Oh yeah, also not into extraterrestrial theories. Ancient Aliens on the History Channel is my dads favorite show. I watched it out of curiosity with him. I really try to be just an observer but I can't help but blurt out facts that disprove some "evidence" my dad isn't questioning.

I'm in the same boat that our existence is a little blip in the expanse of all time in all the universe. The reality is, we're more likely going to be discovered by just more humans hundreds of years from now. Maybe we get a space station to exist that can be self sustainable, maybe humans adapt using drugs or technology to counter the effects of prolong exposure to zero g.

What ever the case, we arn't being visited or ever been visited by technologically advanced beings.

I'll compromise. I guess it comes down to quirks. They might be tolerating a few of my own. I'm kinda a futurist, always coming in with new found science used on mice. Maybe it's malarkey to them and they're just to polite to say anything? Though... cough I have peer reviewed thesis papers to prove it cough lol

@Virgoan First .... Are you a fellow Virgo.? I should have added a study of astrology in my comment. And yeah for sure we all have our quirks. I sure have mine!

@AmelieMatisse Yes! I like little unique symbols for individuals. Like I'm a virgo, my Chinese astrology is Horse, my birthstone is peridot. Additionally, Earth is located in the Virgo star cluster of the milky way. We're all Virgoans!

It's allot of things to this town. Headshop, sex toy store, wiccan supplies, gothic, metal head t shirts. Basically anything that repressed christians want to try. Lol

@Virgoan wow who knew Arkansas was that progressive. I was totally clueless

@NotConvinced it seems like you are convoluting consciousness with the sense of self. Self is an illusion produced by the brain, so when you die, self dies, consciousness may not. Well, may be you won't understand if you are too attached to your self and ego!! LoL

@NotConvinced I'm with you. What electrical impulses we have contained to make up our conscious mind doesn't resignate with our personality once we're dead. It's the rule that all matter that exists has existed since the universe began, it merely changes. I've romanticized the idea that returning to the earth and providing nutrients to the trees is the closest to an afterlife we have.

I think it's less important focusing on our minds or where our energy goes. We're in others minds in the form of their memories of us. So after we're dead, our existence stays in the context of what we did for others.

@NotConvinced cool

Usually almost immediately after they witness a ghost in the building. But I usually just say "Oh. Where? Hmm."

That was very thoughtful thank you for that

It's summed up by being in awe of the unknown then stopping there or continuing to find out what's happening making it not unknown anymore. Using your example, the aurora borealis [en.wikipedia.org] lots of myths surrounded it. Until science explains how it happens. Then it's taught in schools. But clinging to the original spiritual context and in fact believes it offers rewards for believing in it is willful ignorance.

Not to pick apart your example on spirituality. That's still relevant. I just always interpreted humans affinity for religion to their copping mechanisms for mortality. Also, not understanding the natural law of physics.

@NotConvinced Well, spirituality can be attributed to emotional behavior. It is a sense of reverence and awe towards something. That does not imply a supernatural reason or paranormal sensation. Darwin was spellbound by the continuing complexity of life, Einstein by the order and complexity of the universe. There was no supernatural reason behind it. I had to look for the quote, but Dawkins put it more elegantly than I:

“ Spirituality can mean something that I’m very sympathetic to, which is, a sort of sense of wonder at the beauty of the universe, the complexity of life, the magnitude of space, the magnitude of geological time. All those things create a sort of frisson in the breast, which you could call spirituality.

But, I would be very concerned that it shouldn’t be confused with supernaturalism.”

So I have sleep paralysis/night terrors/hallucinations upon waking, what ever term fits. Since I was a kid, more often than I can remember, I woke up seeing something until the lights were turned on. At first I felt the weight of a Komodo dragon, clawing up my sheets into bed with me. As a teen, I have literally leaped out of the top bunk, to turn on the light when I saw a large black mass crawling on the ceiling towards me. In college, I opened my eyes and saw above me a mass of spiders dropping on top of me, I screamed, threw off the sheets, woke up my roomnate yelling about spiders, for it to disappear with the lights on. The last one I had (age 27) is a snake on my night stand, I hugged my cat, asking her if she saw it, and kept staring and blinking until it disappeared. My cat probably enjoyed the attention. I just go "oh" and go back to sleep. I didn't mention the man on a throne, 3 foot spiders, snakes, little girls, etc.

But! My mom has a history of the same things at my age. My half-brother, also her child, was diagnosed with schizophrenia in his early 20s. He didn't continue treatment, and hadn't had any episodes in 10 years.

So I always known it was a mental thing. And I was recently diagnosed with sleep apnea. Oxygen deprivation could also be a factor, because the other symptoms are memory loss, and migraines. As for stress, I've been an athiest in the bible belt my whole life and my shelter and income has always been at risk, ofcourse I'm stressed.

Its probably fortunate I actually don't believe in demons or ghosts, otherwise I might have ended up in an asylum. Lol

I'd like to try lsd microdosing therapy to repair trauma from abuse. From what I've read about the effects on chronic depression, it could be beneficial to explore.

@Virgoan
Give them a hefty dose ? Lol