[MD] Mystics and Brains

[Case]

[Platt]
That the universe has no purpose is as much a conjecture on your part as
that it does have purpose is conjecture on mine. In other words, to claim
you are honest and those who believe differently are not is pure arrogance.

[Case]
I have not claimed that others are dishonest. I do not regard self delusion
as dishonesty. But it does seem to me that burden of proof rests on those
who claim there is a purpose. Obviously if you admit that the inorganic
world is purposeful, you could claim any number of possible purposes. So I
would think that in claiming a purpose for nature you have an obligation not
only to show that there is any purpose at all, but that the purpose you
envision is the True purpose.

Maybe it is arrogance but I think the whole enterprise is vanity and chasing
the wind.

[Platt]
Plenty of evidence for both if you are willing to look and keep an open
mind. Just the fact that you and I are purposeful beings and are part of the
universe belies the assertion that the universe is without purpose. As for
psi effects, plenty of those around in scientific experiments, like the
Princeton experiments mentioned before.

[Case]
How open does your mind need to be to see this stuff? If you leave your mind
open long enough all manner of weirdness can come in. Take these psi effects
you cited before. They seemed at best very small. They did not take certain
variables into account. They could not be replicated, even in the lab that
published the reports. That pretty well sums up the results of this kind of
research. It is not that research in this area has not been done; it is that
it has failed to produce even a trace of evidence.