Autism and the Internet

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Welcome back!

Wow! what an amazing link and thank you so much for that.

Background story to this whole thing...

About 6 months ago, I bought an item called a P-SB7 Spirit Box just to try it out of curiosity.

It's basically a radio receiver that scans the whole AM/FM band (either forwards or reverse) at very high speeds, up to 300 megacycles a second.

At first, for the first few weeks, I heard nothing much...

Then one day, I had the spirit box on while I was making dinner...and I heard; 'that smells yummy, what you cooking?"

I shook my head and did a total 'double take' thinking I was imagining this and it was all in my head...so I ignored it.

About a week after that, I had the box on again and heard "Dad's coming...better get ready" and I thought nothing of it...until half an hour later, when my father showed up unannounced.

Still, I thought...okay...coincidence...I just didn't hear what I thought I heard....pareidolia, that's all it was....pareidolia...

So, I forgot about it for a while and thought 'nah...it was me all along'.

After a few more weeks, I got bored and took out the box again...this time, to try and verify held objects...I held up a cigarette lighter and got 'lighter'...I held up a toothbrush and I got 'toothbrush'...I held up a pair of reading glasses and got 'spectacles' (a word I never use)...I went to get the 'voices' to identify another object and heard; "This game is boring now, stop it".

Still, I put all that down to 'wishful thinking' and 'cherrypicking of evidence'.

So, again I forgot about it.

A few weeks later, I took out my box and just started a session off, when my daughter, Elizabeth walks in the room and the box says; 'hello, Elizabeth"...I asked my daughter if she just heard that too...and she went "yup...it said hello Elizabeth"...then I asked her how could something like that happen? She replied 'simple coincidence'.

So yeah, I put that one down to 'coincidence'.

Then after that, I went out shopping one day (for half an hour) and left my mobile phone at home accidently...in an upstairs bedroom.

I returned home...forgot about my phone, but decided to make a cuppa and do a spirit box session instead...as soon as I turned it on...I got "check your phone" and "ring your mum"...so I turned the box off, rushed upstairs to get my phone and sure enough, mum left a message on it asking me to ring her.

I put that one down to "I don't know what the hell just happened, but it didn't happen".

I have had many such experiences since and I spend all my time trying to explain these away...like 'pareidolia' and 'frey effect' and 'hallucination' and 'errant RF signals'...I have exhausted just about every scientific theory out there.

Now, I don't believe these are 'ghosts' like some people do, because the voices won't really tell me anything about themselves, apart from saying they are 'ghosts' or 'spirits' or 'angels' yada...when I ask them what they are and where they come from, they always change the subject...which does nothing to confirm their actual existence...and yet, they somehow still seem to 'exist'.

I have recorded all of my sessions, but when I play them back to other people...they go "how did you get "this game is boring now, stop it" out of a 'click/blip' that only went for a split-second?" I mean, how the hell am I 'sposed to answer that one?...I dunno.

However, some responses can be heard clearly...like when I held up the Nine of Hearts and asked the 'voices' to tell me what number was on the card?

Twice and very clearly and loudly, the voices said 'nine'...now I show this to people and go...there we go, did you also hear nine twice?

They're like "yeah, I heard it, but get those 'voices' to say 'nine' one hundred times in a row and only then I'll believe there's something to it"....but whatever it is, it doesn't work like that.

They say "put the box in a Faraday Cage and only I believe it"...but the box needs an RF signal to operate, and that's like throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

I ask them, "well, how do you explain the fact it said 'nine' twice then"? they reply "coincidence".

Yup, I'll file that one in my very thick file of 'Spirit Box coincidences'.

I just don't know what to make of this...and any time I ask for a rational, scientific explanation from the psychology or paranormal community, all I get is 'the Spirit Box is crap and that's all you need to know'.

One time...not so long ago, I posed this question to the 'voices of the box' themselves...'why are people so mean and rude to me online?'

I didn't get an immediate answer...the box kept on scanning and scanning...until it found a station playing Taylor Swift's "Shake it Off' and just remained there...and the design of the box means it can never find a station to lock on to.

Then I started wondering 'which universe is actually real here?'

That's the outline and 'background story' and why I am having such a hard bloody time.

I guess the upshot and the whole lesson (that has taken me a year to learn) is to do my homework.

Many times I'll see a site/forum with nice subsections and threads within...and I think 'this looks like a good place to be...I'll join it.

Next time (if there is one), I'm going to spend a whole week just 'casing the place' first...read all the new threads and replies, follow all the 'site newbies' around and learn about the moderation/administration team.

I mean, alarm bells should have rung, when I noticed the site was run by a science professor, a psychiatrist and a civil engineer.

I have also got the feeling that these kinds of forums are just 'skeptic fronts', to lure believers in and then either 'convert them to skepticism' so they get to remain within the ranks and do the same to other 'new believers'...or if they cannot, they give them the banhammer for being a 'disruptive influence'...yes, of bloody course I am a 'disruptive influence'...what's the matter? can't your miniscule brain handle that?

Suffice to say, next time...I'll research them out for a week or so first before joining up.

It sounds to me like a forum that has degenerated into a clique of trolls that are only interested in dishing out abuse to newcomers. Might even be one kook with multiple accounts.

I disagree partly with the idea that people on the internet are all, or even generally, "posting in a persona."

SOME people of course do seem to adopt a persona and post that way. Of course we see this on various websites that have message/forum boards.

But not everyone "posts in a persona" for crying out loud, kraftie.

I certainly do not freakin' post in a persona. I don't go online and pretend to be different than I am. Whether I'm in a good mood, a bad mood, if someone is nice to me I'll be nice back. If someone is an ass to me I'll be an ass right back -- and believe it or don't, I do that in real life too, and I have done so recently to a stranger in real life who was an a**hole to me. I got RIGHT INTO IT with that person and you better believe it. This was real life, not the "anonymity of the internet." I'm also as nice in real life as I am on the internet when called for.

And if I get pissed off at someone online, I do that in EXACTLY the same way I would get pissed off at them in real life. I say the same things to them I would say if they were face to face with me. People always try to say "no, you don't" and claim that people wouldn't say the things they say without the anonymity of the internet.

But I believe it's the opposite; you'd be surprised.

I'll tell you the only difference though -- in real life, STRANGERS tend not to even TALK ABOUT some of the things we talk about on the internet.

People who barely know each other in real life tend NOT to talk about politics, religion, sex on a deeper level, theories about things, hypotheses, and controversial matters.

The reason being, the strangers and even the acquaintances we know in real life maintain a social code of not getting in too deep in conversational topics, precisely BECAUSE they/we don't know each other well enough for there not to be a disagreement.

Yet on occasion you will in fact see real life people effing and cursing each other out because they did indeed breach the social code to not get into deeper topics.

The internet, on the other hand, is a place where, for some reason, we've all decided collectively that it's not only okay to discuss deep issues or beliefs with complete strangers, but also one of the uses of the internet.

A side effect of this free discussion with people we aren't sure are sympathetic to our beliefs or ways of thinking, is that we can get into heated disagreements.

I don't believe the nature of these ARE in fact any different from the ones we might get into face-to-face in real life -- it's just that these areas of conflict never come up in real life because we don't talk about them to anyone but closer friends or family, who, because they already know you, love you, care about you, will not necessarily tell you to fck off instantly, but instead be gentler with you even though they disagree.

That's all that's the difference. I maintain that, when angry I still make the same comments online that I would make to people who don't care about me offline, it's just that that situation doesn't come up so often in real life because we tend to just not be so candid to strangers in real life.

When you're candid to strangers on the internet all bets are off.

Having said all that, I'm sorry OP that you've had a rough time. I have taken myself off other forums because some people there were just ass holes to me very early in my time there. I nearly did it here, too.

I agree, definitely many people behave differently on the internet than IRL, but not all. Some are rude and aggressive, some are less inhibited.

It seems to me that this is a relatively common human behaviour, to behave less considerately to others, where there is some form of barrier or degree of anonymity. People generally behave differently if they are driving a car than if they were a pedestrian, again many will behave less considerately if making their way through a train station at rush hour compared to walking on a path in a quiet park.

As for the OP, I do sometimes mistake noises for voices but have not done so when using a scanner. I think a device like the one you have described would generally be a contentious item for discussion in many places on the internet. It would be better to make more critical decisions about where you post this, as you have already described above. I can't explain why or how this box can talk to you, if, mostly, others in real life can not hear what you do on the recordings then there are questions there that need further investigation.

I am going to GUESS why it is happening. If you are making a hypothesis about yourself it will be viewed as attention seeking. Add that it is about your autism increases the odds of an accusation of attention seeking. In addition in a psychology forum they know autistics have traits that make us targets for bullying so they take advantage of this perception. I am not surprised at all this would happen on a psychology forum. In addition many psychologists think most people diagnosed with autism are not really autistic but attention seekers because "real autistics" are non verbal people rocking in a corner. Psychology is a highly competitive field that attracts bullys.
We have had many many posts from people saying the above was thier clinicians attitude about them. Since what these posters were describing was a face to face meeting in a professional setting the language used was often not as blunt as what you faced on an Internet forum.

Bingo! I agree totally with this.

I figured that the anonymity the internet provided meant I could talk about things more openly. I was wrong.

I'll give a different example here to show how 'internet people' screw with my head...slowly driving me insane.

So..the topic was "ISIS in the Middle East" and they were talking about Syria.

I chimed in with; "being a lay archaeologist, I was disgusted when I saw them blow up the Palmyra Arch and behead that poor professor who was only doing his job" (or words to that effect).

The reply I got was "what are you talking about? the Arch still stands and that professor is alive".

Three people agreed with this.

I was like "I saw the Arch being blown up on the news last night, what are you talking about?"

The reply came: "LOL...and you trust those media sources that bring you the nightly news? They are biased and owned by politicians with an agenda...you are so gullible to believe what you see on the news".

Me: "So, how does one know what is happening in the world if they can't trust the TV, Newspapers, or anything they read online?"

Reply: "by finding a totally independent news source like this one: *provides link*.

Me: *reads link* - "Nowhere in that link you provided does it show the Palmyra Arch still standing and that 'Independent News Source' seems to be funded by these same oligarchs...when I SAW the Arch being blown up".

Them: "nothing that could have be faked in a film production studio given enough money and special effects to do so."

Me: "and I guess you think the moon landing was all a hoax as well".

Suffice to say, I didn't last long on that forum either.

I just think now that most people are not ready or spiritually evolved enough to hear what I have to say and their minds cannot accept this, because I cause them to question their very values and personal beliefs...most people are very happy and comfortable with these...and can't accept any different information coming in...hence why I get booted out with the excuse of being a 'disruption' or a 'bad influence' or a 'troublemaker' etc

SoMissunderstood, those people who called you gullible for believing the arch was blown up -- it's equally true that their source where they thought they "saw" that the arch has not been blown up could equally well be the faked news and not the real situation! They don't seem to have thought about that. Their source is probably from people with just as much bias as the new sources they are pooh-poohing as biased in the other direction.

In the end, an issue like that one is filled with people following the news source closest to their own bias itself, and who knows, maybe the news YOU saw is the truth and the news THEY saw is the baloney.

With things like your Spirit Box, this is a topic that's very, very tricky to talk about to a bunch of random people whose beliefs, thoughts and feelings may be very mixed on this kind of thing. It would be like walking into Grand Central Station, filled with strangers, and announcing your experiences.

We have to pick our places to tell about things that may be a niche interest, controversial or open to attack, or sympathized with by only a few people. The internet is a bit like Grand Central Station -- millions of people milling through and not all of them are going to be "my kind of person" in what I'm like as a person, the things I believe or am interested in, etc.

I've found that even when I've searched out a forum that is precisely dedicated to my particular interest, there are still people there who have sub-set beliefs that want to argue with mine. I once went on forum where I thought surely every person there would have the same outlook on our particular specific interest; I was really surprised to find people still at each others throats in sort of "sub-arguments" where they vehemently differed in their opinion on this smaller detail of our shared interest.

And even WP!

This is a place where millions of people who have things to discuss about autism, their own or someone else, and with all the struggles autism can bring into an autistic person's life, you wouldn't think we would also be fighting among ourselves too. But we do! Even about traits that happen to BE part of the person's manifestation. Autistic person fighting with autistic person about autistic experiences. I came here kind of expecting everyone to "get" everyone else here, yet this place is just as contentious and filled with people invalidating each other about the finer details of life, despite our over-all general thing that we share.

I think this is just going to happen no matter where or what, sadly. But yes, I guess it helps if you join a place then read the posts for a couple of weeks to "get the lay of the land." Find out if they really have beliefs that are in line with yours; find out who are the ones who seem not to despite being there, and find out how far someone can go with a certain topic and candidness about it, before they seem to get pooh-poohed for it, then you'll know if it's safe for you to go into the same territory.

Thank you..I still have to learn who to tell what to, because I don't know these things. I thought if people didn't like a certain thing, they wouldn't be on a forum for it, but I have learned differently.

I thought if I went to Grand Central Station and caught a train called 'Paranormal Investigation Equipment', I may find some passengers on that train who actually used Paranormal Investigation Equipment...obviously I was very mistaken.

It's probably better just to stick to blogging, or my Youtube channel in this situation....oh and WP and SCEPCOP, of course.

Just take a stroll through any news article on any site that still puts up posts. Most comments are vile, uneducated and cherry picking/false equivalencies of anything that they think supports their viewpoint.

Division and meanness seems to be the rule.

I only go to places that have a specific viewpoint to be discussed (like here) and is moderated with automatic filters to prevent foul language (like here).

Discovered that one by accident. I was replying to a private message and went unfiltered on a statement about being a mushroom and being kept in the dark and fed crap. I did not clean it up (as I did here) as I was just on a roll. Read the posted message and it was censored. I actually appreciated that as I had not done so.

But, yeah, most places exist only to push an agenda (not help people) and people who do not have to fear the normal repercussions of being face to face can be really bad.

I also wonder if many of them have some sort of issue.

Best quote ever (for me): "Everybody you meet has some difficulties you are not aware of."

That's the sad thing about it -- normally one would think that, yeah! I mean, on a general forum about anything, it's Grand Central, but if you've actually sought out a specific-topic place, it would be nice to assume everyone there is on the same train you're taking. You did take a specific train; good analogy.

But I think places like that probably do attract outright cynics of the opposite viewpoint, sometimes to troll, but also who are there trying to persuade people of "the error of their ways" in their view. I would imagine there are even paranormal investigators whose heavy investments is in fact not to prove anything but to actively set out to disprove, and I'll bet they love being on those forums.

Best to hang back a bit on any new site, to see what's really the tone of the place. I'm sorry you've had this happen though, because I know what a bummer it is to wish only to find like-minded people with whom you feel safe from attack, but get attacked anyway.

UH-oh. You are asking people on a parapsychology forum to closely examine issues of conscious experience? Maybe the wrong audience for such a task! Seriously, I think they might just not have wanted to work that hard.

Last edited by BeaArthur on 15 Nov 2015, 10:58 am, edited 1 time in total.

SoMissunderstood, I found your experiences interesting. I've had psychic experiences myself since I was a toddler, and have experienced many of the same things you describe. It's not something I generally admit to publicly (because who wants everyone to think they're either delusional, or attention-seeking?) But I for one believe you.

I think that's just good advice for anybody, in any situation, about anything.

Just to add my own input, to some degree, I think you might also be getting unlucky with these forums. I myself tend to *always* speak my mind, because hell if I let anyone else tell me what I can and cannot say, and I'm just as opinionated and blunt as can be, really. If I'm sure of something, and I want to say it, I'll say it, and if someone else doesnt like it.... TOUGH. That's not my problem.

Even despite that.... I've never once been banned from anywhere, and I've been on.... too many forums to count.

Oh, I'll run into the occaisional jerkbag that reacts like a moron, but it never goes too far.

Of course, sometimes the THEME of the forum itself can be a contributor. I could see a parapsychology forum being the sort of place where arguements are more likely to flare. Or maybe something like a politics forum, which I imagine just plain IS one giant arguement. Not arguing is probably against the rules in such a place. So that could be an aspect too.

I suppose the only real suggestion I can give is that if it starts to look like a topic is about to go downhill, well.... just abandon it. When people get snotty like that, no amount of arguing with them is going to get them to change their minds, or even act like they're older than a toddler. It becomes a point where you're just doing damage to yourself by staying and talking further to them.