4 ms·

I'm reminded of an amusing thing that happened some time ago (either last year or the year before, I can't quite remember): My brother was telling me that he w

I'm reminded of an amusing thing that happened some time ago (either last year or the year before, I can't quite remember): My brother was telling me that he was awoken at night by a very loud bang noise. He looked out of the window and didn't see anything, but he didn't go back to bed for whatever reason. A short time later, he heard it again and looked out again to also see a flash of light. Then he saw some kids run away from a nearby alley and he realized what had happened: they had set off fireworks in the alley, which greatly amplified the bang. After he told me this, we wondered if anyone else had heard it and what they thought of it, since it was so loud. Did people think it was gunshots or an explosion or something? So we did a web search for the local newspapers and sure enough, people had written in and there was an online article about it! About... the UFO sightings with loud noise and flashing lights that night.. :-/ Some people, when they don't know the cause of something, let their imaginations take over and believe the most far fetched garbage. No wonder there's so many conspiracy believers out there these days!

partsKnown 5y ago
Some people are just really stupid and a belief in aliens is the perfect litmus test.
- badRNG 5y ago
  I think we as people are predisposed to believing that unexplained phenomena are the actions of some sort of agent. Humans that more often associated rustling in the grass with a predator had a better shot at sharing their genes than ones that didn't (even if this belief is often irrational considering the circumstance.) Across humanity, most cultures historically ascribed natural phenomena to agents; wind, fire, lightning, floods are caused by agents (either animal, spiritual, ancestral, or personal.) It makes sense then that if I see unexplained behavior in the sky, and I've been introduced to the idea of UFOs, I may be predisposed to believing that the unexplained behavior is the intentional acts of extraterrestrial actors. I think most people can be perfectly rational in most aspects of their lives, but for certain beliefs and behaviors (the social, sexuality, and identifying agency) there's likely always going to be a degree of innate irrationality.
- Galaxity 5y ago
  Well you believed that story.
pyinstallwoes 5y ago
That's a thing, exploding head syndrome. I had it for a few years. It was when I was particularly stressed. It really sucks. Sounds like a gunshot in your ears. I actually had this happen to me about a week ago. It's been a few years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploding_head_syndrome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploding_head_syndrome

partsKnown 5y ago

Some people are just really stupid and a belief in aliens is the perfect litmus test.

badRNG 5y ago
I think we as people are predisposed to believing that unexplained phenomena are the actions of some sort of agent. Humans that more often associated rustling in the grass with a predator had a better shot at sharing their genes than ones that didn't (even if this belief is often irrational considering the circumstance.) Across humanity, most cultures historically ascribed natural phenomena to agents; wind, fire, lightning, floods are caused by agents (either animal, spiritual, ancestral, or personal.) It makes sense then that if I see unexplained behavior in the sky, and I've been introduced to the idea of UFOs, I may be predisposed to believing that the unexplained behavior is the intentional acts of extraterrestrial actors. I think most people can be perfectly rational in most aspects of their lives, but for certain beliefs and behaviors (the social, sexuality, and identifying agency) there's likely always going to be a degree of innate irrationality.
Galaxity 5y ago
Well you believed that story.

pyinstallwoes 5y ago

That's a thing, exploding head syndrome. I had it for a few years. It was when I was particularly stressed. It really sucks. Sounds like a gunshot in your ears. I actually had this happen to me about a week ago. It's been a few years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploding_head_syndrome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploding_head_syndrome