Miracles!!

[VEGANGELICA]

Do you believe in miracles?
What do you feel is the definition of a miracle?
Have you ever experienced or observed something you feel is a miracle, and what was it?

As someone who does not believe in the occurrence of miracles, which I define as events that defy natural law, I was amused to read a news report today that says a man claims to have survived 70 years without eating or drinking anything!

I was even more amused to read people's responses. So, this made me curious about other MusicBanter members' beliefs about miracles. I didn't see a miracle thread during a search (though this topic overlaps with the religion and the ghost threads). Apologies if a miracle thread already exists!

Here is part of the article:

Prahlad Jani, an 82-year-old Indian yogi, is making headlines by claims that for the past 70 years he has had nothing -- not one calorie -- to eat and not one drop of liquid to drink. To test his claims, Indian military doctors put him under round-the-clock observation during a two-week hospital stay that ended last week, news reports say. During that time he didn’t ingest any food or water – and remained perfectly healthy, the researchers said.

But that’s simply impossible, said Dr. Michael Van Rooyen an emergency physician at Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, an associate professor at the medical school, and the director of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative – which focuses on aid to displaced populations who lack food and water.

"You can hold a lot of water in those yogi beards. A sneaky yogi for certain," he said. "He MUST take in water. The human body cannot survive without it."

70 years without eating? 'Starving yogi' says it's true - The Body Odd - msnbc.com

Some of my favorite responses that people gave:

Its completely impossible, unless that dude is some sort or alien, or ghost.

That is very impressive to go without food or water for 70 years straight.

Is he drinking his own urine?

obviously this scientist physician observer, Dr. Van Rooyen, is a disgrace to his profession because he is denying the basic scientific rule of observation--there are breatherators--my term may be wrong--who can subsist without eating or drinking--the good doctor should do thorough research and check it out

Breatherators!

[Arya Stark]

I'm interested in what people are going to say about this.
Miracles are an interesting thing.
But it's definitely not possible.
I like science. I believe in science.
Of course, I have hope for miracles sometimes.
But this is too much.

[Guybrush]

I don't believe in miracles and I don't believe I have ever witnessed one. My definition of one is basically the same as yours, Vegangelica .. This news is quite interesting though I think this is one sneaky yogi indeed. Maybe he carries bottled water somewhere in his body?

[Anteater]

Doing this before someone else does.

[Freebase Dali]

Breatherators?

[Janszoon]

I believe in miracles
Since you came along
You sexy thing

[bungalow]

i believe in miracles, but probably because i define them differently from you. for example, the spontaneous appearance of life on earth is "miraculous" even though it can be explained naturally. i don't think the fact that something can be explained scientifically precludes it from being miraculous.

[bungalow]

events that defy natural law i would characterize as supernatural.

[VEGANGELICA]

Originally Posted by AwwSugar

Of course, I have hope for miracles sometimes.
But this is too much.

I'll keep my eyes on this "starving yogi" story to learn if/when his claims are debunked. Or proven! Perhaps there are "breatherators" who gain sustenance from the very air!

Originally Posted by tore

I think this is one sneaky yogi indeed. Maybe he carries bottled water somewhere in his body?

I can think of only one orifice big enough, and carrying a water bottle there wouldn't be too comfortable...but better than drinking your own urine!

Originally Posted by Janszoon

I believe in miracles
Since you came along
You sexy thing

You were singing that song to Freebase, weren't you, Janszoon! I couldn't help but notice that his post came right before your post!

Originally Posted by bungalow

i believe in miracles, but probably because i define them differently from you. for example, the spontaneous appearance of life on earth is "miraculous" even though it can be explained naturally. i don't think the fact that something can be explained scientifically precludes it from being miraculous.

events that defy natural law i would characterize as supernatural.

So, bungalow, to make sure I understand, you define a "miracle" as some event that follows natural law but has a very low probability of occurring. Meanwhile, it sounds like what you think of as supernatural would be what I define as a "miracle."

How unlikely would you feel some natural occurrence has to be for it to be a miracle? Wouldn't such a probability cutoff be very arbitrary? If I flip a coin a trillion times and get only 1 head, would that be a miracle? And if it *were* a miracle, what about if I did it again and get 2 heads? Or 10? How would you decide when some event is no longer considered "miraculous?"

[Janszoon]

Originally Posted by VEGANGELICA

You were singing that song to Freebase, weren't you, Janszoon! I couldn't help but notice that his post came right before your post!

Maybe I was!