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:lol:
When are we going to get to the deep psych theories? oooooooh, can't wait
When are we going to get to the deep psych theories? oooooooh, can't wait
Jerry_B said:The volume of the reports may not matter all that much if those who experienced them already are trying to fit them into a certain mold....
....although they may be of interest to sociologists and psychologists (assuming most of them can't be written off as sleep-related, etc. problems).
And let's not forget that multi-experiencer reports could be folie à deux.
OldTimeRadio said:In that case, five reports and half-a-million reports have exactly the same weight. Is there ANY use for statistics?
I confess that my view iof sleep disorders seems to be considerably less materialistic and easily-categorizable than yours, so I find it more difficult to simply "write them off."
15,000 paired cases of folie a deux, a comparatively rare condition, in one sample? WOW! I'll bet THAT skews the statistics!
Jerry_B said:Or are you saying that there's some sort of paranormal element to sleep discorders too?
Where do you get the 15,000 figure from?
Jerry_B said:But the numbers become pretty much meaningless if that figure reflects an amount of people that already think that what they've experienced may be something to do with alien abductions. To a certain extent, they've already pigeon-holed themselves and compartmentalised their experiences. It's the same as 500,000 people saying they've seen a 'UFO' - even if it's a multi-experiencer sighting, it still could mean that all those people are mistaken and that they bring their belief system into the experience. It doesn't actually mean that they've seen or experienced anything that's either untoward or outside the realms of known disorders, etc.. Basically, the fact that all those pople decided to tell all to Streiber speaks volumes.
Jerry_B said:No - I'm saying that the fact that all of those people have decided to tell Streiber about their experiences seems to point at their thinking from the outset that they've had an abduction experience. They're already pre-disposing themselves to the consideration that they've had an abduction experience in some shape or form.
coldelephant said:So they're all making it up?
_Lizard23_ said:There could be twenty times as many people who had exactly the same experiences and not only didn't write to Schreiber but don't think it is anything to do with aliens or abduction. They are probably saying things like 'man, I get that sleep paralysis, it is really fucking weird and scary' or 'send for the two-headed doctor, I am being plagued by succubi' or any number of other things that don't chime so well with the alien abduction experience described in Communion.
Jerry_B said:I'm saying that the fact that all of those people have decided to tell Streiber about their experiences seems to point at their thinking from the outset that they've had an abduction experience. They're already pre-disposing themselves to the consideration that they've had an abduction experience in some shape or form.
Jerry_B said:I'd argue that 'objective study' isn't going to be carried out by someone like Strieber - although I wouldn't be surpsied if he made it all into a new book
barfing_pumpkin said:As you can see, when placed in the context of the phenomenon itself, the numbers become pretty meaningless.
H_James said:...."alien abduction" experiences should....be....investigated....as a)a general psychic phenonemon analagous with other stuff like demons and SP and b)a piece of modern folklore.
OldTimeRadio said:But let me quibble just a bit over your "folklore" position. "Alien Abduction" testimonies tend to be FIRST-PERSON accounts, whatever that many ultimately mean. "Folkloric" stories on the other hand tend to start out "This is definitely a true story, because it happened to my best friend's cousin's barber's accountant's lawyer's butler's minister's wife's brother."
rynner said:Q.4(b) Discuss the origin and the development of the 'alien abduction' meme. You have 40 minutes. Only write on one side of the paper.
Jerry_B said:As to whether SP triggers any sort of 'psychic' phenomena, one would have to ask if that is just as illusory as the experience is in itself in more general terms.
Jerry_B said:You may want to have a look at the Magonia website...