Here, I will attempt to articulate a point which I first heard codified
at badastronomy.com by Phil Plait, and makes a lot of sense to me.
The point is basically this: there can be no such thing as the
paranormal.
Paranormal by definition seems to mean something that is not part of
the natural order of the universe and cannot be explained or understood.
But think about it. Lets ASSUME ghosts exist (regardless of if they do
or don't). This means they are part of the natural order of things,
does it not? It would NATURALLY happen that ghosts are created or come
about from living things. They would follow some sort of rules about
their nature, behavior, formation, etc. They might be able to be
studied and understood.
EVERYTHING that EXISTS is part of the natural order of the universe.
It seems to me that by definition, the paranormal is nonexistant.
Anything that exists is NORMAL rather than PARANORMAL.
I understand that there are things that are not amenable to scientific
investigation - our sense of self, personal experiences, my own
religious experiences... but still, anything that exists or happens is part of
the universe and not something else. Perhaps it is more of a semantic
argument.
What do you all think of this?
_________________
May you be at peace with yourself always.
It's all good!