Stories By Van

We all know about Bigfoot, right? Big, hairy, camera shy? He's a popular ... thing. If anyone knows me or my family can agree that Bigfoot is real because he's my dad. Fits the description perfectly except for the camera shy part. But anyway, today's topic is Mythical, which means I'll go into the details of some of the more fantastical parts of the world and larger universe. Aliens, monsters, legendary creatures, etc. I'll try and discuss rather than prove them true or false, but there are probably some things that I stumble upon that have too much evidence to deny (like Bigfoot being my father). Let's get down to it then, shall we? As a seldom-sighted creature of myth, Bigfoot is sort of similar to Santa Claus, if Santa Claus was an eight-foot-tall, fur-covered, naked forest monster. There are those who are convinced that Bigfoot is real, however, and some — such as the Appalachian Investigators of Mysterious Sightings (or AIMS) — have dedica...

Hello again, and welcome to the Friday topic: Society. Here, I'll discuss different parts of our society; where it began, how it's moving, and what might become of it. This topic can vary in many different directions, and those directions can sometimes overlap with other topics (which I'm okay with). This topic can be about human rights, religion, government, you name it. As long as it has to do with humanity as a whole - or America since that's where I am. I don't want to pretend like I know what's going on somewhere else in the world. I hardly know what's going on in this part of the world. Anyway, let's get this day started. Today, I found an interesting question online: If freedom is simply being able to do what you want, are animals freer than humans? Interesting question. My gut response is, of course, but can you even say that animals are free? I mean, technically they are, but not in the same idea of the word that we - as Americans at lea...

Alright, it's time for everyone's favorite day of the week: Existential day! Where I talk about things that will make you question your very existence and have you on the ground and crying in the fetal position. So, without further ado, here's my existential question today: Who Am I? Who Are You? At some point in your life you are going to look at yourself in the mirror and stare deep into the color of your eyes, where it starts to darken around the pupil and you can see the reflection of yourself again, and you are going to ask yourself, who the hell am I? If you don’t ever do this in your life, then I am fairly certain you have no reason to read any further. Seriously. You can just click the back button and go about your business because what I have to say is not going to register for you. Ok. Good. Now all we have left are the people who are serious about understanding themselves. The thing about who we are is the same thing about the meaning of life...

Welcome to today's post about the mind. Where I'll discuss different aspects that are related to the confusing, pink sacks of knowledge in our heads. Today, I want to know why humans are so susceptible to magical thinking? Why is it, that when reason can't be found, we go straight toward the paranormal to find answers? Is it just something we've always had in us, or does it stem from some kind of exterior force? Let's find out. In recent years, psychologists have come to understand religion and paranormal belief as resulting, in most people, from simple errors in reasoning. You believe in God or astrology or a purpose in life because you apply ideas about people - that they have thoughts and intentions - to the natural world. Some display this tendency more than others, but it’s there in everyone, even agnostic heathens like me (atheists too). What has not been clarified is exactly how the various cognitive biases interact to produce specific ideas about t...

Welcome to technology day, where you follow me into different corners of technological advancements throughout history, speculations for the future, or crazy sci-fi madness. I'll try not to talk about artificial intelligence for awhile since I've already written maybe three different articles on the subject. If you want to read those click here. Today, I want to talk about cloning. Remember all those years ago in 1996 when scientists in Scotland successfully cloned the first sheep, Dolly? I don't because I was being born at the time, but I remember reading about this happening in school and being blown away. We actually cloned something like in sci-fi shows and comics. I couldn't believe it. What could this possibly mean for the human race? Was Dolly the first step in humanity's long awaited journey into immortality? I hope not - mostly because I already wrote an article on how humans achieve immortality on here. You can read that here . I have a lot of questio...

www.nola.com They are among us! Blood-drinking, flesh-eating, shape-shifting extraterrestrial reptilian humanoids with only one objective in their cold-blooded little heads: to enslave the human race. They are our leaders, our corporate executives, our beloved Oscar-winning actors and Grammy-winning singers, and they're responsible for the Holocaust, the Oklahoma City bombings and the 9/11 attacks ... at least according to former BBC sports reporter David Icke, who became the poster human for the theory in 1998 after publishing his first book, The Biggest Secret, which contained interviews with two Brits who claimed members of the royal family are nothing more than reptiles with crowns. What is a Lizard Person? It's exactly what it sounds like. Lizard people are cold-blooded humanoid reptilians who have the power to shape-shift into human form. According to David Icke, these creatures have had their claws in humankind since ancient time, and world leaders l...

Hey everyone. Exciting news today. I have decided to make life easier on myself by setting specific categories to discuss for everyday of the week. This will take a lot of stress off me to try and find any random topic to talk about. Now, I can search one category and find a topic relevant to that. The schedule is as follows: Monday - Conspiracies, Tuesday - Technology, Wednesday - Psychology, Thrusday - Existential, Friday - Society, Saturday - Mythical, and Sunday - Life & Death. This should streamline things a little bit easier for everyone. You can have an idea of what I'll be writing about each day. Let me know if you like this idea, and if you have better categories for me to pick from tell me. This is just the first categories I thought of yesterday. Thanks. Now, can we get on with this post already? Since today is Sunday, that means we'll be talking about life & death. I thought it was an appropriate day to talk about since most people talk about this st...