Idealism

If you write something in the sand, on a beach, it says something there only if someone reads what you have written. It's just sand if no one reads it. Natural scientists examine the sand with their hyper-advanced instruments, they can explain what it consists of, how it originated, and what its properties are. They don't care about what you have written. Only the sand is worth studying for them. They have a materialistic worldview.

Humanists don't care much about the sand. They find sand uninteresting. It's just sand. They are more interested in what someone has written there and why.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhrHf-SnVEw

NDE

A Near-Death-Experience is a Near-Death-Experience. It is not an experience of death. Resuscitation is not the same as resurrection. Strange phenomena can occur under extreme stress. You can get mystical insights. You don't get mystical insights in common everyday life. You don't get mystical insights by reading books or listening to spiritual teachers.

What do you think?

Are ghosts, spirits and angels also made up of atoms and molecules, or, do they consist of some other form of matter? What do you think? Are they immaterial? Are they made of imagination or illusions? 

What is an illusion made of? Electromagnetic waves in brain tissue? Fiering neurons?

What is the difference between an illusion and a perception, from a neurological point of view?

Your eyes can detect photons, light, but what is a photon, really? Is it a particle or a wave? 

At this moment you are possessed by a spirit. Is it a decent spirit, a horny spirit, or an evil spirit? Is it a resentful spirit, a jealous spirit, a sad spirit, a bored spirit, or a cheerful spirit? Where does this spirit come from? How long has it been with you, or in you? Is it a frequent visitor?

Who, or what, are you, that is possessed by this particular spirit? Are you, as well as your memories, illusions, imaginations, and perceptions made of brain activity?

Is your brain a kind of receiver or is it producing consciousness?

What will happen to you when you die and your brain is decomposing? Will you end up somewhere else? What do you think? Or, will consciousness continue in other brains? Just because your radio is broken it doesn't mean that all radio transmissions stop.

What will the world look like if all life forms die out in an idiotic nuclear war? Will the broadcasting companies also disappear? Will the whole universe become just a huge empty nothingness with a few electrons and quarks bumbling around here and there?

Dark matter

You consist of matter: meat, lard and bones, electrons, and quarks. This stuff constitutes about 15% of you. The rest is what the physicists call dark matter. It is some kind of matter, they know that it is there, but they don't know what it is. 85% of you, is a complete mystery.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_matter

Psi

Paranormal phenomena are real. I have had paranormal experiences. And I am not alone. However, people are not always honest. Some people lie about their meetings with spirits, synchronicities, or mystic abilities. There are tons of fantastic stories in circulation about precognitions, synchronicities, telepathy, and near-death-awakenings. Some of them are true, many of them are not. And it is very difficult to prove that someone is bluffing.

Some people lie about their religious faith, others tell fish stories. Trump is posing with the bible in his hand: Look how religious I am.

All people lie, even scientists, police officers, and evangelical preachers. We are also lying to ourselves. We are born into a world of deceit and deception and we have to find ways to survive here. We have been thrown into the water to sink or swim. 

But all people are not lying all the time. Sometimes we are telling the truth. Some fantastic stories are in fact true.

There is no way that you can prove that your story is true or that someone else is bluffing. This is why science and the scientific method evolved. However, scientists deal only with stuff that can be proved, the unprovable things are taken off the table. It makes their job much easier.

This is the reason why there are so many charlatans and bluffers in the realm of religion and spirituality. 

And this is the reason why people who have experienced strange paranormal phenomena don't talk about them with people they don't trust. This is esoteric knowledge. 

A blessing in disguise

To be fooled can be a blessing. A fraud or a betrayal can teach you how your mind works. Smart, stable, and well-educated people can also be deceived by a swindler. No one is safe. A smart, stable, and well-educated know-it-all thinks of himself as smart, stable, and well-educated – until he gets bamboozled by a trickster. His smug self-image collapses. Later, when the dust has settled, he can feel gratitude because the trickster woke him up from his fantasy world.

Toxic Positivity

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l19QSxWyaWI

 

We have all been fooled

There are lots of different types of swindlers in this world: Romance scammers, snake oil salesmen, religious and spiritual fraudsters, banksters, investment hustlers...

Some people are narcissists or psychopaths, others are simply ordinary liars or crooks. You have to be wary.

Before you understand that you have been fooled is everything fine and dandy. Then, when you begin to get suspicious, you become worried and anxious. Maybe you will not get your money back. What the hell is this? This can't be true. Finally, when the penny drops, you become depressed. You lose all meaning with life and your trust in human beings.

Well, some people can't stand the pain of being an idiot so they hold on to their illusion; they come up with rationalizations and doggedly deny what is obvious to others. They are holding on to their penny. “Eventually I will get my money, it just takes a little more time and then I get rich.” or, “Someday he will divorce his wife and come back to me.” or, “Hitler tried to save the German race.” or, whatever it is they refuse to accept.

It is painful to wake up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CxcnB16Tyk