RE: If a supernatural event occurred, how would you tell?
August 28, 2012 at 11:37 pm
(This post was last modified: August 28, 2012 at 11:37 pm by genkaus.)
(August 28, 2012 at 1:31 pm)teaearlgreyhot Wrote: Suppose that what appears to be a supernatural event happens right in front of you. Say a glowing man with wings floats down to earth in front of hundreds of people, makes an accurate prediction of a future improbable event, maybe raises a few verifiably dead people for good measure, and then disappears in a great ball of light.
Even though such things appear to defy known science, and seems to be an instance of stereotypical miracles of religions happening before our eyes, could we conclusively say that it was a real supernatural event? Wouldn't the most probable explanation be that it was an alien trickster from an incredibly advanced alien civilization, perhaps one that discovered a way to see into the future, teleport, and "raise" the dead?
Consider: alien explanation versus supernatural explanation. Even though both are seemingly incredibly unlikely, I would think that the alien explanation is far better explanation than the supernatural explanation in any instance of an apparent miracle since given our scientific knowledge, there seems to be a good a chance of life developing on other planets in our universe.
What's that saying?... something like "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
I'd have to argue semantics here. If an event is beyond the explanation of known science, then it can be called either supernatural or paranormal. The term you use to describe it speaks more to your own belief system and worldview than it does to the event itself.
Using "paranormal" implies belief that while the event might be beyond explanation currently, with greater understanding of science or more discovery of laws of nature would lead us to understanding it. Using "supernatural" implies that it'd be beyond that understanding in perpetuity.
If the event is in fact supernatural, then by definition there would be no way to classify it as such. If the source is beyond nature and human understanding, then a certain classification of the event as supernatural would indicate that there is a degree of understanding involved.
(August 28, 2012 at 3:22 pm)TaraJo Wrote: Supernatural is just science we don't understand yet. I'm sure volcanoes, earthquakes, lightning and fireflies were supernatural to cavemen a few thousand years ago. Heck, the first guy who picked up a burning stick and used it as a torch was probably considered some incredibly powerful magician with incredibly supernatural powers.
Nope. That's "paranormal".
