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Psychic Abilities: Fact or Fiction?


BurnSide

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This debate will be either a 1 vs 1 or a 2 vs 2, depending on how much interest we have on the topic. The first 2 people to post their interested will be debating, and if 2 more show interest then we'll have a 2 vs 2.

Telekenisis, Pyrokenisis, Telepathic abilities etc. Psychics and the like have been claiming that they can do these amazing Psychic Abilities for years, yet it has never really been proven true. Is it really possible?

One or two debaters will argue that, YES, these powers are real and they do exist, while the other one or two will debate that NO, these powers do not exist and no such thing ever has.

PM me if you have any questions or concerns.

Edited by BurnSide
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Top Posters In This Topic

  • BurnSide

    8

  • Wings of Selkhet

    6

  • aquatus1

    5

  • Scorpius

    4

Ok, I want in on this one, but I'm very heavily biased towards the against side.

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Okay, that's fine. We wont do the coin flip. Instead, we're looking for either one more person to debate that these abilities exist, or three more people, two for the exist side and one more to debate with Falco on the doesn't exist side.

thumbsup.gif

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I'll debate with Falco...though I doubt he needs my help. tongue.gif

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Okay, now as long as we get two people to debate for the side that these abilities exist, we'll be on our way. If we can only get one within a few days, i'm afraid it'll just be a 1 v 1 debate.

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*rolls eyes* I'm sure tameer'd be willing...

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Actually, she isn't willing to debate on the subject. Wonder why.

Anyway, i'll wait a couple days for more responses. Please no more posts in this thread for now unless you are showing that you are interested in the debate. Thanks!

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I'll join the other side... thumbsup.gif

Hey Falco Rex, whatever happened to our other Debate, our opponents never really written an arguement... did I scare them with my last post? laugh.gif

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Thanks, one more poster for the arguement that these abilities exist, and we're start.

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I think we're going to need this debate to be a 1vs1 unfortunately.

That means that one of the debaters wont be able to take part.

Wings of Selkhet, since you were the second person to post your interest in debating the arguement that they don't exist, would you mind sitting this one out?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Okay, posting my post of interest just as you asked--this is what you asked right? blink.gifgrin2.gif

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Woah, sorry, didn't see this - yeah, I'll sit it out.

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Hold on, Wings...

We have four now, right? Two for, two against? We can do this.

Falco and Wings Vs. Blue-Scorpion and Aquatus

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Oh. Um...okay.

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A chance to debate aquatus1? Let's do this!!!

..Why is it that only a certified skeptic is willing to debate for psychic powers anyway? rolleyes.gif

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Aquatus, thank you, you saved the debate!

Wings, you're definately in?

So there we have it,

Falco Rex and Wings of Selkhet, you are debating against the existance of psychic abilities,

Blue-Scorpion and Aquatus1 will be debating FOR the existance of the powers.

Each team mate is to post an introduction, 5 body posts and a conclusion. You can converse with your partner through PMs, but please wait until all members have posted before moving onto your next step.

Any questions, PM me. This will be a great debate i know it. Good luck to both teams! thumbsup.gif

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Uncle Meat, i've removed your posts since the debate has already started. Unfortunately there is no more room in this debate.

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Psychic abilities...For as far back as we care to go some have claimed powers above the norm of what the human mind can accomplish. Whether this amazing gift be prophecy, telekinesis, or the ability to astral travel they all have one overriding common denominator..

They can't be proven in any way. Now on most subjects we'd talk about or debate the complete lack of any evidence at all would leave us to label it a story, fable or outright lie. But for some reason when it comes to these so-called psychics the lack of ability to prove something special is indeed there within them is almost a qualifier for their claims..I'll leave it up to you the jury to decide just how inane it sounds to claim an ability you can never back up in any meaningful or useful way, but even before we begin properly, cosider that, won't you?

If even one power were to be proven true scientifically it may lend credence to all of them, but in my opinion none ever will be. Why you ask? Because these "Powers" as it were are merely the product of wishful thinking and misinterpretation of natural events and a complete disregard for synchronicity, chance, and probability..

In these series of post I and my partner, the lovely and talented Wings of Selkhet will attempt to prove this beyond all doubt. After all, somebody should "prove" something when it comes to psychic abilities, shouldn't they?

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Dragons. We've all read about them. They can be found in the stories and myths of many world cultures. In addition to this historical background, sightings of the creatures have also been recorded in countless eyewitness accounts. Don't forget the paintings and drawings, either. Whether they are giant but harmless beasts or ferocious man-eaters, they have been around for centuries.

Oh, I apologize. Wrong debate.

Or is it?

Welcome to the world of "psychic" abilities, folks. From out of body experiences to telekenesis, precognition to mind-reading, they are represented in the lore and tales of every culture on the planet.

However, gossip, personal claims and "stories" can't prove that something exists. Tangible evidence needs to be presented. But that's not so hard, is it? If such abilities really exist, then an individual who has been blessed with them should be able to present him or herself before a scientific community to be evaluated, shouldn't he?

Looks like no one has.

Throughout this debate, with the help of my wise and experienced partner Falco Rex, I hope to demonstrate that despite how simple it would be to prove the existence of psychic abilities, hardly anyone has attempted to do so, and none have with success. The truth is that they do not exist. They're a fable. A myth. In some cases, almost a religion that people follow blindly. Psychic abilities are a lie, and Falco and I are determined - no, we are certain - to prove so.

Edited by Wings of Selkhet
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There is a somewhat cliche'd image of the modern scientist: pompous, arrogant, and as hard-headed as a rock. Because he is right, he can quite easily conclude that those who do not believe as he does must be wrong. And because he has so throughly studied the means and causes of the natural world, it is oh so easy, to believe that he has uncovered, or is on the verge of uncovering, the source of any mystery in the world, without the need to call upon any sort of paranatural forces.

And yet, what could possibly be more natural, or more mysterious, than the human mind itself?

My opponents have made a rather extraordinary claim. They have stated, categorically, that psychic powers do not exist. I am looking forward to seeing their evidence for such a thing. Since theories do not exist to disprove anything, but rather to explain a phenomena, then the only possible way to claim that something does not exist is by being able to explain every facet of its properties through the use of seperate theories. This tactic has a long tradition of collapsing under its own weight into a jumbled mass of Ad Hoc arguments.

But, just as the burden of proving every one of their theories is on them, so is the burden of probable cause on us. I am sure that both sides of this debate agree that psychic research is, at best, in its infancy. While it is enjoyable to state exactly how long psychic abilities have been recorded through the ages, it is also somewhat misleading. Scientific Research has, after all, only existed for a little under five hundred years. Scientific Methodology, which is the modern day gold standard, has existed for barely a century. And yet, in that century, we have discovered an utterly incredible, almost magical, world that we had never even considered possible, let alone provable, in our wildest of dreams. Even today, in our daily lives, we are surrounded by powers fully verified by science, yet not completely understood, and only margially controlled.

My partner and I will show, over the next five posts, exactly how it is that psychic research is meeting all the prerequisites of credible science, as well as documenting specific cases showing results that cannot be explained through current theories, and of course, practical applications that have been used through-out the world. We will also be pointing out the logical incosistencies, as well as personal biases, that are affecting our opponent's supposedly objective viewpoint.

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Psychic Ablities, have proclaimed itself taboo amongst modern societies. Yet still in the moonlight lies those who dare challenge it, willing themselves to have at least one of its many glorious abilities.

As my partner has stated we will unveil some cases. Cases where those who encounter traumatizing experiences have left them with abilities far beyond a human's natural physical senses. These are cases where wishful thinking is not always a factor and that it sometimes requires rare circumstances to ignite one of these abilities.

My aim in this debate, will be to circumvent skeptics' analysis of psychic abilities, and to determine whether or not wishful thinking, on their part, has played a role in their disbelief and doubts.

Edited by Blue-Scorpion
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If you want to point out biases in our arguments feel free. This is after all a debate where a side is taken and debated no matter what course the conversation takes..We are forced by the rules of the game to not be objective on the subject. There we have it faithful readers! I haven't even got to the psychic portion of our debate yet and I've already found one point that's contradictory to reason from our erstwile opponents..What lies ahead I wonder?

Although you can use the argument that serious scientific research has only existed a short time, common sense and smart detective work have not. It didn't take a laboratory or a grounding in the scientific method to debunk many "Mediums" of the past, just some doubt and the willingness to investigate..It doesn't take test tubes and microscopes to take note of how almost any prophecy you care to name can be interpreted to as many situations as you're willing to force it to. And you certainly don't need a degree to you that a psi-wheel might be moving from other factors besides sheer willpower..

Although we are now reaching a point where we can investigate these matters using the tried and true method of science the past is by no means devoid of reason or intelligence in regards to these matters..

Now however; in a situation where believers in psychic powers stand in a position to remove all doubt about them and prove them once and for all....They come up woefully short.

As often as not they refuse to even try to prove anything. And often resorting to anger, lies, or any dodge they can think of to evade critical evaluation. If this belief was so deeply ingrained in them as to be taken as fact, why is this? Generally people who have a strong personal belief in something tend to go out of their way to prove or justify it. And yet with psychics, this never happens. They tend to go out of their way to not prove anything. Witness the embarassing behavior of Sylvia Browne after she'd accepted James Randi's challenge for just one example among hundreds of similar ones..

This is one of the reasons I tend to chalk psychic powers up to "Wishful thinking."

Because deep inside maybe, just maybe: they know there's nothing really there to prove..

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  • 2 weeks later...

We're looking for a post now from Blue-Scorpion or Aquatus to keep things moving in this one, we seem to have come to a standstill.

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