XPost: sci.psychology.psychotherapy, alt.consciousness, talk.origins   
   From: RaanOne@One.org   
      
    wrote in message   
   news:4d71d185.0408230923.4981c7c@posting.google.com...   
   > >What are the odds of someone having a dream about a   
   > >friend who happens to die that particular night with   
   > >a white light in it?   
   >   
   > Considering the number of people in the world, and the number of   
   > dreams all those people dream, it does not seem as improbable as you   
   > may think. I was at the funeral of a guy who, showing why a   
   > dilapilated building needs to be torn down, said (in the exact words)   
   > "Even standing here is dangerous - any moment now, a piece of the   
   > facade could fall down and hit any of us." At the moment the word "us"   
   > came out of his mouth, a large piece of facade fell down on him,   
   > killing him instantly. What are the chances of that? Another person I   
   > know got shot in the head in the course of Bosnian war; the bullet   
   > entered through under his jaw, and blew off the top of his head   
   > completely. He survived, with only some minor trouble with memory, and   
   > some twitching in his left arm. After many surgeries and a long   
   > rehabilitation, he went home. He climbed up the stairs, entered his   
   > apartment for the first time in two years, slipped on an orange peel,   
   > fell back down the stairs, and died instantly of a broken neck. What   
   > are the chances of that happening?   
   >   
   > Many things happen in this world that seem exceedingly improbable;   
   > but, quite obviously, they are not in fact as improbable as they seem.   
   >   
   > Not to mention how people's recollection of dreams changes with time.   
   > I was once convinced I had a prophetic dream. A family friend died of   
   > a heart attack once when I was on vacation; when I heard the news, I   
   > suddenly recollected that I dreamt about him two nights earlier, and   
   > that he was clutching at his heart in my dream. I was astounded - as   
   > you say, what are the chances of that being a coincidence.   
   >   
   > For two weeks, I tried to remember the details of the dream; I   
   > remembered that there was an eerie light present, that he was sad   
   > about something...it was all quite uncanny.   
   >   
   > Then I came back home, and checked my journal (at that time I was   
   > dabbling in psychology, and kept a voice recorder next to my bed;   
   > immediately upon waking, I would record the description of any dreams   
   > I could recollect).   
   >   
   > It turned out that it wasn't him in the dream at all; it was a   
   > different family friend altogether (and he's still alive today). I did   
   > dream of the one who died, but it was several weeks before, and in   
   > that dream, we were playing basketball. No eerie light, no clutching   
   > at the breast...   
   >   
   > So what is the point?   
   >   
   > People have been telling about the prophetic power of dreams since the   
   > dawn of time; yet, the number of successful prophecies is dead on the   
   > statistically expected average for just guessing. People have weird   
   > dreams all the time, and then they embelish them in their memory after   
   > some "close enough" event takes place, and they make way too much out   
   > of it.   
   >   
   > If you want to prove that dreams can predict death, you need to   
   > actually do exactly that: predict a death on the basis of a dream,   
   > BEFORE the death happens. Making your dream sound prophetic AFTER the   
   > event won't work.   
   >   
   > If you wish to be taken seriously, put in some effort, and do at least   
   > a semi-serious study. Find five or ten friends, have them record their   
   > dreams for a year, especially dreams in which white light appears in   
   > connection to some person. Have them record their dreams as soon as   
   > they have them. Then look and see if the person actually dies. Come   
   > back after doing that, and tell us what you found.   
   >   
   > If you find an actual correlation, there will be plenty of people more   
   > then willing to do larger studies (and if your methodology is good   
   > enough, you'll be able to win Randy's million bucks, and use them to   
   > fund further studies of your own).   
   >   
   > Good luck,   
   > M.   
      
   A very patient and commendable appeal to common sense.   
   Well done, thank you.   
   --   
                  >   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)