Ghosts.. do they exist?

[Cyborg Stan]

No.

[Admiral Valdemar]

Yes, I saw one on TV once.

[Rye]

Personally i reckon they do, i mean it's unlikely that pretty much every culture on earth would form the idea of them without being prompted. As for what they are i'm unsure...i have a hypothesis...

[Frank Hipper]

Nope. Why, your casa go bump in the night?

[Hobot]

Personally i reckon they do, i mean it's unlikely that pretty much every culture on earth would form the idea of them without being prompted. As for what they are i'm unsure...i have a hypothesis...

That's an appeal to popular belief, ie. a logical fallacy. Many cultures have believed that: there is some higher form of power; the earth is flat; the earth is the centre of the universe; etc..

[Rye]

Personally i reckon they do, i mean it's unlikely that pretty much every culture on earth would form the idea of them without being prompted. As for what they are i'm unsure...i have a hypothesis...

That's an appeal to popular belief, ie. a logical fallacy. Many cultures have believed that: there is some higher form of power; the earth is flat; the earth is the centre of the universe; etc..

admittedly. Current study in the area indicates several different phenomena to explain them. Some areas have weird vibrations that cause you to see things in the corners of your eye, some have strange building expansions and contractions that sound like breathing etc.

There's a program on UKliving called "most haunted" which is quite cool, where the team researches the most haunted sites in Britain. They then get this dramatic "medium" fellow in, as well as skeptical scientist folks to take thermal, electromagnetic and so on readings.

There are several instances of batteries going dead, EM spikes and anomalies in mid air moving about, along with a cold column of air in several cases.

Now it's my idea, that maybe people's brain activity get's snagged in an area, and the same events keep getting replayed in that area.

http://www.livingtv.co.uk/mosthaunted/index.html
LivingTV's"most haunted" website.

The program can be quite cool at times, just sensational at others though, imo.

[Rye]

Personally i reckon they do, i mean it's unlikely that pretty much every culture on earth would form the idea of them without being prompted. As for what they are i'm unsure...i have a hypothesis...

That's an appeal to popular belief, ie. a logical fallacy. Many cultures have believed that: there is some higher form of power; the earth is flat; the earth is the centre of the universe; etc..

Also, god's descriptions and powers etc vary intensely from tribe to tribe, the commmon idea of ghosts stays...pretty much constant. It's my personaly belief that gods were just explanations of phenomena that were unknown to the people of the time.

I think it's probable that ghosts are indeed something else misinterpreted by humanity, and what "they" are is probably something entirely natural. As for what their nature is, i don't know, it seems that thermal occurances and EM anomalies have something to do with it.

[Lagmonster]

If anything, I've been exposed to more WEIRD in my life than most. And allow me to lay down the definitive word: there ain't no ghosts.

To re-type, again, why - not to mention how many times I've failed to be fooled by phenomena and coincidence - would fill up screens worth of pages and make my typing finger ache. Suffice it to say, from my youth, I learned that the universe contains two possibilities:

1) there are no ghosts or other spooky phenomenon, or;
2) the supernatural is allergic to me.

Take your pick.

[Frank Hipper]

2) the supernatural is allergic to me.

I think you could pretty much restate that as "the supernatural is allergic to reality"

[Rye]

There is no supernatural imo, just irregular things.

[UltraViolence83]

For the love of fuck, people, why doesn't anyone use the search tool to see if something incredibly similiar has been posted before? I don't know about anyone else, but I'm getting sick of seeing identical threads like "Religion-Good or Bad?" or "Supernatural-Real or Bullshit?" popping up every month.


I'm sure we've all been guilty of doing this, but it just gets on my nerves sometimes.

[Wicked Pilot]

I don't believe in ghost. That is at least until I hear that "Nuclear launch detected" thing. That with a little red dot and you can bet your sweet ass I believe!

[DPDarkPrimus]

I don't believe in ghost. That is at least until I hear that "Nuclear launch detected" thing. That with a little red dot and you can bet your sweet ass I believe!

You call down the thunder... and I'll reap the whirlwind.

Ghosts exist, but they are simply reprogramming errors in the Matrix.

[Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi]

Ghosts aren't necessary to explain anything, and the concept of the souls of deceased beings floating around places sounds absurd to me, so until I'm greeted by the ghosts of my ancestors at night, I'll say that there's no such thing as ghosts.

[Durandal]

Personally i reckon they do, i mean it's unlikely that pretty much every culture on earth would form the idea of them without being prompted. As for what they are i'm unsure...i have a hypothesis...

Superstitions stemming from scientifically ignorant cultures aren't exactly a solid basis for opinion.

admittedly. Current study in the area indicates several different phenomena to explain them. Some areas have weird vibrations that cause you to see things in the corners of your eye, some have strange building expansions and contractions that sound like breathing etc.

And all of this just happens to occur in areas which superstitious people claim to be haunted. With proper environments, your brain will invent stimuli. It's called hallucinating.

There's a program on UKliving called "most haunted" which is quite cool, where the team researches the most haunted sites in Britain. They then get this dramatic "medium" fellow in, as well as skeptical scientist folks to take thermal, electromagnetic and so on readings.

There are several instances of batteries going dead, EM spikes and anomalies in mid air moving about, along with a cold column of air in several cases.

All of these are perfectly natural phenomena. Why is the most valid conclusion "thar be ghosts!"?

[Rye]

Superstitions stemming from scientifically ignorant cultures aren't exactly a solid basis for opinion.

There is probably a common phenomena which caused the similarities across cultures. That common phenomena we call ghosts, however im not saying they all are spirits of dead people. Repeatedly as soon as someone says "psychic" or "ghost" people automatically assume several things.

And all of this just happens to occur in areas which superstitious people claim to be haunted. With proper environments, your brain will invent stimuli. It's called hallucinating.

There's a program on UKliving called "most haunted" which is quite cool, where the team researches the most haunted sites in Britain. They then get this dramatic "medium" fellow in, as well as skeptical scientist folks to take thermal, electromagnetic and so on readings.

There are several instances of batteries going dead, EM spikes and anomalies in mid air moving about, along with a cold column of air in several cases.

All of these are perfectly natural phenomena. Why is the most valid conclusion "thar be ghosts!"?

Because i term ghosts as a term for these natural phenomena, as for what they are, i suspect an EM signature or recording of an event, or just "everyone is fooled" by the phenomena into believing they see something, feel a presence etc.

[EmperorChrostas the Cruel]

I have seen, on the discovery channel, that "abduction" halucinations can be triggered by strong EM fields interacting with the brain.

It is a proven fact that many seismic events produce EM bursts, from piezoelectric currents.
The mosty logical idea, is this is your ghost. That or the subsonic resonance with you eyes that causes you to see things on the edges of your vision. I got a link from this very websight on the subject.

Combine these, with the power of ignorance, and multiply by the power of imagination.
Compare this to the likelyhood of there being ANYTHING supernatural.
This is like god. You want to belive, so it is "obvious."

[The Penultimate Ninja]

Ghosts are the light of Venus reflecting off swamp gases. The human response is an inborn detector of metatron. An EM emission from the fourth quantum light particle releases this metatron. The activation energy of this reaction is quite slow, so the reaction happense quickly, dissipating the ghost.
God is here.

You will carry that weight.

[GrandMasterTerwynn]

What do you guys think?

Edit: all these nopes aren't very fun. explain why or why not.

No. To claim that ghosts exist would presume that there is an afterlife.

[haas mark]

What do you guys think?

Edit: all these nopes aren't very fun. explain why or why not.

I believe in ghosts, because I personally have experienced them. It may seem like bullshit to you guys, but not to me, and personally, I don't really wanna argue it again.

[UltraViolence83]

This isn't really a "ghost" story, in fact I'm pretty sure it is hallucenations brought on by the threat of my ever-impending insanity, but it's strange a'happenin's nonetheless.


For a while now I've been seeing strange black streaks running around the floor, just out of my field of vision. Too small to be my cat, too fast to be mice/rats. Also have strange wavy gasoline fume-looking shit appear for a second in mid air in my room.

Don't know what the wavy things are, but it makes me all paranoid like I'm being watched. Annoying more than anything, really.

And no, these are "there" NOT because I have just veered my head away from a light source i.e., TV or monitor.

[Rye]

This isn't really a "ghost" story, in fact I'm pretty sure it is hallucenations brought on by the threat of my ever-impending insanity, but it's strange a'happenin's nonetheless.


For a while now I've been seeing strange black streaks running around the floor, just out of my field of vision. Too small to be my cat, too fast to be mice/rats. Also have strange wavy gasoline fume-looking shit appear for a second in mid air in my room.

Don't know what the wavy things are, but it makes me all paranoid like I'm being watched. Annoying more than anything, really.

And no, these are "there" NOT because I have just veered my head away from a light source i.e., TV or monitor.

Well that sounds like the sonic thing that i said a bit ago in this thread (or at least i think i did, i may have been disconnected before i posted it) perhaps there is an underground river under your house or a source for a really small vibration in your local area.

[UltraViolence83]

Sure as fuck ain't no river under me. My town is built on a hill. Just dirt and sewer pipes. Tiny vibrations are much more likely, I live a block away from a steel mill that have trains coming in every so often. But I don't think these things occured when a train was around...

[Lagmonster]

For a while now I've been seeing strange black streaks running around the floor, just out of my field of vision. Too small to be my cat, too fast to be mice/rats. Also have strange wavy gasoline fume-looking shit appear for a second in mid air in my room.

Very common phenomena, that even veteran and non-loony ghost hunters dismiss as physical illusion.

'Edge of vision' ghosts are almost ALWAYS just illusions brought on by your mind, your eyes, or the lighting of your environment. Otherwise you'd assume that the dead are innately perceptive of your line of peripheral vision, because you can spin in place and have the 'objects' keep on your peripheral vision constantly.

'Mirage' type ghosts are sometimes an indication of sleep-deprivation or a state of just waking up, even from a daydream. Anything where you were relaxed and you were 'staring off into space' rather than focussing. Of course, other times it turns out you have a deadly gas leak.

[UltraViolence83]

For a while now I've been seeing strange black streaks running around the floor, just out of my field of vision. Too small to be my cat, too fast to be mice/rats. Also have strange wavy gasoline fume-looking shit appear for a second in mid air in my room.

Very common phenomena, that even veteran and non-loony ghost hunters dismiss as physical illusion.

'Edge of vision' ghosts are almost ALWAYS just illusions brought on by your mind, your eyes, or the lighting of your environment. Otherwise you'd assume that the dead are innately perceptive of your line of peripheral vision, because you can spin in place and have the 'objects' keep on your peripheral vision constantly.

'Mirage' type ghosts are sometimes an indication of sleep-deprivation or a state of just waking up, even from a daydream. Anything where you were relaxed and you were 'staring off into space' rather than focussing. Of course, other times it turns out you have a deadly gas leak.

I wanna be a ghost hunter...I'll bring my ectoplasm containment unit!

Sleep deprivation: Oh yes.

Just waking up: No.

Staring into space/relaxed: Well, usually when I see them I'm in a trancelike state (I won't get into it for the sake of everyone else's sanity) but I sure as hell am not relaxed when i'm in that trance.

Relaxed trance: Kind of. I have to not be paying attention to my immediate surroundings for them to manifest. But after I open my eyes everything seems a little surreal, but even then I don't see the waves. It's only certain times or certain states of awareness I'm in when I see it. The black streaks can happen anytime.