Post by ksandoval26 on Apr 15, 2015 15:26:50 GMT
“Paranormal Experience”
1. First of all, my family is full of paranormal, believers. I, myself, used to be a believer in the paranormal, but much has changed since then. My cousin, Kathy, says that she can hear and communicate with the dead. She also claims that spiritual entities come to her and do not leave her alone. She is not proud of this so-called “curse” because she constantly tries to resent these spirits. One day, my family and I went to visit her and her family in Hesperia, and I approached her and asked, “Have you heard anything from the ghosts?” After a long time of thinking, she finally recalled how she finally got a sign from the beyond. She mentioned how she was in the garage with one of her friends talking about the subject and how she has not had any contact with the spirits I a long while. She then told her asked her friend, “Is it weird that I miss them talking to me?” And as soon as she said those words, the door behind her slammed completely shut! The door did not slowly close, but it was slammed shut. She mentioned how she was startled at the time and took it as the spirits were telling her that they were still there with her. At first, I was completely frightened and had chills shiver down my spine, but then I began to logically think about it. It could have been anything, really. The thought of this did not occur to me at the time because I was naïve and not trained to critically think, but then I began to rationalize. I was thinking about my cousin’s story, and later asked her about the story again. When did this happen again? What time of day was it? How was the weather? This event had occurred during October (of course), it was a late evening (of course), and it was quite windy outside (of course). I put two and two together and laughed at myself because the answer was simple: October is a fall month, it gets get drafty in the nights of October, AND it was the wind! The door was slammed because the winds were strong that evening, and Hesperia gets heavy winds. “Being a skeptic just means being rational and empirical: thinking and seeing before believing” (Michael Shermer).
“Astrological Sign”
2. The astrological, or zodiac, sign that is supposed to pertain to me is Pisces. Although not all the qualities of a Pisces fit into my own persona, most of the qualities I read are somewhat true. According to zodiac-signs-astrology.com, strength keywords for a Pisces are: compassionate, adaptable, accepting, devoted, and imaginative. Weakness keywords for a Pisces are: oversensitive, indecisive, self-pitying, lazy, and escapist. Yes, some of these keywords do emphasize a portion of my personality, however, I do not consider myself to be oversensitive or an escapist. I researched other astrological signs and I observed that I have things in common with those too. What a coincidence! For example, Aquarius is characterized as witty, clever, sarcastic, rebellious, and unemotional. I see all these characteristics in myself. I believe that the reasoning behind how most astrological signs are fit to accommodate people’s characteristics are cleverly designed in surveys. People take surveys online all the time, for instance, Facebook and Twitter always have survey links that will show things like what type of lover are you, or what color is your aura. Some of these surveys may ask for someone’s birth day and year, which is how they can grasp the information for “the zodiac sign that is to be you soulmate.” There is also personality tests online that asks how they go out and about to solve issues or how they carry themselves around others that can be stashed into the astrological signs inventory. A plethora of people get fascinated and amazed as to how vivid and accurate these astrological signs are to their characteristics, but in reality it is just a greatly skilled person who manipulates people into thinking these are real. “As a strong wind sweeps away a boat on the water, even one of the roaming senses on which the mind focuses can carry away a man’s intelligence” (Bg. 2.67).
“Intelligent Alien”
3. An intelligent alien walks over to my door step and knocks on my door. The first thing I would think the alien would find odd is the fact that we, as humans, wear clothes and go to extreme lengths to look acceptable in society. We take time out of our busy lives to pick out different outfits for the day, and I believe that an extraterrestrial would find it odd that we cover our beautiful bodies. The alien would be astounded on how we care so much on what others think of us. Perhaps the fact that this planet is divided into countries and that we are not united as the same species but rather as race, religion, socioeconomic status, culture, or skin color; it would be shocked at the inequity in the world. Perhaps the way we praise celebrities and treat them as a divine power knowing that we have religions and gods with rules, yet we praise and worship those who starred in the last movie or released a new album. Perhaps how some humans have no sense of compassion, no sense of morality, no sense of mercy, no sense of respect, and no sense of love? Perhaps how humans are destroying this amazing and beautiful earth and the living things in it. Perhaps how humans use violence and fear to manipulate others to follow their lead and abandon their beliefs and adopt those that they are against. The alien would think that we, humans, need to realize the imperfections on earth and find a solution before it collapses. After the alien tells me its observations, it walks itself out my front door, gets in its space craft, and hovers off. “The only thing that scares me more than space aliens is the idea that there aren't any space aliens. We can't be the best that creation has to offer. I pray we're not all there is. If so, we're in big trouble” (Ellen DeGeneres).
1. First of all, my family is full of paranormal, believers. I, myself, used to be a believer in the paranormal, but much has changed since then. My cousin, Kathy, says that she can hear and communicate with the dead. She also claims that spiritual entities come to her and do not leave her alone. She is not proud of this so-called “curse” because she constantly tries to resent these spirits. One day, my family and I went to visit her and her family in Hesperia, and I approached her and asked, “Have you heard anything from the ghosts?” After a long time of thinking, she finally recalled how she finally got a sign from the beyond. She mentioned how she was in the garage with one of her friends talking about the subject and how she has not had any contact with the spirits I a long while. She then told her asked her friend, “Is it weird that I miss them talking to me?” And as soon as she said those words, the door behind her slammed completely shut! The door did not slowly close, but it was slammed shut. She mentioned how she was startled at the time and took it as the spirits were telling her that they were still there with her. At first, I was completely frightened and had chills shiver down my spine, but then I began to logically think about it. It could have been anything, really. The thought of this did not occur to me at the time because I was naïve and not trained to critically think, but then I began to rationalize. I was thinking about my cousin’s story, and later asked her about the story again. When did this happen again? What time of day was it? How was the weather? This event had occurred during October (of course), it was a late evening (of course), and it was quite windy outside (of course). I put two and two together and laughed at myself because the answer was simple: October is a fall month, it gets get drafty in the nights of October, AND it was the wind! The door was slammed because the winds were strong that evening, and Hesperia gets heavy winds. “Being a skeptic just means being rational and empirical: thinking and seeing before believing” (Michael Shermer).
“Astrological Sign”
2. The astrological, or zodiac, sign that is supposed to pertain to me is Pisces. Although not all the qualities of a Pisces fit into my own persona, most of the qualities I read are somewhat true. According to zodiac-signs-astrology.com, strength keywords for a Pisces are: compassionate, adaptable, accepting, devoted, and imaginative. Weakness keywords for a Pisces are: oversensitive, indecisive, self-pitying, lazy, and escapist. Yes, some of these keywords do emphasize a portion of my personality, however, I do not consider myself to be oversensitive or an escapist. I researched other astrological signs and I observed that I have things in common with those too. What a coincidence! For example, Aquarius is characterized as witty, clever, sarcastic, rebellious, and unemotional. I see all these characteristics in myself. I believe that the reasoning behind how most astrological signs are fit to accommodate people’s characteristics are cleverly designed in surveys. People take surveys online all the time, for instance, Facebook and Twitter always have survey links that will show things like what type of lover are you, or what color is your aura. Some of these surveys may ask for someone’s birth day and year, which is how they can grasp the information for “the zodiac sign that is to be you soulmate.” There is also personality tests online that asks how they go out and about to solve issues or how they carry themselves around others that can be stashed into the astrological signs inventory. A plethora of people get fascinated and amazed as to how vivid and accurate these astrological signs are to their characteristics, but in reality it is just a greatly skilled person who manipulates people into thinking these are real. “As a strong wind sweeps away a boat on the water, even one of the roaming senses on which the mind focuses can carry away a man’s intelligence” (Bg. 2.67).
“Intelligent Alien”
3. An intelligent alien walks over to my door step and knocks on my door. The first thing I would think the alien would find odd is the fact that we, as humans, wear clothes and go to extreme lengths to look acceptable in society. We take time out of our busy lives to pick out different outfits for the day, and I believe that an extraterrestrial would find it odd that we cover our beautiful bodies. The alien would be astounded on how we care so much on what others think of us. Perhaps the fact that this planet is divided into countries and that we are not united as the same species but rather as race, religion, socioeconomic status, culture, or skin color; it would be shocked at the inequity in the world. Perhaps the way we praise celebrities and treat them as a divine power knowing that we have religions and gods with rules, yet we praise and worship those who starred in the last movie or released a new album. Perhaps how some humans have no sense of compassion, no sense of morality, no sense of mercy, no sense of respect, and no sense of love? Perhaps how humans are destroying this amazing and beautiful earth and the living things in it. Perhaps how humans use violence and fear to manipulate others to follow their lead and abandon their beliefs and adopt those that they are against. The alien would think that we, humans, need to realize the imperfections on earth and find a solution before it collapses. After the alien tells me its observations, it walks itself out my front door, gets in its space craft, and hovers off. “The only thing that scares me more than space aliens is the idea that there aren't any space aliens. We can't be the best that creation has to offer. I pray we're not all there is. If so, we're in big trouble” (Ellen DeGeneres).