Mediumship and spirits https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritualism What is your opinion on all this? And have you ever had any experience that way?
A story I have been told by somebody who knew more about it. At the beginning of World War One a group of German soldiers played "table turning or kocking". They asked: "How many weeks will the war last?" In those days the idea was: "It will all be over at Christmas." But there were then not just a few knocks. The table kept knocking and knocking and the soldiers lost count. Maybe the table knocked the correct number of weeks, something nobody could have known then. What do you think of this?
There are more things, in heaven and Earth... That there is something to numerous of the phenomena you list, has been believed by some of the world's foremost scientists; and there is even a small bit of evidential research, for telekinesis, for example. That said, none of these really qualifies as a science, and the majority of reports about paranormal phenomena which one hears, turn out to be spurious, coming either from hucksters, or from simply the naive. That is kind of a long list you offer, to speak of all, likewise, as a group. Our investigative abilities, for example, vary significantly, among them.
Since you clearly want to speculate about this, I will pick up on your story about WW1. That story sounds like an urban legend, to me; but I'll admit, it would sound that way, even if it were true. Without progressing too great a distance, geographically or temporally, from that story, I will ask what you know about the stories surrounding the pseudonymous Erik Jan Hanussen, Hitler's Jewish Clairvoyant? Apparently, there is at least truth to his being a renowned psychic/hypnotist, and if I ever get the time for it, there is a book written about him, by Mel Gordon, that sounds rather interesting, and gets very good reviews. The stories about his sending Hitler to dig up a mandrake root (as an inspiration for the Swastika symbol, I think), predicting the Nazi rise to power and, supposedly, the duration before their fall, should Hitler ever turn against him-- the NAZIs murdered him, I think around the Night of the Long Knives, but possibly just because many owed him gambling debts-- all stimulate the imagination, if they are at all credible.
What is the scientific observation that matter is neither created nor destroyed? Personally I believe in eternal existence. I think birth and death are nothing but steps through eternity. Neither the beginning nor the end but just stumbling somewhere along the path to forever .
Interesting-- I never heard any of that! I would wonder, however, about the veracity of that story. I have elsewhere heard various other stories about his death. In a review of the book I'd mentioned, for instance, I think it mentions that he was found with his pockets filled with NAZI member IOUs. There are also other events, like Hitler's being named Chancellor, that this "psychic" reputedly predicted, as well, that he could not have controlled. And the famous prediction of the time before Hitler's fall, should he ever abandon Jan Hanussen, was purportedly right on the money. But as I also said, I am not sure how credible these claims are. In a story in which there is some ambiguity, such as this one, Wikipedia may not be the best source, at least to rely on, solely, as it will necessarily be overly colored by the writer's biases, and so interpretation (for example, by his assumptions about "psychics").
I live near a town who's raison d'etre is to cater to various spiritualists and mediums. It's basically the town's only industry. People travel far and wide to speak to dead relatives and get their fortunes told. I need to break into that racket.
