Thanks for the response, David. Right out of the Dan Dennett handbook.
The problem is that from the scientific understanding, so far, the brain can't account for the mind. Indeed there are numerous colleagues of Dennett's who are now willing to seriously consider some form of dualism, and argue that Dennett et al cleave to a materialistic position that is not merely reductive, but has no empirical substance; indeed that their obstinacy amounts to a kind of religious fanaticism.
The truth is that the so-called hard problem of consciousness remains a complete mystery that science is nowhere near solving, or even appreciating. To go on insisting that there can only be a physicalist account of consciousness, causal closure, when even an adequate theory remains to be posited, looks like foolishness to me (I note the Science Show is doing a segment on issue of qualia next week).
Moreover, given the dubious nature of sensual register and perception, and that its findings are couched in irredeemably equivocal language, agnosticism does seem to me the way to go. Having said that, my agnosticism has little tolerance for the concept of god, or gods, especially as they are invoked by our crazy religions and scriptures. I can imagine other more rational possibilities, however, and don't consider I'm in a position to discount anything--though I do practically discount any of the gods conjured up so far.
I agree, though, that we needn't trouble ourselves about the question of god in any scientistic sense; and it's otherwise merely a crutch, a convention, or a pragmatic construct. I'd rather focus on the hear and now, and that's why I think its vital that any worldview be subject to scrutiny as to its ethical/political derivation and extrapolation.
I agree that realism is "the most consistent and best predictable illusion we have", but it's a mistake to underestimate the various influences, personal and cultural, which compromise and distort it.

But I'm off topic and rather busy; perhaps we can discuss it another time.

I've had experiences such as those mentioned which brought at least a question mark of what is it to mind even one where a light-white doorway curtain blowing gently in the breeze convinced me it was a ghost which certainly took my breath away. It had the appearance of rushing at me. (Very young at the time) That one taught me a valuable lesson that the mind can be tricked very easily.

But one I have not been able to explain and I think of it every time a subject like this arises happened when I was in my teen’s way out in the remote outback.

It was a warm night, no wind and crystal clear sky with no lights anywhere within visibility and I was lying on my back looking at the cosmos on a clay-pan (small flat-area with no topsoil). This wasn't a dramatic occurrence, just interesting and unexplained.

An average star sized object suddenly moved slowly for a distance of about 5 degrees in one direction. It then stopped and stayed in that position for maybe a few minutes (fine detail has been lost through time) and eventually moved off, from memory, at right angles to the previous direction. No other stars moved abnormally at all at the time of the ‘encounter’.

My eyesight then gave perfect vision without glasses. It has gone downhill since then.

Satellites don’t behave like this and I know of no other phenomenon that does. It could have been a localised inversion layer in the atmosphere distorting the air but beside that, no other explanation has ever been forthcoming. I don’t know if inversion layers can act in such a localised manner where close-by other stars are not involved. Maybe someone here can help.

I did have at the time half-serious thoughts that it could have been some kind of extra-terrestrial craft even though I knew the physics involved would make that highly unlikely.

The sighting certainly made me aware that we are susceptible to making instant and long-term assumptions without supporting evidence. It was a good lesson in that regard.

David

David,

Some indigenous children from the outback told me they often see these, and call them mim-mim lights, and said if one tries to move closer toward them, they keep moving away. The kids were explaining their lives in a remote area, and weren't scared of the lights - it was just one more facet of their lives.
They were very scared of Featherfoot, but that's another story.

Here's another 'could be aliens' experience, and also a real encounter with an 'unexplained phenomenon'.

About 25 years ago I was driving alone, at night, on a rough dirt track between Balranald and Mungo National Park. When I noticed a single light bobbing along, first on one side, then the other, I didn't think 'aliens', but 'min min light'. I started to freak out but was too scared to stop and check it out. Then the motor-bike overtook me.

The real encounter was with the 'Cape Barren Guns' on Flinders Island, Bass Strait. On a clear day, the sound was like distant cannon fire - a naval battle just beyond the western horizon. One resounding salvo was followed by another, and they appeared to be from slightly different directions (as in opposing fleets) though that may have been a psychological assumption. Bright sunny day, but following a few days of stormy weather. How did I know what a naval battle sounded like - war films of course! I can't remember how long it went on for - a least an hour or more; we stopped paying attention after a while.

There is an 1880's written account of the 'Cape Barren Guns', and in fact it's an example of a long-known world wide phenomenon, occurring near shallow seas (eg near the mouth of the Ganges where it's known as the Barisal Guns). The cause is still debated.

In the 1970s a physicist named William Corliss produced a sourcebook of historical records of unusual natural phenomena 'Strange Phenomena', and various similar books (now findable on-line). There are quite a lot of records of various sorts of unexplained phenomena from Australia

worldwatcher,

Yes, I am and was very aware of Min Min lights. They tend to be in the distance at or near ground level. I was looking straight up.

I personally think Min Min lights have their explanation in some kind of fluorescent gas, maybe ball lighting but mainly by distant camp fires. The light of a camp-fire looks incredibly bright from a very long way away on a dark night without the moon or artificial lights interfering with the blackness.

Looking at the after effects of a big crop fire at night could easily be mistaken for a city in the distance. Not surprised at all that some folk who are not used to the experience of being in isolated areas at night could make all kinds of claims that a more experienced person might not.

I have spent considerable time in remote and semi-remote areas and have never encountered a light of which the source was not known. It’s not a boast but I'm very observant as a part of my make-up.

The best experience of an Explained Flying Object I've had was watching the space shuttle on a path behind the Space Station getting ready to dock. They were separated by about 15 degrees and far brighter than any satellite I have seen. I think from memory this was the Space Shuttle that disintegrated on re-entering the atmosphere on the way back to earth. There are lots of sad things happening all the time but that was definitely a sad occasion.

David

Tony Lavis>> Have you paid attention to anything I just wrote?<<

Yes, but I disagree.