This morning I present two disparate and yet fascinating Canadian news stories that consider freaky situations which can't easily be explained.
What does this have to do with atheism? Well, things that we can't explain often result in paranormal beliefs. There are a variety of paranormal beliefs (everything from belief in witchcraft to reincarnation) but they all share share the "property of being in conflict with scientific knowledge, as well as going against everyday experience of causes, and all have a somewhat mystical quality" (from Lewis Wolpert's Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast).
Wolpert goes on to explain how it is not unreasonable to think that some religious beliefs are paranormal: "consider Christ's miracles, his rising from the dead, and the supposed effectiveness of prayer". Basically, paranormal beliefs (including religious beliefs) result from our innate desire to look for causes for things that we can't explain. As Wolpert explains: "Very few people are content to accept that blind chance plays a large part in their lives; they seek reasons and logical connections even when these do not really exist."
The first story suggests that a Newfoundland teenager might have been reincarnated [the National Post took down the link but I found it reproduced here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nhnenews/message/15679] I would be alot more impressed if the kid had started speaking fluent Hindi. I could go to Google Earth and become familiar with just about any geographic region you can think of. I also wonder if anyone bothered to check the kids' library card, computer, etc. to see whether he had the opportunity to pick up some of this "miraculous" knowledge via other means. There was also a time when I was a teenage boy growing up in St. John's but I spent more time drinking in the woods than reminiscing about my past lives.
The second story describes one of the most remarkable coincidences that I have ever heard about: http://bit.ly/lM8hwe Of course, both guys had to die sometime. But the same day? Both at the age of 41? Hanson's famous photo of Nicholas is pictured above.
Of course, David Hume would implore us to look for non-miraculous explanations.
Any being that has been reincarnated would never come back as a Newfoundland teenager. God is cruel, but not a sociopath.
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