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Post by rmarks1 on Apr 18, 2019 17:08:46 GMT -5
Bob
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Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2019 16:53:57 GMT -5
If you see something in a random pattern, does it exist or not?
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Post by rmarks1 on Apr 21, 2019 18:26:57 GMT -5
If you see something in a random pattern, does it exist or not?
The interpretation exists in the mind of the observer.
Bob
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2019 0:23:43 GMT -5
Is that a yes or a no?
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Post by rmarks1 on Apr 22, 2019 9:46:43 GMT -5
Obviously it is a yes. I said it does exist...in the mind of the observer.
Bob
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2019 11:17:35 GMT -5
So that Jesus figure really did stand on the flaming roof.
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Post by rmarks1 on Apr 22, 2019 14:28:27 GMT -5
So that Jesus figure really did stand on the flaming roof.
Obviously not. The Jesus figure was in the mind of the believer who saw it.
Didn't you see the article in the top post?
"A 2012 study from Finland showed that those with strong religious or paranormal beliefs were more likely to identify figures in random patterns than skeptics or atheists."
Bob
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Post by Deleted on Apr 23, 2019 11:35:01 GMT -5
Do your thoughts exist as facts or not?
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Post by rmarks1 on Apr 23, 2019 14:05:17 GMT -5
Do your thoughts exist as facts or not?
Huh? It's a fact that things exist, but how exactly could anything exist AS a fact? So I don't see how your question makes sense.
Bob
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Post by Deleted on Apr 24, 2019 10:00:29 GMT -5
If you think of a white elephant, does it exist?
If you think of Jesus on the roof of a church, does he exist?
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Post by rmarks1 on Apr 24, 2019 16:45:36 GMT -5
If you think of a white elephant, does it exist? If you think of Jesus on the roof of a church, does he exist?
Neither one does. But your thoughts of both Jesus and the elephant both exist in your mind.
Bob
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Post by faskew on Apr 25, 2019 7:09:47 GMT -5
The question is: how does the brain interpret input. Our brains are pattern seekers. When we see something, the brain looks for a stored pattern to identify it. So when we see a dog, the brain checks its files, finds stored memories that are called "dog", then sends a message to the conscious level that we are seeing a dog. But the brain isn't perfect. "Close" is good enough for most cases, so our brains will often mistake one thing for another, at least for a couple of seconds until we get better input. People who have a strong emotional attachment to an image will often see that image in all sorts of places, when no one else sees it. Clouds, smoke, fire, etc. are great producers of false images because they are vague and shifting.
So, yes, the woman's interpretation of sensory input does exist in her brain. But the image did not exist outside her brain. Which is why personal experience is mostly useless when dealing with paranormal experiences, etc., and we ask for external, verifiable evidence of an event before accepting it as real. Our brains make mistakes every day, it's just that most of them aren't important and so we ignore them.
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