I've been a long-time lurker on here and on Skeptiko for many months now, and I had been interested in parapsychology and the paranormal since I was very young. I had regrettably joined Reddit in late 2019 and conducted extensive afterlife/survival of consciousness research. I was very impressed and amazed, but the resulting cynicism, pseudo-skepticism, anti-skepticism and even blatant bullying I encountered online in many forums resulted in my mental and physical health taking a turn for the worse. I went into an existential depression that, as I'm writing this, I'm still recovering from through the help of family and my therapist. I still want to be able to enjoy these topics now and then though, but it means I probably won't be too active on here. For those interested, my Reddit account with the same name does a good job explaining my personal experiences online and offline with psi, the paranormal and bullying. This is one of the only forums I've seen that's actually civil, open-minded and empathetic to proponents and true skeptics.
If I seem to be playing Devil's Advocate a lot, it's mainly because I have serious self-esteem and confidence issues. I end up placing horrible, degrading, demeaning people online on pedestals they don't deserve to be on. I'm sick of being called a 'woo-believer' and 'pseudoscientist' now and then. I have received a lot of support online fortunately, but it's never truly enough. I'll mostly be sharing my worries, concerns and questions on here about these topics, if that's not too much bother.
Personally, I most strongly believe in the survival of consciousness after death because I strongly believe it is not produced by the brain. I also quite strongly believe in UFOs, ghosts, reincarnation/past lives, ESP and Mediumship (mainly based upon personal experiences), though I'm skeptical of most other things. There isn't really a label I'd use to classify my beliefs but I suppose I'm a mixture of Omnism, Ietsism, Deism, Spiritism, Spiritualism and Buddhism.
I'd like to say thank you to those who have offered me solace, comfort and reassurance for my beliefs. I try to be as open-minded and respectful as possible because Internet forums are really lacking in compassionate people these days
If I seem to be playing Devil's Advocate a lot, it's mainly because I have serious self-esteem and confidence issues. I end up placing horrible, degrading, demeaning people online on pedestals they don't deserve to be on. I'm sick of being called a 'woo-believer' and 'pseudoscientist' now and then. I have received a lot of support online fortunately, but it's never truly enough. I'll mostly be sharing my worries, concerns and questions on here about these topics, if that's not too much bother.
Personally, I most strongly believe in the survival of consciousness after death because I strongly believe it is not produced by the brain. I also quite strongly believe in UFOs, ghosts, reincarnation/past lives, ESP and Mediumship (mainly based upon personal experiences), though I'm skeptical of most other things. There isn't really a label I'd use to classify my beliefs but I suppose I'm a mixture of Omnism, Ietsism, Deism, Spiritism, Spiritualism and Buddhism.
I'd like to say thank you to those who have offered me solace, comfort and reassurance for my beliefs. I try to be as open-minded and respectful as possible because Internet forums are really lacking in compassionate people these days
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