5 ms·

That might have been a tab of acid or some special mushrooms added to the rice.

aaomidi 3y ago
Ball lighting will never cease to fascinate me. The deniers vehemently deny, and outright insult people’s experiences. The people who say they’ve experienced will be adamant that they have. Honestly, I hope it’s real and we find a way to replicate it only because it’s so cool.
- ChrisClark 3y ago
  It seems like they're is a lot of things that polarize like that. Like near death experiences. People say that their death experience of reality was so much more real than ours, like when we wake from a normal dream and intuitively know we are in reality. That our everyday reality is just a simple simulation compared to true reality. To them it is completely obvious and real. That this life is a mere shadow, a simulation. Nothing will convince them otherwise. But we (general public without that experience) can't possibly believe it, come up with many theories on what the brain is doing. I've never experienced ball lightning but I can believe the ones who have most of the time. Death experiences, I can't even imagine something more real than my current reality, how could I possibly start to believe it? Despite how obvious it is to those who went through it, it's impossible for me to even begin imagining something like that.
  - jmstfv 3y ago
    That's akin to a psychedelic experience: that reality feels more real than the everyday reality we live in, which, in comparison, comes across as quite shallow.
    - ChrisClark 3y ago
      I've never tried that, maybe I'd have to before I could ever understand how someone could feel like it's more real. I've avoided psychedelics because all I have is my brain, and I'm scared I could screw something up in my mind. I kinda want to keep my mind safe, it's all I am. Losing the consistency of my mind that I've always known is scary.
      - pxc 3y ago
        > I've avoided psychedelics because all I have is my brain, and I'm scared I could screw something up in my mind. I kinda want to keep my mind safe, it's all I am. Losing the consistency of my mind that I've always known is scary. Psychedelics probably won't permanently screw you up. On the most common ones, like psilocybin mushrooms or LSD, you may even still feel very much yourself while tripping. That said, if this is your attitude about psychedelics, they would probably be a bad time for you. It's one of those things where the more you stiffen up and brace yourself, the scarier and more uncomfortable the changes in your perception that come with tripping will seem to you. You definitely want to approach them with more openness and curiosity, and if you don't feel like that's available to you with respect to psychedelics, opting out of them is a totally sound choice.
        ChrisClark 3y ago
        Thanks for the info. Maybe one day, but I'll take that all into consideration.
- wredue 3y ago
  Lots of people are also adamant that spirit overcomes them and causes an episode of speaking in tongues. We have quite a few instances of this and other religious experiences, none of which passes any sort of scrutiny. There are more cameras pointed all over the place than ever, and somehow there has never been a recording of this phenomena, despite the Wikipedia claiming upwards of 5% of people having experienced this? Nah.
  - e44858 3y ago
    A few people recorded it on camera, and there's even published studies: https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn24886-natural-ball-lightning-probed-for-the-first-time/ https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn24886-natural-ball-li...

Ball lighting will never cease to fascinate me. The deniers vehemently deny, and outright insult people’s experiences. The people who say they’ve experienced will be adamant that they have. Honestly, I hope it’s real and we find a way to replicate it only because it’s so cool.

ChrisClark 3y ago
It seems like they're is a lot of things that polarize like that. Like near death experiences. People say that their death experience of reality was so much more real than ours, like when we wake from a normal dream and intuitively know we are in reality. That our everyday reality is just a simple simulation compared to true reality. To them it is completely obvious and real. That this life is a mere shadow, a simulation. Nothing will convince them otherwise. But we (general public without that experience) can't possibly believe it, come up with many theories on what the brain is doing. I've never experienced ball lightning but I can believe the ones who have most of the time. Death experiences, I can't even imagine something more real than my current reality, how could I possibly start to believe it? Despite how obvious it is to those who went through it, it's impossible for me to even begin imagining something like that.
- jmstfv 3y ago
  That's akin to a psychedelic experience: that reality feels more real than the everyday reality we live in, which, in comparison, comes across as quite shallow.
  - ChrisClark 3y ago
    I've never tried that, maybe I'd have to before I could ever understand how someone could feel like it's more real. I've avoided psychedelics because all I have is my brain, and I'm scared I could screw something up in my mind. I kinda want to keep my mind safe, it's all I am. Losing the consistency of my mind that I've always known is scary.
    - pxc 3y ago
      > I've avoided psychedelics because all I have is my brain, and I'm scared I could screw something up in my mind. I kinda want to keep my mind safe, it's all I am. Losing the consistency of my mind that I've always known is scary. Psychedelics probably won't permanently screw you up. On the most common ones, like psilocybin mushrooms or LSD, you may even still feel very much yourself while tripping. That said, if this is your attitude about psychedelics, they would probably be a bad time for you. It's one of those things where the more you stiffen up and brace yourself, the scarier and more uncomfortable the changes in your perception that come with tripping will seem to you. You definitely want to approach them with more openness and curiosity, and if you don't feel like that's available to you with respect to psychedelics, opting out of them is a totally sound choice.
      - ChrisClark 3y ago
        Thanks for the info. Maybe one day, but I'll take that all into consideration.
wredue 3y ago
Lots of people are also adamant that spirit overcomes them and causes an episode of speaking in tongues. We have quite a few instances of this and other religious experiences, none of which passes any sort of scrutiny. There are more cameras pointed all over the place than ever, and somehow there has never been a recording of this phenomena, despite the Wikipedia claiming upwards of 5% of people having experienced this? Nah.
- e44858 3y ago
  A few people recorded it on camera, and there's even published studies: https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn24886-natural-ball-lightning-probed-for-the-first-time/ https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn24886-natural-ball-li...