Page 14 | What just happened?! I don't know what to make of this.

Believers · 2022-12-14T00:52:15+00:00

I've had the strangest experience tonight and I don't know how to explain it. I volunteer with a charity, and tonight myself and 3 others from there went out to a pub I've never been to before for a pre-Christmas drink. At one point I went to the toilet and as I was on my way out a woman was on her way in. We exchanged pleasantries and went on our separate ways. About 5 minutes after I'd joined my friends, this same woman came up to us, and sat next to me on the banquette thing. She took my hand and said she had to tell me something. It was all a bit odd, but I figured she'd maybe had a drink, and I had no objection to her joining us. But then she said to me that she had xxx with her and he wanted me to know that he was happy, that he loved me and that it was time I moved on. She was crying as she said this and I started crying too because xxx was the name of my late dh. I have no idea how she could've known any of this. None of us knew her, I'd never been to that pub before, dh's name isn't wildly unusual but not that common either, why did she come and find me after our brief encounter in the toilet etc. I can't get my head around it! Any ideas?!

EmmaAgain22 · 14/12/2022 19:06

Hobbi · 14/12/2022 18:35

@EmmaAgain22 no, that was funny. Your question appeared to be expressing sarcastic disbelief that undertakers might have details about the deceased. All good. I'm just fiercely defending rationality as 'wooey' women exploiting vulnerable women isn't a good look. And it happens a lot.

It's quite scary how people can be misunderstood

for context, the last time I saw an undertaker website was 2001, things were a lot different.

That said, I've just looked at 2 now and neither of them have anything like that, thank goodness.

Hobbi · 14/12/2022 19:17

@EmmaAgain22 you can ask for obituary boards to be private. Many are open though.

EmmaAgain22 · 14/12/2022 19:24

Hobbi · 14/12/2022 19:17

@EmmaAgain22 you can ask for obituary boards to be private. Many are open though.

I didn't organise my dad's funeral but it seems I was lucky not to come across this sort of thing. Luckily the friend who did it is also a very private person, which might explain his choice of undertaker.

I did say anyone with a phone/camera in their hand would have it knocked out, and I remember him looking at me in horror and saying "no one would do that". (This was 2018). I dunno, people seem to be batshit, so I wasn't sure what to expect.

Hobbi · 14/12/2022 19:31

Chocolateandcherries · 14/12/2022 09:30

“Energy doesn't just stop - it has to transfer to something else, another form. We can't understand that yet - in our clumpy hard-copy bodies“

Yes, that’s right. Although there are some people here who are so closed-minded that they cannot comprehend it. I just have to yawn at them. It’s not difficult to accept that energy simply changes form. It’s still there.

It's the height of pseudoscience to misrepresent an actual scientific concept (one which you evidently don't understand) and apply it to woo.

TickleMyPickle · 14/12/2022 19:43

Everyone is so quick to come up with ludicrous reasons why this lady did this, when the simplest one of all is she was telling the truth and she hoped it would bring you comfort.
I’m a regular,boring middle aged woman who has little to no interest in anything woo/paranormal but I definitely have something physic about me.
For years I dismissed it as good intuition, but I know things about people/things I have no right to know.
I’ve never had the deceased talk to me, but I’ve known when people are going to die, are pregnant, having affairs etc. If people have lost things, I just know where they are etc.
The one and only time I’ve been to a psychic ( primary school mum arranged it and I was keen to make friends) as I was walking there the thought popped into my head “she’s going to say you are psychic” and as soon as I got into the room she said “ why are you here when you could be doing this yourself!”.
I’ve no desire at all to pursue/enhance this, I’m actually embarrassed and i never tell anyone.
But all this just confirms to me that others probably can do this for real.

Cuppasoupmonster · 14/12/2022 19:46

I agree @TickleMyPickle

She didn’t make any money out of it, she didn’t say some vague garbage which could apply to most people (or even a decent chunk of them), I think she meant what she was saying whether she was stunningly lucky or genuinely psychic.

Palmfrond · 14/12/2022 20:10

As a famous skeptic pointed out; isn’t it funny that a person can have a nasty viral or bacterial infection or a bad bump to the head and it can change their personality and otherwise interfere negatively with their neurological processing, but people who are DEAD, perhaps even cremated and there they are, just their old selves, speaking from beyond the grave.
Abd isn’t it weird that granny from beyond the grave is old granny how you think of her, not the foxy 25 year old as she remembered her self for most of her life?

greenwoodpecker101 · 14/12/2022 20:19

Palmfrond · 14/12/2022 20:10

As a famous skeptic pointed out; isn’t it funny that a person can have a nasty viral or bacterial infection or a bad bump to the head and it can change their personality and otherwise interfere negatively with their neurological processing, but people who are DEAD, perhaps even cremated and there they are, just their old selves, speaking from beyond the grave.
Abd isn’t it weird that granny from beyond the grave is old granny how you think of her, not the foxy 25 year old as she remembered her self for most of her life?

That famous skeptic was a man, right?

Because, me, a 50 year old woman, remembers myself as being at my hottest at 40, but strongest. not giving a damnest at 50. I certainly wouldn't want to spend eternity as that not so secure, not knowing much about the world 25 year old.

I think your skeptic views women through how much he would like to bang them, and thinks women must value themselves on his terms too.

Which doesn't make him the radical free thinker he so fondly believes he is.

Palmfrond · 14/12/2022 20:21

greenwoodpecker101 · 14/12/2022 20:19

That famous skeptic was a man, right?

Because, me, a 50 year old woman, remembers myself as being at my hottest at 40, but strongest. not giving a damnest at 50. I certainly wouldn't want to spend eternity as that not so secure, not knowing much about the world 25 year old.

I think your skeptic views women through how much he would like to bang them, and thinks women must value themselves on his terms too.

Which doesn't make him the radical free thinker he so fondly believes he is.

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Lol no, the bit about 25 year old granny was my own input, but anyway congratulations on so comprehensively missing the point!

SleepingStandingUp · 14/12/2022 20:30

EmmaAgain22 · 14/12/2022 17:37

now I'm wondering what % of the population are called Barry and have cats.

also, I hope the cats are okay!

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Wouldn't work for me or DH, not even with a stretch of Barry, Benny, dogs etc

SleepingStandingUp · 14/12/2022 20:34

Palmfrond · 14/12/2022 20:10

As a famous skeptic pointed out; isn’t it funny that a person can have a nasty viral or bacterial infection or a bad bump to the head and it can change their personality and otherwise interfere negatively with their neurological processing, but people who are DEAD, perhaps even cremated and there they are, just their old selves, speaking from beyond the grave.
Abd isn’t it weird that granny from beyond the grave is old granny how you think of her, not the foxy 25 year old as she remembered her self for most of her life?

But if we're talking souls l, then that soul is a manifestation of the person at their essence . Not after a brain injury or dementia, but their core them. And the manifestation physically of them them would be the one you remember and love most. So you'd have her appear as old and nanny like, but if he husband went it might be her in her 20s etc.

BloodAndFire · 14/12/2022 20:38

SleepingStandingUp · 14/12/2022 20:30

Wouldn't work for me or DH, not even with a stretch of Barry, Benny, dogs etc

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Then it would count as one of the many thousands of encounters that people don't bother to post on these threads, because it wouldn't meet the confirmation bias requirement.

BloodAndFire · 14/12/2022 20:39

TickleMyPickle · 14/12/2022 19:43

Everyone is so quick to come up with ludicrous reasons why this lady did this, when the simplest one of all is she was telling the truth and she hoped it would bring you comfort.
I’m a regular,boring middle aged woman who has little to no interest in anything woo/paranormal but I definitely have something physic about me.
For years I dismissed it as good intuition, but I know things about people/things I have no right to know.
I’ve never had the deceased talk to me, but I’ve known when people are going to die, are pregnant, having affairs etc. If people have lost things, I just know where they are etc.
The one and only time I’ve been to a psychic ( primary school mum arranged it and I was keen to make friends) as I was walking there the thought popped into my head “she’s going to say you are psychic” and as soon as I got into the room she said “ why are you here when you could be doing this yourself!”.
I’ve no desire at all to pursue/enhance this, I’m actually embarrassed and i never tell anyone.
But all this just confirms to me that others probably can do this for real.

I also know when people are pregnant or having affairs. That's not because I'm 'physic' [sic]. It's because I'm aware of things going on around me.

The unconscious is an actual thing. Non-verbal communication is an actual thing. Social awareness is an actual thing.

If you think that the 'simplest explanation' for this event is that 'people can communicate with the dead', you don't really understand what 'simple' means.

BloodAndFire · 14/12/2022 20:41

Oh and incidentally @TickleMyPickle , people who have a realistic view of these things don't want to make friends with people who do 'psychic readings' and would run a f'ing mile from such a thing. By going there in the first place you have made it very, very clear how susceptible you are to this sort of BS. (Same applies to every single 'I'm as sceptical as they come but I went to a reading and...')

Palmfrond · 14/12/2022 20:43

SleepingStandingUp · 14/12/2022 20:34

But if we're talking souls l, then that soul is a manifestation of the person at their essence . Not after a brain injury or dementia, but their core them. And the manifestation physically of them them would be the one you remember and love most. So you'd have her appear as old and nanny like, but if he husband went it might be her in her 20s etc.

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Well, I think the rather unhappy point is that there is no essential self. It’s all reliant on the configuration of neurons, synapses, chemicals or whatever, combined with the accumulation of random life experiences. And if it can be changed by a bump to the frontal lobes, why would it survive the oxygen starvation, electro magnetic failure (and subsequent decomposition) of death?

Humans are fearful creatures. They are also very much given to exploiting the fear of other humans in their pursuit of money and/or power. Just think about it for one second.

BloodAndFire · 14/12/2022 20:43

SleepingStandingUp · 14/12/2022 20:34

But if we're talking souls l, then that soul is a manifestation of the person at their essence . Not after a brain injury or dementia, but their core them. And the manifestation physically of them them would be the one you remember and love most. So you'd have her appear as old and nanny like, but if he husband went it might be her in her 20s etc.

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I see. So you actually do understand, on some level, that this 'manifestation' is a product of the imagination and wish-fulfilment of the person 'seeing' it?

lightisnotwhite · 14/12/2022 21:24

Dotellhimpike · 14/12/2022 15:47

Well I know that but I just meant that some of our senses might still be outside of human knowledge.

But this conversation isn't about that, it's about some people claiming human senses within their own knowledge but outside others' Saying there are things as yet undiscovered isn't catch all proof that any outlandish claims someone makes is likely to be true. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.

But some of us have “proof”. My message wasn’t about anything that had already happened. It was very specifically describing something in the future. One guess might be luck but all of the guesses being correct are highly improbable. And no incorrect ones so no selective memory. I know what was predicted 100% because she wrote it down.
I also know it’s my experience. Maybe it’s doesn’t work for everyone. In the same way the weather forecast is usually right for my home but work 8 miles away is colder, wetter and just different. Maybe that’s how it is with people.

EmmaAgain22 · 14/12/2022 21:47

BloodAndFire · 14/12/2022 20:38

Then it would count as one of the many thousands of encounters that people don't bother to post on these threads, because it wouldn't meet the confirmation bias requirement.

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But people don't habitually approach strangers with random messages?

BloodAndFire · 14/12/2022 21:54

lightisnotwhite · 14/12/2022 21:24

But some of us have “proof”. My message wasn’t about anything that had already happened. It was very specifically describing something in the future. One guess might be luck but all of the guesses being correct are highly improbable. And no incorrect ones so no selective memory. I know what was predicted 100% because she wrote it down.
I also know it’s my experience. Maybe it’s doesn’t work for everyone. In the same way the weather forecast is usually right for my home but work 8 miles away is colder, wetter and just different. Maybe that’s how it is with people.

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Funny how no one ever brought forward this proof when they could have got a million dollars for it.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Million_Dollar_Paranormal_Challenge

BloodAndFire · 14/12/2022 21:54

EmmaAgain22 · 14/12/2022 21:47

But people don't habitually approach strangers with random messages?

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Really? From this thread it would seem to be pretty common.

I think it's pretty obvious that people hear what they want to hear.

EmmaAgain22 · 14/12/2022 22:02

Palmfrond · 14/12/2022 20:10

As a famous skeptic pointed out; isn’t it funny that a person can have a nasty viral or bacterial infection or a bad bump to the head and it can change their personality and otherwise interfere negatively with their neurological processing, but people who are DEAD, perhaps even cremated and there they are, just their old selves, speaking from beyond the grave.
Abd isn’t it weird that granny from beyond the grave is old granny how you think of her, not the foxy 25 year old as she remembered her self for most of her life?

Who is the famous sceptic please?

VenusClapTrap · 15/12/2022 08:33

I’m worrying about Barry’s cats now.

Emotionalsupportviper · 15/12/2022 08:41

BloodAndFire · 14/12/2022 16:37

The One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge was an offer by the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) to pay out one million U.S. dollars to anyone who could demonstrate a supernatural or paranormal ability under agreed-upon scientific testing criteria. A version of the challenge was first issued in 1964. Over a thousand people applied to take it, but none were successful. The challenge was terminated in 2015.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Million_Dollar_Paranormal_Challenge

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I think the similar challenge at the Arthur Koestler Institute is still going, and also still unclaimed.

knittingaddict · 15/12/2022 08:59

EmmaAgain22 · 14/12/2022 21:47

But people don't habitually approach strangers with random messages?

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Are you saying that for all the supposedly "correct" psychic encounters out there that there aren't 100 times more incorrect encounters? I can guarantee that there are. For some reason we aren't hearing about those. As someone else said, that's probably confirmation bias at play.

EmmaAgain22 · 15/12/2022 09:56

knittingaddict · 15/12/2022 08:59

Are you saying that for all the supposedly "correct" psychic encounters out there that there aren't 100 times more incorrect encounters? I can guarantee that there are. For some reason we aren't hearing about those. As someone else said, that's probably confirmation bias at play.

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obvs MN is anecdata

so in your own anecdata, wouldn't people tell you if someone approached them and told them something random and mad?

I really don't think people are experiencing lots of these stranger encounters where the person makes a "psychic" observation that's wrong, no.