If a scientist discovers a certain amount of electrons or protons causes the aluminum ball to be lifted…
The world today, with planes and space…is there no end to impossibilty?
IF god can make the impossible to possible, why don’t you believe in miracles? We know there must be causes but it is hardly explainable?
There was a story of certian ascetics learned how to walk on water.
There was a story about St Agustine, someone seen him levitate?
There was an urban legend, stating there was a person floating from one building to another. Is there a trick to this?
IS the next stage of evolvment for pychology or mind freaks is learn this ability or explain this impossibilty?
Encyclopedia Britannica includes an article on Daniel. D. Home, a Victorian known to levitate. According to the article, Home’s feats were witnessed by prominent Victorians and have never been disproved. I hope they never will be.
I rather like the idea of levitation as some kind of by-product of religious meditation/ecstasy. The most famous example is perhaps that of St Teresa of Avila. It would’ve been the likes of her that inspired the 60s TV series, ‘The Flying Nun’.
We can say with absolute conviction that nobody can levitate, because nobody’s claimed Randi’s million bucks
“At JREF, we offer a one-million-dollar prize to anyone who can show, under proper observing conditions, evidence of any paranormal, supernatural, or occult power or event” randi.org/research/index.html
Mick,
How does one refute historic cases such as that of D. D. Home? Please check out the EB article on him. It’s easy for nonbelievers to say that religious persons who levitated were phony.
Ierellus quote - Mick, How does one refute historic cases such as that of D. D. Home? Please check out the EB article on him. It’s easy for nonbelievers to say that religious persons who levitated were phony
All we can be positive of is that nobody on the planet today can levitate or they’d claim Randis prize…
As for Victorian levitators, its a grey area, we’d have to examine eyewtness accounts very closely.
In fact I’ve been reading a book of short accounts of life in India under the British Raj 150 years ago, mostly written by serving British army officers and well-educated Brit government officials, civil servants and the like, and a few of them mention visits to Indian fakirs to see them perform the Rope Trick and other tricks.
Some are absolutely stunning, like an Indian chap who walked on the water of a pool, and made a walking stick sprout into a small tree bearing fruit which he plucked and handed round to his guests who said it tasted very good…
Another time, two Brits took a camera to record the Indian Rope trick. The boy climbed the rope and vanished at the top, but when the film was developed it showed the boy standing on the ground. The photographer concluded that the sweet smoky smell of incense that filled the courtyard was a drug that made him imagine the boy had vanished…
As for Jesus walking on water, it was done in the dead of night, he had no intention of being seen, but his disciples happened to see him from their boat and began screaming in fear, so he had to go over to console them - “Its okay, its only me”…
You’re probably thinking about this guy… He’s got some really clever tricks… damn good ones I think; some of them you can figure out how he’s pulling them off. Point is… before we can go about using science to achieve the so called “miracles” that were once thought of as impossible feats to accomplish; such as levitation, walking on water, and instantaneous healing of the sick or ill-fated, we must first envision it in our minds as real and believe that such things can be done. Personally, I find this guy extremely amusing. He wants to be a magician, a rock star, and a controversialist all at once. The guy wears a cross and an insignia which is supposed to be his initial but looks a lot like the anarchy symbol.
Then it is no miracle and certainly not impossible. Maybe God doesn’t make the impossible possible. Maybe some things are just possible, and when we have enough knowledge we’ll be able to understand why.
“If God can make the impossible to possible, why” can’t anything be possible?
Connections quote - What about David Blain’s levitation before an NFL football team? It looks pretty amazing…
Didn’t see that one but I’ve seen him on TV doing it in the street and freaking out bystanders, it looks pretty impressive, he seems to float 6 inches off the ground, but there’s lots of stuff on the net saying its just an optical illusion and he has to make sure the witnesses are standing at the correct angle or something…
Here’s one net item on the subject - levitation.org/balducci-levitation.htm
Spinoza has a great line on “miracles”. God’s infinite perfection is revealed through the nature. The laws of nature are a unique 100% creation/revelation of God.
So anything that cuts against them in fact is a proof of God’s imperfection and a disproof of God!!!
Anyone ever heard “God Gave Us life” by Halfman Half Biscuit - its very special as is most of their stuff - almost miraculous!!
Connections I’m only 2/3 of the way through the translator’s preface to the Ethics so can’t help you yet…
Basically if a miracle is seen as above or beyond the laws of nature which are a perfect God’s creation then they undermine the natural law and therefore that creation itself. Un-natural things reveal something outside the control of the perfect all powerful “ground” of everything which is God.
So they can’t be!
I think that’s it in a nut shell
But if I ever get thro’ the body of the Ethics I might know more (depressingly, though, I think he might have been summarising an argument in the Tractulus rather than the Ethics??)
As a non believer it’s kind of semantic for me but I do like Spinoza or what I’ve read - he’s very consistent!
Here is where you lost me. Why would we claim that nature is perfect? Don’t you have an hour or two this Sunday to read that book? I’ll be waiting for your complete critical review.
Connection quote - I’m sure it is some illusion. He is a great entertainer though [Blaine]
Ierellus quote - Did you see Hutcheson’s experiments with gravity via tele? Not all who do such experiments are enticed by reward if you prove it noteriety.
I used to find “magicians” on TV boring, but then I began trying to work out how they do their tricks and am usually left mystified
All we can be sure of is one thing - they ARE only tricks, because if they were real magic they’d claim Randi’s million buck prize
Incidentally I’ve never heard of Hutcheson, but if he’s a scientist he must have used science not magic
u dont say.