> At the same time, I am also dismayed at the block a lot of people have at any phenomena that doesn't seem to be physically-based.
For me it's a matter of the scientific method — if it doesn't hold up to appropriate scrutiny, as the metaphysical never does, I can not consider it any more than a curious misunderstanding.
In the case of Marc's story, I'm skeptical about whether the events happened as described before I even take other explanations for his knowledge of the language into account.
Agree about applying the scientific method. I do think it’s a range of phenomena that does not lend itself to the running of experiments.
That said - in the area of shared death experiences, you have multiple independent accounts of people experiencing the same phenomena, which is harder (or impossible) to brush off as “subjective” experience.
Once they will be able to transmit any kind of information, we can talk. There is a prize, btw, of $1M for anything paranormal that stands up to scrutiny. Nobody was able to claim it since its inception 60 years ago.
UPD turns out the prize was cancelled in 2015 presumably because 50 years of seathing through failures finally convinced the bidder of futility of the efforts.
From Wiki: Randi has said that few unsuccessful applicants ever seriously considered that their failure to perform might be due to the nonexistence of the power they believe they possess.
For me it's a matter of the scientific method — if it doesn't hold up to appropriate scrutiny, as the metaphysical never does, I can not consider it any more than a curious misunderstanding.
In the case of Marc's story, I'm skeptical about whether the events happened as described before I even take other explanations for his knowledge of the language into account.