Crop Circles

[Dale]

Dale, are you're starting to go in circles, Dale, are you're starting to go in circles? Circular thinking can lead to trouble.

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I have no idea what's wrong with me. I need a complete neurological workup.

[TonyHiggins]

We all see life through filters. Some of us admit it. Some of us don't.

Walden really summed it up for me. They start fitting our filters as soon as we're born and, some, we create or choose for ourselves. The best thing is to face up to it and recognize it. I think atheism requires as strong an act of faith as any religion does. Having worked on both sides of the 'Western Medicine/Alternative Healing' fence, I've seen how people convince themselves that their way is best or the only way. It requires a certain amount of self-imposed blinders. It seems the more you have invested in your stance, the more convinced and emotional you are about it.

I'm trying hard to look at my own blind spots. I like to think I've removed (or at least, recognized) some of the filters I've grown up with, but, I don't think I'm really that different from a lot of people in the SF Bay Area in my attitudes, so, what does that say?

I also like the idea of creating some filters just to make life more interesting. Is 'astral projection' possible? It's never happened to me. I've spoken with a number of honest, seemingly sane people who've told me they've done it, either intentionally or spontaneously. I can't quite get my belief system around that possibility unless it happens to me. Why not give it a try. There are how-to books by the dozens on the subject. (Don't tell me it's too dangerous. You believe that; you don't know it.)

I'm currently reading Earth Light by RJ Stewart. This guy 'knows' there is the 'Underworld' and faeries. He tells you how to contact them and describes peoples' experiences in his workshops. (Uh oh, satanism?) He talks a lot about the celtic traditions and references old writings on the subject. (Customer reviews on these types of books on amazon.com makes for interesting reading.)

Want to see a really flipped-out message board? Go to astralpulse.com
These people are talking about their astral projection experiences and attempts the way we talk whistles and playing technique. There's a lot of obvious b.s. there, to be sure.

Has anyone checked to see if maybe a farmer or 3 isn't in on some of this circle-making? If I was in on it, of course, I wouldn't admit it.
Tony

[dubhlinn]

A Drunken,sunburnt, Guardian reading Geordie!

Oh my God,what a thought.

Slan,
D.

Now that's what I call a STRANGE phenomenon.
You see, I'M NOT a 'Geordie' - I'm actually a 'Mackem' from Sunderland!!

Mackem...
Were they the crowd who hung a poor monkey because his only crime against humanity was that he did not speak English, or was it that he only spoke French,

Au Revoir,
D.

[glauber]

Dale said in his original post that these things are happening all over the world. But the more i read about it, the more it seems it's not only mostly an English phenomenon, but the majority of them seem to be located in a couple of English counties, Hampshire and Wiltshire. Right?

I still think it's the work of people with too much time in their hands. So many of them look like spirographs because they're made the same way, by rotating stuff using ropes. Cool stuff, though!

[Dale]

Dale said in his original post that these things are happening all over the world. But the more i read about it, the more it seems it's not only mostly an English phenomenon, but the majority of them seem to be located in a couple of English counties, Hampshire and Wiltshire. Right?

I still think it's the work of people with too much time in their hands. So many of them look like spirographs because they're made the same way, by rotating stuff using ropes. Cool stuff, though!

That's a good question about location. I don't think there's any doubt that they tend to be concentrated in England. That helps the hoax theory for sure.

Sobering up,

I remain,

yours truly,

Dale

[waitingame]

A Drunken,sunburnt, Guardian reading Geordie!

Oh my God,what a thought.

Slan,
D.

Now that's what I call a STRANGE phenomenon.
You see, I'M NOT a 'Geordie' - I'm actually a 'Mackem' from Sunderland!!

Mackem...
Were they the crowd who hung a poor monkey because his only crime against humanity was that he did not speak English, or was it that he only spoke French,

Au Revoir,
D.

Perhaps you don't need this link then http://wizzarduk.users.btopenworld.com/
But who could resist a band called Septic Hank and the Magpie Cowboys?

[dubhlinn]

Thank you so much.

Brilliant.

[Lorenzo]

I have no idea what's wrong with me. I need a complete neurological workup.

I'll take one too! I have a friend, who plays whistle and bouzouki in one of our bands, who is a psychiatrist. He says to go for gene therapy, and more specifically...reconstructive gene surgery.

[kevin m.]

Now that's what I call a STRANGE phenomenon.
You see, I'M NOT a 'Geordie' - I'm actually a 'Mackem' from Sunderland!!

Mackem...
Were they the crowd who hung a poor monkey because his only crime against humanity was that he did not speak English, or was it that he only spoke French,

Au Revoir,
D.

Perhaps you don't need this link then http://wizzarduk.users.btopenworld.com/
But who could resist a band called Septic Hank and the Magpie Cowboys?

Right...Firstly,WE didn't hang the monkey,that was the people of Hartlepool (Teeside way),who mistook the poor primate for a French spy during the Napoleonic wars.
I haven't heard of Septic Hank and co,but seeing as the 'Mackem Monkey' was released (escaped?) in 2001,I presume that the song relates to the then Sunderland Soccer Team Manager,Peter Reid.
A chant of the time went 'Peter Reid,Monkey Heed' (head).
He can be currently seen commenting on Euro 2004 on BBC T.V.
All this is a bit O.T. from crop circles,so here's a suitably 'Fortean' fact about my home town,reported by the great man himself,Charles Fort,in his indispensable 'The Book of the Damned':
In 1918,there was an inexplicable fall of FISH from the sky,over the Hendon area of Sunderland!
We're still waiting for a fall of Chips,and light showers of Salt and Vinegar.

[Wombat]

I guess it depends on the world-view one embraces, or one's society embraces, as to what one holds ought to be open to consideration. .......

We all see life through filters. Some of us admit it. Some of us don't.

I think you're quite right about filters. I think it's unavaoidable that we bring notions of antecedent plausibility to bear on any puzzle. There are infinitely many hypotheses that would explain each phenomenon. But I think progressing sensibly from there is more a matter of applying the same rules and standards of evidence to all adequate hypotheses in play than it is a matter of admitting bias. Admitting bias is the first step to applying standards fairly of course.

Space men are an important part of the mythos of secular American society. The same people who would give no serious consideration to the notion that it was done by brownies, much less by dæmoniacs, hold that we ought to be open to the idea of life on other planets.

One of the apologetics for this mythology tends to sound something like this, "Of all the millions and millions of galaxies, are we to assume that life only formed on this one tiny planet?" Other assumptions seem to be that "life" is somehow defined as in earth's physical life, and that it would have some interest in communicating with man. These mythologies exist in most groups of people, just the particulars vary.

There is actually some plausibility in assuming that there might be life elsewhere. Where standards of evidence go out the window is in thinking it would be like us, interested in us, nearby enough to contact us, have things to tell us we'd like to know, have the technology to do so, share our sense of what is important, beautiful etc ...... It's one thing to point out that if you have enough monkeys and enough typewriters then eventually they'll produce the works of Shakespeare. It's quite another to keep expecting the monkeys to show up every day with the manuscript.

Wittgenstein once remarked that if lions could talk we'd have nothing to say to them.

[Darwin]

It's one thing to point out that if you have enough monkeys and enough typewriters then eventually they'll produce the works of Shakespeare. It's quite another to keep expecting the monkeys to show up every day with the manuscript.

Wittgenstein once remarked that if lions could talk we'd have nothing to say to them.

I believe that there an international law that says that there are three conditions under which a forum thread must end:

1) Someone calls someone else a Communist.
2) Someone calls someone else a Nazi.
3) Someone quotes Wittgenstein.

Although this is not a direct quote, I think it's close enough.

[fancypiper]

I have one last thought on this since I seem to have insomnia tonight.

Never make one of the good folk mad unless:
1. You have his pot of gold
2. You have his ring of gold
3. You are smarter than him/she/Si/it I am.

[Wombat]

Wittgenstein once remarked that if lions could talk we'd have nothing to say to them.

I believe that there an international law that says that there are three conditions under which a forum thread must end:

1) Someone calls someone else a Communist.
2) Someone calls someone else a Nazi.
3) Someone quotes Wittgenstein.

Although this is not a direct quote, I think it's close enough.

Probably so.

I think I'm fast becoming kiss-of-death Wombat. I recently discovered that a certain way to kill a thread stone dead was to mention traditional gospel music approvingly. I still have no idea why.

[Walden]

I recently discovered that a certain way to kill a thread stone dead was to mention traditional gospel music approvingly.

Nah.

Okay... well, yes, I've accidentally killed a few threads that way.

[GaryKelly]

And on the subject of the world's great unsolved mysteries, what about this one?




Elaborate hoax or genuine archeological evidence proving the existence of the crystal peo//////////////end.reboot///////////********invalid.media/abort/retry/fail/////*//////