I don't agree. To me the evidence seems to point toward layers of consciousness... many of which are at a higher order than our own and can't be properly understood from our vantage point (i.e. with our physical hardware).
We foster a lot of dogs (a noble effort of my wife and kids, but I deserve credit for cleaning up the crap), none have learned algebra.
Two things here:
-Yes, there are things here which we cannot understand because we have inadequate human brains. So, yes, I am a dog and I will never learn algebra.
-However, there are things we can understand and one thing that is clear to me is that certain things are being
withheld from us by
somebody(ies).
On your podcast (and everywhere else) everyone talks about the “positive” evidence. The things which people report (Rey’s experiences, scientific studies etc). Nobody is talking about the “negative” evidence (the things that are missing). A partial list of missing things:
-A spirit who really can’t be bothered about being mysterious and so gives loads and loads of unambiguous and specific information (just like you would get talking to a normal human being). Are there no spirits who feel this way?
-An alien who is out for a laugh and lands on the United Nations and says “take me to your leader”.
-A ghost who materialises for the cameras - every day at 9:00.
-A precognitive dreamer who get specific actionable information.
-A remote view/OBEr who can reliably give specific, verifiable information.
Why don’t we have this stuff? There are two possible answers: i) it’s tough and spirits have a hard time coming through to this world and this aliens are shy and it’s just hard and mysterious ii) somebody, in a position of knowledge and authority, is deliberately denying this stuff to us. Everybody who studies all this stuff is working from the first paradigm. That this stuff is hard and we need to study harder and collect more UFO reports and interview more podcast guests etc. Nobody stops and says - no, this is incorrect - we aren’t studying a phenomena, we are playing a GAME with somebody(ies).
Now, when I say it is “God”, I am not saying that s/he is micro-managing. It makes sense to me that there is a spirit world and that spirits come through and that there are aliens etc etc. There are layers here and multiple players. What I am saying is that there are certain ground rules that have been laid down by somebody and that these ground rules are being obeyed 100% of the time. This is why these things never break through (though, perhaps, that is changing with the NDE stuff).
So, what is all this stuff? What are the Skeptiko guests studying? We could be studying:
-remote viewing
-aliens
-spirit
etc.
But to me that is not the real point. These are specifics. To me, it is all a unified whole, a “game”, and there are three things we could be studying:
-The rules of the game.
-The construction of the game.
-Some things that are special within the game.
I reject the first idea. To me, the rules of the game are simple and ancient and summed up by the Golden Rule. That said, while the rules are simple, it is very hard to live these things... Is it the construction of the game? Are we seeing glitches in the matrix and gaining an insight into the maker of the game? Perhaps, but one thing which is clear to me is that the maker of this game is AWESOME beyond comprehension. There are no mistakes. These things we are studying are there so we can find them. They are there
on purpose.
So, that leaves the third option- things that are special within the game. So, to me, Skeptiko is studying the Easter Eggs (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_egg_(media)) in the game of life. And this is an amazing game and a sometimes a scary game. It is not Animal Crossing (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_Crossing) but it’s not Grand Theft Auto either. Somewhere in between. Finally, while I have just compared life to a video game, this is totally inadequate. I stand in awe of the whole thing.
This is why my avatar is a game piece.
So, anyway, I have now written either the introduction or the conclusion to my “book”. Thanks for precipitating this. It has helped me see what I really think more clearly. Actually, I have written similar things before but I think this version is clearer.
One more thing. All this stuff we study is the trees (the NDE tree, the experiencer tree etc) and these trees are so hard to study that we forget to take 3 steps back to try and see the forest. The forest is, of course, hard to see but there are some things there. Actually, that is what I hope is in your book :-)
Sorry if this has gone off topic and has been a bit of a rant. I am sincerely interested in any thoughts you have about this. Let me also say I have not done justice to your consciousness point. I agree with it. It is an important aspect of the game. What I am trying to say though is that this game has rules. It has order. It forms a cohesive whole and so there must be a designer and my key point is that we are not studying phenomena. Again, we are not studying phenomena. Spirit communication comes from somebody. Alien experiencers experience this and not that, so there is somebody choosing what they are to experience. This is chosen and that is not. This weird thing happens and that weird thing doesn't. Somebody is deciding and that somebody seems very, very well informed. (oops - I am ranting again)