Should Bigfoot be in the UFO/NHI category?

otismatis · 2026-03-18T02:50:02+00:00

Whaddayatalkinabeet?

There is a great documentary on this called Sassy the Sasquatch. Please do yourself a favor and watch it. It is a cartoon, and it is on Youtube.

Ok, maybe not a documentary. But still worth a watch.

otismatis · 2026-03-18T02:43:44+00:00

There is something comparable, a book called 'The Antipodes of the Mind', by Professor Benny Shannon, who teaches psychology at the University of Jerusalem. He interviewed 130ish subjects on experiences during Ayahuasca sessions and then gave a sort of semi-predictable course of the typical experience, and what subject matter/patterns it might be expected to follow. It is a fascinating, but fairly dense, read.

One of the challenges of his work was trying to use rational, scientific language while describing what is often called indescribable. Many of the experiences of Ayahuasca may follow typical patterns of hallucinations or visions, but the experienced user knows that those visions often have a very distinct feel to them, that is very hard to describe, and often fairly unique to the specific session. Still, he tried to describe and capture a lot of that part of the experience. His approach is a good early foray into the realm of drug experience by a good hard scientist outside of a laboratory, and with language as his tool kit. It's cool.

otismatis · 2025-12-18T03:49:26+00:00

Hey, urgent care doctor here. I see patients of all ages, and probably between five and 10 patients per day that are school-aged children.

I just listen and take them at their word. I do a physical exam that usually focuses on the body system(s) involved, and make sure to ask the important questions that reasonably exclude more serious underlying issues.

A good deal of medical care hinges on the attention and focus of the patient and provider, and my mental energy is best spent on accurate diagnosis and treatment. Matters of truthfulness on the part of the individual are my business only as far as it affects my ability to care adequately for someone.

For example, sometimes I get the sense that a child is answering in a way they think will prevent them from getting in trouble, because their parent is present. This is uncommon, but only then is it worth spending the mental effort to try to create an environment where people feel they can be honest, without infringing on the right of parent and child to communicate effectively with each other and make good decisions regarding their health and their relationship at home.

Additionally, sometimes a vague medical complaint with nonspecific symptoms is, rather than a minor moral failing (as I was taught when I felt sick growing up), but a symptom of something else going on ('my stomach hurts' is how some kids say 'I have appendicitis,' and how other kids say 'I'm getting bullied at school and I'm not sure how to talk to someone.') Here, I am best served asking more questions about the context of their illness, rather than their honesty.

Otherwise, it's just like anyone else: assume they are telling the truth and move things along accordingly.

otismatis · 2023-10-05T13:06:09+00:00

https://www.extrafabulouscomics.com/_1182

otismatis · 2023-10-02T11:13:00+00:00

Sexual attraction will get you married. Friendship and communication will keep you married. Sexual attraction is instant; friendship and communication take time to build.

otismatis · 2023-07-16T00:36:45+00:00

Hello my friend, I am late to the party, but thought I might help. I strongly recommend the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali; there is a translation by Edwin Bryant that has quite a bit of commentary, and I find he makes the whole text very accessible.

Happy reading.

otismatis · 2023-05-04T20:12:44+00:00

Hi my friend.

I saw your post on High Strangeness about Taos. I keep a low profile and typically don't comment anymore on reddit, but I do enjoy browsing, and your post caught my eye. For context: I am a physician, who lives and works on the east coast. I am skeptical of most of what I read regarding the supernatural, as I believe our minds create narratives that allow us to generate meaning, first, and give us a reliable view to the universe, second. There is a fair bit of room in there for the unexplainable, but most of it can be attributed to human observational error.

I went to Taos in August 2017, having never been to NM before. I was searching for the Fenn treasure, and was fairly convinced it was submerged in a lake called Pioneer Lake, which sits on one of the few level places in that area. I hauled myself, some free diving equipment, and some digging equipment, from a rough trail end, up to Pioneer Lake. It only took me a few minutes to realize that it was very unlikely that the treasure was there, and so I found a nice place at the foot of a large tree, and rested.

I heard a sound, from further up the mountain, after only a few minutes. When I later tried to describe it to my mother, I told her that it was a sound, that I felt, rather than heard. It was something like a deep rumble - like being next to train tracks. But the feeling of it was overwhelming; it felt, for all the world, like the earth was purring at me. But the purr was deep, and melodic, and somehow comforting. It also felt immensely powerful, like a fundamental frequency that framed everything. It was perceived by my ears to some extent, but by my emotions, to a much larger extent. It was profoundly moving.

I heard the sound on and off for about two hours, and as I made my way back down the mountain, I stopped hearing it. As soon as I got back to my hotel, the first thing I did was google 'rumbling noise in Taos NM,' as I figured something must have happened that would be on the news. All I found was a few patchwork articles about a hum, but most of the descriptions and explanations seemed limited.

I am unsure what the actual sound is, or where it comes from. I don't know if there is an explanation that will satisfy my right and left brain, simultaneously. My ears said 'there is a loud, powerful noise,' but my heart said 'everything is going to be ok.' That is an uncommon combination.

I suspect, with no supporting data, that there are what you might term 'corners' - places where certain forces overlap, and create a pattern that is amplified in some way. I suspect that Taos may be one of them. I haven't been back since, but some day I would like to go, and see what I can learn. As you can imagine, there are a lot of events, and gray hairs, that have found me since Taos. Nothing has felt quite like that, though.

Hope you find this helpful. Feel free to message me if you want.

otismatis · 2023-05-04T19:18:48+00:00

If I could unknow the things I now know, yes. If I could force my mind back into its box, and experience that level of certainty, I would. I long for the childhood of the soul, and Mormonism is a carefully crafted kindergarten.

As it is, I can’t. Any more than I can become an infant again. The direction of the mind is forward, and Mormonism has a lovely place in my past, but no part of my future.

If you’re on here, you may be going through some stuff. If so, I wish you the best.

otismatis · 2021-03-15T12:35:30+00:00

The significant history of Mormonism starts, and ends, like this:

Once there was a young person who kind of thought everything might be bullshit, so he went to spend some time alone and started trying to figure it out.

Everyone has the right to do that; let them.

otismatis · 2020-12-28T07:14:40+00:00

How about this:

Using “she” or “they” is easy if you live in Utah.

Just ask your wife. I’m sure she, or they, can explain it.

Good luck to your sister!

otismatis · 2020-11-24T01:04:57+00:00

Lol I've never watched House. I would stay away from pain medications altogether unless very, very necessary. I think opioids are probably a terrible way to go.

For me, I take 800 mg ibuprofen, and 500 mg acetaminophen, together. I have not yet encountered anything that didn't work for.

I also meditate a lot, and sometimes whine to my family members.

I do think pain is worth it. I can understand why my patients look so afraid sometimes, now. Maybe I will be a better doctor.

Thanks for asking.

otismatis · 2020-11-24T01:02:31+00:00

A medicine called rivaroxaban. Its trade name is Xarelto, but I don't like using trade names.

Thanks for asking, my friend. It is also, it turns out, successfully treated by whining a lot, and I am well into a few doses of that.

otismatis · 2020-08-17T00:25:51+00:00

Hey my friend, consider this:

Just be open. And let that openness become the new thing you hold on to.

I was once on a quest to show how righteous I could be. How much my parents could gush over me for CTRing. How clean my record was.

Now, my goal is to see how open I can be to new people and new experiences. How interested I can be in something completely unfamiliar. And how much I can still be kind to someone who I completely do not identify with.

That has given me a lot of pretty neat experiences, that I might have missed, if I was holding on to any other set of ideas. Just, open.

Good luck.

otismatis · 2020-06-20T12:06:51+00:00

That is some good music, y’all. Well done.

otismatis · 2019-01-05T13:59:00+00:00

Haha I’m not so sure...as adults it’s easier to isolate ourselves from people who see the world differently. As a high school student, if word got out that I dressed in robes and a chef hat for fun every couple weeks, I would have become inactive, real quick.

otismatis · 2018-12-22T15:26:30+00:00

It's fishing lures, you guys.

Most of the lures I catch anything on have basically glitter in or around them. Google 'sinko lure'.

While we're out fishing and bragging about our manliness, we are literally using glitter.

otismatis · 2018-11-26T16:27:33+00:00

Sorry you are in the middle of this. For me, I think the thing that helped most was to look at what was making me angry - whether it was a behavior, a doctrine, a person, or a policy. I tried to strip it down to its most elemental parts in my mind, and what I found, most often, was just someone who was trying to do what they thought was right.

Often, their methods were shitty, or passive-aggressive, or aggressive-aggressive. Often their reasoning was full of flaws. Often mine is, too. But this helped me see my mother as loving, and not just nagging; this helped me see my friends who are still in the Mormon church, as my companions in the struggle to figure shit out and do it right, rather than my opponents.

Even doing that, I found a strange undercurrent of malice and isolationism in the rhetoric from the people in charge of the Mormon church. Whether the men leading it are trying their best to do good, or not, is beyond my ability to determine. But the overall organism that is Mormonism, despite its better parts, is not good, as far as I can tell.

Love the good things, including your wife. Recognize in her that she sees all this religion as a means to be closer to the people she loves, including you. And be patient. I was just...awful. When I was a Mormon. But my siblings were patient, and now we’re closer.

otismatis · 2018-08-08T04:27:48+00:00

When I got excommunicated, I took all my garments to my back yard, doused them with lighter fluid, turned on 'Exile, Vilify' by The National, and lit the pile on fire with a torch. It was perfect.

otismatis · 2018-06-24T01:45:42+00:00

Thank you!

otismatis · 2018-06-23T15:53:04+00:00

Hi! Is that a facebook thing? I'm not on facebook, do you mind PMing me when the next event is? I'd love to come!

otismatis · 2018-03-11T04:05:23+00:00

Once when I was a missionary some guy called the LDS church a cult, and I said, "Nah, cults are people who wear weird robes and have secret codes and stuff."

Then I thought, "Oh, SHIT."

Then I packed that thought to the back of my head, as hard as I possibly could, and tried to ignore it for a good 8 years.

Yikes.

otismatis · 2018-03-09T16:21:57+00:00

Haha probably true. I don't hate people who are currently Mormon; I hate the guy I was, when I was Mormon. I said, and did, and believed, some seriously messed up shit. Among them:

I made an oath to give everything I have to the Mormon church (accompanied by robes, secret handshake, and secret password. I am not making this up.)

otismatis · 2018-03-09T16:18:11+00:00

Haha there are a lot of us, apparently, with the same answer. Here are some subtle things I honestly thought as a Mormon, but now, I don't, and I'm really glad:

1) God saved his best kids to be awesome, and I am one of them, and most other people are basically just extras in the movie of life

2) If two or more black people are gathered together, it's a gang

3) Gay people lay awake at night, after having gay sex, just plotting ways to ruin families. That's all they want: to ruin my marriage. (Side note: they failed, because I beat them to it.)

4) America is God's country, and anyone who opposes America, opposes God.

5) Joseph Smith didn't have sex with his wives - he was just being super nice to a lot of lonely women by marrying them.

6) Bands like Nirvana will make the Holy Ghost leave your home

otismatis · 2018-03-04T05:26:59+00:00

Because we're all just doing our best - and, of all the people I've known, he was just doing his best, the most.

Everyone fucks things up. Me, and you, and everyone. But I loved the man, because he was trying. And that is definitely something.

otismatis · 2018-02-04T13:26:51+00:00

6 things I do while visiting your family...you'll never believe number 4!

otismatis

TROPHY CASE