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Has the occult set the bar to astonishing? Is the claim that we can peek into the after life, some how diminishing the perception of this current life?

I liken it to missing a parade, because we are to focused on looking in the sky for vaguely promised fire works display.

What actual phenomena is being "shunned" in the blazing light of Super natural Hype?

I think I understand your question. Like, what natural wonders are being ignored because we're looking for something greater?

I think that people take for granted what they see on a daily basis. Trees, flowers, grass, other human beings, technology...Everything is incredible. The air we breathe is a miracle in itself.

We can subtly spread an idea among our friends without an out sider having any idea that there is communication going on, not psychic, but still social phenomena.

You are right on track.

Oh wow,I could go on and on about this one.To begin with,there is so much natural phenomenon that is accredited to the super natural or paranormal.
And communication with animals..which is mostly based on subtle gestures,sounds and even the position and placement of one's body..

Oops,posted before I had meant to..sorry.
But anyway,I agree with you Dab that so much is placed on the supernatural aspect and the hope or belief in it ,that several things are happening..One,the growing distaste for science,which I feel in part stems from the fact that science is proving time after time that many things once believed to be paranormal,in fact,are not.And so for some reason that thing that was so amazing before,becomes..just mundane and everyone looses interest.Two,there is so much put into the paranormal that peeps really seemed to have lost sight of just how wonderous and fantastic this place really is.I know I will most likely catch heat for this post,but I have to call it as I see it.

Oceanne, I agree with you completely. People are taking for granted what we see every day, and that people are pushing aside their trust in science. People prove things are real to push aside the paranormal, and in effort to tell everyone that things can be explained. But what science isn't doing is saying why people think those things are paranormal.

i agree, there is many things in the paranormal that some times blows one away. find sciece very intresting as well

So what phenomena is being "shunned"? You mean that we don't consider it a phenomena if it's not a spectacular example of it?

The topic of the thread makes an excellent point, dabbler. And if there's any heat, Oceanne, I'll be glad to share it with you.

In the past couple of weeks here I've seen fears displayed about computers, the LHC and science in general. And in most cases, the people exhibiting these fears seem to have garnered a lot of varying beliefs about paranormal activity, yet fairly consistently demonstrate a lack of understanding concerning the real, physical, demonstrable and normal phenomena.

What about virtual particles which pop in and out of existence from apparent nothingness? Is that somehow less awe-inspiring than an assertion that ghosts exist?

What about nothingness itself? Most people like to think they grasp a concept of what nothing is, but apply a bit more depth to the discussion and you quickly find out why it's one of the most attractive puzzles going in modern physics. It's far more mysterious than several people dying while seated in the same spot, over time, in a particular house.

The computer at which you're seated is little more than a vast array of on/off switches which are interlinked so that one switch can control another or a whole series of switches. And from this minimalistic premise, arises what might be termed the single greatest advancement in man's everyday activity in the history of mankind (so far). Flip the right series of switches in the right order and you can send images, text, video, sound, spreadsheets, links to information and orders around the world in a matter of seconds. Is that somehow less intriguing than the unevidenced claim that burning a given plant can make an unevidenced entity leave your proximity?

The LHC offers the promise of unlocking the very essence of matter and the conditions of the universe a mere nanosecond after the initial event of the Big Bang. It offers to do this by taking sub-atomic particles (particles so small that if the atom were scaled to the length of an Olympic-size swimming pool, a single proton in that atom would be only ½ a millimeter in size), and directing a stream of them around a 17-mile long circular tube. It can then send a similar beam of protons in the opposite direction and accelerate both beams to just a tiny fraction of a percent below the speed of light (about 99.9999% of the speed of light). Then it can cross the beams sending the protons from one beam head-long into the protons from the other beam. A shower of proton debris results and the massively sensitive instruments at the collision point can gather many different forms of data concerning the resulting spray of shattered protons. In fact, a single hour of analyzing this shower of proton bits can result in more data than currently occupies the whole of the Internet!

How does that not simply blow rumors and stories about spells and magic completely out of contention for some of the most fascinating phenomena available for study?

I think the answer lies in the degree of understanding required. It's easy to imagine a humanoid form that walks through walls, behaves mysteriously and perhaps moves things around in your home. It takes almost no study at all. But to understand the Big Bang, the Standard Model of particle physics, quantum mechanics and to even hold some tiny grasp of the data generated by a machine like the LHC requires dedication, time, effort, study and a certain intellectual prowess many people simply don't seem to believe they have. Few of the concepts are really beyond the grasp of anyone dedicated enough to apply themselves.

So interest in actual phenomena seems to fall a very distant second place in interest compared to the relatively easy assertion of paranormal phenomena. That's not to say that people of great intellect can't find room to exercise their considerable mental capacity within paranormal study, but overall, I sense that people gravitate to the paranormal initially, simply because it's easier.

Hey,thanks Beast.:)
And I agree with your post.Only thing..While I do feel that is easier to attribute things to paranormal,I also tend to think that it goes beyond that too.I honestly believe that we(and I do include myself here) have a deep seated need to feel that there is something beyond this life...There has to be somekind of hope of things better or different.Of something bigger than we are.And to be frank,I believe that there is something of our spirit that goes beyond the physical..and I do believe in magic . I just dont happen to agree that its some kind of paranormal thing that poofs into being,but rather an actual mundane if you will, force or forces that allow these things to exsist.
And God said "E=MC2" then there was light.

We are just begonning to discovering what exists in the ocean and space. Moreover we have not even discovered the cure for the common cold...

I agree with everyone! We take everything that is in our life's daily for granted and don't think twice about it.. like the loved one's around you, tree's, birds, our pets
We don't realize that one day it's going to go poof!! We should cherish everything but we don't and once it's gone we get angry because we didn't cherish it!

have you ever heard of the "Million dollar Challenge?!"
if you think you can prove a paranormal, visit this link for details.

that last post was a how-to guide for improper use of the english language to be sure.

Sure have HTM..I actually had a thread going on the guy who has accepted that challenge not too long ago.He says "he can do things with his eye beams" and he is all set to prove it.Im kinda rootin for the guy to be honest.

when people want to be entertained by their belief, I shudder. Has Science entertained its followers? Having watched Mr. Wizard as a child, and young adult, I would say indeed. Can I entertain myself by imagining ghost, and psychic interaction? Indeed, I can even entertain others with such things that appear as ghost, and psychic phenomena, and here's the tradition, it serves a purpose, look back to the parlor days.. before the Spiritualist became popular, their was Parlor Troupes, look back at Medicine shows, Fascinating, they dwarf their modern counter part (Info-mercials)The behavior, Para Behavior that fuels such things.. Para Normal means weird.. its a chuckle.

However, I will say, their is the sentimental application of that same behavior. Sacred (I word I seldom "toss around") moments within a state of grief, yet if the expectation for an encounter is set so high (by outlandishly extravagent testimonies from those in the craz/fad) then the subtle reconsiliation is lost.. I watched a movie last night that hit on something I have pondered. The presented metaphor is lost in our times. When a child says, grandma said, we are either freaked out or there are those that think the child a challerer, yet an actual phenomena, is just as fasinating, the child listened to grandma sitting on her knee, proble the only person that spoke to the child in an adult voice, imprinting the child with her quips and wisdom. When the moment comes to die, are we able to rely on sensation? Do you really want to be watching for possible fireworks, as a parade passes you by?

I think that you are rigth Dabbler. There are a lot of things that are being taken for granted in the world today. And Oceanne I love and have to agree with what you have said.

i am rooting for him too because it would be a huge breakthrough for everyone involved and anyone who really digs paranormal abilities and the fact fanatics.

Well, I know that Ford uses Eye-beams to build a truck chassis but I think that's more commonly spelled "I-beams". As for the challenge, if the guy can actually do it, more power to him. Of course that will set physics on its ear and I really don't see that happening.

The problem is, if he's successful then we'd pretty much need to re-write all of the physics books from scratch. But that's not the worst scenario. I think the worst one is if he fails. It won't be enough to convince any of the die-hards that it just isn't possible. They're already operating on zero evidence so the failure to produce evidence isn't going to slow them down or cause them to take pause one little bit.