Your View: Are Ghosts Real

1. alexlwe - March 15th, 2008 at 12:47 pm

I don’t think there are ghosts as hollywood portrays them. I believe more in spirits or lost souls. But I don’t believe in “hauntings” or anything of that nature.

2. killerAngels - March 15th, 2008 at 1:01 pm

“ghost hunters” and “ghost hunters international” do an interesting job at attempting to “scientifically” attack the question. of course, science can not definitively prove ghosts, but the ghost hunters have captured some interesting evidence on thermal imaging cameras, voice recorders, and video cameras. the fact that they disprove some of their clients’ claims of activities, helps me believe their findings more. shows that use mediums really have a hard time making me believe their findings, because i’m supposed to believe someone and can’t verify for myself what is happening.

3. Avi - March 15th, 2008 at 1:27 pm

no i honestly do not believe so. i am not religious and i do not see humans lasting longer than their own lifespan.
if there were ghosts then why are there not ghost roaches and dogs and things other than humans? it just seems like a random stupid superstition that gained popularity.

4. albert0 - March 15th, 2008 at 1:30 pm

Avi: How do you know that there arent? I mean, although you and I may not have experienced the supernatural at first hand, that does not mean that it does not exist.

5. Avi - March 15th, 2008 at 1:31 pm

i have no belief in a soul or anything that is not corporeal. no religion, no superstition, and nothing that has no possible explanation.
Carl Sagan is the best person to look to if you want to see logic about all this.

6. codman - March 15th, 2008 at 1:37 pm

i dont think ghosts are real because it goes against the laws of science. Think about when someone dies, part of them is left behind. how does it get their? and what is the thing that gets left behind that you cant feel in life?

7. Jeremiah - March 15th, 2008 at 1:39 pm

Im glad you mention Sagan. Speaking as a fellow secular Humanist. I actually do belive in left over energy from the dead. I use the basic principal of the law of conservation of matter. In which it states that energy can be neither created nor destroyed in a non-nuclear reaction. And since the human body is a wonderfuly intragate power plant it leave the question to be asked about where dose that energy go when one dies?

8. Phillies - March 15th, 2008 at 1:46 pm

Yes, I’m sure they exist. Call me nuts, but when I was younger, I could see and hear them. And, yes, ghosts are the number one thing that I am afraid of. I can’t watch ghost hunting shows or it keeps me up at night.

9. estefan - March 15th, 2008 at 1:52 pm

Well, I think there is quite a bit of anectodal evidence to suggest there is a phenomenon here (apparitions, etc.) I know I witnessed a radio and a television spontaneously turn their volumes up very high within about 15 minutes of each other. On the other hand, I am irreligious and extremely skeptical of the idea that one’s “spirit” can survive after death. Bottom line: I believe in “ghosts” in the sense that I think there are a lot of unexplained things that go bump in the night. What the causes of those unexplained things are I have not even the faintest clue.

As for the idea that one’s energy “goes somewhere” when one dies, well, your energy is held together in the framework of your body and brain when you’re alive and I would think it would just dissipate randomly when you die. Thinking that the energy holds itself together as your spirit when you die is sort of like saying that the energy your toaster uses floats away as a spirit toaster after your toast pops.

10. Yaji - March 15th, 2008 at 1:54 pm

There are no ghosts. How can there be? To see they would need eyes to catch light, to feel a nervous system, to think a brain etc etc.

People who believe in ghosts forget these fundamental facts. Sight, feelings etc aren’t “magic”. Our body parts are responsible

11. Thepennymachine - March 15th, 2008 at 2:01 pm

look look. Many pictures have very faint faces in them, but if you look hard enough anywhere a face will appear because that is what your mind is structuring in the picture for you. Plus Jaji is right. They would need a functional brain to be aware and they would need vocal chords to say those faint messeges. Where would they come from and how would they be aware of… anything?

12. Thepennymachine - March 15th, 2008 at 2:02 pm

Sorry i meant Yaji. Not Jaji

13. Arisma - March 15th, 2008 at 2:08 pm

I have had enough personal experiences that I do have belief in supernatural phenomena. I don’t, however, have any proof or even faith that such occurances were the result of anything that had ever been human.

14. LordCalvert - March 15th, 2008 at 2:25 pm

To those of you who don’t believe. If you actually see one, you’ll change your mind real quick. It happened to me. I saw a man walking up a flight of stairs at my grandparents old house. It wasn’t really scary. It was just there, then it was gone.

15. anthony p - March 15th, 2008 at 2:28 pm

taking bets on this turning into another debate on religion, ill give you good odds

16. satori - March 15th, 2008 at 2:32 pm

I guess I must be crazy or something because I’ve personally experienced things of the “unexplainable” variety when it comes to hauntings or events we attribute to ghosts (whatever that word means). For this reason I firmly believe there is something that has yet to be explained. I don’t want to call it “ghosts” or “hauntings” but I do call them paranormal. But again, I’m just out of my mind-oh, and so is my husband, and my mother, and my brother who’ve all experienced something of a paranormal nature. We’re all just a happy bunch of nut jobs over here!

17. Ladygalaxy26 - March 15th, 2008 at 2:40 pm

I do believe in ghosts, very much. I don’t know about “left over energy”. I believe that the soul lives on. Wether is goes to heaven, or it lingers for awhile. Most ghosts haunt because they were killed tragically, or are in purgatory. Spirits do remain, I get vibes when a spirit or ghost is around. my sister actually sees ghosts, the women in my family have a very strong ability for ESP. What are you talking about toaster ovens for? Also my very best friend is a Paranormal Investigator, and she actually gets pose-es-ed by spirits. They talk threw her, it sounds not real. I have seen it first hand..Have you ever seen “The Excorisem Of Emily Rose”? (excuse me I can’t spell) That was a true story, based on true events. Read up on it!

18. Steve Wilkos - March 15th, 2008 at 3:03 pm

no, its a childish belief that gained popularity because people are afraid of death.

19. sonia - March 15th, 2008 at 3:07 pm

yes. i believe in them. there are too many unexplained things that have happened in the past. my aunt sees them all the time and i have even seen one. but they scare me to death to be honest!!!

xxxx

20. Ladygalaxy26 - March 15th, 2008 at 3:11 pm

Actually Steve you can go about your little life, and believe what ever you feel. I am afraid of death, but that simply has nothing to do with the supernatural. A Childish belief you say, hmmm. Well I guess your the only grown up, cause the 98 percent of us chilern to believe in this. Sorry your life is completely boring.

21. Joshua - March 15th, 2008 at 3:19 pm

no, i don’t believe in ghosts, however i do believe in evil spirits who are sent to distract and scare those with weak religion.

yes, i believe in the Christian God, and the Bible, which clearly states:

For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten. Ecc. 9:5.

It’s quiet black and white for me, however, all of the atheists out there will not agree based on my premise. Thats fine, I’m just stating what I believe.

22. Joshua - March 15th, 2008 at 3:22 pm

@Ladygalaxy26: that sounds like a personal attack because you don’t like his opinion. As for the 98% number, that’s not believable by any means.

23. Ladygalaxy26 - March 15th, 2008 at 3:24 pm

It’s not a personal attack, I was just commenting to his using of the “Childish”….I consider that a personal attack!

24. rebel - March 15th, 2008 at 3:46 pm

Ladygalaxy26: 98% of people believe in ghosts? Judging by the comments alone about 50% believe in ghosts. Which is a much more reasonable estimate i think. By the way there is no such thing as ghosts. Its impossible to have a functioning (for lack of a better word) “body” without a central nervous system.

25. Cyn - March 15th, 2008 at 3:48 pm

“I am probably agnostic on this point..”

you said agnostic? OMG! *grinz*

but uh, no. no ghosts. tricks of light or camera or whatnot.

26. mandysparky - March 15th, 2008 at 4:00 pm

no lol

27. Csimmons - March 15th, 2008 at 4:44 pm

theres a good chance this will turn a into a debate about religion, but until then lets talk about ghosts.

My answer is no, i believe all ghosts are just a trick of light, although i am a little believing since i used to live by Waverly Hills Sanitorium, about 64,000 people died there and i always heard moans and shit at night.

28. nms - March 15th, 2008 at 4:45 pm

i wonder why i havent seen one =[

people who believe in them sees them, why? because their belief in them is so strong that they are fooled by their own brain

29. charlie - March 15th, 2008 at 4:46 pm

I love reading the posts here. Instead of just giving our own view points we seem to try and bash other’s belief system whether it be science or religion or the belief in ghosts or what not. personally i believe in ghosts why i have no idea. i have no factual documentation to back it up for our scientific folk i just believe good enough for me.
i guess there are so many things that are unexplained in this life that too shut ones mind down because it doesn’t fit our preconcieved notions is a little small minded in my opinion.

30. ahumado - March 15th, 2008 at 4:51 pm

I doubt they exist, but I’m not sure. but I do know one thing; the human mind is unstable and not very reliable.

31. Dan - March 15th, 2008 at 5:07 pm

I think it has something to do with a longing for life after death. Personally I don’t believe in ghosts as they are widely believed, like creepy figures and stuff like haunted houses.

32. goof_ball - March 15th, 2008 at 5:14 pm

“Ghosts” are not real, like the whole white sheet for Halloween thing. I do, however, believe in spirits that you can feel or sence, but not see.

33. jevanzz - March 15th, 2008 at 5:14 pm

I don’t think I’ve posted on this site before, although I have be reading and enjoying the lists for a couple of months now. This ‘Your View’ piqued my interest because of my experiences, albeit very weak experiences compared to other people’s.

At one time when I was younger, I stayed at an converted barn house owned by an old lady who was renting it out so she could afford to stay in the house just next door. Anyhoo, one night there was a power cut. Now I know this sounds very clichéd but there was a power cut, and we were forced to bring out the wax candles. I needed to loo, and went upstairs with a candle. I placed the candle on the side of the bath, and proceded to unzip. After around 5-10 seconds I began to feel faint, and rather than just falling backwards - I felt as though I were being gently lowered. Note that my parents and brother were still downstairs at this moment. When I awoke the candle was out, and I was lead on the landing. The room my brother and I slept in looked out onto that landing, needless to say I didn’t sleep the whole night.

Also, on a ‘ghost walk’ I got dragged along on, my dad supposedly caught an ‘orb’ on camera - a week after his aunt had died. I find no proof in ‘orbs’ though, and often put them down to other light sources or dust and such.

My own view? I’d like to believe there was some sort of afterlife linked to the paranormal, but I can’t seem to believe it, there just isn’t enough proof for me.

I was brought up in an atheist family, though we do have close Christian friends.

34. blaze fielding - March 15th, 2008 at 5:18 pm

i think there is ghosts and such. ive never actually seen anything which would definatly convince me though, however im sure i have a few ghost cats in my house. hahaha. i was walking down the hall and saw a cat run under my feet, and i leaped about 4ft into the air out of its way! after that, i saw cats in the corner of my eye, and my dad even saw one run across his bedroom. its kinda strange really.

(id like to point out that we dont have any pet cats, and they deff. arent living ones in my house…haha)

35. goof_ball - March 15th, 2008 at 5:19 pm

RANDOM “GHOST” FACT!!!

I forget where I heard this, but there were experiments done(not evil experiments) and apperantly the human soul weighs 21 grams or something like that.

I just thought I’d add that…

36. jevanzz - March 15th, 2008 at 5:23 pm

@ goof_ball

I believe that was scientists or someone weighing a person before their death and after, with the difference being 21 grams, thus believing that the soul had left and weighed 21 grams. I don’t know about souls, believe it was actually something to do with loss of bodily fluids, as that definitely happens when you die

37. Jeremiah - March 15th, 2008 at 5:25 pm

@ Goofball It was Dr. Duncan MacDougall.
Heres the article. http://www.snopes.com/religion/soulweight.asp

38. SubliminalDeath666 - March 15th, 2008 at 5:29 pm

Of course ghosts exist! I mean there are five things that can happen when we die:
1. We go to either a heaven or a hell.
2. Reincarnation.
3. We become ghosts.
4. Everything is black, (which is the scientific theory.)
and 5. Everything is a dream and whatever you think about, like your family, friends, playboy bunnies, a big house with a green yard, anything comes true!!

PS: I personally love number three, and by the way, this is what I think could happen, It’s just a theory.

39. SubliminalDeath666 - March 15th, 2008 at 5:33 pm

Ghosts are awesome!!

40. Arisma - March 15th, 2008 at 5:38 pm

Just to clarify, I’m not religious and certainly not Christian.

41. SubliminalDeath666 - March 15th, 2008 at 5:43 pm

Arisma: Yeah the only thing worse than a Christian is a Scientologist! XD

42. Namowal - March 15th, 2008 at 5:44 pm

Ghosts? Probably not. Some of my friends think they’re real, but they have a ghosts-are-real mindset, where every strange noise, temperature change, lost item, corner-of-the-eye sighting and hypnopompic hallucination (where you’re half dreaming and see stuff in your bedroom) is interpreted as a ghost.
As Joe Nickel put it, “There’s no haunted houses, just haunted minds”

43. JL - March 15th, 2008 at 5:46 pm

Yeah, I believe them because I saw one… Although nobody believes me which gets annoying…
If you want a story, I was home alone. Something touched my shoulder, and when I turned around I saw a young man’s face. He waved at me and faded away.

44. SubliminalDeath666 - March 15th, 2008 at 5:51 pm

JL: That’s cool!

45. Kayla - March 15th, 2008 at 6:19 pm

It actually surprises me at how many people don’t believe in them.. Though of course, these days, you can easily photoshop a picture to make it look like a ghost, and people start to believe a hair or a spot on the lens is a ghost or an orb.
Call me crazy, dismiss me all you want.. I believe in them, and I’ve seen one.

46. Nelia - March 15th, 2008 at 6:20 pm

I lived in a supposedly haunted house for awhile. Weird things happened, but they were fairly mundane and easily explainable, so I won’t list them all. The one weird thing that wasn’t so easy to explain was the man my family kept seeing. Just your average, middle aged man. I saw him walk by a doorway, my mom saw him walk up alongside her. She turned to him and he was gone. My youngest sister saw him to, walking down the stairs.
Sure, this is all explained by over active imaginations, spots in your eyes, being tired… And if you really pressed me to say “i saw a ghost,” I’d probably say “nah, probably not.”
But what it comes down to for me is, I can’t prove they exist, I can’t prove they don’t, and frankly it is more fun to believe. Does it really matter if I say they do or do not exist? Does it become a huge part of my personality? No, so I am not going to worry to much and just enjoy believing. Doubt I’ll ever change my mind, even if they are unlikely. If they exist, it probably doesn’t have much to do with science as we know it anyway.
Jfrater - I’m just thinking of how creeped out I got at that old listverse list with the top ten ghost videos. If I got that nervous, I must believe!
And while this is just begging to turn into yet another religious debate - allow me to formally enter my plea that it does not.

47. Concerned Observer - March 15th, 2008 at 6:23 pm

Personally, I believe, though I am a child so please do not judge. I had quite a paranormal experience when I was roughly 9 years old, I was trying to go to bed in an old house in which my family was vacationing (it was our first night there, in Stonington, Maine), and it felt as if there were cobwebs everywhere. All around me, there were cobwebs (under the covers, that is), and I just couldn’t get rid of them. I ran down to my parents, brought them up there, yet they felt nothing, though I still did. I was naturally horrified, and I remember vividly staying up the entire night, unable to fall asleep until daybreak.

It should be mentioned that from then on, I have suffered from a sleeping disorder and I have a (fraternal) twin brother. I am 12.

48. Concerned Observer - March 15th, 2008 at 6:26 pm

Oh, and allow me to also formally express my plea that this will not turn into another religious debate, it just clouds the heads of the people here, and steers us away from the original topic.

49. spence425 - March 15th, 2008 at 6:56 pm

in my mind, it’s a similar question to “do aliens exist?”.

i have a hard time saying absolutely not. though i’ve never seen evidence of either, there are a lot of things i’ve never seen evidence of.

so, long story short, i guess my answer is yes, i think ghosts exist in some form or another.

50. SV - March 15th, 2008 at 6:59 pm

Although I have yet to see any real proof of paranormal, right now I do believe ghosts are real. Being an atheist, I have no belief in god and the whole life after death in a better place idea, but I do believe that we may still have a way to influence our environment after we pass on if our will at the time of death is exceptionally strong. One thing I would like to do before I die is actually visit and experience the places that are claimed as “haunted” throughout the world. People may convince you ghosts do or do not exist through argument, but the only way of truly finding the answer is through personal effort. While I do not have the means of such a thing now, I would definitely like to do so sometime either alone or with others who share the same need to find out. And face it, it is a pretty big question, as silly as it may seem for some. I’m just surprised someone has not investigated this on a mass scale professional level.
Actual solid proof or mere existence of something, anything really, after death would shatter our whole view of the world.

51. Csimmons - March 15th, 2008 at 7:17 pm

spence425: you can’t really compare aliens and ghosts, for one, its logical that aliens exist because theres such a large universe and we can’t be the only life-form, and two, most ghosts pictures are a trick of light, the others photo-shopped, so you can’t be sure unless you see ‘em, or you live by a truly haunted place like i have.

52. macabresoren - March 15th, 2008 at 7:36 pm

I most definitely believe in not just ghosts, but the supernatural as a whole. I’m by no means religious, but in the war of faith vs. science, I’m definitely on the side of faith. Science is not the be-all and end-all of what is and isn’t.

53. copperdragon - March 15th, 2008 at 7:38 pm

ghosts? yeah, i think so.

living objects on earth must leave some sort of imprint on the time/space fabric. some are just stronger imprints than others. and there have been reports of ghost animals (usually horses in “haunted” battlefields).

have i experience a ghost? no. but i don’t have to see or feel something to believe it.

54. fishing4monkeys - March 15th, 2008 at 7:39 pm

I’m somewhere between alexlwe (1st comment) and jfrater on this one…

55. JwJwBean - March 15th, 2008 at 7:40 pm

*Warning Book alert* You do not have to read the whole thing. They are just ghost stories that may or may not be ghosts.

I am not sure I believe in ghosts and usually discredit most pictures of them. I will share some possible ghost stories tho. I think there are logical explanations for the ones that happened to me. The ones my mom told me are a bit harder because I did not experience it. I will start with my mom’s stories. The house my stepdad lived in with his exwife had a figure that kind of stood in the wall in the kitchen. I never saw this so am not sure of how to explain. She also said when going to the basement you walked down some steps, then there was a landing and you turned and walked down more steps. When on the laning she said oyu could hear a party. Clinking glasses, music, and people laughing. As soon as youwere off the lanidng you didn’t hear it anymore. Again I didn’t experience this.
Here are my stories. We lived in an apartment. The smaller room always kind of gave me the creeps. Just an odd feeling. This turned out to be the room we used for the kids. When they were very small (pretalking) they would laugh and “play” with something over my shoulder. This happened once when I was feeding my oldest son. I said whatever it was needed to stop because I needed for him to eat. He stopped. Now that could be because he heard me say this. A few times the kids’ toys would play by themselves. There was an electronic Mickey and Friends moiton activated Merry Go Round in the playpen in the living room. It just started playing by itself. Course we lived in an apartment that was older and the toy was kind of on its side. Maybe a vibration in the building set it off. Someone closing a door or something. We had a tinkle duck. Like a weeble. When you pushed it it made a tinkling noise. It did this once on its own in the bathroom. Again old building, vibrations, yada, yada. When the boys were out of town things happened more. Once we heard pots and pans make noise in the kitchen. Again vibrations? Same with a spoon scraping a metal bowl. This one I am not so sure how to explain. Maybe a cobweb or some thing we couldn’t see. I was sitting at the puter. There was a bookcase next to it. I felt something very lightly touch my arm. I thought maybe a hair or web. I felt all around and was really creeped out. My husband didn’t believe me. He sat there for a bit. Suddnely turning to me with wide eyes. I yelled, “Something touched you didn’t it!” He nodded slowly. My youngest son had an “imaginary” friend he would “play” with. He said Chucky protected him. Shortly after telling us about Chucky he stopped “showing up”.

Sorry for the novel. I know it is against the rules, but it was this or spam the boards with each individual story.

56. Mullaccio - March 15th, 2008 at 8:07 pm

They are good material for movies and books etc. But to think seriously that there is spirits floating around us is pretty ridiculous. What would they do all day? Im sure the novelty of being able to pass through walls would wear off pretty quickly!!!

57. Lizzie - March 15th, 2008 at 8:21 pm

I’ve been a believer in the paranormal my whole life. It’s only natural that there are some things in this world that still cannot be explained. Whether they will have an explanation one day remains to be seen.

In the meantime, I will continue to wonder who it is that stands behind me and taps my arm and whispers my name; who knocks glass ornaments and photo frames off my shelves; who used to make my dog stare over my shoulder and get all excited like he could see a friend behind me; and I will continue to wonder who it was I saw standing at the base of our staircase in the middle of the afternoon when I was the only one home.

So yes, I’m a believer.

58. Ghost Hunter123 - March 15th, 2008 at 8:43 pm

Swear ta God frickin’ ghost swear ta God.

59. JLo - March 15th, 2008 at 8:58 pm

I ain’t afraid of no ghosts…

60. Emily - March 15th, 2008 at 9:03 pm

I’m not one to be a true believer in anything. I don’t believe in God, and I don’t believe in heaven or hell, but one question I keep asking myself is — What makes a human being tick?? In other words, we humans have a body - organs, blood, brains, etc. (I know, you’re thinking, No shit, Sherlock), but put all those together, and, by evolutionary means and biological needs, our minds should just be set on the simple tasks of eating, sleeping, going to the bathroom, etc. (surviving, basically) because we are, in fact, animals, but the thing that makes us different from all other animals is the fact that something gives us the ability to rationalize and be intellectual with each other. What is it that makes us humans tick like that?? Now, I’m no scientist, but I’ve got this sort of “theory” that sure, humans have souls, but I don’t think that there is an ultimate soul (a God) that passes judgment on all other souls when they physically leave the body. I kinda think that when a soul leaves a dead body it sort of “floats” about to find another “host,” I guess, in an unborn child (just deal with me here . . .) Just imagine a tiny spec from a flower floating in the wind, and imagine it landing on something and bringing it to life. A lost soul landing in an unborn child could be the exact moment life starts for the tiny human. Who knows??? That’s one way I look at it. Still, how do you explain psychics and all that? Sure, I don’t believe that someone can tell you your future or everything about yourself, but I’ve had some friends and my sister who have gone to see psychics before, and these ladies (they all seem to be ladies, don’t they?) knew about MY existence — people whom I’ve NEVER met before. For instance, this lady told my sister that the spirits knew she had one sister (me), and her name began with an E (my name is Emily) WTF? I know that something like that isn’t too impressive, but still, the fact that there are “things” out there that cannot be seen by the naked eye — things that are just as aware of their surroundings as living humans — things with the ability to recognize and memorize — things that carry with them an ounce or more of knowledge — freaks the fuck outta me (I don’t know about you guys). But it kinda makes you wonder what the hell goes on in the “beyond.”

61. Concerned Observer - March 15th, 2008 at 9:33 pm

Hmm, JF, would repeatedly saying “I’m posting this until I’ve made the most comments” be counted as pointless? Because, to me, it has a point

62. Kathryn - March 15th, 2008 at 9:42 pm

Sort of.. I agree with whoever said anything about Ghost Hunters how they have caught some interesting and non-fake stuff on camera, but have also solved some things. I think there are spirits around, and they are not in our imagination. From my own strange experiences, I say yes, in a way ghosts are “real”. (I am an atheist if that has any reflection on my answer)

63. umm - March 15th, 2008 at 9:43 pm

They’re real. Just go to any oldish place and stay around for a while. The farms around where i live are loaded with them. Soldiers, little kids, whole families…yea they’re real. However, I doubt many the pictures trying to prove them are real. I’m not at all religious but honestly when you see one its just crazy. My friend has blood running down her walls and an old lady appearing in mirrors…the whole thing. It’s creepy.

64. Coxy2500 - March 15th, 2008 at 9:45 pm

Well i think that they are real.
I’ve seen tv shows and been on the tour’s and yes they are real i myself have seen them in photos i took at a place i visited not long ago

65. Miss Destiny - March 15th, 2008 at 10:08 pm

I think they’re real. I’ve never seen one, but I still believe. I’ve never seen God and I still believe, I suppose it’s along the same lines, except I don’t worship ghosts. I just find the whole afterlife thing pretty fascinating. I have no idea what’s waiting for us, if anything, after our time here is over. But as interested as I am, I’m not really in any hurry to find out! (haha)

66. Tjgrs - March 15th, 2008 at 10:09 pm

Personally i think they are real. I didn’t read all these posts, but earlier, i heard someone say that they’re aren’t ghost roaches or dogs or anything, and thats not true for people who do believe in them. I have never heard of a ghost roach, but i have heard of a ghost dog, cat, and even birds. More than anything i think it is a build up of emotional, and possibly psychic energy, that is left behind by certain people in significant places to them, i.e. the place they died, the place the lived most of they’re lives, a favorite room or street or playground, something to that effect. It’s sort of the memory of a person, rather than the spirit of the person. To best explain my view, it is imprint left by a person in a certain area of a high importance to that person when they were once there.
I have heard of ghosts of people who are not yet dead. May sound weird. Here’s an example. A boy spent his spent the best years of his life in his room. It’s where he played with friends, where he lost his virginity, he site of the most joyous things in his life. Then his family moves. It is possible, in certain events that I’ve heard, that the joy and happiness the boy had could be left behind in the room, as sort of a memory that manifests itself into a ghost. I know it’s weird, but I’ve heard it from many different people.
So that’s my insight, i do believe in ghosts, but i don’t believe in hauntings or anything like that till i see or experience it myself.

67. Schiesl - March 15th, 2008 at 10:17 pm

http://www.ghostresearch.org/g.....mpton.html

this is the famous hampton ghost

68. JwJwBean - March 15th, 2008 at 10:23 pm

Why would a ghost need to use a handrail?

69. Tjgrs - March 15th, 2008 at 10:27 pm

they’re not hand rails, its a window, he opened the windows, theres a video of it

70. Emily - March 15th, 2008 at 10:53 pm

ok . . . that picture just freaked me out . . . thanks schiesl! Now i’m not gunna be able to sleep 2nite! lol!

71. Phender_Bender - March 15th, 2008 at 10:54 pm

If you think about our scientific advancements over the past 1000 years, then I wonder where we’ll be in the next 1000 years. Jamie, this whole topic just blew my mind, I can’t even write a complete thought! Thanks, there goes my sleep tonight, I’ll just be thinking about this…

Anyway, I do believe in ghosts. When my little sister was 2 or so years old, and I was 7 or 8 she came into the room where me and my mother were making dinner and started speaking English. At the time no one in my family besides my older sister, who lived in New York, spoke English (we lived in Morocco). She barely spoke Arabic, but she said she saw a ghost, or angel. So I guess that’s why I believe.

72. Hayzeus - March 15th, 2008 at 11:02 pm

I wish ghosts were real- it’d be definitve proof of some form of afterlife.

But none of the evidence bears much scrutiny. None.

73. AlyshiaH - March 15th, 2008 at 11:16 pm

Umm i totaly think that they are real. I have a gohst named George that follows me around every time i move to a new house. He moves stuff that i ahvent put away, and brews coffee and eats my cakes! Also on my sons baby monitor i have picked up a woman talking to him. Used to happen every night when he was new born, talking to him and singing to him to get him to sleep (noone was in the room with him and she always used his name)Now it only happens at about 230 in the morning when he wakes up cuz he just went poop.

74. Phender_Bender - March 15th, 2008 at 11:18 pm

AlyshiaH: Thats scary! Someone talking to your baby, yikes!

75. lost654 - March 15th, 2008 at 11:35 pm

i believe in ghost due the events that i experienced when i was 13

one night i heard a banging in the kitchen like someone dropped a few pans. i went to see what happened maybe my mother fell or got hurt but no one was there. a toaster fell off the counter . the toaster could not have slipped due to it was not plugged and it was in the middle of the counter. i told my parents and they disregarded it. it was calm but after a few days but then small objects would move around and fall and i would hear clearly some voices. my parents being religous had the house blessed and nothing happened afterwards.

in my new house theres seems to be odd things such as my printer somehow printing blank pages and my tv turning on but i disregard it as they maybe malfunctioning

76. Jono - March 15th, 2008 at 11:48 pm

If ghosts are a spirit of some form, then when does the spirit come into existence? When the sperm enters the egg, the sperm has a little bit of spirit? Are young men wiling away some of their spirit in quiet nights? Is it when the zygote splits into two?
There is no logical reason to believe a spirit enters the equation at this stage, or at any other stage. So why can it exit, without ever entering?

Personally I think ghosts are a load of pish-posh. However, I have a small doubt about other paranormal activities. I’m not entirely sure how some people can apparently use ESP and other related phenomenon. I think there may be an overlap or con-artists and genuine ability, but I’m unsure.

77. ElleMNOP - March 16th, 2008 at 3:40 am

JFrater: Already wrote you an email, but could you please caption your photographs? For instance, the image above is …?

78. jfrater - March 16th, 2008 at 3:43 am

ElleMNOP: Got that - thanks The image above is the Brown Lady of Raynham Hall.

79. EnglishRose - March 16th, 2008 at 5:28 am

I believe in ghosts because i believe that there is something more after we die. I’m not religious or a fanatic its just we dont have proof either way. If you look at near death experiences there have been some instances where the person has been clinically brain dead. No electrical impulses at all yet- when they ‘return from the dead’ they were able to re-tell what happened in the operating table for example in the moments after their brain stopped functioning. If our conscious isnt in our brain then where is it? And if it doesnt die as we die then there is a good chance it survives long after our death.

80. Tonny SS - March 16th, 2008 at 5:53 am

I believe in it, but I thought of them more like the image ghosting on LCD screen, in the real world that is.

I don’t think it’s the real spirit of a person, more like an imprint.

81. Tonny SS - March 16th, 2008 at 5:57 am

Frankly man, I see nothing special about Hampton Court Ghost, probably just a guy in costume.

82. Mom424 - March 16th, 2008 at 6:26 am

Nope, doesn’t make sense. Even if there is an altered consciousness after death, why would there be need of a corporeal body to communicate?
Until I experience one of course

83. Lorcan - March 16th, 2008 at 6:34 am

Fact is, humans have been in existence for, scientifically speaking, the blink of an eye. It seems extremely arrogant and ignorant to me that we claim we “know” that these things do not exist when we have so much more to learn about the universe as we know it, when there are things in the universe even our science cannot explain fully (black holes, what exactly happens beyond the point of the event horizon… etc). Therefore to my mind, I cannot in full confidence say that these things do not exist. The truth is, our science is still in diapers, we cannot say beyond a reasonable doubt that we fully comprehend our existence or that of the universe. We’re beginning to, but we still have a very long way to go yet.

So I’m open to it, all else is ignorance and arrogance.

84. Jeff OTF - March 16th, 2008 at 8:33 am

Why aren’t ghosts naked? Do the clothes they wear have a soul too?

85. the hound - March 16th, 2008 at 8:38 am

I have an answer to Lorcan. it’s the Aztecs. The Aztec calander has corectly predicted events of the world for the past thousands of years (for example, the world trade center attack). The thing is though, the Aztec Calender ends on December 21st 2012 (My birthday, yikes!) the Aztecs believe that this is the end of human existence. that is, this generation of humans. after we are whiped out by means that are too long to explain right now, evolution will take it’s toll again, and in millions of years new humans will evolve. this process is said to repeat 7 or 8 more times. on the 6th time, humans are said to become so spiritual that they will have TELEKENETIC ABILITIES. yeah, i said it. then on the 6th, we are to become so spiritual that we will meet God, or the spiritual afterlife.

86. Sandy - March 16th, 2008 at 8:50 am

Ghosts? No. But something does happen, especially between loved ones which defies the “normal” experience. I’ve had a number of experiences, beginning in childhood, which lead me to believe there is a strong bond between family members. For example:
1 - When I was 7 I woke up one night to see my grand-father standing, naked, in the doorway to my bedroom. Neither the fact that he was naked, nor the fact that he lived 1000 miles away, startled me. He said, “Good-bye Sandy”, and was gone. The next day my dad received a call informing him that his father had died during the night.

2 - The night before my wedding my family and my soon to be husband’s family enjoyed a lovely dinner at my mother-in-law’s house.
Soon after dinner my parents left to go home, as my father had the habit of “early to bed, early to rise”. About 15 minutes later, as I was standing to begin clearing the table, the kitchen phone rang. I was literally thrown against the wall immediately abutting the phone.
The call was from my mother, my dad had collapsed while at a gas station on the way home.
My almost husband and I rushed to his car, hoping to get to the station before the EMTs. The inside of the car reeked of vomit, but only to me, and it hadn’t any smell on the way to the dinner.
We arrived as my dad was being loaded into the ambulance. He had been vomiting heavily before he clutched his chest and collapsed on the cement.
He’d had a heart attack, which he survived, but had been lifeless when the ambulance arrived. The EMTs had revived him.

I’ve had countless experiences like these 2, but I do not believe they were “ghosts”.
Exactly what they were I couldn’t say…just not ghosts.

87. Csimmons - March 16th, 2008 at 8:53 am

I believe in the white sheet ghosts at haloween, those are real, the others, a trick of light. If you took a light and positioned it the right way you’d see a weird image, A.K.A. a ghost. And I lived by a severely haunted place, very creepy, but i never saw any ghosts.

88. Jake - March 16th, 2008 at 9:25 am

I never used to believe in ghosts until I was 15. My dad had bought me a Ouija board for my birthday, thinking it was all fun and games. So me and my sister were playing around with it one day. Now, we used to play around with it every other night and I was always sure she was moving the thing. The day in question, we had several of our friends over playing with us. None of them believed it was real, and they wanted us to prove it. So we asked “George”, the ghost, to prove he’s real. At that same EXACT moment, all the power in our house went off.

Now, everyone in the house was in an the kitchen. No one was near any circuit breakers or fuse boxes or anything. Of course, we were all freaked out and took off running, lol. I never liked being in the kitchen again.

Of course I realize it could all be a coincidence. But it seems a bit too coincidental to me. Who knows? I don’t think there’s anyway anyone can prove or disprove it. There will always be believers and non-believers.

89. Concerned Observer - March 16th, 2008 at 9:47 am

I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve had some ESP moments. May have something to do with my being a twin, or being born (along with my brother) at 12:12 am. But what I do know for sure is that I have had odd things happen. Once, I had an incredibly vivid dream, and these things (I got the feeling that they were small, yet wise) were discussing the fate of humanity. Apparently, when we die (they said) we either:

A. Wander the Earth by choice, not for eternity, but for some time

B. (this does happen eventually to the wanderers) we are brought before the 12 Old ones, and are eventually reincarnated

And apparently, this shall be the cycle, until the Cleansing has occurred 6 more times (It’s already occurred twice, apparently).

Then we shall go into an Afterlife of Prosperity.

I can’t verify the veracity of this, but it was incredibly vivid… Of course there were other things as well. I remember, during one insane night I was alone with my dad, I started to see everything through a white film, and I was coughing and spluttering the entire night. I felt as if I couldn’t breath, like everything was ending. I was hysterical, and there was no explanation for my behavior. It turns out that my brother, 100 miles away, had just gone into anaphylactic shock

90. TLP - March 16th, 2008 at 10:18 am

Since the advent of digital cameras, the % of ghost photos has dropped dramatically.
Whether it’s because better cameras => better photos, or because zombies hate technology, this is remains to be seen.

btw: Ghosts are immaginary

91. Tonny SS - March 16th, 2008 at 11:16 am

One might argue, ghost can be captured on the film, not digital format. Though I believed most was a mistake during film developing, natural phenomenon.

92. Tjgrs - March 16th, 2008 at 11:28 am

Ok i wrote this once and my computer shut down, nothing crazy, it ran out of battery. So here it goes. Certain believers, such as myself, believe that you can only, or most likely, see a ghost under two circumstances.

1. Being open and inviting to the idea of ghosts and be wanting and willing to see them.

2. Being unaware and unassuming of the existence of ghosts or presence of a ghost.

I personally have had experiences with ghosts, which i believe are real, but only when i was willing to be able to see or hear them. This could be discounted as me being open to the idea, thus creating a heightened sense of things around me and making lights on the walls or mouse noises seem like something more than they are. But when you see a man walk through your room and through a wall in broad day light, or here your name repeated 3 or four times, not just once with no one else in the house, absolutly no one. Or when you see an actual mist go up stairs…well I end to believe.

And for everyone that saying no…of course not. This is where it is. If you don’t believe fine. That’s your own personal belief. If you do believe, fine again, that’s your own personal belief. And if you find yourself that shaken by a topic like this that you need to shut people down or discredit their beliefs then maybe you are just that much closer to losing faith in your own beliefs, and that says wonders about the beliefs you hold. Also, I know that Catholics aren’t actually supposed to believe in the existence of ghosts because when you soul leaves you body it goes to heaven/hell/purgatory but I’ve had more experiences with Catholic people at Catholic colleges, and even one including a priest, to believe that i’m going to hell, which i was once told, because i believe in ghosts.

End Rant.

93. Jackie - March 16th, 2008 at 11:38 am

NO! This is a subject I am very much interested in…I’m fascinated by ghost stories and people’s experiences. However in my opinion these experiences can always be scientifically explained.
If someone WANTS to see something or wants to BELIEVE they saw something, they will truly believe it happened. It’s all in their heads…

Let’s think about this for a second here. If ghosts existed, why please tell me, do they have to be so elusive? If a dead soul could actually come back to earth and be seen why do they not make themselves visible to everyone all the time? Why don’t I see my dead grandfather saying “yoo hoo here I am”? BECAUSE it doesn’t happen, souls/people/ghosts/spirits whatever do not come back to earth.

Don’t even get me started on “psychics”….

94. jigsaw911 - March 16th, 2008 at 11:58 am

the hound: Aztecs calendar….is it the same as Maya calendar….
Ghosts exist, yes and no. It exist in human mind, but not in real life.

95. Csimmons - March 16th, 2008 at 12:00 pm

Jake:Ouija Bords are BULLSHIT!
If you want proof watch Penn and Tellers episode about them, they took 3 people and did one session without blindfolds, then they did the exact same thing with blindfolds, but they turned the bord upside down, they moved the key the way they did the first time to blank spots thinking it was yes and no, proving its all human interference, no ghost shit.

p.s., i would put a link but my only link got taken down by youtube, damn copyright shit.

96. Jackie - March 16th, 2008 at 12:21 pm

Csimmons: That experiment with the oija board is very interesting!

97. SlickWilly - March 16th, 2008 at 12:33 pm

the hound: I think you’re thinking of the Mayan calender, not the Aztec calender, if such a thing exists. It did not predict the world trade center attack or any other non-celestial phenomena, and they did not believe the world would end in 2012. That was simply when their calender age ends and the next age begins. The whole end-of-the-world thing has long been championed by conspiracy theorists and paranoid apolocalypse buffs, including known blowhard David Icke, and others. In case you were wondering, David Icke is also the guy who says that all major world leaders and their families are shape-shifting reptilian humanoids from a distant galaxy that have come to take over the earth through the New World Order conspiracy and the cornerning of global market economies. I would take *anything* that guys believes with a grain of salt, including this whole, silly “end of the world” Mayan calender scenario.

98. SlickWilly - March 16th, 2008 at 12:41 pm

Do ghosts exist? Something exists. Are they the souls of the departed? No. I don’t believe in this idea of a soul or wandering spirits. I think people *have* seen something out of the ordinary, I think it would be impossible for *all* of them to be lying or mistaken. However, as with UFOs, I believe the vast majority of ghost encounters can be easily explained by natural occurences and over-active imaginations. If ghosts do exist, they have a physical explanation, not a super-natural one, and they are not the souls of the dead trying to communicate with the living. Personally, I think it has something to do with energy transference between a living organism and its environment. Emotionally charged periods produce a great amount of energy that disappates into the environment arounds, presumably as heat energy. Perhaps this energy trasnference is far more sophisticated and complex than we now believe, and more exists than simple heat energy. Science will one day be able to explain these phenomena, assuming enough interest in trying to explain it. Otherwise, I will continue to disbelieve in ghosts until I see one for myself, and even then, I still probably will not believe it as a case of a wandering soul.

99. Tony Brooklyn - March 16th, 2008 at 1:28 pm

I am seriously thinking of “visiting” some of the people here when I pass away. LOL

100. Jackie - March 16th, 2008 at 2:18 pm

SlickWilly: My mom mentioned to me one time that she also believes in that energy theory! She pretty much put it into those words.
By the way I don’t believe that people are lying when they tell a ghost experience, I just think they wanted to see something so much that they truly believe it happened and don’t go back and think about it rationally, like “well that sound/image COULD have been…”

I heard voices one time coming out of my TV when it was OFF, everything was DEFINITELY off…I can’t explain it at all and I KNOW I heard people talking right in front of me, but I don’t automatically think “it must have been a ghost!” there has to be an explanation (just don’t know what it is…)

101. Ladygalaxy26 - March 16th, 2008 at 3:22 pm

I believe in Ghosts, and thats me. Your right —>(way up there whoever said, it) Ghosts aren’t real. Cause there Ghosts. So to everyone who doesn’t believe explain these pictures and videos you see? Well the ones that are not staged, anyway.

102. Ladygalaxy26 - March 16th, 2008 at 3:24 pm

In 2005 more than 50% of the population who voted in this poll believed in ghosts. Can someone tell me the percentile for 2008?

103. StarDust - March 16th, 2008 at 7:39 pm

I grew up with the idea that they’re real. I was more or less raised with an open mind reguarding the paranormal. I haven’t found anything that has made belive that there is NO possibility of ghosts. But I have seen many things that make me think they are out there.

104. gigi - March 17th, 2008 at 4:15 am

I won’t even delve into the logical impossibilities of such entities as “ghosts”, “spirits” or whatever you call them, and the mindbogglingly elaborate mental acrobatics in which some of the believers engage in order to “prove” that they exist, which ultimately boil down to the empty phrases like “there is more to the Universe that we know” or “there is something in it but I don’t know what”.

The more clever members of the believers camp neatly circumvent the whole argument by stating that they simply believe in the ghosts and that is that. Fair enough, no argument possible here, rather like the bogus debate about the (non)existence of god.

I would like to express my opinion that the whole debate and sheer persistence of the notion of “ghosts” ultimately stems from the false belief of the duality of the human existence which is deeply rooted into the western civilisation collective unconsciousness. It is the idea that the body and the soul exist as an independent ontological entities and which can be traced as far back as Plato and Aristotle, later espoused by Early Christianity and neoplatonists, and neatly supplemented by neo-Aristotelians and culminating in the “trinitarian doctrine” of Thomas Aquinas.

Finally, it was Rene Descartes who was the first to articulate the more generally known version of dualism in which the mind is a non-physical substance, and the first to identify the mind with consciousness and to distinguish it from the “physical” brain.

All of those philosophical doctrines are, fortunately, abandoned (except, of course in the religious circles) and today the consciousness is generally regarded as an emergent phenomenon which does not exist independently from the brain. Therefore, the “quest for the seat of the consciousness” is no longer legitimate sporting activity among the “idle philosophers.”

105. Drogo - March 17th, 2008 at 5:37 am

I hope I can become a ghost, there are a few people I want to scare the $#!t out of…

Technically I don’t believe even though I might have seen one. It was a solid person, a woman about 5ft. 2in. walked into a room then vanished. I jokingly asked someone if they had ever seen a ghost in that house. The woman told me about how her husband saw a person that he assumed was their 5ft. 2in. daughter walk up the stairs, then vanish. (I left out details to make this short)

106. srichards - March 17th, 2008 at 5:46 am

i think that there are evil sprits that try to scare us, living in the caribbean (sand, sea and sun) one can’t help but to believe in such things

107. Randall - March 17th, 2008 at 5:54 am

As I don’t believe in the survival of the ego after death, I don’t believe in ghosts–in the sense that they are “souls trapped on the earth” who can then be released to go their merry way to the afterlife. Whatever phenomena or phenomenon people are *perceiving* as ghosts… I believe they or it reside in the eye of the beholder. By this I don’t mean to say that people are merely imagining these things or are making them up. Perhaps there is some unexplored effect or force which acts upon the minds of some individuals (there are rarely “multiple witness” sightings of ghosts) which needs study. But intrusions of the “spirit world” into this one? No.

“gigi” makes the very point that I just addressed, although I would take issue with the claim she’s making in regards to consciousness—our understanding of what “consciousness” is is still woefully incomplete. However, insofar as we distinguish “the ego” from “consciousness in general,” I agree with her.

But an interesting thing…. I had a girlfriend, a few years back, who was an accomplished scientist–a microbiologist–who had also obtained, besides her PhD, an additional Masters Degree in Mathematics. So this was a woman who was no slouch. NIce brainbox. (She was gorgeous too, which made her near-perfect and far too good for me, of course). At any rate, here’s this highly intelligent, intellectual woman—and she believed in ghosts. Not just believed that there could be “something to” ghosts or any qualifying thing like that—no, she literally believed in *ghosts.* Believed that her family had been haunted by the spirits of ancestors, and that these spirits watched her and pronounced occasional judgements on her life.

Sometimes, it seems, the intellectual mind needs a vent or other, through which the superstitions must still escape, I suppose.

108. Celeste - March 17th, 2008 at 6:08 am

Being mostly agnostic, this question can be a struggle for me. On the one hand, I don’t mind saying that there is no possible way for me to know. That is one experience (dying) that my consciousness has not, and will NEVER experience. However, I find it most probable that your consciousness dies as your brain dies, so I don’t believe in any “leftover” form of the person that you were while alive. Perhaps an exception would be “leftover” energy that existed in your live body, but even that in no way would be representative of a person, their thoughts, or beliefs. I think the phenomena of “ghosts” or “hauntings” is merely a psychosocial occurrence, often involving forms of mass hysteria.
I also believe it likely that in many, many cases the reason people question whether ghosts exist, or convince themselves or others that ghosts do exist is due to the constraints of the human mind when it comes to the concept of eternity. Since our world is measured in such definite terms regarding time, we cannot really fathom the concept of eternity; and since we exist in such a finite form, it is only natural to create fantastical stories that would include us as humans into that long stretch of eternity. In short, I believe that our perception of reality is measurable simply because we exist in our own reality. Since our reality is terminable (in that it ceases when we die) it is natural for us to create/make-up stories that allow us to believe that at least some form of our existence will “live” on past death(because hey, aren’t we special).

109. gigi - March 17th, 2008 at 6:49 am

@Randall - you are right that our understanding of how the consciousness arises and that our knowledge is far from sufficient to draw any conclusions… that’s why the cognitive science is such a hot field of research in the last 10 or so years. From the couple of books I read (by Antonio Damasio, John Ratey, Daniel C. Dennet among others) I got the impression that about the only thing that these hosts of cognitive scientists can agree it’s that the consciousness is an emergent phenomenon… everything else, especially how we acquire self-awareness (which is regarded as a synonym for the consciousness) what it actually is and our subjective experience, is subject to heated debates and controversies.

btw, it’s he, not she… I’m from southern Europe, but this is irrelevant for the discussion…

110. Randall - March 17th, 2008 at 7:30 am

gigi:

My apologies about the gender mix-up. When I hear “gigi” I think Leslie Caron.

I have no disagreement with the notion of consciousness being an emergent phenomenon. Science demands that we describe things in scientific terms, and consciousness is no different. Of course, all I meant was, there’s still a long way to go before consciousness is described in *actuality* and is understood.

But we’re in agreement in regards to the false duality of mind/body. Whether *consciousness* is something else, apart from the mind–well, that’s just yet to be truly determined.

111. chershey - March 17th, 2008 at 7:42 am

I am definitely open to the idea that ghosts do exist, but in this case more than any other I think, I have to see it to believe it. For example, my mother has insisted she’s heard my dead father’s footsteps in her house; I’ve passed this off as a psychosomatic phenomena, but if I ever heard the footsteps myself I might be swayed the other way.

112. endomental - March 17th, 2008 at 8:09 am

I’m of the “there are more things in heaven and on earth than are dreamt of in [y]our philosophy” school. So, I believe it’s possible, although I haven’t personally had any experience with it.

113. AT86 - March 17th, 2008 at 10:32 am

ive had perfectly rational people claim to have felt/seen the supernatural in a very clear mind. their beliefs certainly make me believe in them

114. Deus - March 17th, 2008 at 10:34 am

I highly doubt they’re real, I’ve worked in a building that was supposedly haunted but haven’t experienced anything supernatural. I believe in God, satan, angels, demons etc, but not really ghost. Sure if I were in an old abandoned house or castle i’d get spooked out, but rationally i’d know there was nothing there. I think ghost are just the products of an over-active imagination, and even if they are real I’ve never had any reason to believe so, nor do i have the time to worry about them. There are too many certain and real dangers in the world to worry about

115. Laura - March 17th, 2008 at 11:40 am

I never used to believe that ghosts could possibly be real until I did some research about an old house that was apparently a ‘portal’ to another demension. The second floor had to be completely closed off because of too many disturbances, so no human beings could get up there for many years. Then one night I check out this house and stood around the back with some friends, and we noticed a figure in the rear window. It appeared to be waving at us and I remember the white cuffs of the sleeves best. It wasn’t scary, exactly, just very surreal. I am a very rational person and I tend to believe things only when it is a proven fact, but ever since then I have believed in ghosts.

116. SlickWilly - March 17th, 2008 at 12:19 pm

I don’t know about ghosts, but does anyone else see the “Are you ugly?” quiz link at the top of the page? That gives me the heebie-jeebies everytime I look at it.

117. Kraeg - March 17th, 2008 at 12:53 pm

I think it’s not likely there are ghosts.

My reasons are as follows:

1. If there are ghosts and they are linked to the concept of a human soul, it certainly doesn’t fit within the parameters of established religious views on the fate of a soul.

2. If there are ghosts and they are not linked to the concept of a human soul, I’m still waiting for a report of a ghostly tyrannosaur to surface.

118. Kraeg - March 17th, 2008 at 12:55 pm

Quick question laura: How does a figure waving from a supposedly deserted house become a ‘proven fact’ of the existence of ghosts?

To me, if you are certain you saw a figure, it seems likely you saw a person waving to you from the window. From your vantage point, what differentiated this figure from that of a person?

119. Kraeg - March 17th, 2008 at 12:59 pm

Sorry - but I have to ask these questions to try to understand the belief in ghosts:

chershey - regarding your mom hearing your dead fathers footsteps:

Why would you assume that your mother hearing ambiguous footsteps is psychosomatic, but if you heard a noise resembling footsteps it couldn’t be?

120. Jackie - March 17th, 2008 at 1:25 pm

SlickWilly: hahahaha

121. Pieman - March 17th, 2008 at 2:14 pm

Oh please come on… ghosts are real? What circular arguments are you smoking? When exactly did ghosts start? We seem to have loads from the middle ages (mostly royalty) but very few from the Stone Age. Or even from 1972.

The trouble is that the “believers” want proof that there aren’t ghosts (an impossible endeavour - you can’t prove a negative) and there simply isn’t any evidence (I mean real evidence not tales or double exposures) to convince the people who want proof.

122. Du - March 17th, 2008 at 4:53 pm

well, i dont think a ghost exists in our world. It would be impossible for us to take a picture, or record it onto film, seeing as how a ghost, is just the raw essence of things, so it dosent have any physical particals to reflect light with.

my personal beliefs is somewhat a parallel of the Shinto religion of Japan. There exist spirits, but they are seperate from us. We will never come into physical contact with them, and vice versa. The two will never occupy the same dimention.

thats just my two cents on this topic =3

123. davo - March 17th, 2008 at 5:07 pm

ghosts don’t exist.

124. Amanda - March 17th, 2008 at 5:56 pm

My only *ghostly* experience occured the day of my husband’s best friends funeral. I had been bawling for hours and knew my hubby would be home soon (he was out drinking afterwards with his buddies family and friends), and I wanted to be there for him and not look like a total mess. So I did my makeup and put on some sexy tight jeans. I had gained about 5 lbs since the last time I had worn them, and poked my upper thigh and said to myself “I am too fat to wear these”, at that same moment my phone (in my back pocket) rang. Instead of my ring tone (which was “No Rain” btw) my phone “Moo-ed” me. The first time I thought I was mistaken, as it was in my pocket, but as I stared at the display saying my husband was calling me it “Moo-ed” again. I actually answered the phone giggling slightly. I was not the first or last person that had some sort of experience that was attributed to him. I think he came back to us to give us some cheer to aleve the pain of losing him.

125. gigi - March 17th, 2008 at 6:33 pm

@Randall - I must admit I haven’t seen the movie “Gigi” but it appears that Leslie Caron was pretty hot in her heydays… I remember her from the Chocolat, though…

126. Mom424 - March 17th, 2008 at 7:03 pm

Randall; Please explain further “emergent phenomenon”. My large brain is obviously not quite as well-developed as the extra-large variety you have been blessed with. Thank you.

By the way I believe extra large brains often have extra large imaginations. Ghosts would be a great expression of that. Besides the wonky is what makes us interesting.

127. KKing - March 17th, 2008 at 8:05 pm

Jeff number 84 just put all the believers to sleep with pure logic: “Why aren’t ghosts naked? Do the clothes they wear have a soul too?” Check and mate…it’s our imagination.

128. Che - March 17th, 2008 at 8:10 pm

No.

(Except in Scotland, where they do wonders for our tourist industry.)

129. jardojo - March 17th, 2008 at 8:12 pm

Here is what I believe:

I dont believe that people die and become a spirit that roams the earth, house, property, etc. I know that people do believe in ghosts because they have “seen” them before or lived in a haunted house. These are not “ghosts” in the sense of a person that has died and is haunting the property. These are evil spirit creatures that want to terrify their victims. There are many people that have dealt with hauntings and possesions, its really kind of silly to deny it in my opinion. These spirit creatures are powerful and shouldn’t be taken lightly. Apart from terrorizing people, they can cause physical harm and even death, depending on the power of the spirit. Most of these hauntings actually occur when a house or building had occult-related practices or spiritistic rituals practiced in them. If any one of you people that say you dont believe in the spirit world were to bring a wiji board(sp?)into your house and start using it every day you would be a believer really quick (and no, dont go out and do that because I dont advise it).

A really good show on this subject is the series “A Haunting”. Its a really well-made show and you can watch some episodes on Youtube, very interesting (and creepy!)

130. Che - March 17th, 2008 at 8:55 pm

Mild psychological disorders, however, are very real.

131. Drogo - March 18th, 2008 at 3:25 am

BOO!

http://www.theshadowlands.net/places/

Not much in my area. There was a story that I never heard of that is practically down the street from me, and only one story that I knew about.

132. Drogo - March 18th, 2008 at 5:23 am

Minor correction: Two stories I knew about, one a house I went to on a tour, and one I heard about on TV. There were 5 or 6 stories from my area.

133. hallowedbethyname - March 18th, 2008 at 7:23 am

I haven’t encountered any ghosts so I’m still skeptical about their existence, although I have encountered some weird stuffs that may be blamed to ghosts, still I must see one before I become a believer..

134. mobmij - March 18th, 2008 at 9:47 am

Yes, I think I saw a “ghost”. When I was young, my parents had a vacation bungalow — essentially a single room, with 2 inner walls and a screened porch that locked with one of those old-fashioned long-neck keys. I slept on a rollout bed in the living area. One night before I fell asleep, I thought I saw my mother walking toward the porch (maybe 12 feet from me), unlock the door and sit in a rocking chair, which I heard rocking back and forth. The next morning, my mother claimed not to have gotten up in the night. OK, so I dreamed something I thought (except I knew I hadn’t been asleep). Next night, I was awake and alert and a bit scared. I saw nothing but again distinctly heard the rocking chair on the porch squeaking back and forth.

But do I believe in “ghosts” — spirits of the dead that walk the earth. Not really. I think there may be aspects of consciousness that somehow exist and sometimes intersect with our own consciousness. What I saw and heard was just a tiny flicker of someone’s experience or personality, unbundled from its more complete and integrated mind. I doubt I could have communicated with it any more than I can communicate with an actor on TV nor would it have been aware of or interacted with me.

135. Randall - March 18th, 2008 at 1:43 pm

Mom:

Very short on time just now… but basically “emergent phenomenon” refers to an idea where you get something complex out of a number of combination of simple factors. So consciousness, in this context, arises out of the various factors unique to humans (if you consider all of them to be unique) such as brain size, but also language… Noam Chomsky has the theory that consciousness arises out of language, I believe.

Takes a while to explain…. but I used to have lots of conversations about this with the ex-girlfriend I mentioned–this was peripherally one of her fields, but also just a strong interest of hers.

136. bucslim - March 18th, 2008 at 1:53 pm

I dunno.

There is some weird shit going on in my office late at night. I work in a 100 year old building and there have been some things - sounds mainly - that occur late at night that just freaks me out so much I have to leave the building.

We’ve even set up a night vision camera and let it run all night and coded it to a hard drive. Nothing has come up yet, but we’re gonna keep trying.

137. Mom424 - March 18th, 2008 at 7:32 pm

Randall; Geez, I didn’t know there was a name for what I’ve always believed. I have always thought consciousness/self-awareness to be a consequence or by-product of intelligence. The need, due to our small stature and weak-ass physique, to communicate complex ideas (like cooperative hunting, where/when to harvest, a tiger lives in that cave) forced the issue. Chomsky or whomever seems to be having a very complex chicken/egg debate. Seems more likely to me that self-awareness arrived due to the attempt at language/communication rather than the success of it. Pronouns you know. In other words, they arrived together, neither independent of the other. I am not of the belief that we are alone are sentient; some cephalopods, dolphins/porpoises, and higher primates exhibit signs of self-awareness. Geez I wonder if they believe in ghosts?
Nice Segue eh?

Sorry if this doesn’t make sense in the morning. I’ve been to a wine tasting party, the kind where you drink the wine, not the kind where you spit it out. Seeing as I drink only rarely, I’m pretty much sloshed. Funny thing; without fail, Wolfgang’s homemade red wine won with all the folks who prefer red, and came in second with most of the rest of them.

138. Diogenes slip - March 18th, 2008 at 7:49 pm

“If you can be frightened by a ghost story, then you must accept the possibility that supernatural beings exist. If they do, then there is more than just oblivion waiting beyond the grave.”
Kubrick

139. eb - March 18th, 2008 at 9:05 pm

Proving/disproving this question is like trying to prove/disprove that inanimate objects have feelings but have absolutely no way of expressing them. Its impossible to prove it one way or the other.

140. 4h3 g405t 5h00t3r - March 18th, 2008 at 10:53 pm

Personally faking these would be easy.

I personally am catholic and believe that ghosts do not exist. I have heard of people talking to ghosts however this is fake as generally thy are missing the dead person.

And as for faking this, if anyone has good experience with adobe photoshop, then they will know that it is very easy.

Also notice that the ghost only appears in the light part of the room, not the shadow part, showing that the ghost is a trick of light or has been faked.

141. Denzell - March 18th, 2008 at 11:14 pm

No… any logical person would think that ghosts aren’t real. Maybe those ‘encounters’ and ’strange sounds’ can be a result of thinking too much or easy nervousness resulting from thanatophobia. People only made up ghosts to scare others… they just don’t have anything better to do perhaps.

142. Randall - March 19th, 2008 at 7:16 am

Mom:

Please remember, I vastly over-simplified my answer due to time restrictions. “Emergence” is a key notion that comes out of Systems Theory, and while it applies well to biology (the complexity of life, etc.) as well as other sciences, when we get into the matter of the human brain, and consciousness…. things aren’t so clear. We don’t as yet even know what “consciousness” actually is. The idea of course (as you picked up on) is that it emerges out of a combination and interaction of simpler systems/factors–so that, basically, it is nothing separate from the mind itself. But I know of no *proof* that supports this idea—I believe at this stage that it amounts primarily to theorizing based on circumstantial evidence and postulates.

I was always struck, as I said, by Chomsky’s ideas about language, however… I’m not sure that I entirely buy it, but basically the idea is that it was only when we developed language that the door was opened, in our minds/brains, to abstract thought. You referred to this as a chicken/egg debate, but it’s really more than that–more than just merely asking if consciousness/awareness came first, then language… or vice versa. The idea actually is that it required *language* to get us to a state of higher awareness, where we could think abstractly.

This first occurred to me a long time ago–I wondered what it would be like if we didn’t have language–not in regards to communication alone—but what would it be like *inside our heads,* if we had no language. Could I formulate complex, abstract thoughts/ideas in my mind, without language? Could I solve problems, come up with a complex series of actions in my mind, in order to accomplish something, without language? Maybe… but could I think *abstractly* without language? Could I consider a question? It’s very hard to imagine any of this in your head—to imagine thinking without language. And there have been experiments, so I understand, that explore this notion (but how valid they are, I don’t know). But on the other hand–does any of this mean anything? Does it all just really come down to language? We’re so tied to the use of language—does that mean it’s essential to being human, or does it mean that it simply is so useful and so much a part of us, that we find it difficult to imagine a time when we lived without it, and yet were still intelligent?

There’s a whole ton of difficult questions in all this, and that’s only one aspect of the idea of emergence. I personally think we’re a long way away from understanding consciousness.

143. MzFly - March 19th, 2008 at 8:14 am

I consider myself a logical person. I am not religious, although I was raised in a Protestant Christian household. I am something of a skeptic about the ghost questions, however I have had a couple of experiences that I cannot explain.
After speaking with others and especially my Mother, who had a near-death experience when I was young, I have to lean toward the answer that yes, there may be some type of energy or leftover presence that exists alongside us in this world.
To shed some light, the most vivid experience I personally had was in Gettysburg, a place that saw some of worst horrors and atrocities in the American Civil War. I was with the father of my best friend and he was telling about some of the history of Little Round Top. What I’m saying is that there was “build-up” there was no prior “ghost story” or anything of that nature. I was with an adult who was sharing his knowledge of history and an appirition appeared about 2 feet in front of us. Vague huuman features, see through, and extremely cold. It moved through us and we could distinctly feel the temp drop. I didn’t scream or react because I was so shocked and confused at what I had witnessed.
I have tried to come up with rational explanations but nothing seems to fit.

144. Mom424 - March 19th, 2008 at 11:34 am

Randall; Without language how would you organize your thoughts?
Language is sort of like a linear progression. Wouldn’t it be similar to how Autistic kids feel in a crowded room. Everything at the same volume and over-stimulating. No way to put it into logical order? Wow, its way more difficult when I’m sober. When does a being stop being a creature that relies totally on instinct and external stimuli? I’ve read that mute children who learn to sign later on, describe it like living in a sea of emotion, almost like curtains of colour. Hmmm, and I know that it appears that if you don’t have the basics of language by a certain stage of development (early teens) you won’t.

I still can’t see how they can be separated, intelligence/language/sentience must have developed hand in hand. Language is the frame work of higher thinking.

145. Randall - March 19th, 2008 at 11:45 am

Mom:

Well, Chomsky’s idea, I believe, is that consciousness follows *from* language.

I agree with you largely, but it also occurred to me that it’s extremely difficult for us to even *imagine* what thought would be like *without* language… does that mean that complex, abstract thought without language is impossible, though? Or does it mean that we’re simply wired that way, but other species could be wired *another* way? Or does it mean that we’re so used to language that we simply can’t imagine thought without it?

I don’t know.

146. Mom424 - March 19th, 2008 at 12:50 pm

Randall; I don’t know either, but I’m pretty sure that if not language there would have to be some other ready substitute. Hard to build that house of cards without a stable platform. Actually thats very near to how I visualize thought/consciousness. But the cards move and change, migrating to the base as they are incorporated into the whole.

147. Laura - March 19th, 2008 at 2:33 pm

I’ve always had a unique view on this… I believe that there is something that we as humans have yet to discover about our world, and as such, we don’t know what all possibilites lie within our consciousness. That being said, I believe that when you die you go to Heaven or Hell, take it or leave it, I don’t give a shit. But– I also believe that there might be a plane of existence that records ECHOS… the likeness and perhaps voice of someone who has died. It can be interactive but in no way is it a soul. Why? Who knows, maybe they were very emotional at a certain time in their lives and all the little buttons just clicked. I believe that they are just stamps, or imprints of people from a certain time who might react to a sentence we say or a similar set of events in the life that they left behind. There’s a lot to dispute about my theory but hey, its mine, I like it, and it makes me less scared of the dark so there.

148. jardojo - March 19th, 2008 at 8:05 pm

MzFly-

You definatelly saw a spirit. Temperatures dropping in rooms or areas where there are spiritistic activities is very common. Many times people will say that they got cold or even could measure a temp drop with a thermometer before something happens. I believe this is the spirit using the energy or molecular movement (heat is the movement of molecules) to create an illusion or move objects around.

Again, if people want to believe that “ghosts” don’t exist, thats fine, I don’t think they do either. But its just foolish to not believe in spirit beings in my opinion. All my life i’ve been able to sense spirits. I have even drove past vacant homes and got a strange feeling in my stomach just by looking at it, almost a sick feeling, only to find out later that the house is “haunted”. Ive found that alot of people have this sense as well.

People have had their lives dramatically and negatively affected by possessions, hauntings, etc. Its a horrible thing to undergo; yet still some people think its a figment of their imagination. Try to tell that to the people that have been traumatized by their experiences.

149. Yarr - March 20th, 2008 at 9:03 am

A phenomenon I find supremely interesting though we now take it for granted because it is common is the ability to record and play back sound. Who knew? Take some wax, stick a needle in it and turn it while talking, and presto! The sound is recorded and able to be heard again. Or, take magnetic particles on a piece of tape and arrange them in some kind of order, and blammo! Elvis lives!

Um, the voices of dead people can be heard, and I’m not talking about EVP or anything like that. Sometime this afternoon millions of people will hear the voice of Jim Morrison asking them to light his fire.

I’m not saying that these are ‘ghosts’ per se, just that the medium that was used to record them while they were alive is known and mundane.

Why do ghosts wear clothes? Because that’s what they were wearing when their images/movements were captured by some unknown (but not unknowable) media that randomly records and plays back under some kind of parameter we don’t yet understand.

This could turn into a novel here, but whatever. This stuff fascinates me. But even more than that, I’m fascinated by the ‘nonbelievers’ that are so willing to belive in or not believe in something because science says it is so. Think for a moment about the radio. What if, inste