Yeah, I get what the meaning is supposed to be.  It's just one of those linguistic quirks that draws my attention every time I see it.

[GlyphGryph]

I actually know pretty much exactly why I had the dream, what caused it and what it signified. Didn't make it end up being any less terrifying, and it sat with me for hours after I woke up too.

I feel like no matter how much I know or what I'm capable of, it won't be enough - because you can't do anything without convincing the right people, and having the right resources to begin with. That the forces that influence and even outright control my life are ultimately outside my control - even if I were to do it all again, knowing what I know now, there's every possibility I'd end up worse off than I was before. I'm terrified, for the first time in my life, of losing what I have. I'm paralyzed by the knowledge that every door I open closes a dozen more, permanently and forever.

My life is not under my control - there is nothing I can do to make the things I want to happen, happen. I can't change the past, and if I could I'd probably end up worse off than I am now, and it's growing increasingly clear that I can't change the future either. Knowledge of opportunities and desires are useless if you don't have the resources and connections to take advantage of them, and I don't, and attempting to do so anyway will only make me lose what I have.

It's terrifying because its true.

[LordSlowpoke]

I actually know pretty much exactly why I had the dream, what caused it and what it signified. Didn't make it end up being any less terrifying, and it sat with me for hours after I woke up too.

I feel like no matter how much I know or what I'm capable of, it won't be enough - because you can't do anything without convincing the right people, and having the right resources to begin with. That the forces that influence and even outright control my life are ultimately outside my control - even if I were to do it all again, knowing what I know now, there's every possibility I'd end up worse off than I was before. I'm terrified, for the first time in my life, of losing what I have. I'm paralyzed by the knowledge that every door I open closes a dozen more, permanently and forever.

My life is not under my control - there is nothing I can do to make the things I want to happen, happen. I can't change the past, and if I could I'd probably end up worse off than I am now, and it's growing increasingly clear that I can't change the future either. Knowledge of opportunities and desires are useless if you don't have the resources and connections to take advantage of them, and I don't, and attempting to do so anyway will only make me lose what I have.

It's terrifying because its true.

pretty much what prompted me to indulge in quality animism

i'm not saying it's the best option available but hey, you kinda get shit done like this. kinda. gotta deal with the ethical dilemmas regarding how you utilize knowledge your average citizen has little in the ways of a reason or a way to acquire, but if you're into that sort of stuff and find a good partner or dozen?

i'm fairly sure i'd get nowhere with actual wizardry if i hadn't gotten this part covered though, so good luck have fun