Miracles! Premonitions!

[onager]

Just a slight but somewhat related diversion from Atheism on a holiday weekend. For some reason, here lately I keep getting hit in the face with psychic/ESP/related woo stuff.

Including the eternal claim that while most psychics are frauds and grifters, Psychic X appears to be the Real Deal. Which really just tells me that Psychic X is a slightly better bullshitter and con artist than Psychics A thru W.

Anyhow, I was struck by the eerie experience of the New York fashion designer Richard Mangone. In May 1915, Mr. Mangone booked a transatlantic cruise to the UK, but cancelled at the last minute for unstated reasons. Which was very lucky for him, since he had booked passage on the Lusitania.

Hmm. Otherworldly premonition, or just one of those random Miracles From Gawd we always hear so much about?

Whatever it was, we have to wonder what happened some years later, when Mr. Mangone booked another trip. Naturally he chose the most modern, state-of-the-art, ultrasafe mode of transportation in the world. This time he was coming from Europe and bought himself a ticket on German airship LZ-129. Better known as the Hindenburg. He survived its famous crash in Lakehurst, NJ but was badly burned.

Insert theremin-sounding music soundtrack here...

Found this story in Erik Larson's great book "Dead Wake," about the Lusitania disaster.

[Yorktown]

1. I have a premonition you won't find much support for miracles..

.. in an atheists' subforum.

It's a miracle! My premonition is correct! I'm a psychic!!

[Lordquinton]

2. Psychic X

That would be a badass name. Brb, practicing my cold reading.

[awoke_in_2003]

9. Only because

Racer X was already taken.




https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=&imgrefurl=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racer_X_(character)&h=324&w=150&tbnid=_gsN6hKOz_4vkM:&docid=OjeRxeWMdus5lM&ei=TPp8Vsu4O4GCmQH-yYTYDQ&tbm=isch&ved=0ahUKEwjLjqSSyPbJAhUBQSYKHf4kAdsQMwgpKAYwBg

[Curmudgeoness]

3. Gotta love when coincidence is attributed to a miracle

or heartburn is considered a premonition. Every day of our lives, there are either/or decisions that we make, and I don't think that any one of those decisions is guided by anything more than a preference we have at the time.

I suppose it makes it easier to believe in a god if you give him credit for all of your decisions.

[Binkie The Clown]

4. I remember once when I was playing poker with some friends,

The host brought out a boxed set of two decks of cards and handed me one of the decks. As soon as I touched it I blurted out "There's a card missing from this deck." My friend replied "which card?" "Queen of diamonds," I answered without hesitation. He took the other deck out of the box and spread it out face up while I did the same with the "light" deck. The deck I was holding had no queen of diamonds and the other deck had two of them.

I honestly don't know what to make of that. But whatever it was, it certainly didn't change my conviction that the "supernatural" is nonsense. And who knows how many equally outrageous predictions I may have made that I don't remember because they turned out not to be true.

[Promethean]

5. Ever heard of Winston Wu?

He wrote a long "refutation" of skeptics because we don't buy into all the woo BS. He covers everything: psychics, ghosts, UFOs and even miracles. A youtuber has been making videos going over it detailing how stupid it is point by point for a while. Its a good listen if you are into that sort of thing: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHLnw5-2vMBS0p4p0gXrwIPHMfpvbc6gJ

[AlbertCat]

6. Oh! OH! I was abducted by aliens the other night!!!!!

Well almost...

No seriously, it was early morning. I've been working all week on this "Nutcracker" stuff and I'm a little fatigued... but this particular morning I heard a loud pulsating electronic sound... I was flat on my back and could not move...paralyzed! I started to float up above the bed.


Then I awoke.

It did actually take a minute or two to realize it was a dream, it was so very real. But I KNOW it was a dream, no matter how real it seemed, because I remember waking...not on my back but on my side. I was kinda fun...going thru such an hallucination. 1st time! But there is no doubt in my mind I was having a vivid dream.... even if it took a minute to realize it... while still lying there in bed.

If people would just KNOW such crap only happen in the movies...

[whatthehey]

7. He should have had a kid with Violet Jessop

Who survived both the Titanic and Brittanic sinkings as well as being on board the Olympic when it crashed.

Of course she was a White Star stewardess, so I guess it's not that miraculous after all. But damn that kid would have been able to stand on the bowsprit of a ship in a hurricane while wearing copper armor and singing "all gods are bastards" and still survive...

[edhopper]

8. Because it needs to be said.

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