tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4608287618412195836.post1721731961713654830..comments2023-10-29T19:20:03.632-07:00Comments on Malcolm's Musings: Anomalies: Phantom Leopards and Collective HallucinationsMalcolm Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00672612354161787023noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4608287618412195836.post-21720207138977425402013-05-20T02:43:52.184-07:002013-05-20T02:43:52.184-07:00I could provide other examples. Most of us go thro...I could provide other examples. Most of us go through life seeing, but not observing. Basically, we focus on what we assume are the important, or fundamental aspects of the scene, and filter out the pheripheral aspects. I don't suppose we could operate effectively if we didn't.<br />In the case of the basketball audience, when told to pay particular attention, they paid attention to the game to the detriment of everything else. But if someone had drawn their attention to the man in the gorilla suit, they would have seen it.<br />In Harry Wright's case, however, he didn't fail to see the leopards because he was focusing on the dancer; he initially failed to see them when his attention was twice drawn to them, and he was told to step back in order to avoid them.<br />So ... if whole groups of people are seeing things that aren't there, and failing to see things that are there, how well can we rely on our senses?Malcolm Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00672612354161787023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4608287618412195836.post-30825920908745511492013-05-19T23:26:52.999-07:002013-05-19T23:26:52.999-07:00Interesting stuff. I have thought similar things a...Interesting stuff. I have thought similar things about the big cat phantom sightings for years. Part of the same continuum with Bigfoot, 'aliens' and fairies.<br /><br />However I would take it further, it is not only a case of believing is seeing, but the world of the Imagination, of the collective unconscious has a reality that extends over and beyond itself, into the world of matter - the world of mind and physical reality cannot so easily be separated, the lines are blurred and overlap in mysterious ways. If there are any lines at all. There is a heady literature on this subject as we all know and it is beyond a mere comment to a blog article, so will leave off. Ultimately we are left with mysteries, since the world and depth of the mind remain largely impenetrable and shrouded in enigmas. In other words, saying it is all in the mind, begs the question. Yes but what do we mean by mind/Mind and how does mind and matter interact exactly?<br /><br />It is interesting that in occult lore, there is a tradition that 'phantom cats' are considered the 'dwellers at the threshold'. That is they are the guardians of the 'daemonic realm' or the underworld or whatever name you want to call the invisible world of spirits and the like. They are the protectors at the borderland between this world and the one beyond and being at the borderland, sometimes they slip right into our world. Or perhaps we slip into theirs? I think those young West African 'leopard dancers' vision is closer to the truth of things than the so-called hard-headed Western scientist.Lawrencehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04531198239870181089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4608287618412195836.post-39105710808324230572013-05-19T09:33:03.985-07:002013-05-19T09:33:03.985-07:00You might be right Malcolm but setting aside perso...You might be right Malcolm but setting aside personal experience two things make me wonder.<br /><br />First of all we have the example of synesthetes who upon reporting hearing sounds and seeing colours or seeing numbers and experiencing exotic smells were routinely dismissed during much of the last two centuries as time wasting incorrigible liars and fantasists or delusional and dispatched to the nearest branch of Bedlam.<br /><br />Then we have the example of the basketball game watchers who though instructed to pay particular attention completely failed to notice the man in the gorilla suit strolling through the middle of the game.<br /><br />This's even true of ordinary everyday life some people can see what others simply can't.<br /><br />A few months back a friend was about to screw up some paper and throw it in the bin.<br /><br />"What the hell're you doing?" I screeched.<br />"It's just one of Ellie's scribbles..."<br />"Scribbles? It might look like that to you but it's actually something very akin to those slightly embellished matchstick men fashion designers dash off in two seconds flat for their cutters."<br /><br />Two months later "OMG I've just been to the parent teachers night and her new art teacher's telling me how incredibly talented she is! I didn't have a clue!"<br /><br />A more prosaic example.<br /><br />One night me mate parked his car by a street light and I said "What colour's your car?"<br />"Blue."<br />"Look again..."<br />"Blue!"<br /><br />"Okay let's try this a different way...what colour's that car?"<br />"Ooh can't tell the street light's drained all the colour out it...looks sort of off white with a hint of khaki maybe."<br />"Okay now tell me again what colour's your car...?"<br /><br />"Oh my god y'can't tell can y'u...all these years driving at night and I never noticed that effect once."<br /><br />I tried the same trick when he got a brown car and he still made the same mistake.<br /><br />Everyone tends to concentrate on the supposedly few people who see things supposedly not there but there're far more people who don't even notice things that ARE there.<br /><br />For some reason this blindness seems to be the human condition and it's why I suggest critters like judges gradually become redundant and get replaced by more souped up critters like prophets.<br /><br />Or as someone else once put it "That's why I speak to them in parables because while they look they look and listen they don't actually see or hear."alanborkyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15333017272673090593noreply@blogger.com