8/7(Tue) Supernatural and Paranormal Phenomena (Host:Sherry)

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Sherry Liao
YOYO member
文章: 1483
註冊時間: 週五 12月 07, 2007 12:15 pm

8/7(Tue) Supernatural and Paranormal Phenomena (Host:Sherry)

文章 Sherry Liao »

Dear YOYOs,

A few weeks ago, I read a book called “Paranormality: Why we see what isn't there” by Richard Wiseman:
圖檔
This book is about how scientists interpret paranormal phenomena through psychological and neuroscientific research. It’s so interesting that makes me want to know more about other people’s opinions on this topic. As I cannot post the whole content of this book on the forum, I tried to make a google search and found a few articles and a TED talk that convey similar ideas:

1. Why people believe weird things | Michael Shermer
2. Psychology: The truth about the paranormal
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/2014103 ... paranormal

3. Is It Possible to Measure Supernatural or Paranormal Phenomena?
https://www.scientificamerican.com/arti ... phenomena/

Please watch the above video and read the above articles (you may not agree with their viewpoints) before the meeting. Also, most of the following questions are raised or rewritten from the book. If you read the book, you may find the answers provided by the author (you may not go along with him). So, please come join us and let us know what you have to say!

Questions for Discussion
Session I

Q1: Do you believe in ghosts? Do you or anyone you know have encountered a ghost or experienced one? Do you know any ghost stories? Do you believe in them?
Q2: Have you heard about out-of-body(靈魂出竅) experiences, power of mind(念力), communing with spirits(通靈), or other paranormal power? Do you believe life beyond the grave(靈界)? Do you think those (seemingly) supernatural sensations have down-to-earth explanations? What are your explanations of them?
Q3: Is there a conflict between religion and science? Are there any supernatural events that cannot be explained by science for the time being? What are your opinions on them?

Session II
Q4: Do you believe in fortune telling? Have you or anyone you know ever received accurate readings from (alleged) psychics? What are the reasons those fortune tellers can read your mind and predict your future?
Q5: Do you believe mothers are in telepathic communication(心電感應) with their children? Do you believe your destiny is written in the stars? Do you believe (at least a few of) your dreams predict the future? Why or why not? Why do people believe them?
Q6: Why should our sophisticated brains have evolved to detect (non-existent) ghostly entities? In your opinions, when it comes to personality and other social traits, are there any differences between those who believe in paranormal and those who don’t believe? Are there any differences between those who are more likely to experience (seemingly) supernatural phenomena and those who are not?

*******************************************************************************************************************************************
Agenda:
6:50~ 7:00pm Greetings & Free Talk / Ordering Beverage or Meal / Getting Newcomer’s Information
7:00 ~ 7:20pm Opening Remarks / Newcomer’s Self-introduction / Grouping
(Session I)
7:20 ~ 8:00pm Discussion Session (40 mins)
8:00 ~ 8:20pm Summarization (20 mins)
8:20 ~ 8:30pm Regrouping / Instruction Giving / Taking a 10 Minutes Break (Intermission)
(Session II)
8:30 ~ 9:10pm Discussion Session (40 mins)
9:10 ~ 9:30pm Summarization / Concluding Remarks / Announcements (20 mins) ********************************************************************************************************************************************
聚會日期:列於該貼文主題內
聚會時間:請準時 7:00 pm 到 ~ 約 9:30 pm 左右結束
星期二聚會地點:丹堤濟南店
地址、電話:台北市濟南路三段25號 地圖 (02) 2740-2350
捷運站:板南線 忠孝新生站 3 號出口
走法:出忠孝新生站 3 號出口後,沿著巷子(忠孝東路三段10巷)走約 2 分鐘,到了濟南路口,左轉走約 2 分鐘即可看到。
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注意事項:
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給新朋友的話:
1. 請事先準備2~3分鐘的英語自我介紹。
2. 請事先閱讀文章以及主持人所提的討論問題,並事先寫下自己所欲發表意見的英文。
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Dan
Member
文章: 40
註冊時間: 週四 9月 22, 2016 8:08 pm

Re: 8/7(Tue) Supernatural and Paranormal Phenomena (Host:She

文章 Dan »

Kudos to Sherry for broaching this subject with ghost month just around the corner! 8) It should be an interesting discussion!
Janice Wang
YOYO member
文章: 79
註冊時間: 週六 3月 25, 2017 7:45 pm

Re: 8/7(Tue) Supernatural and Paranormal Phenomena (Host:She

文章 Janice Wang »

Basically, I am a true beliver of "seeing is believing",but I’m begging for an exception that I'll never need to see a ghost to believe its existence. For those who claimed to have ever encountered a ghost, I'm very curious about how they would know that the one they came upon was a ghost? What’s the basis to figure out a ghost?  Are they harmful as portrayed in movies? 
Really looking forward to tomorrow’s meeting!
Iris Wu
YOYO member
文章: 894
註冊時間: 週二 5月 20, 2014 4:33 pm

Re: 8/7(Tue) Supernatural and Paranormal Phenomena (Host:She

文章 Iris Wu »

The TED Talk is one of the most entertaining speeches we used for meeting discussion lately, and I am guessing another reason Sherry pick the video is because of the humorous and charming speaker! :wink:
He talked fast and made quite a few quick-witted jokes in his self-introduction. It’s quite amusing!

Believing in the paranormal and supernatural seems to be universal. We saw religious cults in western world, and we had our local “Master/Shifu” MiaoChan. We probably all wonder what drives the followers in those cults? After reading the psychological explanations, to be honest, I am still not so sure if things can be comprehended completely. One conclusion derived from the experiment results is that paranormal believers tend to have greater confidence in their decision, but I am uncertain whether to call it “confidence” or “blind belief”.
Sherry Liao
YOYO member
文章: 1483
註冊時間: 週五 12月 07, 2007 12:15 pm

Re: 8/7(Tue) Supernatural and Paranormal Phenomena (Host:She

文章 Sherry Liao »

Dan 寫:Kudos to Sherry for broaching this subject with ghost month just around the corner! 8) It should be an interesting discussion!
Haha… I didn’t notice that the ghost month is coming. What a coincidence… start to feel a bit creepy :o
Sherry Liao
YOYO member
文章: 1483
註冊時間: 週五 12月 07, 2007 12:15 pm

Re: 8/7(Tue) Supernatural and Paranormal Phenomena (Host:She

文章 Sherry Liao »

Janice Wang 寫:Basically, I am a true beliver of "seeing is believing",but I’m begging for an exception that I'll never need to see a ghost to believe its existence. For those who claimed to have ever encountered a ghost, I'm very curious about how they would know that the one they came upon was a ghost? What’s the basis to figure out a ghost?  Are they harmful as portrayed in movies? 
Really looking forward to tomorrow’s meeting!
According to a survey mentioned in the book, for those who claimed that they had encountered a ghost, most of them said they actually “experienced” it rather than “saw” it. So how did they know what they experienced was a ghost? I think it’s even trickier. :?

See you tonight!
Sherry Liao
YOYO member
文章: 1483
註冊時間: 週五 12月 07, 2007 12:15 pm

Re: 8/7(Tue) Supernatural and Paranormal Phenomena (Host:She

文章 Sherry Liao »

Iris Wu 寫:The TED Talk is one of the most entertaining speeches we used for meeting discussion lately, and I am guessing another reason Sherry pick the video is because of the humorous and charming speaker! :wink:
He talked fast and made quite a few quick-witted jokes in his self-introduction. It’s quite amusing!
You are right! At first I chose another TED talk - Carrie Poppy: A scientific approach to the paranormal, but then I figured this one was more fast-paced and more interesting. You really can read my mind! :shock:
Iris Wu 寫:Believing in the paranormal and supernatural seems to be universal. We saw religious cults in western world, and we had our local “Master/Shifu” MiaoChan. We probably all wonder what drives the followers in those cults? After reading the psychological explanations, to be honest, I am still not so sure if things can be comprehended completely. One conclusion derived from the experiment results is that paranormal believers tend to have greater confidence in their decision, but I am uncertain whether to call it “confidence” or “blind belief”.
For me, I am more interested in those masters of the cults than those followers. If I could learn a tip or two from them, I would have my followers do all the chores for me :lol:
Dan
Member
文章: 40
註冊時間: 週四 9月 22, 2016 8:08 pm

Re: 8/7(Tue) Supernatural and Paranormal Phenomena (Host:She

文章 Dan »

Iris is correct. Belief in the supernatural, of course, is not only a Taiwanese thing. Almost eight in 10 Americans believe in angels, which, like ghosts, are also supernatural beings.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/poll-nearl ... in-angels/
That's around double the number of Americans who believe in climate change. Ponder that as we see heat alerts declared around the world this summer.

Here's an article about the steadfast belief in feng shui in Hong Kong, written by a Western author for a Western publication. The tone of the article is one in which the author accepts the supposed powers of feng shui without question--even suggesting that the sharp angles of I.M. Pei's Bank of China Tower (bad feng shui) slashed the fortunes of the nearby HSBC building so badly that HSBC shares fell to a record low. :roll: :roll:
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018 ... -feng-shui
Devry
YOYO member
文章: 6
註冊時間: 週四 5月 03, 2018 5:20 pm

Re: 8/7(Tue) Supernatural and Paranormal Phenomena (Host:She

文章 Devry »

This song fits today's topic very well I think!

[youtube]https://youtu.be/12Xh5pK_zQ0[/youtube]
Iris Wu
YOYO member
文章: 894
註冊時間: 週二 5月 20, 2014 4:33 pm

Re: 8/7(Tue) Supernatural and Paranormal Phenomena (Host:She

文章 Iris Wu »

Devry 寫:This song fits today's topic very well I think!
https://youtu.be/12Xh5pK_zQ0
Religious syncretism? :)
頭像
Gloria Lo
YOYO member
文章: 367
註冊時間: 週一 2月 04, 2008 7:51 am

Re: 8/7(Tue) Supernatural and Paranormal Phenomena (Host:She

文章 Gloria Lo »

Attendees (32)
Oceana(newcomer), Amber, Sabrina, James Chiang, Devry, Christine Hsiu, Sally, Miller, Morries, Amy, Chris, Kate, Light, Gloria, Steve, Wen-han, Li-wen, Janice, Norman, Dan, Shirley, Iris(Host), Yvonne, Felicidad, Bernie, Rock, David, Ramesh, Felicia, Ellen, Howard, John

8) :wink: :lol:
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