Life in the Vast Lane...

A number of things have happened to me that pass any attempts at explanation. As I get the time, I'm going to list them here. I must note, in advance, the fact that I have a position about what I choose to call "Woo-woo stuff": things happen; some of them are readily explainable, and some aren't. Of the things that are not readily explainable, some will become readily explainable as we learn more about the world and how it works (in the "science" sense of learning); some will not. This leaves a small residue. Quite a few people attempt to explain these remaining items; all of the explanations I've ever come across are TOTAL GARBAGE. UNREMITTING HOGWASH.

Quite a few people also attempt to make "scientific" explorations of these things, some more seriously than others, and some using better methods than others.

My current conjecture is that all such scientific efforts are rightwise doomed, because in no case have I ever observed the least indication that woo-woo stuff is repeatable or controllable. Mind you, I'm not an expert. I am speaking mostly of my own experience here, and maybe there are people who can do woo-woo stuff at will or upon demand. I certainly haven't run into any, at least as far as I'm aware.

By the same token, however, the people who say that woo-woo stuff cannot and does not happen, particularly those who say so merely because nobody can sit down and deliberately do any in front of them, are just as full of crap as the people they decry. Here again, I speak from personal experience; I attended the 10th CSICOP conference, some years ago, and was both shocked & astonished to find how many true (dis-)believers were there.

We are caught here on the horns of a very nasty dilemma. Anecdotal evidence (which here means anything that didn't happen to you yourself or in your presence) is not worth the data packets it's printed on. At the same time, it is pointless to relate anything that did happen to you, because in doing so you turn it into anecdotal evidence and thus into garbage. This makes it very difficult to discuss woo-woo stuff at all, much less substantively.

That being the case, you get to wonder why I am going to bother to put my own anecdotes up here. One reason is that at least one of them is quite amusing. (Well, I sure thought it was amusing....) Another is that I wish to illustrate my points, and even though the examples, being mere anecdotes, are trash, they are at least my own trash rather than someone else's third- or Nth-hand trash. I think that may count for something.

As I say, I'll be adding my examples as I have time to do so.


Back to Top Level...