Is reincarnation real?

[Dexter Sinister]

Make enough claims, you're bound to get a few hits. So what?

 

[Cannuck]

Make enough claims, you're bound to get a few hits. So what?

So what? If it has to be explained to you, perhaps this thread is a little over your head.

 

[SirJosephPorter]

Make enough claims, you're bound to get a few hits. So what?

Quite so, Dexter. Such tales don’t really prove anything. For one, it is difficult to authenticate the veracity of the claims. But suppose the claims are true, what he says agrees word for word, is the Gospel truth.

So what? How does that prove reincarnation? That is a common enough mistake that non scientists make. It is common for people to claim that some astrologer predicts the future accurately, he is right most of the time, and that proves that there is something to the astrology nonsense.

It doesn’t work that way. If somebody is serious about reincarnation, he has to postulate a hypothesis as to how reincarnation works, why it works, under what conditions a human being gets reincarnated (do animals get reincarnated?) and so on. Then he has it prove his hypothesis by numerous instances, describe what kind of individual gets reincarnated and why. What is the mechanism of reincarnation?

When he has developed the hypothesis in detail, the example as given here (assuming it to be the absolute truth) could serve as one example to support the hypothesis, nothing more.

That is how science works. One instance, even if absolutely true (and we don’t know that) doesn’t amount to a hill of beans.

 

[Dexter Sinister]

So what? If it has to be explained to you, perhaps this thread is a little over your head.

Couldn't resist the cheap shot, eh? I thought better of you. Did you not notice that the piece goes on to offer perfectly reasonable explanations of those supposedly inexplicable hits?

 

[JLM]

Now this is interesting. How do you prove that something doesn't exist?

As I said it's a nice story but aside from that there isn't any proof that this is a case of genuine reincarnation. Reincarnation being having lived before, ending that life permanantly and starting a new life as a different person.

I see people making claims in the clip, but other than that I don't see anything that constitutes solid proof of what they say.

You don't, that's why I'm so amazed that people can speak with certainty that it doesn't. Thinking more of S.J. but I guess you're of the same mind as he is.

 

[Unforgiven]

For all we know, the old pilots spirit was talking through the kid and they aren't the same people at all.

But that has never ever been established to be the truth in all the time of the Humans.

 

[Unforgiven]

You don't, that's why I'm so amazed that people can speak with certainty that it doesn't. Thinking more of S.J. but I guess you're of the same mind as he is.

But those making the claim must provide the proof. This has never ever happened in anyway other than, "You have to take my word for it." That's not proof at all it's belief. While there is nothing wrong at all in having beliefs, care should be taken not to call it the truth or that there is proof to support it.

 

[Ron in Regina]

I'm not a religious person. Organized religion sort'a freaks me out, to be honest.
Much of the time I go with what my gut tells me is right. I try to keep an open mind.

Reincarnation? All I have are antidotal stories. Some ring false, and some really
make you step back and think, and all can be explained away by the skeptical...

I've heard some things from someone whom I trust explicitly, and they'll know
who they are, that can be explained away if you want to, but have a certain feel
to them that gives one pause for thought. The Universe (plural it seems?) is a
much bigger & stranger place than most of us (including myself) can imagine.

Reincarnation? Does it have to tie into religion? Maybe...but maybe not...

I grew up as a normal kid, like most of us. In my later teens, and right now, I
noticed that something was missing, and couldn't figure out what it was for
many years (& it wasn't religion!!! :lol. Eventually, in figuring out what path in life
I wanted to take, I went roofing. From the first time I strapped on that tool belt
with a 28oz framing Hammer hanging down my left thigh...it felt very right. 8O
I was missing a physical weight on a belt for years somehow, and a light
went on for me. It was just so right and so comfortable. Very strange...:-? 8O

Some people claim to remember past lives and such. How many people
could have been Napoleon anyway? How many could have been Cleopatra?
Those claims just don't ring right to me. If there is such a thing as reincarnation
though, I remember nothing about who I was at that time...but if it is real, I think
I was left handed, and had a weight on my left thigh much of my life (Gun? Tool?).
Can a skeptic poo-poo this statement of mine? Sure....In a heart beat, if they
want to. I can't prove anything, and I could be wrong, but it feels right and hurts
no one. I can tell you that I miss that weight to this day though, and missed that
weight long before I realized that I was missing it...if that makes any sense at all.
I have proof of nothing, aside from what my gut tells me, and that's only proof to
me.

 

[Cannuck]

Did you not notice that the piece goes on to offer perfectly reasonable explanations of those supposedly inexplicable hits?

No I didn't....probably because it didn't.

..and it wasn't a cheap shot. You keep trying to have scientific discussions about subjects that does not involve science. It's unfortunate you can't seem to grasp the concept. I thought better of you (actually, that's a lie. I just wanted to try and make you feel better)

 

[Cannuck]

But that has never ever been established to be the truth in all the time of the Humans.

To use the words of Dexter, so what?

(BTW - I think you meant to say, to your knowledge that has never ever been established to be the truth in all the time of the Humans)

 

[Cannuck]

But those making the claim must provide the proof

Funny, I don't see anybody making any claims other than (possibly) "I believe in reincarnation". You will be sitting in front of your computer a very long time before somebody is able to prove to you what they do or don't believe in.

 

[Cannuck]

How many people could have been Napoleon anyway?

All of us, perhaps

 

[AnnaG]

I was the piece of metal that hit the engine in James Huston's plane. It didn't look like a Corsair to me.

 

[Dexter Sinister]

No I didn't....probably because it didn't.

Try reading it again.

You keep trying to have scientific discussions about subjects that does not involve science. It's unfortunate you can't seem to grasp the concept.

I grasp it quite well, you underestimate science's reach. The claim is that this child is a reincarnation of a downed WW2 fighter pilot and we can tell because he knows he things he couldn't otherwise know. That's an evidence-based claim about the nature of reality and is thus fully within the range of science's methods. The point of the piece I cited is that there are simpler, more prosaic explanations for this case than the extraordinary claim of reincarnation, the evidence offered is not sufficient to establish it. It's true that science doesn't know everything, and it knows it doesn't know everything, otherwise it would stop, but that doesn't mean people can fill in the gaps with whatever fairy tale appeals to them.

I thought better of you (actually, that's a lie. I just wanted to try and make you feel better)

That's two lies, but you're not capable of making me feel bad anyway, so don't be concerned about it.

 

[AnnaG]

It really is funny when people leap with both feet first into the mystical when they can't explain something. Don't bother to research a bit or anything, just bunch your muscles and leap right in there. lmao
Ugh. Me see fire. It hot. Must be a heat god around sumwear.
lol Sorry, it just blurted right out of my fingers. I am really not laughing at anyone, but the idea is sure comical.

 

[gerryh]

It really is funny when people leap with both feet first into the mystical when they can't explain something. Don't bother to research a bit or anything, just bunch your muscles and leap right in there. lmao
Ugh. Me see fire. It hot. Must be a heat god around sumwear.
lol Sorry, it just blurted right out of my fingers. I am really not laughing at anyone, but the idea is sure comical.

I seem to remember you mentioning something about a wolf and a bear in relation to yourself...haven't you?

 

[AnnaG]

Yup. I also said that I know that stuff isn't real. It's like a game to me. And it makes some palefaces go, "WOW. That's cool!" lol

 

[gerryh]

so....you enjoy making fun of and putting down the spiritual beliefs of First Nations also..... how "big" of you.

 

[AnnaG]

Since when is having fun with something, making fun of it? How myopic of you.

 

[gerryh]

Since when is having fun with something, making fun of it? How myopic of you.

By stating that you don't believe, and also stating that you "have fun" with it for pale faces, you are basically belittling the beliefs of those you "claim" to share ancestory with.