Stories By Van

Wake up, sheeple! Right now, there are networks of passionate and committed people across the world working to subvert some of our deepest-held beliefs and upend the established world order. They're called conspiracy theorists. They walk among us. They could be your friends, neighbors or loved ones. Who knows? You may even be one yourself. There seems to be a conspiracy being "uncovered" all the time these days, and no matter how outlandish they may be they seem to have no trouble drawing in ardent believers. Despite the prevalence and pervasiveness of conspiracy theories, the reasons people are drawn to them is a relatively new area of study for psychologists. Jan-Willem van Prooijen, an associate professor at the Department of Social and Organizational Psychology at VU University Amsterdam, said research into the phenomenon has really only taken off in the last seven years. According to University of Chicago political science professors E...

Has anyone reading this blog seen the Netflix show Altered Carbon ? I was watching it today and I really enjoy it (can't lie and say I didn't binge the entire first season). This show takes place in the 2384 and paints a picture of humanity that isn't dreary or exciting. It's simply ... understandably human. We have cracked the code to immortality by uploading our consciousness into data chips called "stacks." when we die, and if the stack isn't damaged, you can be uploaded into a new "skin" and continue living your life. The skins are people that have already died. It is extremely useful technology to have. Now humans can travel to different worlds without worry of how long the trip will last, deceased family members can be brought back to their families, witnesses killed can be re-skinned to point out their attackers, business moguls can remain at the head of their company to keep it thriving. But, of course, life isn't all good. Th...

Let's talk groups. Clubs, religions, sports fans, etc. Why do we have these separations in our lives? Holding a barrier in-between everyone. Are they important? Do we need these things to grow as a society? Let's find out. Many people live in insular worlds made up of "us" and "them." The us  people are more comfortable when they are among those with whom they share common backgrounds, customs, traits and values. When they are among the them  people, they may feel a sense of unease, even of estrangement. The us  people might say that they bear no ill-will or prejudices towards the them folks. The would explain that the them  may be perfectly nice individuals, but "they're just very different." from the us . The them  and the us  might live in the same towns, go to the same schools or colleges. They might work in the common businesses, offices, or factories, and they might enjoy similar recreational activities. But the them  will sel...

www.anicent-origins.net Werewolves, also known as lycanthropes, are legendary shape-shifting humans. As the name suggests, the shape these creatures take on is that of a wolf. The history of the werewolf legend has sprung up independently or spread to virtually every area of the Earth. It is also one of the oldest legends of human monsters in recorded history. Where the legend originated can only be guessed by what humans have taken care to record. Their other name, lycanthrope, may also be a hint at the origin of this myth. In a symbolic sense, werewolves are commonly associated with men undergoing an internal metamorphosis. Growing hair in unfamiliar places, raging hormones, deeper voices, stronger muscles; werewolves are more or less a symbol of puberty. The werewolf, throughout almost every reproduction within a narrative, is portrayed as an unnatural, heinous beast. The transformation into this creature is an external metamorphosis from civility to untamed wildness; or...

Hey everyone, have you ever had a really bad dream? A dream so bad that it jolted you awake in a hot sweat breathing hard in the darkness? What if you had dreams like that every night? The last few nights this has been the case for me. I don't know why it's happening, but I've been finding myself waking up in paranoia. The worst thing about these dreams is the fact that they stick with you. Most people can't remember dreams after they wake up, but nightmares are like eerie scars that don't heal until a certain amount of time. Honestly, I'm not a fan of these dreams, but I also don't mind them as much as I think most people would. I'm a horror-junkie, and I'm always looking for inspiration for a new story. So these recurring nightmares are extremely helpful for me. They're probably not healthy , but I'll let my therapist deal with that in a couple decades. I have my own theories as to why these recurring bad dreams occur, but I decided ...

What happens after we die? Is there a heaven or hell? Maybe we're reincarnated. I don't know, but I want to explore the different thoughts that people have. Like I've said before , I have no opinion for against any religion or anyone's thoughts on what's going on in the world. I simply enjoy the exploration of the human mind and how we all perceive the world. Let's get into this. To listen to skeptics, only the gullible masses believe in an afterlife, desperate to be reunited with loved ones. Skeptics are so convinced of their intellectual superiority that they are incapable of examining evidence objectively that contradicts their strongly-held viewpoints. Unlike the cases for ESP and UFOs, however, the evidence for survival after death is by its nature less measurable and more subtle and complicated. Militant skeptics would have everyone believe that this is merely anecdotal and easily explained away by the biochemistry of the dying brain, pumped u...

When engaging in everyday conversation, people very rarely state exactly what they mean. We often communicate in figures of speech and cultural references that demand of our peers a keen understanding of both the English language and the nature of the wider world. Fortunately, most of the doublespeak that we convey and receive is easily understandable to anyone who doesn’t live under a rock; for example, referring to an idyllic location as ‘Heaven’ is a clear and obvious allusion to the Bible, and the idiom, “My spider-sense is tingling,” is an unmistakable declaration of concern and suspicion, regardless of one’s knowledge of the mythology from which it derives. That being said, it’s impossible to avoid running into the occasional reference that leaves us utterly stumped. Whether one hangs around a person constantly mentioning indecipherable quotes from A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy or associates with individuals who typically stick to plain speaking, it’d be quite the feat to...