OrionWorks wrote: > From: Edmund Storms > >> I have no idea what you mean Steven when you say >> "The experience IS what it IS." > > It was my somewhat crude attempt to suggest that such experiences not > be judged. They are what they are. "Judging" such experiences as > either authentic or false messages from aliens or god, in a sense, > only makes us go around in circles as we argue incessantly over who > might be behind the curtain that Toto sees. I'm trying to suggest that > the experience itself, in whatever costumes and theatre it's currently > playing in, may matter more than the endless speculation over whom the > actors might be portraying the characters. The version will change > with the times, with the culture.
I'd have to say that I think there is a false premise here. "Judging" the experience is not at all the same as making a "value judgment", which seems to be what you're implying. If we assume for a moment that there *is* such a thing as "objective reality", and that science in general is an effort to work toward a progressively clearer view of that reality, then there is a perfectly legitimate and reasonable issue regarding these experiences which can (and should) be "judged" objectively: The question to be considered is, what causes them? Is it aliens, in the case of abductions? Is it God, in the case of theophanies? Or is it some internal change in state, like, say, a sudden drop in GABA levels in the midbrain? That is an objective question which surely has an objective answer, and looking for the answer seems perfectly reasonable, rational, and even called for. If we actually knew the answer, then that answer would certainly not change "with the times". Of course, those who experience these things, as well as those who profit from the experiences, frequently seem to be throwing enough dust in the air that the attempt at sorting out what's really going on may prove impossible to complete -- but that doesn't mean the attempt is unjustified, nor does it mean the questions we ask about such experiences are not well founded. And as to what's important here, I'd say deciding the question of whether there really are alien abductions, and whether there really are God(s) walking among us, would be a whole lot more important than the emotional interpretation Joe the Plumber puts on his memories of aliens. I seem to recall that some experiments have been done on theophanies which seemed to point vaguely in the direction of internal changes in state as the root, but they were not conclusive. There has also been some research done in the area of false memories, "recovered" memories, and related phenomena which might bear on alien abduction memories, but not nearly enough to convince anyone who already has an opinion to change their mind about what they think is going on, AFAIK.
