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Premonitions, of death and otherwise

SilkRoad

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I'm reading World War II poet Keith Douglas and have totally fallen in love with him (oh dear, I am already digressing from the subject of this thread. :blush:) Fantastic poet, and hot, judging from the few pics of him available.

He was only 24 when he died in the war, killed instantly by a bomb in Normandy. From the poems I've read by him so far - Desert Flowers, Simplify Me When I'm Dead, Canoe, On a Return From Egypt, etc, he seems to have had strong premonitions of his coming death. Perhaps it is common in a war setting to feel you're going to die, I don't know. He just seems to have been sure, but utterly cool and awesome about it all. :shock:

What do you think about premonitions? Are they real? Is it coincidence? Do some people just know that they are going to die?

I have mixed feelings. I feel that I have had premonitory dreams and that sort of thing a few times. Or a looming feeling that something I dreaded was going to happen, a few days ahead, and then it happened. But I also wonder if it may just be coincidence.
 
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I'm not sure I believe in this sort of thing or not. But I do know that one time in high school, I had a premonition in class. I was in study hall, and I suddenly had a very strong feeling that the girl in front of me was going to offer me a piece of gum. About 10 seconds later she opened her purse, took out a pack of gum, and offered me a piece. I almost fell off my chair. Nothing like that has happened before or since.
 
T

ThatGirl

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Input streams, if you expect it to happen it probably will. Only with bad shit though. The self-fulfilling prophesy.


If you are cool, calm, and collected, about your death, you probably wont counter against it. Like people who can't feel pain and so die early because they do stupid shit.
 

/DG/

silentigata ano (profile)
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Nah... I think these things are all the effects of confirmation bias. If you always have "premonitions," but only a few of them (if any) ever come true... you will still believe yourself to be psychic.
 
V

violaine

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I have feelings ahead of events. It's not a process that I can influence at all. I don't want to call them premonitions because that seems like I would buy into something too otherworldly without knowing the mechanism of why I get these feelings about things. I don't feel at all like I can predict things deliberately and the specific things I'm talking about are not at all like the hunches I get about how a person's behavior will manifest. These are weird things that I'm slightly embarrassed to go into detail about because it sounds so absurd. Sometimes I just know something and I've never had one of those feelings and it not panned out. It doesn't happen a lot though and I don't even think about whether it's rare or whatnot. I just know when to pay attention to something. *sigh* If I had to put forth a little theory, I have noticed that I only get them in relation to people I care immensely for.
 

Xenon

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I believe the mind does a lot of unconscious gathering and processing of information, and so people can have strong hunches and whatnot that seem to come out of nowhere. I don't believe there's anything magic about this, and it's just as fallible as any other mental process: sometimes it's dead on and sometimes it's way off. I also think as DisneyGeek said, confirmation bias plays a strong role in how people interpret and remember these experiences.
 

tibby

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No premonitions, or anything like that. But I have experienced... Um. Just this sort of, a feeling. It happens very rarely and when it does I just know it's important. I think it's just stuff in the unconscious that picks up on something and lets me know hey this is something you need to pay attention to. It's always been about people in some way. It's a very different sort of feeling from everything else that it stands out pretty clearly.

Ok... I will give one example. It actually makes a lot of sense to me. My mom had been feeling not too good for few years, showing unrelated symptoms and in varying ways here and there Fatigue and anemia mainly. I didn't really put much thought into it, other than, is this what all 40-somethings change into, why's she so damn tired all the time. Then when she'd had that for about 2 yo's, she came back home from yet another doctor visit and as usual, she said they couldn't find anything wrong with her now they fixed her hemoglobin. That instant I felt uneasy in a different way I would if I were 'just worried', I just remember this extremely uncomfortable feeling. It sticked with me all day, and that night I had a dream she had a brain tumour, and woke up in the middle of the dream very horrified and uncomfortable (I usually never remember my dreams because well, I don't wake up while having them). Well, 2 weeks later she had a seizure and was diagnosed with one.

Now the thing there was I think I might've picked up on her symptoms and sort of put it all together unconsciously (I've watched enough ER in my lifetime methinks). If it was something it sure as hell was not magical. And I was not at all worried about her health before that day. And without her telling they hadn't find anything wrong with her, I doubt I would've dreamt of it either.

Sure, it might've been a coincidence as well. I doubt it, though. It felt very strange. And I felt very worried.
 

Xenon

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This is why I don't talk about it. Sometimes science and logic can't answer something, but that doesn't make it any less real.

Sure, but that isn't a reason to assume it's evidence of the paranormal either. There are many things that have scientific explanations now that were thought to be supernaturally caused in the past. Basically, I believe premonitions can happen, in that people can have sudden, inexplicable insights. I simply believe there's a naturalistic explanation for these. How would that make it not "real"?

I am not a flake. I ask very many questions of everything and I dig very deep. This was not my consciousness catching up to my cognitive processes. It was an emotional and visual premonition.
It came to be exactly as I felt and I saw it.
It just is what it is.

How would anything I said mean you are a "flake", or that you don't explore ideas? If I'm right, all that would mean is you're subject to the same thinking biases as everyone else on the planet. If I'm wrong and a "sixth sense" of sorts exists (and I occasionally question this, although I'm still inclined to be very skeptical), then the cognitive biases I mentioned can still happen as well, and it's still important to be aware of those. People do seek to confirm what they already believe. People do still have very malleable, error-prone memories that are constantly being altered. We still have pattern-seeking minds that see connections everywhere, whether they are really there or not. Etc.

You just can't know where something comes from because of how it felt. The mind can create very vivid, intense experiences from subconscious ideas. I've chased my mind in circles in the past because I "just knew" something horrifying was about to happen. It felt strong and gripping and entirely certain. It turned out to be complete bullshit. But at the time I knew, I just knew, what was coming, and I didn't want to hear anyone say otherwise.

If you're bothered by people not being convinced your experiences were genuine ESP, I understand that, but I don't know what to tell you. I'm skeptical of it because of what I know of the human capacity for error, because extensive study has not turned up convincing evidence, and because of my own experiences of feeling certain of something and being wrong. It's nothing personal. :shrug:
 

Randomnity

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If enough people think that enough different, plausible things will happen, some of them are bound to coincide. How could they not? Especially death, which is a very very common theme for literature/poetry/just thinking about....and everyone dies, some earlier than others. So of course you'll have lots of people who think/write a lot about death and then die. The human mind is driven to find patterns in chaos, often patterns that aren't there.

It'd be more interesting to see someone who could consistently have premonitions of unrelated things which came true. Happening once or twice in a lifetime is hardly impressive, particularly if it concerns something common to everyday life.
 

SilkRoad

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I tend to think it's usually coincidence or confirmation bias, but that it occasionally happens for real. I don't have any particularly logical reason for saying that, though. ;)
 

Randomnity

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I'm not sure why you think I'm talking to or about you in particular.
 

highlander

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I have feelings ahead of events. It's not a process that I can influence at all. I don't want to call them premonitions because that seems like I would buy into something too otherworldly without knowing the mechanism of why I get these feelings about things. I don't feel at all like I can predict things deliberately and the specific things I'm talking about are not at all like the hunches I get about how a person's behavior will manifest. These are weird things that I'm slightly embarrassed to go into detail about because it sounds so absurd. Sometimes I just know something and I've never had one of those feelings and it not panned out. It doesn't happen a lot though and I don't even think about whether it's rare or whatnot. I just know when to pay attention to something. *sigh* If I had to put forth a little theory, I have noticed that I only get them in relation to people I care immensely for.

I don't think I could articulate my own feelings more clearly. I completely understand and agree with your sentiments with the exception of your last statement after *sigh*. My intuitions are not limited to those that I care immensely for but they are certainly more accurate if I know people better.

Randomnity;1533674 It'd be more interesting to see someone who could consistently have premonitions of unrelated things which came true. Happening once or twice in a [I said:
lifetime [/I]is hardly impressive, particularly if it concerns something common to everyday life.

Because You posted after me and mentioned "one or two times in a life time".

Talking is what we are supposed to do here, right? If you have other ideas, I am all ears.

I didn't realize we needed invitations to comment on each others posts , I'll bear that in mind. :)

Forgive me for my comments here. The fact is that some of us do intuit certain things. We use that intuition to predict what will happen in the future. Sometimes, it goes as far as a premonition. We're not going to be able to demonstrate how we predictably have premonitions and how the result relates to that. Yet, we do have trust in our intuition. I just had a rather heated debate on this very subject over dinner. I trust my intuitions, yet know they are not are not facts. I am not going to argue with someone on how I can prove what I intuit.

Anyway - with respect to indirect, passive aggressive. or undercutting remarks (you vs. me). Please stop that. It's boring. I am speaking totally as a member right now and not as a mod.
 

highlander

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Well thank you for understanding Highlander. The Intuition stuff anyway.

However as one member to another, you might want to ask why I received such a mean spirited response for posting on topic.
I am not alone in feeling her post was a response to mine.. MY rep hits says so. One person used the word "speechless".

As a member to a Mod.. I have taken your advice and backed off.
Please consider that.
A few times, it sure feels like some people are not taking their own advice.

Thanks

Point noted. Well, it is not to say you are wrong Arclight but from my perspective, I personally didn't interpret it as a "mean spirited response", "a response to mine", etc. It was one person's view or opinion. That is just my own personal interpretation though. In either case, I do not wish to dismiss your concern in any way whatsoever. My sense is though that we should get over it and move on :). I would suggest focusing on the point of the debate vs. the interpretations or perceived politics related to it :)

I am still not speaking as a mod. It is just my view as a member. I can view in with that opinion or perspective later if you want.
 

Randomnity

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I'm not sure why you think I'm talking to or about you in particular.

Let me rephrase, since this post was apparently ever so cruel and heartless.

I wasn't talking about any member in particular. Not attacking, not insulting, not passive-aggressively prodding, not dismissing, not judging, not even engaging. I trust that there is no need for further discussion on the matter, and the thread can return to its original topic.
 

highlander

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I still completely believe in premonitions. Yes, I do!!!!!
 
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violaine

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I don't think I could articulate my own feelings more clearly. I completely understand and agree with your sentiments with the exception of your last statement after *sigh*. My intuitions are not limited to those that I care immensely for but they are certainly more accurate if I know people better.

I also feel strangely psy-linked to those people I'm very close to. It's a very weird sensation. I just know things. And I'm not wrong. Not ever when I get those certain feelings. *shrug*

Hmm, it makes me wonder if I stomp on my intuitions sometimes in relation to other people because I know that if I publicly aired them, they would be hard to explain/defend. (It's happened before.) I think I'm going to stop doing that.

Very interesting hearing everyone's experiences. And thanks for starting another interesting thread, SilkRoad.
 
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