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Do You Believe In Ghosts?

LydiaTessaro said:
Almost that time of year again, y’all. Let’s talk about a different type of ghosting.

Do you believe in ghosts? Why or why not?

Also, any potentially-paranormal experiences to share?
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A hundred percent yes!! I have had my own experiences on several occasions and so have my kids. Every so often when something really big is about to happen, my grandmother visits me in my dreams. I have been a 'ghost hunter' before and found great pleasure in being able to bring peace to someone in need.
 
Yes, I worked in a haunted ramen shop for about two years (it was never a dull moment there.) Things went flying, boxes were opened, objects were moved or pulled ( my boss had cameras and everything was uploaded online.) First experience I had there I was closing up one night and I walked into a small hallway to mop I was alone and heard loud knocking on the wall next to me. No one else was there. Heard a woman calling out to both my boss and I while we were the only ones currently in the shop.

I've also done ghost hunting in the past with the same old boss we had some pretty fun times especially when it came to evps.

Then there was multiple incidents I experienced at my grandparents house growing up so yeah definitely believe in ghost. ^^
 
I lived in a haunted house for a year. Even friends saw/heard things and my mother while visiting one weekend. I absolutely believe that there is unexplainable phenomenon out there. I don't believe they're really disembodied human souls.
 
Jericho Z. Barrons said:
Nope. I have never seen any compelling evidence of such. Until then, I will withhold belief with an openness to being convinced by good evidence. A lot of times, I get annoyed with the way people immediately jump to that conclusion as an interpretation for an experience they've had/witnessed. Sometimes people aren't aware of all the factors that could influence or contribute to an experience while they're in the middle of it (i.e. "There wasn't a breeze blowing or anything that could have caused it!"). Add that onto the way memory works period(very faulty), plus adrenaline and fear response distorting perception, and most of the anecdotes you hear are unreliable.

That said, I do enjoy ghosts in fiction and fantasy. It's a fun, spooky idea; the dead hanging around in a parallel plane to ours.
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Same idea here, that being said I'm not going to mess around with a haunted house because it's probably unsafe due to construction, age, or any number of animals, bacteria, etc. Shows that hunt for Bigfoot or Ghosts also really annoy me, especially their advertising.
 
I don’t, because I’ve never seen any compelling evidence to suggest they are real. As a good skeptic, however, I am prepared to change my mind if sufficient evidence is ever produced.

I do believe, though, that there are phenomena we cannot explain. Most of those phenomena probably fall into the “what happened wasn’t clear enough to be able to speculate” category, but some probably fall into the “we literally cannot explain it with our current knowledge of the way things work” category. And it’s possible that some of that latter category falls into the “things we will never be able to explain” category, in much the same way that a domestic chicken will never be able to explain how computers work.

That said, I don’t think this means we should automatically assume that any given odd phenomena is beyond comprehension.
 
TheCorsair said:
I don’t, because I’ve never seen any compelling evidence to suggest they are real. As a good skeptic, however, I am prepared to change my mind if sufficient evidence is ever produced.

I do believe, though, that there are phenomena we cannot explain. Most of those phenomena probably fall into the “what happened wasn’t clear enough to be able to speculate” category, but some probably fall into the “we literally cannot explain it with our current knowledge of the way things work” category. And it’s possible that some of that latter category falls into the “things we will never be able to explain” category, in much the same way that a domestic chicken will never be able to explain how computers work.

That said, I don’t think this means we should automatically assume that any given odd phenomena is beyond comprehension.
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Well said!
 
TheCorsair said:
I don’t, because I’ve never seen any compelling evidence to suggest they are real. As a good skeptic, however, I am prepared to change my mind if sufficient evidence is ever produced.

I do believe, though, that there are phenomena we cannot explain. Most of those phenomena probably fall into the “what happened wasn’t clear enough to be able to speculate” category, but some probably fall into the “we literally cannot explain it with our current knowledge of the way things work” category. And it’s possible that some of that latter category falls into the “things we will never be able to explain” category, in much the same way that a domestic chicken will never be able to explain how computers work.

That said, I don’t think this means we should automatically assume that any given odd phenomena is beyond comprehension.
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Exactly.

To me, Ghosts are like God - I don't believe they exist, but I can't prove they don't.
 
Not in the slightest. Ghosts aren't real. If you believe that they are real, then go back to that oh-so-haunted place, gather up all that evidence, and then go win your Nobel Peace Prize. You'll completely change everything we know about the physical world, and become the most famous and important scientist in the world over night. Oh no, I forgot, there's a awful bias and conspiracy in the scientific community that rejects the MOUNTAINS of credible evidence that proves that ghosts are real. It's just like they also dismiss the flat Earth. lol

They're not real. Your personal experiences are mistaken.
 
Mitsu said:
Not in the slightest. Ghosts aren't real. If you believe that they are real, then go back to that oh-so-haunted place, gather up all that evidence, and then go win your Nobel Peace Prize. You'll completely change everything we know about the physical world, and become the most famous and important scientist in the world over night. Oh no, I forgot, there's a awful bias and conspiracy in the scientific community that rejects the MOUNTAINS of credible evidence that proves that ghosts are real. It's just like they also dismiss the flat Earth. lol

They're not real. Your personal experiences are mistaken.
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Why do true skeptics as I have heard them called. Why do you need to be so insulting to people who believe? No one is trying to push their experience down your throat, and making you believe in anything. It is all good and fine if you don't believe in anything. But why be so harsh to the people who do believe in things?

I used to believe and get spooked at everything, as I grow older I am very much more skeptical. I will call out obvious things for what they more then likely are. But I do still believe there are other things going on out there. I know I had experienced something myself which I cannot explain and trust me even now I try to go through everything to try to figure out what it was.

I just don't get it, why true skeptics need to be so harsh about things.
 
Cassandraks said:
Why do true skeptics as I have heard them called. Why do you need to be so insulting to people who believe? No one is trying to push their experience down your throat, and making you believe in anything. It is all good and fine if you don't believe in anything. But why be so harsh to the people who do believe in things?

I used to believe and get spooked at everything, as I grow older I am very much more skeptical. I will call out obvious things for what they more then likely are. But I do still believe there are other things going on out there. I know I had experienced something myself which I cannot explain and trust me even now I try to go through everything to try to figure out what it was.

I just don't get it, why true skeptics need to be so harsh about things.
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You see, the difference between me and you is that I don't assert that anyone believes in "nothing". I just assert that they believe in false or fake things. The connotation behind the claim that I "don't believe in anything" is far more harsh than anything I've said. Hell, it's even way more dismissive. It assumes a whole lot about who I am and is a rather nihilistic and bleak outlook on my views on life.

Who is a person that doesn't believe in "anything"? That would be one terrible, miserable, awful human being. Sure you can roll your eyes, and sigh, and then start typing about how it was merely an "expression", but certainly the crux of your issue is perception. You perceive that my words are hurtful and designed to be mean. Would it not then be justifiable for me to see your own words in the same light? I've encountered plenty of people who have uttered that same phrase in an attempt to dismiss me in as negative a light as they deem appropriate.

So, you can act like you're a bleeding heart who is being kind, but perception is important and to me you come across as no better than I have. You see, I believe in many things, as does any person on this planet. I just try to believe in more things that are actually real. I'll ridicule people that believe in ghosts just as I would people that believe in the flat Earth, or whatever Scientologists believe in. They're silly concepts. I'm sure there is someone out there that has beliefs that you would roll your eyes at or claim to be ridiculous. Then again, perhaps you are just holier-than-thou. Some people are perfect.

The crux of it is that people are spreading misinformation and perpetuating false beliefs about what is and isn't real. It advocates for the idea of the "god of the gaps". Something happened, I can't understand it so plug in "god", "ghosts", "demons", "aliens" or whatever else you want to attribute to the "supernatural" or "paranormal". Regardless of whether or not those claims and stories cause any harm, should I not be able to point out the absurdity of them? Perhaps you just prefer I use softer words. Regardless, I'm denying them the reality they deem to be truthful and casting aspersions on their character in multiple ways.

I say it nicely, or I say it in a mocking way. The result is the same. At least someone out there might get a chuckle out of how I stated it, instead of my polite opinion being largely ignored and forgotten.
 
Mitsu said:
You see, the difference between me and you is that I don't assert that anyone believes in "nothing". I just assert that they believe in false or fake things. The connotation behind the claim that I "don't believe in anything" is far more harsh than anything I've said. Hell, it's even way more dismissive. It assumes a whole lot about who I am and is a rather nihilistic and bleak outlook on my views on life.

Who is a person that doesn't believe in "anything"? That would be one terrible, miserable, awful human being. Sure you can roll your eyes, and sigh, and then start typing about how it was merely an "expression", but certainly the crux of your issue is perception. You perceive that my words are hurtful and designed to be mean. Would it not then be justifiable for me to see your own words in the same light? I've encountered plenty of people who have uttered that same phrase in an attempt to dismiss me in as negative a light as they deem appropriate.

So, you can act like you're a bleeding heart who is being kind, but perception is important and to me you come across as no better than I have. You see, I believe in many things, as does any person on this planet. I just try to believe in more things that are actually real. I'll ridicule people that believe in ghosts just as I would people that believe in the flat Earth, or whatever Scientologists believe in. They're silly concepts. I'm sure there is someone out there that has beliefs that you would roll your eyes at or claim to be ridiculous. Then again, perhaps you are just holier-than-thou. Some people are perfect.

The crux of it is that people are spreading misinformation and perpetuating false beliefs about what is and isn't real. It advocates for the idea of the "god of the gaps". Something happened, I can't understand it so plug in "god", "ghosts", "demons", "aliens" or whatever else you want to attribute to the "supernatural" or "paranormal". Regardless of whether or not those claims and stories cause any harm, should I not be able to point out the absurdity of them? Perhaps you just prefer I use softer words. Regardless, I'm denying them the reality they deem to be truthful and casting aspersions on their character in multiple ways.

I say it nicely, or I say it in a mocking way. The result is the same. At least someone out there might get a chuckle out of how I stated it, instead of my polite opinion being largely ignored and forgotten.
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Honestly, I am just insulted that you think I am anywhere close to being a flat earther or a Scientologist.

And you can read anything you want to into what I wrote, like that I meant that you don't believe in anything. I can't control you, I will not even try I have argued...or discussed with enough people like you for so many different things. And it will always end up being you that you are right, I am wrong and why be nice about anything because you are smarter then all of us so you know best.

I always try to get somewhere in the middle where I believe what I do, and you believe what you do and that is ok. But that is obviously not going to happen here, so I will walk away now. I honestly just wanted to know why you needed to be so harsh towards people who believe in ghosts or supernatural. But never mind, I am starting to get a pretty clear picture of the reasons now. Thanks Though!
 
Mitsu said:
I just assert that they believe in false or fake things.
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Unless you can prove those things are false or fake, it's you voicing your negative opinions on someone else's beliefs.

Give me hard imperial evidence, and I'll believe you. Until then, it's your opinion vs mine. :)
 
Sync said:
Unless you can prove those things are false or fake, it's you voicing your negative opinions on someone else's beliefs.

Give me hard imperial evidence, and I'll believe you. Until then, it's your opinion vs mine. :)
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Yeah, I totally get you. I was really pondering this whole thing while riding around on my ghost unicorn to go meet up with my alien buddies. It was all pretty much a personal experience and all, so like I was figuring that perhaps you are right. I mean you can't prove that this didn't happen, therefore you're just going to have to accept that it might have happened. Nothing I said is actually false or fake, right? You can't possibly prove that none of this happened, so you'll have to stay agnostic.

You see, when someone makes extraordinary claims the burden of proof becomes ever greater. If I were to tell you that I had some lasagna for dinner, then you have no reason not to believe me. It's totally reasonable for you to accept that truth, regardless of whether or not it happened. It's a small and probable claim. When people make claims that are of a extraordinary nature, such as those of the supernatural and paranormal, then they are essentially making a claim that fundamentally changes everything we know to understand about the universe. Those sort of lofty claims really raise the standard of evidence. If there is no evidence to prove those claims, then I feel I'm pretty justified in finding them to be false, fake, or mistaken.

I'm sure there are people in your life who you know very well. If someone were to tell you that that person has done something very very bad, you'd be very inclined to think of those claims as being lies. The claims do not purport with any of your established perceptions of reality. For the sake of not getting nasty, I won't hit you with any kind of grotesque example and force you to consider that perhaps those things may or may not have happened, and then point out that you can't say they haven't unless you can 100% prove otherwise.

So, no, I do not believe ghosts are real. If there is ever evidence to support otherwise, then I can be convinced that ghosts are real. As it stands, I don't think they are.
 
Mitsu said:
So, no, I do not believe ghosts are real. If there is ever evidence to support otherwise, then I can be convinced that ghosts are real. As it stands, I don't think they are.
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I don't believe they are, either.

But there's a big difference between me not being able to prove it one way or the other, and telling someone else they're an idiot for believing they are.

Like I said above: I don't believe ghosts exist, but I cannot prove they do not. And neither can you. I'm not trying to tell you you're wrong for believing the way you do. I'm not trying to tell those who DO believe in ghosts that they are wrong, either.
 
Sync said:
I don't believe they are, either.

But there's a big difference between me not being able to prove it one way or the other, and telling someone else they're an idiot for believing they are.

Like I said above: I don't believe ghosts exist, but I cannot prove they do not. And neither can you. I'm not trying to tell you you're wrong for believing the way you do. I'm not trying to tell those who DO believe in ghosts that they are wrong, either.
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Never said that you did. I understand your position quite well. I don't think you really understood anything I was saying, so I believe that this conversation has come to it's conclusion.
 
They MIGHT exist. It's hard to prove it either way, and I've heard enough stories from people I know don't make shit to say for certain I don't believe they exist, but personally, I've never had a supernatural experience personally. If they exist, they exist, doesn't much matter to me
 
I believe in an objective reality governed by consistent natural laws.
I believe in the scientific method as a way to accept or reject explanations.
I believe that properly calibrated instruments in controlled environments are considerably more precise and reliable than human perception.
I also believe in Occam's razor as a good guideline to follow when dealing with insufficient data.

I cannot reconcile this set of beliefs with a belief in ghosts, thus I find them contradictory and must choose one over the other.
Given that I find GPS navigation, moon landings, nuclear reactors, particle colliders, polio vaccines, et cetera, to be convincing arguments for the former, I opt to reject the latter.

That said, I feel no compulsion to change anyone else's beliefs, and if your belief in ghosts makes you a happier person, far it be from me to argue against it.
... for as long as you show me the same courtesy by not trying to force your beliefs upon me.
 
Years ago, yes, i believed in ghosts.

Nowadays, i do not, not after i realized how some "serious researchers" turned out to be shady, profiting from the innocents..

It’s a huge shame to see.
 
No. Never did as a kid. Still don’t as an adult.

As for why. I’ve always been an analytical type of guy. While trying to reason the supernatural might just be an contradictory in it of itself due to it’s very nature. I’ve simply never been convinced of the existence of the paranormal because I was able to explain away what one could consider the supernatural after being brave and investigating the culprit of which I called supernatural. It was just a matter of time of when I would be able to solve the why to the what that had happened.
 
Revisiting after 2 years...

I still do not believe in the paranormal and the supernatural, but despite that (or maybe even because of that) I very much enjoy stories and roleplay that includes those elements. It is a fun escapism to immerse oneself into a world where the impossible is possible and the unexplainable is the norm.
 
I find ghosts incredibly fascinating as I do a lot of the paranormal. I'm very much a see-it-to-believe-it kind of person though and I've just not seen any evidence first hand that shifts my perspective. I love involving them in my writing though and I adore settings for games and the like where they are a focus.

I'm always in a weird spot when I have friends and family I trust who say they have had experiences. I don't think they are the kind of people to lie about it and just make the story up but I also can't, no matter how hard I try, believe it just based on their words. I love hearing about it but I always put it down to some kind of coincidence, some external circumstance that makes it seem as though it happened.
 
A bit of background on my perspective before I elaborate; I suffer from a schizoaffective disorder. This is typically accompanied by hallucinations, of course. Alongside this, I am firmly set in my beliefs as an agnostic. As a result, I've had the impression for the longest time that ghosts are just like religion; an agreed upon mass hallucination people point at to explain phenomena they have no logical explanation for. Now, have I myself seen shadows more on the walls, objects rattle for no reason, heard whistles and moans from cracks in the walls? Yes. But much like religion, while I don't dismiss it outright, I would need solid evidence to "believe" in ghosts.

Of course, they're fun to play around and imagine scenarios with as a creative, but that can be said about werewolves and zombies as well.
 
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