Do you believe in ghosts?

[Dezerte]

I believe in "brain ghosts". I believe that people experience things that to them are so weird that they feel inclined to believe in ghosts.

My interest in psychology has led me to try and understand these things as false/incomplete interpretations of the world by of our minds, as there are so many effects that have been studied - optical illusions being perhaps the best and most obvious example of how our brains are incapable of perceiving reality objectively - so I simply believe ghosts and whatnot are yet another rationalization for something we perceive that our brains try to make sense out of.

(That and the issue that ghosts have no scientific explanation to support their existence in any way.)

[PrimiOne]

Soul,Spirit,Ghost....all these related concepts have an anthropological origin in dream and it's not just exclusive of Homo Sapiens.

At some point in the evolutionary line of the homo genre ( we know for sure Homo Antecessor and forward) we start asking ourselves how is it possible that my father , that died 15 moons ago , show up in my dream and talk to me.Even my grandfather that I barely knew can communicate with me when I'm sleeping. The conclussion is that there's a part of them that didn't dissapear with death and in that moment the soul concept is created: death is not a total end , we are actually made of two parts and one of them gets separated from the physical part upon death.Proof? They contact me in my dreams.

Now , for us it's really easy to understand those images are created by our own brains with no external source but that is a very modern idea.

This soul concept end up being the base for proto-religions that is originally a cult of the ancestors ( we worship our own kin sometimes even keeping the skulls and decorating them like we can see in Catal Hoyuk) that evolves into shamanism and when the social complexity allows for an organization called monarchy the ancestors of the royal family became gods ( because you know...the ancestors of the king are way cooler than yours). Not gonna follow this path because although is pure anthropology is directly tied to a forbidden topic.

But anyway we can not forget that the ethereal nature of ghosts is a direct and obvious mirror of the etheral nature of dream. The way we describe spirits is exactly the way we describe a dream and it is even possible ( this is a theory that have some acceptance but not much) that this believe is ingrained in our own Homo genre neuroprogramation because intelligence is an extraordinary evolutive feat but comes with a poisoned part: the conscience of our own deaths. Maybe this bias to believe in an afterlife is evolution's inertia stabilizer for intelligence.

Now, I wouldn't put my hand on the fire for the last part but I would put it for the idea that ghost,soul,spirit....is just the way we had to explain the inapprehensible world of dream.

[Acidbaron]

Even if you believe in an afterlife, why would you want to believe in ghosts. That means you end up basically trapped and powerless in a building, where you slowly go insane that you start haunting people.

[Cerilis]

Ghosts are totally Magic!

[PC2]

Now, I know some don't believe. But to completely discredit it would be, in my opinion, really bad.

When did ghosts ever have any "credit" in the first place? If you want people to view this as a scientific idea then you need to tell us things like what a ghost consists of, what propels them forward, and specifically how does the person who died make the transformation into a ghost.

Heck, we still can't even observe protons, yet they are accepted as fact.

That's because deductive logic is what gives an idea merit and not observation.

Until then, its just going to remain a see it to believe it deal.

Again no, nobody should believe ghosts are real even if they saw one once because an observation is not always evidence of realness. Sensory misinterpretation is to be expected.

[tehealadin]

I saw something strange at the bottom of my stairs as a kid, wasn't rightly sure what it was. Must be the essence of a dead person, proving an afterlife. Who it was, I have no idea. But it had to be, I mean if you don't know what it is, then it must be the essence of a dead person, what else could it be? Then I went down the stairs, it was a coat, there was a full moon and the light shining through a nearby window gave it an other worldly glow. Turns out it could have been something else, and I was a bit quick to jump straight to a ghost. It is a funny one, see or hear something that you aren't quite sure what it is, go straight to essence of a dead person and all that this claim entails, which is in itself a claim on what the thing is, even though you conceded that you don't know what it is, quite how not knowing what the thing is is proof that actually you do know what it is, and it is the essence of a dead person to be precise, it must be because I don't know what it is....arg, the logic, my brain, such hurt. Must be a spirit sticking things in my brain, what else could it be?

[tikcol]

a field of science

A field of what?

[vindicatorx]

No, I see no verifiable evidence supporting the claim that ghosts or any other supernatural beings exist.

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of course i do, there are few dozen posters on these forums that post the dumbest most uneducated shit then ghost their own thread.

ok, this form of ghost I believe exists as I have seen the evidence of them.

[Shadowferal]

Flashes of memories imposed...possible to me.

[Xjev]

Soul,Spirit,Ghost....all these related concepts have an anthropological origin in dream and it's not just exclusive of Homo Sapiens.

At some point in the evolutionary line of the homo genre ( we know for sure Homo Antecessor and forward) we start asking ourselves how is it possible that my father , that died 15 moons ago , show up in my dream and talk to me.Even my grandfather that I barely knew can communicate with me when I'm sleeping. The conclussion is that there's a part of them that didn't dissapear with death and in that moment the soul concept is created: death is not a total end , we are actually made of two parts and one of them gets separated from the physical part upon death.Proof? They contact me in my dreams.

Now , for us it's really easy to understand those images are created by our own brains with no external source but that is a very modern idea.

This soul concept end up being the base for proto-religions that is originally a cult of the ancestors ( we worship our own kin sometimes even keeping the skulls and decorating them like we can see in Catal Hoyuk) that evolves into shamanism and when the social complexity allows for an organization called monarchy the ancestors of the royal family became gods ( because you know...the ancestors of the king are way cooler than yours). Not gonna follow this path because although is pure anthropology is directly tied to a forbidden topic.

But anyway we can not forget that the ethereal nature of ghosts is a direct and obvious mirror of the etheral nature of dream. The way we describe spirits is exactly the way we describe a dream and it is even possible ( this is a theory that have some acceptance but not much) that this believe is ingrained in our own Homo genre neuroprogramation because intelligence is an extraordinary evolutive feat but comes with a poisoned part: the conscience of our own deaths. Maybe this bias to believe in an afterlife is evolution's inertia stabilizer for intelligence.

Now, I wouldn't put my hand on the fire for the last part but I would put it for the idea that ghost,soul,spirit....is just the way we had to explain the inapprehensible world of dream.

I have a theory the concept of soul first came from the out-of-body experience taking natural hallucinogens.

[Daedius]

Who's not to say "Ghosts" are sightings of people of alternate dimensions?

[Frolk]

I do yes. I've seen them on a few occasions. Nothing big or grand. Sadly, its one of those things that most people doubt because 1) we can't find them on demand and 2) our ability to document them sucks.

I believe that if they were given more credibility that we could see some serious leaps in technology for trying to find them or even record what the heck they are exactly. It certainly is a field of science that is vastly ignored and not really studied. Simply because of human nature being that you have to see to believe.

You need a 3 year degree of ghost science to get into unicorn breeding or is that before ghost science?

[Unholyground]

I am an advocate for science but I have had enough really strange classical style ghost shit happen to me that I cannot count it out completely. Now will there be an explanation on what they are some day? Ya probably, but likely not in our lifetime.

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Nope. Not possible.

Not in the classical sense, but there are too many stories for it all to be fake. My best guess is converging realities/timelines slamming into each other causing glitches in each others universes. The universe does have a code base so glitches are likely to happen.

[XDurionX]

No. There is no consciousness without a body. People see what they want to see.

[Queen of Hamsters]

No, not at all. If they were real, there'd be proof by now. Same as with any other fantasies people sit on.

I'd love it if they were, but they're not. Consciousness comes from the brain, not a "soul". Case in point: People suffering brain damage to specific parts of the brain, having their entire personality change as a result.

[Doctor Amadeus]

Like stories about Aliens like 90% or better are Bullshit, but yes some, I do. I do believe in a after life and that our energy is never destroyed only transformed, as to interpretations, yes, mine follow my Christian faith.

[Ghostpanther]

Like stories about Aliens like 90% or better are Bullshit, but yes some, I do. I do believe in a after life and that our energy is never destroyed only transformed, as to interpretations, yes, mine follow my Christian faith.

I agree 100% Doc.

[Tuor]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cU4qbnNmxWA

[Azadina]

I do yes. I've seen them on a few occasions. Nothing big or grand. Sadly, its one of those things that most people doubt because 1) we can't find them on demand and 2) our ability to document them sucks.

I believe that if they were given more credibility that we could see some serious leaps in technology for trying to find them or even record what the heck they are exactly. It certainly is a field of science that is vastly ignored and not really studied. Simply because of human nature being that you have to see to believe.

So is the science of finding invisible pink rainbow unicorns. And...maybe it's for the best that they stay vastly ignored.

I am an advocate for science....

Me too!

Not in the classical sense, but there are too many stories for it all to be fake. My best guess is converging realities/timelines slamming into each other causing glitches in each others universes. The universe does have a code base so glitches are likely to happen.

Oh. Well, not for very long, were you?

[PC2]

No, I see no verifiable evidence supporting the claim that ghosts or any other supernatural beings exist.

You should adopt a position based on explanations and not based on evidence though. People are easily capable of seeing observational evidence where there is none and it's not worth much if it can't be explained.

there are too many stories for it all to be fake.

No amount of anecdotes is evidence that something exists. Knowledge is never derived by accumulating more and more supporting evidence and all that does is leads to confirmation bias.