Ouija board etc

Northclare

Have any Atheists tried the Ouija Board does that kind of game or being on your own in isolated so called haunted locations or hearing ghost stories and watching satanic movies etc freak any of you out ?

MrStuffins

Ouija Board, if i'm not mistaken, is a Board Game whose patent is owned by Parker Brothers.

There are no spirits moving anything on the board, the players move the onjects using the idiomotor effect.

Do some Googling if you're interested.

Quatermain

No, but I do recall ruffling a few feathers when let slip I would be trying "Dungeons and Dragons", once upon a time.

And "Satanic" movies are rarely anything special. I think a few of them ended up on MST3K once or twice.

dlofnep

If I was alone, in an old dark house - I would naturally get irrational fear of every creepy sounding noise. But I would be reassuring myself that they all have reasonable explanations. Fear is one of the hardest emotions to control.

MsQuinn

Consider myself agnostic.

Did the ouija board loads as a teenager (20+ yrs ago). Had great fun although some of my friends took it way too seriously.

I defo go with the idiomotor effect theory.

Delirium

Tried the ouija board with a couple of friends in my teens. Nothing exciting about it.

Worked in a haunted castle for a few years. That was fun. It was interesting to watch how different people behaved in the castle once they knew it was haunted.

I'd really enjoy listening to a good storyteller tell a ghost story. No problem watching horror films with Satanic overtones. Just view it as another type of movie monster.

zenbuffy

While I would tend to think that most people who are atheists are also critical thinkers, it's not always the case, so you do occasionally get atheists who believe in ghosts and other such paranormal phenomena. (To be honest, I'm inclined to think that if you're a "skeptic" and also religious, then you're not very good at one of those things, but that's just me!)

Since atheist on its own really just means "doesn't believe in god(s)", there's really no guarantee that all atheists will also be aghostists

For me, personally, as there has been no evidence of ghosts (or similar paranormal phenomena), a ouija board or haunted house wouldn't be bothersome. I enjoy a creepy movie as much as the next person, but I don't believe it's ghosts moving the indicator on the board.

Sarky

Arkham Horror is a far better board game tbh.

Nervous Wreck

Did it. Was gas. One lad just sliding the thing around the board and a bunch of others going "OMG!" and me going "Errr, it's Jay."

Stupid game, in fairness.

Improbable

Sarky wrote: »

Arkham Horror is a far better board game tbh.

That game is amazing! That is all.

Kidchameleon

I always wondered why the church was so against these things. Perhaps they know there is something more to it, that you can in fact contact the dead, thereby reducing the church's power.

People here are going to tear me apart for this next comment but here goes...

I bought an apartment near Naas a few years ago and there was a few bits of junk left in it, among the junk was a crystal ball. I dumped it all bar the ball, was nice looking! I read up out of interest about how they "work". I decided to give it a try! Although I knew at most the ball would give me some kind of "waking dream". It was kind of relaxing staring at the ball for an extended period of time and I kept it up for a few weeks. Well within a few days I was seeing colors in the thing, probably a trick of the mind but still cool. It kind of hypnotizes you, its a nice feeling that I'm sure there is a scientific explanation for. The last time I used it, I was instantly woken up (untranced), I saw a face of a woman "in" the ball, freaked me out! I say "in" the ball, apparently any images you receive look like they are in the ball but are actually in your head.

The moral of that story is that if there is anything to the Ouija board stuff, its probably in the persons mind, and as the majority of people in this forum are atheist, they would not be the best test subjects for a Ouija board!

MrStuffins

Kidchameleon wrote: »

The moral of that story is that if there is anything to the Ouija board stuff, its probably in the persons mind, and as the majority of people in this forum are atheist, they would not be the best test subjects for a Ouija board!

Eh? I don't agree with this statement at all.

Atheist doesn't necessarily mean you have absolutely no belief in the paranormal etc. It just means you are more likely to think about thinkgs critically and logically instead of jumping to stupid conclusions like "OMG!!! IT'S MY DEAD DOG CONTACTING ME FROM BEYOND THE BACK-GARDEN GRAVE!".

Northclare

That's a good way of looking at it,the image is in your head and not the ball,almost everything is an illusion of some sort.

Have you ever seen how scientists illustrate how insects see plants a primrose in ultraviolet is amazing.
I'm sure were only at the tip of the iceberg with what we cant see....

Some people go on about being as blind as a bat but yet their not blind at all...

Kidchameleon

MrStuffins wrote: »

Eh? I don't agree with this statement at all.

Atheist doesn't necessarily mean you have absolutely no belief in the paranormal etc. It just means you are more likely to think about thinkgs critically and logically instead of jumping to stupid conclusions like "OMG!!! IT'S MY DEAD DOG CONTACTING ME FROM BEYOND THE BACK-GARDEN GRAVE!".

I said they wouldn't be the best, not that they wouldn't do at all, for the precise reason you outlined. And your bit about your dog there simply proves my point.

Turtwig

MrStuffins wrote: »

Eh? I don't agree with this statement at all.

Atheist doesn't necessarily mean you have absolutely no belief in the paranormal etc. It just means you are more likely to think about thinkgs critically and logically instead of jumping to stupid conclusions like "OMG!!! IT'S MY DEAD DOG CONTACTING ME FROM BEYOND THE BACK-GARDEN GRAVE!".

How does being an atheist mean you're more likely to think logically and critically?

Mark Hamill

Kidchameleon wrote: »

The moral of that story is that if there is anything to the Ouija board stuff, its probably in the persons mind, and as the majority of people in this forum are atheist, they would not be the best test subjects for a Ouija board!

Atheists don't have minds?

Nodin

Kidchameleon wrote: »

I always wondered why the church was so against these things. Perhaps they know there is something more to it, that you can in fact contact the dead, thereby reducing the church's power.
!

That sort of contradicts this....

Kidchameleon wrote: »

The moral of that story is that if there is anything to the Ouija board stuff, its probably in the persons mind, and as the majority of people in this forum are atheist, they would not be the best test subjects for a Ouija board!

Quatermain

Just so we're clear, it is a children's board game and not out-and-out necromancy, right? :pac:

18AD

Nah, you can use absolutely anything for divination. Even kids games. Poker is probably as good as a Ouiji board.

Quatermain

18AD wrote: »

Nah, you can use absolutely anything for divination. Even kids games. Poker is probably as good as a Ouiji board.

As far as I'm aware, Tarot decks were used much like a normal deck of cards in games like tarocchini before their use in divination.

18AD

Quatermain wrote: »

As far as I'm aware, Tarot decks were used much like a normal deck of cards in games like tarocchini before their use in divination.

Yeah, I'm not too up on the history of the cards, but there must be an overlap. The history is not well known as far as I can tell.

Alan Watts has a good article, which I haven't read in ages, on regular cards here.

There's also stuff like Enochian chess.

I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of games have some originary occult siginficance. I vaguely recall a good article on Snakes & Ladders as well. Can't remember now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snakes_and_Ladders



The sacred mystery of Buckaroo still evades me.

MrStuffins

Jernal wrote: »

How does being an atheist mean you're more likely to think logically and critically?

Than a theist?

DublinWriter

Jernal wrote: »

How does being an atheist mean you're more likely to think logically and critically?

...because you inherently trust the value of empirical methodology.

Turtwig

MrStuffins wrote: »

Than a theist?

Why on earth are you asking me? You're the person who made the statement :

Atheist doesn't necessarily mean you have absolutely no belief in the paranormal etc. It just means you are more likely to think about thinkgs critically and logically instead of jumping to stupid conclusions like "OMG!!! IT'S MY DEAD DOG CONTACTING ME FROM BEYOND THE BACK-GARDEN GRAVE!".

So, again, "How does being an atheist mean you're more likely to think logically and critically?"

Turtwig

DublinWriter wrote: »

...because you inherently trust the value of empirical methodology.

And, now I'm getting all confused here. Is there a secondary requirement for all atheists to trust empiricism or something? That I'm not aware. of. Or are you saying atheists are more likely to follow empirical methods and thus more likely to be logical and critical thinkers?

dlofnep

Jernal wrote: »

So, again, "How does being an atheist mean you're more likely to think logically and critically?"

With over 90% of the American National Academy of Sciences, and the Royal Society's membership being atheists - it's a pretty good indicator. Someone who automatically questions claims which lack proof is at least off to a good start with respect to critical thinking.

MrStuffins

Jernal wrote: »

Why on earth are you asking me?

Because i'd have thought it was a tad obvious.

DublinWriter wrote: »

...because you inherently trust the value of empirical methodology.

dlofnep wrote: »

With over 90% of the American National Academy of Sciences, and the Royal Society's membership being atheists - it's a pretty good indicator. Someone who automatically questions claims which lack proof is at least off to a good start with respect to critical thinking.

Above are 2 nice examples.

Improbable

It comes down to how you split it I suppose. I find belief in the supernatural to be completely irrational and against the concepts of critical thinking. However, from what I've witnessed from the majority of religious people that I have close contact with, people can be rational in other aspects of their lives and irrational when it comes to religion. It's something that has been ingrained in them from when they were very young and for the majority of them, it seems to be more a case of never having seriously considered the issue rather than a serious conviction that god exists. My personal experience may be biased however because the people I am around most often are scientists and so are disposed to critical thinking more so than the general population.

If you view belief in a deity as an irrational position (which I do), and that one of the primary reasons why people don't believe in a deity is due to application of their critical thinking facilities, it would stand to reason that the more someone is disposed to critical thinking and the better they are at it, the less likely it is that they will believe in a deity. Going back to my own little subset, as scientists, critical thinking is an extremely important skill and most of them are agnostic atheists. This would seem to be backed up by the information that the vast majority of the NAS are atheists (if that is true). There doesn't necessarily have to be causation between the two properties of critical thinking and irreligiosity, but there does appear to be a correlation.

Turtwig

The query I had was being an Atheist means "you're more likely to think logically and critically".

All I've got so far is that scientists are likely to be atheists.(?) It does seem a fair assumption to make that scientists are likely to think critically and logically but I don't see how I'm expected to assume atheists are more likely to think critically and logically just because scientists do.


Regarding how "obvious" something is. Well, isn't that the first rule of science? Just because something appears obvious doesn't necessarily mean it is true until it is tested repeatedly again and again and again and even then, perhaps somewhat depressingly, it can never actually be true. That's why there's tonnes of research papers mocked and dismissed for investigating the obvious : "Do Amputated Limbs really grow back?". Every so often something counter intuitive is found and that's what makes science what it is.

MrStuffins

Jernal wrote: »

The query I had was being an Atheist means "you're more likely to think logically and critically".

All I've got so far is that scientists are likely to be atheists.(?) It does seem a fair assumption to make that scientists are likely to think critically and logically but I don't see how I'm expected to assume atheists are more likely to think critically and logically just because scientists do.

Do you really need this explained to you?

Regarding how "obvious" something is. Well, isn't that the first rule of science? Just because something appears obvious doesn't necessarily mean it is true until it is tested repeatedly again and again and again and even then, perhaps somewhat depressingly, it can never actually be true. That's why there's tonnes of research papers mocked and dismissed for investigating the obvious : "Do Amputated Limbs really grow back?". Every so often something counter intuitive is found and that's what makes science what it is.

What do you want, a research paper?

Now it's YOU speaking about science?

We're talking about Atheists and Ouija Boards no?

Turtwig

MrStuffins wrote: »

Do you really need this explained to you?

Yes, yes I do. If it was obvious to me I doubt I'd have asked it. Why does being an atheist mean you're more likely to think logically and critically?

What do you want, a research paper?

Now it's YOU speaking about science?

We're talking about Atheists and Ouija Boards no?

If you have a research paper that shows it then by all means fire away. Apologies to the OP, mods and everyone else for dragging this off topic, but I'm kind of terrible for doing that.