Question about death to Atheists.

[Angrboda]

The "file drawer problem" (a term coined in 1979 by Robert Rosenthal, a member of our Advisory Board) refers to the bias introduced into the scientific literature by selective publication--chiefly by a tendency to publish positive results but not to publish negative or nonconfirmatory results.

http://www.psychfiledrawer.org/TheFiledrawerProblem.php

People love to tell stories. Particularly if they notice what they think is an odd and unexplainable pattern cropping up. But it is a part of our natural heritage to be afflicted by confirmation bias. We'll remember the hits (or the near hits, "I had a twinge of pain while thinking about grandma, so that was a premonition of grandpa dying," or even, "I had a funny feeling"), and forget the misses. (How many times a day does she think about relatives? Was the funny feeling directly about the relative? How many times has she had a feeling and nothing happened?) This bias is hard at work shaping what goes into the stories we tell. We're human pattern seeking devices. We'll find patterns even when none are there to be found. I'm like Stimbo on this, yes I believe your mother says she has these premonitions, but that doesn't give much to go on. And the stories when investigated usually turn out underwhelming.

I'm reminded of when I was a Hindu who worshipped the goddess Kali. There were times I was so sure that life events were an example of the goddess sending me messages. Sometimes I would go crazy trying to interpret these messages, wondering if this was a sign or that was a sign. There is a powerful urge to make sense of the patterns in our life, whether weak or strong. And it's easy to get caught up in superstition trying to assign meaning to these patterns. It makes us all a little crazy. But that's not the story that gets told. The amazing coincidences are long remembered and the craziness forgotten.