Ghosts and the Paranormal

[Diana]

I BELIEVE IN THE POSSIBILITY OF GHOSTS!

Do I like the idea of ghosts? Fuck no. That scares the shit out of me. I would rather ghosts not be real. >>

I've had enough strange personal experiences to at least make me wonder and question the possibility, though. o__o

 

[BrattyCommissar]

I believe in only one ghost.

And he had his own talk show.

 

[Jorick]

Nope, I don't believe in ghosts or other paranormal/supernatural things. They all fall under the same umbrella that covers religion for me: agnostic atheism. I'm of the opinion that they probably don't exist, but I can't be sure so I won't take any declarative stance on the matter. All it would take to change my mind is empirical, scientifically peer-reviewed evidence that proves the existence of ghosts.

I can't provide a source at the moment, but relatively recent brain studies have actually showed that consciousness is not entirely dependent on the brain, implying that the two are seperate entities. It's kind of more like the brain generates a non-physical emenation that is consciousness, and changes to the brain can affect it, but the two are not inherently the same thing. Food for thought.

Like Brovo, I'd like to get a source on this. I've never seen any solid scientific stuff about the consciousness being anything other than dependent on physical medium in the body. The closest I recall seeing to anything like the brain not being the sole arbiter of consciousness was something about the nervous system at large having something to do with it too, but even that is a physical thing rather than some non-physical consciousness entity.

On the other hand, scientists recently found a sort of on/off switch to human consciousness in the brain, where if they apply a little stimulus to this region (the claustrum) a person effectively goes into a coma, then when the stimulus is removed they're a sentient person again. This could mean that consciousness is housed entirely in the brain, and that the claustrum is the core of it. More research needs to be done, such as examining the claustrum in the brains of people in comas and vegetative states to see if such lesser or zero consciousness states have a correlative link to claustrum damage, but it's a promising step forward in uncovering the mysteries of consciousness.

 

[Hana]

I believe in the supernatural, but I've never really experienced anything for myself. My parents and relatives, though, have told stories.

Our home supposedly has these little childish spirits wandering around, and our past maids have also said the same thing. They're not human spirits, definitely not they said. My grandma said they were probably some sort of nature spirit that were here since before the house was built. My brother was able to see them when he was a little kid and they were apparently good imaginary friends. He certainly seemed happy talking to thin air.

I guess there was one time back in high school. We were walking with one friend of ours at one end of the hallway, or we thought we were. When we reached the other end he came from around the corner, and we wondered who the heck were we walking besides with earlier. I didn't really get the spooks from that though.

 

[Tempest]

Do I believe in ghosts? No, I don't. No real evidence that they exist. Do things sometimes happen that are spooky and strange? Yes. But you know what, I've found evidenced reasons for these things happening over the years. . . Other than the paranormal!

For example. My hearing, feeling, and seeing things over the years has been caused by psychosis, as is a side-effect of my later diagnosed bi-polar disorder. Basically, I would hallucinate these things or feed into delusions of things happening. It was easier to believe in these ideas of the supernatural/paranormal that are more commonly acceptable amongst peers than to admit "Hey! I might be a little bit on the crazier end of the spectrum and there really might NOT be something there!"

Other instances, such as with one of the buildings I work at which my co-workers and I joke is haunted is commonly plagued with strange noises, drafts that cause banging doors and so forth. Honestly, we've gone through and made lists of all the strange noises and things the house does throughout the night and been able to find the logical reason behind each and every one of them, given some time and searching. IE) The clattering of a vent on the roof because it is broke. A broken latch on the door makes it so it doesn't stay closed. The ice machine grinding. Vehicles passing by kicking up rocks as they pass that hit the door causing a "knocking".

In the end, I've found more reasons not to believe in ghosts than to believe in them. Just the way things have worked out *shrugs*

 

[redblood]

I'll copy Diana and say, I do believe in the possibility of ghosts.

I'm pretty neutral on the topic and has not formed a strong belief of their existence or non existence. I'm fascinated by ghosts and the paranormal and has done tons of research and even made some projects in my English class about paranormal stuff. (Got a B on that. YAY.)

I really like the theory that ghosts are a sort of recording that has been stuck in time because of strong emotions. The recording might be activated because another living human with strong emotions is close by, or because it has a kind of 'timer' so the recording shows once a year, once a month or every night at a certain time.

There's also the theory that ghosts are living human beings and that we're seeing glimpses of another dimension when we see ghosts.

So yeah, I'm pretty ghost geeky :3

 

[Gwazi Magnum]

Nah, there's a lack of scientific evidence to prove such a thing. And without evidence/proof it's not something I'm going to believe in.
Besides, most tales anyways normally turn out to be the result of altered footage, wishful thinking, the result of a mental disorder, someone's brain on drugs, someone's imagination run wild etc.

Though I do wish Ghost Nappa could exist, that would be cool.

 

[GhostJoker]

Yes, I do believe in both categories. Fortunantly, I have found a way to prevent them. Just ask this guy:

 

[Jerelin]

Yes, I believe in ghosts and the paranormal. Yes, I have also experienced things personally. If you want to know about my experiences, you can ask me in private because they are rather personal and I would rather not just tell everything in an open forum. So, PM me if you want to know.

It should be known that I have no mental disorders and I don't take any drugs. *glares at a certain post above*

 

[Razilin]

Nah, there's a lack of scientific evidence to prove such a thing. And without evidence/proof it's not something I'm going to believe in.
Besides, most tales anyways normally turn out to be the result of altered footage, wishful thinking, the result of a mental diagnosis, someone's brain on drugs, someone's imagination run wild etc.

Though I do wish Ghost Nappa could exist, that would be cool.

If i killed ghost nappa would I ding a level or two?

 

[Protagonist]

Do I believe in the supernatural?
In a sense. Part of the problem with this question is that...what does the term "supernatural" even mean? If you showed an Ipad to a caveman, he'd probably consider it to be "magic". In fact, we could even argue modern technology is in some way magic. For example, I have in my pocket, a device which communicates telepathically with "heavenly beings" in order to find out my position on this planet. This also works in reverse, as well. A being with "supernatural" powers could exist, but see its powers as completely natural. Ultimately, the "supernatural" is just things we currently can't understand, but likely will in the future. If there was a scientific understanding of the supernatural, it wouldn't be supernatural.


Do I believe in Ghosts?
No, but I do believe in Angels and Demons, which are kind of similar. However, I don't believe they interact with humans in the manner a ghost stereotypically would. I would say they're extremely subtle (IE, they don't rustle leaves. They whisper into your ear to make someone believe every unexplained rustling of leaves is a malevolent spirit-which can achieve the same essential effect as there actually being one).

Anyways, the bottom line is that I would avoid jumping to wild conclusions. I don't know what would be causing leg-pulling and lightswitching right off the top of my head, but it's ok for there to be things that you can't explain.

 

[LogicfromLogic]

I'm a high believer in spirits. I think there's more out there than the human eye can see, I've had too many experiences with the things that go bump in the night than not.

 

[The Ghost Note]

The only ghost I believe in is Lewis from the Mystery Skulls music video

 

[BrattyCommissar]

The only ghost I believe in is Lewis from the Mystery Skulls music video

That's a pretty cool design, actually.

 

[The Ghost Note]

That's a pretty cool design, actually.

You should see the full video

 

[Gwazi Magnum]

It should be known that I have no mental disorders and I don't take any drugs. *glares at a certain post above*

I listed more explanations that that. :P
Also note the words "Most" and "etc." showing I wasn't limiting it to just those, but rather was simply trying to cover the majority.

If i killed ghost nappa would I ding a level or two?

If I could make Ghost Nappa exist I'd make him impossible to kill.
Cause Ghost Nappa (or regular Nappa for that matter) is too awesome to let die. :P

 

[Brovo]

Also note the words "Most" and "etc." showing I wasn't limiting it to just those, but rather was simply trying to cover the majority.

Mate, I pretty blatantly stated my lack of belief in anything supernatural and even I don't broad stroke the majority who believe as being subject to madness, stupidity, or lies.

Human beings are imperfect byproducts of the environment, we have very limited sensory perception. (Examples: We have a limited range of hearing which is based on vibrations through the air, our sight is locked to a specific range of elecromagnetic waves thus preventing us from seeing x-rays which we know exist via scientific method, but have no ability to directly see, et cetera.) There is no reason to believe that there isn't something out there we as of yet simply cannot perceive directly save in vague glimpses or odd bodily twitches. (Example: Radiation is deadly to humans as its presence increases and can be felt through physical side effects, but isn't something we can perceive with human senses without electronic assistance.)

Now, obviously, being an atheist and a free thought one at that, I do not believe that which cannot be physically proven to exist, and relegate it solely to the realm of "I don't know", like everything else supernatural. However, my lack of belief is not evidence in and of itself that nothing of such nature does or does not exist, so to state broadly "everyone who has experiences with X must be lying, stupid, insane, et cetera" is a little... Controversial. Yes, we'll go with controversial.

tl;dr: Just because people believe something you don't doesn't necessarily mean that...

most (majority) tales anyways normally turn out to be the result of altered footage (lying), wishful thinking (stupidity), the result of a mental disorder (really?), someone's brain on drugs (... Really?), someone's imagination run wild etc.

 

[Gwazi Magnum]

Mate, I pretty blatantly stated my lack of belief in anything supernatural and even I don't broad stroke the majority who believe as being subject to madness, stupidity, or lies.

Human beings are imperfect byproducts of the environment, we have very limited sensory perception. (Examples: We have a limited range of hearing which is based on vibrations through the air, our sight is locked to a specific range of elecromagnetic waves thus preventing us from seeing x-rays which we know exist via scientific method, but have no ability to directly see, et cetera.) There is no reason to believe that there isn't something out there we as of yet simply cannot perceive directly save in vague glimpses or odd bodily twitches. (Example: Radiation is deadly to humans as its presence increases and can be felt through physical side effects, but isn't something we can perceive with human senses without electronic assistance.)

Now, obviously, being an atheist and a free thought one at that, I do not believe that which cannot be physically proven to exist, and relegate it solely to the realm of "I don't know", like everything else supernatural. However, my lack of belief is not evidence in and of itself that nothing of such nature does or does not exist, so to state broadly "everyone who has experiences with X must be lying, stupid, insane, et cetera" is a little... Controversial. Yes, we'll go with controversial.

tl;dr: Just because people believe something you don't doesn't necessarily mean that...

I get how it's possible and we might lack the means to prove it today. I wasn't trying to argue that, but rather I was saying most of the claims/proof etc. for it today aren't really proof or evidence at all but the result mostly of the traits I listed (not saying it disproves it, you can't prove a negative. But certainly doesn't count as proof for it being real either). If the scientific evidence can ever be found that such things exists I will just as gladly call myself out as being wrong.

most (majority) tales anyways normally turn out to be the result of altered footage (lying), wishful thinking (stupidity), the result of a mental disorder (really?),someone's brain on drugs (... Really?), someone's imagination run wild etc.

Most = Majority, =/= All.
So I wasn't describing everyone who believes in spirits, just the averages in the cases that I've personally found.

Mental Disorders, I should have elaborated.
I wasn't suggesting all mental disorders, or all people with them.
I mean in cases that it plays on people's mind to such a degree they believe it as real (Not just atm, but walking away afterwards still believing it as real and then telling others it's real [Not feeling real, but IS real]. Not sure if I'm wording myself well here :/).

I should have also elaborated that it's usually (if not always) is going to be a combination. For example, simply having X diagnosis or being on Y Drug may not cause it. But also with the right wishful thinking and the like it could result in them believing/claiming to see Ghosts/Supernatural. One again, not sure if I'm wording myself well here.

 

[Brovo]

Most = Majority, =/= All.

Mate, I pretty blatantly stated my lack of belief in anything supernatural and even I don't broad stroke the majority who believe as being subject to madness, stupidity, or lies.

 

[Pachamac]

I wish ghosts existed so that when I died I could become a ghost and freely walk through walls and into people's homes and stalk you all :>