Scott Alexander reports on a 1990s Buddhist sun miracle in Bangkok that closely resembles the famous 1917 Fatima miracle, suggesting sun miracles may be a specific psychological phenomenon related to meditation practices rather than divine intervention. Longer summary

Scott Alexander discusses a newly discovered 1990s Buddhist sun miracle in Bangkok that closely parallels the famous 1917 Fatima sun miracle in Portugal, where crowds reported seeing the sun spin and change colors. At the Dhammakaya Temple, 20,000 people witnessed similar phenomena during a ceremony, with testimonies describing the sun rotating, shifting colors, and displaying visions of their sect's founder. Scott argues this Buddhist case - occurring in an 'uncontaminated' religious context - strengthens the theory that sun miracles are a particular psychological/illusory phenomenon rather than divine intervention or simple suggestion, possibly related to kasina meditation practices. The post includes a call for Thai-speaking researchers to investigate further. Shorter summary

Scott explores reader responses to his Fatima miracle post, finding the most promising explanation in Buddhist fire kasina meditation practices that produce similar visual phenomena, while remaining uncertain about how 70,000 untrained people could achieve advanced meditative states instantly. Longer summary

Scott discusses reader responses to his previous post about the Fatima sun miracle, exploring new theories and evidence. The most promising explanation connects the phenomenon to 'fire kasina' meditation, a Buddhist practice of staring at bright lights that produces similar visual effects including spinning, color changes, and complex imagery. He examines the parallel case of Iranians seeing Ayatollah Khomeini's face in the moon in 1978, analyzes various videos of modern sun miracles (concluding they're camera artifacts), interviews a Medjugorje witness, and engages with Ethan Muse's counterarguments about the miracle being an objective phenomenon. Scott also addresses philosophical questions about miracles and Bayesian reasoning, ultimately remaining uncertain but slightly less confused than before, with fire kasina providing the best but still imperfect explanation. Shorter summary

A detailed investigation of the Sun Miracle of Fatima in 1917, where 70,000 people witnessed the sun appear to spin, change colors, and fall to earth, analyzing witness testimonies, skeptical explanations, and similar phenomena at other Marian apparition sites. Longer summary

Scott conducts an extensive investigation into the 1917 Miracle of the Sun at Fatima, where tens of thousands witnessed what appeared to be the sun spinning, changing colors, and falling to earth. He examines approximately 60 primary testimonies, evaluates common skeptical explanations (optical phenomena, weather events, mass hallucination), and documents similar sun miracles at other Marian apparition sites worldwide. Scott then critiques Dalleur's theory about distant witnesses and shadow analysis, explores why more people don't see these phenomena normally, and proposes a tentative materialist explanation involving a rare optical illusion modulated by cloud cover and social priming. The post ends by suggesting research directions for those interested in further investigation. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander hypothesizes that mystical experiences, hallucinations, and paranoia might be linked to an overactive pattern-matching faculty in the brain. Longer summary

Scott Alexander explores the relationship between mysticism, pattern-matching, and mental health. He suggests that hallucinations, paranoia, and mystical experiences might all be related to an overactive pattern-matching faculty in the brain. The post begins by discussing how the brain's failure modes differ from computers, then explains top-down processing and pattern matching using visual examples. It then connects these concepts to hallucinations, paranoia, and mystical experiences. Scott proposes that certain practices like meditation, drug use, and religious rituals may strengthen the pattern-matching faculty, leading to experiences of universal connectedness or enlightenment. He acknowledges that this hypothesis doesn't explain all aspects of mystical experiences and their benefits. Shorter summary