[QUOTE=ik911]So, are you never open to the mysterious untouchable stuff? Never willing to think about things that might not be true, but could perhaps be? Are you never amused by stories that don't come with sources and documents to prove it is true?[/QUOTE]
Oh, I spend most of my days thinking and working with things that may not be true, but there is a crucial difference between what is
unknown and what is
mysterious.
The term "mysterious", "mystical", usually refers to something that is beyond human power or human knowledge, something transcendent or "other- wordly".
This definition is the same as the one I use.
Under "synonyms", this above website list
"mysterious, esoteric, arcane, occult, inscrutable. These adjectives mean beyond human power to explain or understand...What is esoteric is mysterious because only a select group knows and understands it: a compilation of esoteric philosophical essays. Arcane applies to what is hidden from general knowledge: arcane economic theories. Occult suggests knowledge reputedly gained only by secret, magical, or supernatural means: an occult rite.
To take an example, the issue "How is AIDS cured" is
unknown, we don't know how to do there is nothing mystical, ie beyond human power, in this question. On the contrary, the issue can be investigated with objective methods and there is plenty of concrete, objective evidence that we will be able to find a treatment for AIDS in the near future.
Contrast this to the question "How is levitation done". There is no evidence that leviation exists, but for some individuals who subjectively claim to be able to do it. It has never been observed or recorded by objective, independent observers and it also contradicts the laws of physics and biology on this earth. If you want to explain levitation, you have to include
mystical explanation models.
Now when we have clearly defined the terminology, I can easily explain why I am very interested in the unknown but totally uninterested in the mysterious: There is simply no evidence that anything mysterious exist. Thus, it is to me not interesting, fascinating, fruitful, productive or useful. It's exactly the same reason why I am not religious and do not believe in any gods.
I have read thousands of stories about "mystical" experiences and phenomena, and no research have ever shown there is something interesting in this apart from what happens in the human mind. That, on the other hand, interest me immensely as a scientific question.
Let's consider some common popular fields that many people like to explain with mysterious explanation models:
1. Religion - includes the belief in transcendental beings/powers/dimensions. There is no evidence such phenomena exists. I am however interested in religion as a subject, since it has had and still has, profound effect on human life and society.
2. After-life issues, near-death experiences, reincarnation etc - same as above, there is no evidence that any of this exists and it requires mystical explanation models. So called "Near death" experiences can be explained with current medical knowledge and they can be induced experimentally, so there is no need to add a level of mysticism to those reported experiences.
3. Ghosts, spirits - there is no evidence any of this exists. All attempts to make objective recordings or observations have failed. Therefore it's equally uninteresting to me as unicorns, mermaids or Santa Claus.
4. Astrology, tarot, different kinds of future-telling - the numerous scientific investigations of these have shown none of them can reveal anything more than the individual already knows. When you take a group of persons who believe in astrology and let a professional astrologist make their horoscope and then, double-blindly, randomise the distribution of the horoscopes so that the participant believe they get their own horoscope but in fact they get somebody elses, the participants it fits them equally well as their own horoscope.
This does not exclude that many people enjoy using astrology or tarot cards as a means to think about their own lives and themselves, and it does not contradict that some people who do astrology or tarot are skillful therapists and can help people, but the central issue is that there is no evidence there is anything in the particular
methods astrology or tarot that is more efficient, more powerful or can add extra knowledge compared to if you use inkblots, colour maps or any vague stimuli. They all work by projection; people project into the stimuli what they want to see.
5. Extrasensory perception, telepathy, telekinesia, remote viewing - No other area of the "supernatural" is so extensively researched as ESP and telepathy, but despite of this there is no evidence any of this exists. Either it does not exist, or the effects are so small so they cannot be measured even in samples with thousands of people (in which case it's not a very interesting phenomena anyway). It doesn't matter if you do studies and observation on people who believe in ESP/telepathy, people who claim they have such skills, or people who do not believe or do not claim to have such skills, the studies show no support for the existence of any form of ESP.
6. Aliens and their connection to ancient human culture, modern alien visits etc - this is not transcendence but another version of "outside human knowledge". Whereas it is statistically very likely that life exist on other places in our vast universe, and earth-like planets have been observed, there is absolutely no evidence they have been here and even less evidence they have influence human architechture and technology etc. There is nothing mystical with the use of the pyramid shape at different continents - it's the simplest way to build a tall building!
7. "Mysterious" natural phenomena like crop circles, the Bermuda triangle, magnetic fields, etc - nothing has been observed that require a mystical explanation.
8. Numerology and code based mysterious - I think one example is sufficient. The journalist Drosnin published a book called "The bible code" that supposedly revealed hidden messages in the bible, messages that predicted future catastrophies and important events. The book became a bestseller. Drosnin got critisised for having exploited simple patterns of randomness in order to construct these messages. Drosnin said "When my critics find a message about the assassination of a prime minister encrypted in Moby ****, I'll believe them". Aussie mathematician McKay took up the challenge, and using the same method Drosnin used in "The bible code" his group found predictions of the murderer of Indira Gandhi, Martin Luther Kind, Abraham Lincoln, Leon Trotsky, Rene Moawad, John F Kennedy and Yitzhak Rabbin in Moby ****. And this although English leaves much less room for flexible interpretation than Hebrew, due to the vowels in English.
This is of course only one event, but we are yet to see any evidence that there are any hidden messages that differ from what you can find by chance, in any writings, be it Shakespeares, Leonardo da Vinci's, the bible, Nostradamus or what have you.
People who are uninterested in the mysterious and do not believe in things without objective evidence, are sometimes accused by believers for being "close minded(TM)". "Close minded" have been a label used by creationists, mysticists and other believers in things that are not supported by objective evidence, a label that is easy to throw out because most people associate close-mindedness with being stupid, uninformed and other generally negative characteristics. In any case, being open minded should not equal being gullible and uncritically receptive to anything other people tell you, anyting popular media writes, or anything that simply feels appealing. There is nothing positive, constructive or fruitful with confusing facts with what you feel is nice to believe. IMO people are entitled to hold whatever beliefs they wish as long as it is not discriminatory to others. The negative effects almost always start when people cannot
differentiate between objective evidence and subjective experience and feeling.
