Given what we know about the World we live in, the balance of probability is always going to be against evidence for the paranormal being what it seems to be. Nonetheless, cogent as it is, there are goo reasons for not taking this argument to be the knock-down argument. We must recognize that an argument based on probabilities can never be more than that—a probabilistic argument. While it can provide a rule of thumb that tells us how the plausibility of one explanation compares with another, it surely cannot provide a rule of thumb that tells us how the plausibility of one explanation compares with another, it surely cannot provide an absolute guarantee of where the truth lies. However, even if we have reason to believe that people testify to paranormal phenomenon constantly, we should still have to allow that the reported event might on this occasion have been genuine. There have been notorious examples of people wrongly refusing to accept the facts of meteorites, the facts of continental drift, the facts of evolution, the facts of child abuse, and so on. In every case people presumed they knew enough about the World and about human fallibility to be safe in concluding that these facts could not be genuine and they were wrong. #RandolphHarris 1 of 8

It may be instructive if we put our own presumptions to the test right now, using a relatively neutral example of an unlikely fact. There is numerological evidence that Shakespeare’s birth was anticipated in the Bible. However, the idea of there really being such evidence is antecedently absurd. Yet, I am not tricking you, and, whatever it is, it is not a subterfuge. William Shakespeare was born on 23 April 1564 and died on 23 April 1616. Two 23s make 46. There are 46 letters in the words ‘Twenty third of April in fifteen hundred and sixty-four’. Moreover Shakespeare was 46 years old when the King James Version of the English Bible was completed in 1619. With all these 46s, the number 46 is presumably a pointer. Which book of the Bible should we turn to? If we examine possible anagrams of WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, we find the letters spell out a clear message: HERE WAS I, LIKE A PSALM. We should turn then to the Book of Psalms—and, in particular, to Psalm 46. Now, if we count to the 46^th word from the beginning of the of the 46^th Psalm we find the word is ‘shake’, and if we count back to the 46^th word from the end we find the word is ‘spear.’ However, there are other theories, some people believe that William Shakespeare was the scribe for the Bible. Whatever the case may be, this does surely illustrate how unwise it may be to rush to judgment about the truth of antecedently improbably facts. #RandolphHarris 2 of 8

With all the being said, it does not mean that one would be wrong to be suspicious of any such improbably fact. People have been known to tell lies even in books. However, to be suspicious is one thing, to close one’s mind to the very possibility of such a highly improbable fact being true at all is another. Perhaps someone someday will mount an argument to show that certain sorts of paranormal phenomena such as life after death or telepathy or psychokinesis are not merely contrary to the laws of Worldly physics as we know them but contrary to some truly incontrovertible higher-level laws of mind. When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however, improbable, must be the truth. In assessing any particular piece of evidence we must consider what else the paranormal explanation of this evidence would lead us to expect. Assuming the phenomenon in question is the soul’s work on this one occasion, we ought to ask how and where else we might expect the soul to show its hand. And if, in this wider context, we find that the patterns of phenomena we actually observe are really not at all what we might reasonably have predicted, we must of course ask why. #RandolphHarris 3 of 8

Especially we must ask why the paranormal phenomena are manifest only in certain curiously mundane situations and only take certain curiously mundane forms. For I take it that, however unpredictable the soul may be, nothing in paranormal lore or paranormal logic suggests that the soul will do only such things as absolutely demonstrate Earthy limitations on its powers. “Because of unbelief, people could not understand work of God,” reports Mosiah 26.3. Our faith has been greatly strained, as we have learned of the profligate stealing in some communities, where millions of dollars are taken by shoplifters from our merchants and citizens. In the end, the public must eventually pay. Why would any man, woman, or child steal from the friendly merchants and one’s folks and neighbors? This is unbelievable. And great losses are sustained with the incredible amount of vandalism. We can hardly understand the makeup of any person who would destroy for the mere satisfaction of doing it. Certainly we could have more pride in ourselves than to wreak havoc on property. It is possible that some of us have that little respect for ourselves. We hope that we will all live frugally, and within our means, and that we will pay our debts faithfully and honestly. It was the Lord who gave us the injunction: “Thou shalt not steal,” reports Ex. 20.15. #RandolphHarris 4 of 8

Choose the right when a choice is placed before you. In the right the Holy Spirit guides; and its light is forever shining over you when in the right your heart confides. A spirit of determination to do the right thing can come in earliest youth. We hope that people who are true at all times in whatsoever thing one is entrusted. We plead for greater consistency between our beliefs and actions. Recent research suggests that American men whose bodies secrete high levels of testosterone are likely to smile much less than other people. However, according to Dr. Ariel Heryanto of the University of Melbourne in Australia, smiling does not necessarily imply delight, amusement, or friendliness. Some people are born to smile, sometimes they also smile through tears. By smiling a lot, the police are trying to appear humane before the eyes of the World; by smiling back people are doing their best to cooperate of behave for obvious reason. They smile because they cannot help it, that is the way they were brought up since childhood. From a smile, people tend to form the impression of warmth and friendliness, of hospitality, gentleness, and generosity, largely because this is how we have come to interpret the open smile in America. In other countries, the smile is a kind of default position or mask of courtesy worn by convention in the interest of good manners. #RandolphHarris 5 of 8

We are taught that the spirit of God should permeate all we do, whether at work, at school, or at home. When we see someone smiling in the street we think of that individual as smiling to oneself, meaning that there is some hidden object of one’s present thought and feeling. At the same time, smilers may not even be aware that they are displaying a smile; or they may have developed it with subtle forethought, aiming to tease or mislead. Either way, knowing or oblivious, the smile is a powerful form of communication. In places where the death penalty still exists, new judges are sometimes advised never to allow themselves to be photographed smiling because inevitably that will be the photograph chosen to illustrate a newspaper article in which it is reported that this judge has passed the sentence of death. Honesty is very important part of character. We have all seen people who think they are not accountable to the human laws or the laws of God. They seem to feel that rules of human conduct do not apply to them. A popular philosophy is “What can I get away with?” The difference between a moral person and a person of honor is that the latter regrets a discreditable act even when it has worked. #RandolphHaris 6 of 8

Our honor should make us honest in all we do. The hidden smile might also find a place here. You do not need to see someone’s face to know that they are smiling. Blind people are keenly aware of the change in timbre that may be detected in the voice of a smiling interlocutor. Many of us can tell when a person at the other end of the telephone is distracted by something funny but gamely tried to continue an otherwise serious concertation. Smiling changes the sound of the voice no less then the shape of the mouth. If people remain pure and chaste, completely devoted to each other during the storms of life, their love for one another will deepen into something of supernal fulfillment. The smile of a subject is a direct avenue of meaningful communication, vividly reserved for you and me. There is no doubt that this sensation, this knowledge, has a profound impact on the viewer. It may be a blinding glimpse of the obvious, but it is worth noting in conclusion that the exchange of a smile—be it sincere or forced or spontaneous—makes us feel good. A smile may stimulate us in certain superficial ways, elicitin a ready smile in response, for example, but it also penetrates the deep recesses of our subconscious mind. From this union of affection, springs all the other relationships, social joys and affections diffused through every branch of human existence. #RandolphHarris 7 of 8

We believe in being benevolent and in doing good works. If we think of the spontaneous smile of a little child as essentially truthful, we can be equally certain that, at times, the smile of the adult is a kind of mask. There are any number of situations in which we exchange smiles purely out of politeness, thus conforming to unwritten rules of good behavior, whatever they may be. Such smiles are not necessarily insincere. We offer them in good faith. The impulse is so strong that we may even respond to it invisibly when we answer the telephone. Yet we also distinguish between the smile by which we conclude a transaction at the bank—in all likelihood concealing the certain knowledge that that transaction benefits the bank far more than us—and the smile with which we greet a friend, husband, wife, or intimate partner. Officials always seem to be greatly impressed. We are taught to be the very angels of God to the people we meet and speak to. We are expected to have good grooming, and for our personal habits reflect cleanliness and dignity and pride in the principles of the gospel we are taught. We are asked for the good of the kingdom and all those who have done and yet do take pride in us. Hope, perseverance, and steadfastness call forth the blessings of Heaven. #RandolphHarris 8 of 8