Unexplained Mysteries of Science
Modern science is a wonderful process that brings us closer to understanding ourselves, and the nature of the universe. But it’s important to remember that “science” is a process, and through the scientific process we often find that previously accepted “scientific truths” are actually not true at all! In some gray areas, traditional scientific methods are ill equipped to explain many of life’s mysteries. Here are a few popular examples:The Mind/Body Connection
While the medical community likes to pretend that they were always on board with the trend—it was only a few years ago when anyone who thought they could influence their health with “mindpower” was a crackpot. Science is only now beginning to understand the ways in which the mind influences the body. Scientists do not know exactly how the placebo effect, for example, can physically cause a relief in medical symptoms simply by the individual believing the cures to be effective. Now there is a plethora of research and evidence that supports that our state of mind and beliefs do have a significant effect on our health. However, exactly how our thoughts/feelings influence physical health is still poorly understood.
Near-Death Experiences
Many individuals who have died and subsequently revived report a similar and yet personal mystical experience that often involves a tunnel, emerging into light and being reunited with a deceased loved one, etc., that in theory could suggest a form of spiritual existence that continues beyond death. Several hypothesis have been suggested for these events. Some believe they are hallucinations of a traumatized brain. Some neurological experts say that the experience is “hard-wired” into our brains and can even be induced in lab experiments. What science can’t explain is why “mother nature” or evolution would have evolved us this way, or if this hard-wiring is indicative of some kind of physical/spiritual connection. Currently, there is no way to know with certainty what causes near-death experiences, or if they truly a glimpse of the other side.
Deja vu
Deja vu is a French phrase meaning “already seen”, which refers to the distinctly odd feeling one has when an experience seems to have already occurred. For example, a woman might visit a foreign country on a business trip and sit down for a meeting with people she has never previously met. Suddenly a profound and eery feeling settles on her that she has sat down and talked with this exact group in this exact place before—even though that would be impossible. Some attribute deja vu to psychic experiences or a glimpse of a past life. Research into human psychology has offered some reasonable sounding naturalistic explanations, but ultimately the cause and nature of this fairly common phenomenon is unknown.
Intuition
Some refer to intuition as a “gut feeling”, or a sixth sense. Most individuals have experienced intuition at one time in their life or another. It can come as a distinct impression to do something, avoid a specific situation or an “instinct” of something about to occur. An example is humming a tune a few seconds before the same song begins to play on the radio, or having a distinct impression to slam on your breaks even before there is any sign of a road hazard ahead. Psychologists note that people subconsciously pick up information about the world around us, and we may get impressions based on information that we are not aware that we possess. Intuition may be nothing more than intellectual thinking that is real but not clearly conscious. However, cases of intuition are difficult to prove and study because they are situational and nearly impossible to reproduce. So far, psychology has only provided partial answers, and the “six sense” is still largely experienced and little understood.
