What I Know for Sure
by Karen Frazier, Managing Editor
Paranormal Underground Magazine
I’m drawing a page from Oprah’s book today. In every magazine, she has a column called “What I Know for Sure,” where she passes on her little bits of wisdom to her readers. Today, it’s my turn.
Here’s what I know for sure. Nothing.
For those of you who think, “Oh my gosh that Karen writes long blogs,” you almost got away with a 52 word one. I mean come on – how can I possibly expound on the fact that what I know for sure is nothing? Just watch me.
I know what I’m told. Is it the truth? Maybe. Maybe not. Back to nothing again. I know what I see and how I filter it through my own personal experiences and beliefs. Are my perceptions and beliefs right? I dunno. They feel right to me – but they could be wrong. We’re back to square one. I know what I physically experience. But what if that is all just an illusion and reality is something more than we can perceive? Yup – nothing again. I know who I am. But what if I am really not who I think I am? What if I am so much more or so much less than that? Here we are again. Zip. Zero. Nada. Nothing.
What’s my point? We can look at information. We can have experiences. We can draw conclusions. But in the end, we don’t ever really know. One person’s truth is not another person’s truth. The conclusions I reach may be different from – or exactly the same as – yours.
Truth is subjective. The world is not black and white. Well – even that isn’t necessarily true. My world is not black and white, although for many people it is. Either way its okay. That’s why world-view is unique to the individual.
In the end, no matter how many twisty, turny paths my mind takes, only one truth remains for me. I know nothing. Not for sure. There are things that I think that I know and there are things I realize I will never know. Welcome to my world-view. And in the end, what I really know is that I don’t have a clue. About any of it.
And that’s what I know for sure.
Love it Karen!
Hey! Karen!
GET OUT OF MY HEAD!
I know if I drop a rock it will fall to the ground. I know the sun will rise in the east and set in the west. I know the flow of electrons will create a magnetic field. I know perception is unique to the individual, but laws and facts of the universe remain constant and unchanging.
I also know if I don’t do my homework that I will receive a poor grade in my classes
What if the earth changed orbit? What if all of a sudden we were no longer tethered to the earth? What if the earth’s magnetic field changed? What if I slept with my professor and got a good grade even though I didn’t do my homework? I know that science appears constant and unchanging, but I can’t know for sure what is true. We have evidence that it most likely is – but we just don’t know for certain – ever. How do we know that, even with repeatable data, our interpretation of it is bang-on? Science and scientific knowledge change and evolve all of the time.
I respect your certainty, however.
For the record – I’m not saying that I don’t believe science. I love science. I’m not saying science doesn’t work. I’m just saying that, ultimately, science is our best guess (or hypothesis) based upon experimental data and use of the scientific method.
“What if” is what is used when speculating, but let’s take a look.
“What if the earth changed orbit?”
Well, there’s many things that would happen depending on the orbital change. Things that can be predicted because of what science knows. If the orbit shifts close to the sun, our year would be less than 365 days, and the planet would get warmer. If the orbit shifted further away then the opposite happens. If suddenly we’re thrown into an elliptical then most life would die because of the extreme changes.
“What if the earth’s magnetic field changed?”
This is happening now, and has happened in the past. With this one there is much that isn’t known; primarily the details, but there is also a great deal that is known. Things we do know is that all life that uses the magnetic poles will either have to adapt or die. This is where we lack details since we don’t know exactly how each species will react to the change. But, we do know that it will affect those species all the same.
The third ‘what if’ you mention is one that is based on human interaction and not as easy to predict, but with someone trained in psychological profiling, even they can make accurate predictions because what is known.
Even with ‘what if’ we can still make accurate predictions based on what we know to be true. Does this mean that this will happen 100% of the time? No, because we do not have 100% of the facts. Let’s say we ask, “what if I drop a rock and it goes up?” Not likely, but let’s say it happened. Does this mean that the laws of gravity have changed? Not likely. In fact it’s more likely that something else unknown came into play.
Take cold spots in paranormal investigation. One of the biggest “what if” that exists, which is, “What if cold spots are created by an entity drawing the thermal energy from the air in order to manifest.” So far, the ‘what if’ is fine, and is useful in trying to understand and gain knowledge. But in the world of the paranormal, this is where it ends, which is bad. What should come after this is the designing of the test that will help determine if the ‘what if’ statement is true or not, as well as a lot of research into what we know about thermal dynamics.
This also reminds me of something I’ve seen tossed around, “What if the paranormal isn’t predictable?” Well, if that’s the case then every single theory out there is wrong, and what’s the point of investigating something that has no rules and can never be proven? To me, investigating such a thing would fit Einstein’s definition of insanity, perfectly. But then I don’t believe the paranormal follows such rules since there is no evidence of anything in the universe functioning in such a manner.
I hear what you’re saying, and I do agree. We most likely can predict things with science. But that little teeny, miniscule chance of something unpredictable happening is what leaves me saying I can’t know for sure. I think I know – but there’s a chance I am wrong in that thinking. My marriage and raising teen-aged boys has proved this over and over again. I’m never right.
A Fact is “Something demonstrated to exist or known to have existed.” Facts change – everything changes – but at some point it has been demonstrated to exist. A fact is Objective – such a gravity. No one really cares if anyone “believes” in gravity or not. Same thing with the Flu. Or my dog sitting on my lap right now, unless you really want to delve into Zen and argue that “We are all ONE.”
This is different from a Belief, which is Subjective. “Pink is prettier than Black” and “When we die, we go to Heaven” vs. “When we die, we are reincarnated.” Neither theory has been proven. They are just that – theories. Everyone is entitled to their belief, but we probably wont know thw truth until we ourselves are dead.
That little chance is what leaves me saying, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.”
Let me explain it this way:
Jill: “It’s raining outside.” FACT
Tom: “I don’t like rain – hate getting my clothes wet.” BELIEF
Mike: “Me? I love rain – great for sleep!” BELIEF
Mike, after stepping outside: “Wait a minute – it’s not raining!” FACT
Jill: “But – Susan said it was. I believed her.” BELIEF
Susan: “It was raining 5 minutes ago.” FACT
You can play this game all day long. Jill’s original statement turned out to be a BELIEF. hahahaha It happens. That’s why people do scientific research. You get many independent researchers to study something and see if their conclusions match up.
For example, 10 people walk into my living room. 9 agree I have my poodle on my lap right now. We would declare it a FACT.
There are knows facts about FLIR and how it functions. There’s very solid reasons why electronic experts laugh at EVPs and don’t find them evidence of ghosts. Most professional photographers would never look at an orb and think it’s Aunt Mabel, and in fact they can recreate 99.9999 percent of those ghost photographs.
Yes – the 1% that can’t be recreated is lots of fun, but we only have theories about it and no facts.
If your family has proven you wrong, then either they had their facts correct about a particular situation, or you decided their beliefs were superior to yours.
It’s great to hold theories about the paranormal, but you have to work with facts to find the truth. And Facts and Beliefs are not the same.
“If your family has proven you wrong, then either they had their facts correct about a particular situation, or you decided their beliefs were superior to yours.”
Actually, it is neither. I just choose not to argue, because being right is very important to them. It is less so to me. I lose nothing by not arguing the point, and it makes them happy to be “right.”
“That little chance is what leaves me saying, ‘Don’t sweat the small stuff.’”
Yep – I just like to kick around possibilities. I find such mental exercises good entertainment. It’s how I maintain my imagination. The way I write much of what I write – especially the fiction – is by asking myself a series of “what if” questions. For me, “what if” sparks creativity.
I fully understand that my thinking is quite different in this way. It may be right, it may be wrong, or it just may be who I am. I’m guessing it is the third one.
I’d also like to add this: Isn’t it wonderful at how differently we all view things? I love that! It’s what makes the world such an interesting place to be.
What if Einstein was really the crazy one? He did marry his cousin, after all, something that is not even legal in Wisconsin…
I believe the key to unlocking the paranormal is by asking “What if” and looking outside the box. But I also believe we have to rule out the things which we already know don’t work, and look elsewhere.
Take EVPs, for example. Electronic experts laugh at them. Reputable ghost hunters, such as Dave Manch of New England Paranormal, will tell you that it is very unusual to capture an EVP which seems to be responding to a direct question. The only exceptions are teevee shows such as Ghost Adventures, which will have you believing they can capture at least one on every episode (which is simply silly). There HAS to be a better way.
Why not think outside the box, instead of repeating what does not seem to be working? Forge your own trail? Make your own mark? Get to the bottom of it all?
I’ve had a gazillion paranormal experiences and am no skeptic. They are genuine. I want answers. Arise, go forth, and conquer, Karen ^_^
KK – this is funny. I just finished posting a blog on “what if” when I got your comment. Timely!
I’m sure trying to get to the bottom of it all. I am quite unsatisfied with much that is out there as far as paranormal investigation goes. Jim is great with ideas – and he comes up with stuff to try, as do some others.
I just had someone give me a terrific idea the other day that I absolutely can’t wait to try.
I am also very aware of my lack of scientific chops. In this, Dreamsinger is absolutely right. I am one of those people who is not a good scientific “tester”. I like to try a new idea, but I totally suck at the scientific method follow up. If what I try yields an interesting result, I will pass it on to one far more scientifically bent than I because they are far more likely to give it a thorough testing and look at it with a more critical eye than I do.
It’s why we all need to work together – because we all have our own unique strengths. I think it will be the collective effort where everyone focuses on those strengths that ultimately yields answers.
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