• Ghosts and the paranormal
    608 replies, posted
[QUOTE=bunnyspy1;38406662]what does america have to do with this?[/QUOTE] Because pretty much every person in this thread is american and most of the extraterrestrial stuff comes from the US.
[QUOTE=Uberpro;38406837]Because pretty much every person in this thread is american and most of the extraterrestrial stuff comes from the US.[/QUOTE] Indeed, although there are UFO fanatics all over the world. But still ghosts are just another product of the human mind. Aliens are a whole different matter, because WE are aliens of sorts too, which makes you wonder if there are others.
i saw a goast once [highlight](User was banned for this post ("Not debating, but thanks." - Craptasket))[/highlight]
[QUOTE=Satane;35332445]ghosts are just a product of our imagination. being afraid of darknes probably contributed to our evolution, and imagining evil entities in the darkness is probably related to that fear.[/QUOTE] Yeah, and human mind is a quite much more complicated than most people think. In short, the pictures and sounds you sense, are not always (if ever) same as what exist in the real word. The vision "data" goes trough your brains GPU before it goes to the conscious part of the brain. The information can be edited in any way and your subconsciousness can change it. If a person has schizophrenia, they [I]actually do see and hear things that other do not see.[/I] Their conscious brain really gets information that there is someone talking to you. So people can really say they've had [QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;35330281]a personal experience[/QUOTE] without lying. There was no ghost, but they thought they saw one. Seeing thing's does not mean you've got a mental disorder. Sometimes your subconscious can just fuck up and step in for no reason, or it steps in too soon before you're not sleeping. It can also be triggered by fear. The sudden feeling of falling is a good example when your subconscious just fucks up and fires all nerve cells simultaneously to wake you up. I've had some weird dreams when I've halfly woken up but apparently my subconscious brain still kept making imaginary stuff. It was pretty similar to a lucid dream except I had my eyes open. I saw some pretty weird things until I became fully awaken. It was scary at first but when I realized what happened, it just became fascinating. It does not make me wonder at all how many people claim they've seen ghosts and stuff. Some people who have lost their vision due to brain damage, can still "magically" react if a bird flies past them fast or if there's an obstacle that needs to be avoided. That's because the eyes still send signals to the subconscious brain. The signal just never reaches the conscious part.
im haunted by a spooky gost all day erry day [highlight](User was banned for this post ("Not debating" - postal))[/highlight]
I think like most debates, this comes to down to how you want to define "ghosts". But do I think paranormal activities take place, sure. Do I believe that ghosts exist? Who knows? Maybe not in the sense of a dead person flying around with a white sheet kinda ghost, but maybe something that we can't explain. I mean think about a dark room with a long hallway. Your walking down and at the end of it you can make out a slight outline of a person. You blink and it's gone. Was it a ghost? Maybe your brain "put" that there. Maybe that's what a ghost is? We think we understand are brain and emotions, but we clearly don't. If you've ever been love-struck, every logical impulse is gone. Same with when your pissed beyond belief, you just don't care when you really should. So maybe that's how a ghost works?
I hope there's an after life but I think that ghosts are just a manifestation of what people hope to be the afterlife and eternal life. I mean who wouldn't want to believe that if you die you can just live forever upsetting the living. I used to believe in ghosts but now it's only being promoted by these obscure channels hoping to cling onto a convinced small majority. I mean if we found out you lived forever you'd think it'd be on the news and not on Syfy at 11 PM on Tuesdays.
[QUOTE=Vintage Thatguy;38418632]I hope there's an after life but I think that ghosts are just a manifestation of what people hope to be the afterlife and eternal life. I mean who wouldn't want to believe that if you die you can just live forever upsetting the living. I used to believe in ghosts but now it's only being promoted by these obscure channels hoping to cling onto a convinced small majority. I mean if we found out you lived forever you'd think it'd be on the news and not on Syfy at 11 PM on Tuesdays.[/QUOTE] Truth is, if there is something more to life after death, only the dead would know something about it. Certainly not the living because our opinions about it are so fucking conflicting.
If a ghost is taken to be, by definition, the soul of a deceased person, then physicalism would straight-up contradict the idea, so there are no coherent physicalists that believe in "ghosts." (At least in what is commonly named a "ghost.") By this definition, if ghosts exist then it would imply that we have an afterlife, so any position that denies an afterlife (I'm here) would also be contradictory with it.
I don't believe ghosts could ever exist, but I'm still scared of them.
[QUOTE=matsta;38469772]If a ghost is taken to be, by definition, the soul of a deceased person, then physicalism would straight-up contradict the idea, so there are no coherent physicalists that believe in "ghosts." (At least in what is commonly named a "ghost.") By this definition, if ghosts exist then it would imply that we have an afterlife, so any position that denies an afterlife (I'm here) would also be contradictory with it.[/QUOTE] Soul is who you are. It's the significant part that will be remembered of you when it dies with you. So by no means is ghost just a soul.. Or yes, your ghost would have your soul. But ghosts, they don't exist. And if they do, there are a whole lot of them, and we will be amazed to find that out about the afterlife when we die.
Despite being religious, I am not superstitious (just to dispel that stereotype among you all that associates the two), but that doesn't stop me from getting that feeling that something's behind me. While those shows on SyFy do offer compelling "evidence(?)", the fact that it is being used to make money on a network named after Science [b]Fiction[/b] leads me to believe that they fabricate things for ratings Still doesn't stop me from having a good time watching.
I'm don't know whether to believe or not to, but I play safe anyways. I hope I don't experience anything when I go through my mandatory military service in about 2 years time. The amount of ghost stories that come outta the military camps are ridiculous.
I'm not sure if this has already been said before but ghosts and the paranormal is just another one of those things people believe in but have no real proof to make others believe. Is just blind faith. its sort of like the whole religion thing. Im not trying to start anything with bringing up religion but i try to stay away from religion in general and as for ghosts, sure i get scared of random sounds and things that i think are there but in reality, its just my mind screwing with me.
Ghosts do not exist. But assuming they do exist, first, there are a whole lot of them, and second, we will be amazed to find that out about the afterlife when we die. Ghosts, and God, they simply either do exist or they don't exist. They can't be both. Right?
[QUOTE=Raizo;35330403]I want to believe, since my cat acts very strangely the past couple of days. She would stare into the void for minutes as if something is right in front of her. Then when I approach and am about to pet her or touch her in any way, she notices and starts to freak out and run away. I mean, it could be her just being retarded but I once saw her following something with her head as if something was walking by.[/QUOTE] Dont worry bout that. Cats do that during something. I forgot the name though
I'm an atheist and I don't believe in an afterlife but I believe in ghosts. I need to get my shit together.
[QUOTE=18;38532858]I'm an atheist and I don't believe in an afterlife but I believe in ghosts. I need to get my shit together.[/QUOTE] You can be an atheist and believe in ghosts and spirituality. But the fact that you realize that your beliefs are wrong is a red flag.
Ghosts don't exist, that's just not how things work. It needs to have a molecular structure.
Ghost's exist, just in your mind is all.
"Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win." ―Stephen King ^^^ Sums it up pretty nicely here.
I'm not ready to say that I believe in ghosts but I think the concept of "spirits" is feasible if you look at it with the right ideas in mind. I remember reading a study somewhere that postulated the measured mass of a person is a fraction of a percent lower after they've expired (at least, with the subjects used in the study). There was also a fairly recent article about some scientists' hypotheses that a certain type of subatomic particle is capable of "storing" data or information at the quantum level, this particle being present in living beings and acting as a potential explanation for the phenomenon of consciousness. So what if "spirits" are just free-floating clouds of these particles carrying information that have vacated a deceased body? This could explain ghost sightings and interactions as well, assuming those particles have the potential to undergo excitation and remain temporarily visible. This is pure conjecture but it's interesting to think about a possible scientific explanation like this for paranormal phenomena. You could explain virtually anything by way of quantum mechanics
[QUOTE=Furioso;38544840]I'm not ready to say that I believe in ghosts but I think the concept of "spirits" is feasible if you look at it with the right ideas in mind. I remember reading a study somewhere that postulated the measured mass of a person is a fraction of a percent lower after they've expired (at least, with the subjects used in the study). There was also a fairly recent article about some scientists' hypotheses that a certain type of subatomic particle is capable of "storing" data or information at the quantum level, this particle being present in living beings and acting as a potential explanation for the phenomenon of consciousness. So what if "spirits" are just free-floating clouds of these particles carrying information that have vacated a deceased body? This could explain ghost sightings and interactions as well, assuming those particles have the potential to undergo excitation and remain temporarily visible. This is pure conjecture but it's interesting to think about a possible scientific explanation like this for paranormal phenomena. You could explain virtually anything by way of quantum mechanics[/QUOTE] Ah yes, I did in fact read about that experiment that was done roughly a thousandish years ago during the black death. They put two persons of approximately equal mass and balanced them out on a scale. When one of them died the scale would tip to the still living-person. This continues to puzzle me to this day.
[QUOTE=BFG9000;38546644]Ah yes, I did in fact read about that experiment that was done roughly a thousandish years ago during the black death. They put two persons of approximately equal mass and balanced them out on a scale. When one of them died the scale would tip to the still living-person. This continues to puzzle me to this day.[/QUOTE] source?
[QUOTE=Sobotnik;38546764]source?[/QUOTE] Sorry, not in medieval times and not during the black death, but in early 18th century by a guy named Duncan MacDougall. Apparently the study was discredited but eh.
It was discredited as gases leaving the body.
[QUOTE=BFG9000;38546644]Ah yes, I did in fact read about that experiment that was done roughly a thousandish years ago during the black death. They put two persons of approximately equal mass and balanced them out on a scale. When one of them died the scale would tip to the still living-person. This continues to puzzle me to this day.[/QUOTE] I don't see anything puzzling about that, really.
[QUOTE=Gekkosan;38550532]I don't see anything puzzling about that, really.[/QUOTE] Well an explanation was made that it was due to a sudden rise in temperature after death which evaporated extra sweat or something weird like that. This would also explain why the same thing didn't happen with dogs because they cool themselves by panting, not with sweat.
-snip what a dumb post-
[QUOTE=FoneJack;38570615]--I like to believe that there is more to existence than what we can see, hear and feel.[/QUOTE] But there is more to existence than what you can see, hear and feel; the whole world around you, the whole vastness of Space around you. And there is always more to life after death: more life.
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