Starseeds: Psychologists On Why Some People Think They’re Aliens Living On Earth
By Ken Drinkwater et al. / The Conversation
There’s a new group of people on Earth who believe they’re aliens. Star people, or starseeds, are individuals who believe they have come to Earth from other dimensions to help heal the planet and guide humanity into the “golden age” – a period of great happiness, prosperity and achievement.
It might sound a little crazy but an internet search for the term brings up over 4 million results and there are scores of people posting videos on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook who believe they originate from another world. Indeed, content with the term #starseed has over 1 billion views on TikTok.
Starseeds believe they can transport between galaxies via meditation. ( quickshooting / Adobe Stock)
Unlocking the Mysteries of Starseeds
Unlike “Earth souls”, who are said to reincarnate on Earth, starseeds believe they have reawakened from another planet to be born here. Starseeds believe they are conduits between divine realms and the Earth and that they can transport between galaxies via meditation. Starseeds also believe they can communicate in “ light language ” – a form of communication that is said to bypass human limitations and be the language of the soul.
The idea is widely credited to the author Brad Steiger who wrote prolifically about the unknown and was keenly interested in alien life and extraterrestrials. In his 1976 book, Gods of Aquarius , Steiger introduced his notion that some people originate from other dimensions.
Those who believe in starseeds believe there are certain signs to tell if you are one. ( Caphira Lescante / Adobe Stock)
Are You a Starseed? Signs and Indicators of Being a Starseed
Believers claim there are several ways to tell if you are a starseed. These include searching for meaning in life and feeling a lack of belonging. Being spiritual and possessing a strong sense of intuition (knowing) are also qualities of a starseed.
They are also said to be empathetic, sensitive and have more physical and mental health issues as their souls aren’t used to having a human body. Starseeds want to help humanity. But they get overwhelmed by life on Earth and so recharge by spending time alone.
Believers also say that starseeds have the desire to explore and experience new cultures and spheres, which help star people to then provide novel insights into existence. Examples include new (conspiracy) theories about society and holistic health interventions, along with thoughts on ancient aliens and civilizations.
Choosing Your Reality: Exploring Starseed Beliefs
You might recognize some aspects of yourself in the above description. Many people, for example, report searching for meaning in life along with feeling displaced or like they don’t belong at times.
Indeed, research shows that a low sense of belonging is often linked to depression. But what makes some people who are experiencing such feelings jump to the conclusion that they must be from another planet? Particularly given that no life beyond Earth has ever been found and there is no evidence that alien life has ever visited Earth.
Welcome to the Forer effect . Named after Bertram Forer, the psychologist who first figured out that it was pretty easy to get people to agree with vague descriptions about themselves – see horoscopes. The concept of starseeds is a form of new age belief. The term refers to alternative spiritual practices that developed during the 1970s.
Although each new age belief is different, philosophies share common features: they view existence in terms of the universe and focus on spirituality as well as the self. Think crystals, energy healing and psychic abilities . Other features include reincarnation, karma and the possibility of reaching a higher level of consciousness.
Support for new age beliefs – such as starseeds – is on the rise. It comes from a distrust of science and doubts about conventional perceptions of reality. Particularly, cynicism about modern society and an attempt to find meaning in life.
Certain personality characteristics may also incline some people to believe in the notion of starseeds, such as the inability to differentiate fact from fiction. ( Clement Coetzee/peopleimages.com / Adobe Stock)
Separating Fact from Fiction: Starseed Beliefs Among New Age Followers
Certain personality characteristics may also incline some people to believe in the notion of starseeds. For instance, if you are fantasy prone and often confuse imaginary and real events you may see the theory of alien consciousness as profound and desirable. In psychological terms, this is known as a source monitoring error , which is a type of unconscious memory error whereby a person gets confused between what’s real and accurate and what’s unreal and imagined.
It’s commonly seen in schizophrenia and research has found links between schizotypal personality disorder – a common disorder considered to be a mild form of schizophrenia – and belief in conspiracy theories.
A further effect that can encourage such beliefs is what’s known as ontological confusion . This occurs when people cannot discriminate between metaphorical and factual statements such as: “Old furniture knows things about the past.” These may be interpreted more literally than metaphorically and so make it more likely that people then endorse pseudoscientific, transcendental theories.
This is especially true when the source of the information is perceived to be trustworthy and knowledgeable. Dubbed the Einstein effect , this is where trusted sources of information are given more credence because of the social credibility they possess.
In the case of starseeds, several books published by big publishing houses may provide a sense of authenticity and so too does the fact that a number of them are bestsellers. Indeed, it seems life as we know it, may not be as straightforward as we once imagined.
Top image: Deciphering the psychology behind the belief in starseeds. Source: Caphira Lescante / Adobe Stock
This article was originally published under the title ‘Starseeds: psychologists on why some people think they’re aliens living on Earth’ by Ken Drinkwater et al on The Conversation , and has been republished under a Creative Commons License.
Comments
It seems that quantum physics has played a part in our perceptions of reality. Is conciousness a wave or a particle...or both…Does our mind create conciousness or does conciousness create our mind? Interesting times we are living…
It seems that quantum physics has played a part in our perceptions of reality. Is conciousness a wave or a particle...or both…Does our mind create conciousness or does conciousness create our mind? Interesting times we are living…
I just really dont appreciate that something thats more of a spiritual nature(angelic/devilish and/or demonic possession during copulation ) is judged by those completely ignorant or willfully stupid of its existence to be false.. my mind is open to the possibilities... The hope .. that there are those in their existence working to help humanity over this hypnosis hump(5x fast?XD) because this false christ whatever form it might take(cloned hitler , possessed human, plasma entity living in the fusion reactors, crossover from cerns parallel world experiments, actual alien, a.i., etc) might have noone to fight it... Apophis might strike the earth... The sun will go red giant.. theres enough to not worry about.. but theres much to hope for in the mean time
infinitesimal waveparticles comprise what we call home the earth
manipulatable by thought ability supressed in humans since birth
To apply such a physiocentric explaination, to something that might very well be far reaching in its implication .. if there was a true indigo, ive yet to meet them..but again, noone believed bacteria existed before the microscope and their proponents were considered crazy.. there are agents of evil everywhere whatever their looks may be.. there are the ignorant bads.. why not agents of good.. because if they did not exist there must still be something(s) extremely powerful working for good .. a universal dichotomy gives pretty good indicator of universal balance being a thing.. as in the days of noah.. thats another thing.. humanitynever been closer to the world that deserved to not be saved.... But this world is better than that one... Because there is a hidden good..
infinitesimal waveparticles comprise what we call home the earth
manipulatable by thought ability supressed in humans since birth
The link to conspiracy theories is the real objective here. Quite a lot of conspiracy theories are true, yet a lot also are false.
Some of the false ones are, indeed, caused by the delusions of the less than sane, while many are simply the product of intelligence agencies who know how to employ psychological manipulation amongst the masses. The former is very useful to the latter.
The best method of destroying the credibility of conspiracy truth is to encourage conspiracy theorists to embrace and spread the clearly untrue. Aliens are obvious candidates, as is a flat Earth.
Linking conspiracy theories to schizophrenia is another intelligence playbook staple. In some cases, this may be true enough, but the goal is to stigmatise the relative few who simply see truth.
If one questions the bioweapons, I mean vaccines, one shall be seen by some as a believer in 'lizard people'. That it is such a successful strategy of guilt by association is due to it not being understood by either party. To understand the totalitarian playbook is to see right through it.
I see right through this article as if it were a transparent sheet of glass. But then, I am no popular conspiracy theorist. I am unpopular because I criticise the inability of others to see through the 'lizard people' lies, et cetera, and to stick to solid ground, of which there is ample.
Emotion gets the better of most, however, and they rush off to believe whatever Q or some other intelligence agency offering delivers as a boost to their fragile self-esteem, made more fragile by the inability of others to understand what are clear conspiracies.
The average conspiracy theorist is a one-eyed man attempting to lead the blind by listening to the fully-sighted who have rather more nefarious intentions. In short, they may have come a long way towards the truth, but have a lot further to go than they ever imagine.
People like simplicity. The mass manipulation of the public is quite complicated, as is the finer manipulation of those who see some truth, yet fall for obvious lies. The answer is to trust less and question more.
If one does not question this article, one has simply failed to understand much of how the World is run. And by whom.
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