Thread: Do you believe in ghosts, and why/not?

Originally Posted by spaceexplorer

Ok, well at least we are on a similar wave length now.
I have yet to meet anyone who has gone through all the possibilities. If you could point me in the direction of them, I would very much appreciate it.
You see, I'd love to believe in life after death, but its a pretty big issue isnt it? I wouldnt want to make assumptions that gamble with my very existence on flimsy evidence. If there is no life after death, then i almost certainly need to get everythign out of this life, enjoy every second. If there is, then well that changes things. The problem is, if i accept life after death without sufficent evidence, then i am basically gambling my entire life!

Also if there are ghosts and life after death, im going to feel a lot more self conscious when having sex or looking at porn on the internet, with one hand down my pants lol

Truth is, I am yet to find any evidence that is convincing enough, despite the fact that i would be overjoyed to know that this life isnt all i have, and i get to see my dead friends and relatives again. So, by saying i dont believe, i am actually having to accept something I'd rather NOT be true. Do you see that it takes a lot of personal strength to weigh up the evidence, and accept that what you want isnt true?
Skeptics are not closed minded, they are just painfully honest with themselves, even when they would rather be wrong.

Seems like we're finally coming to an understanding. I too would like to have life after death. But even if there was, i would still live everyday the same way and enjoy this life fully.

And just to be clear, I'm not saying that when you die, you're a ghost. I'm saying that I believe that for what ever reason there are ghost, and most people assume that they're dead. as was pointed out earlier, ghosts could be OBEers that can only be somewhat seen. In fact, i think the whole ghost=dead thing was started a long time ago by a church. When I say ghosts exist, I am talking about something human looking that is transparent, floating, or walking through walls, unless they actually look normal but no one else sees them or some other weird thing like that.

Originally Posted by DreamQueen

Thanks for your answer, TheMind.

Well listen, now that you have said you think there may in fact be fairies living in my underpants drawer I'd like to invite you to come around to my house and help me collect evidence of their existence to show the world. If we are successful then we will be the first people in the world to prove the existence of fairies and have contact with them. This has the obvious potential to make us very rich. We could make millions selling our story. I'm willing to share profits 50/50 with you alone. Do you want to come visit? I live in New Zealand.

sorry, i live in America and don't feel like buying a plane ticket. also, i said they COULD, however unlikely it is, exist, not i think they might exist.

Sorry, my mistake. Okay, so you admit that they could exist. Well, surely it is worth coming over given that you could potentially make millions of dollars out of it. I promise you that the picture is not photoshopped. I just went to my drawer this morning to get a pair of daks, as you do, and lo and behold i found a little lilac fairy sleeping in there so I grabbed my camera and took a snapshot.

Just think, you could become a millionaire! Surely if you really believed there was a chance there were fairies and you could become a millionaire practically overnight then you would come!

Go on, be daring! Jump on a plane!

well, you can have the millions this time. however, if you find some and capture them and sell your story, i wouldn't mind going on a quest to find that griffin that was in my yard the other day.

Oh hang on a minute, I get it. Despite the fact that I am telling you I've seen this fairy with my own eyes, and I've even got a photograph to prove it that I swear on my life is not photoshopped, and in fact I've just captured the fairy and put her in a box, you think the chance of fairies actually existing in my drawer is very low. So low that it's not worth coming over for even though if it was true you could make millions of dollars.

Hmmmm.... well...... I have to say......

Fair enough. After all that's how I feel about ghosts.

Have a nice day all.
Bye

PS I'll add NZ$10,000 to spaceexplorers offer.

not really relavent, but how many dollars is £1000

At the current bad exchange rate its: 1,427.00 USD

But i deleted the original post, as i'd rather spend the money on a trip to NZ, the evidence for those fairys is remarkable.

k, guess I'm the only one looking for that Griffin

Great debates. I just did a Google and found this ..

http://paranormal.about.com/library/.../aa022502a.htm
possible explanations for apparitions ..

It includes a couple of theories we've not already discussed ..

Time Travelers
People from our own future, another idea states, could have found the means to travel to the past - our time. However they are able to accomplish this incredible feat, perhaps in that state they appear to us merely as passing shadows as they observe the events of our timeline.
---

Aliens
The alien and abduction phenomena are so bizarre that it's no surprise that extraterrestrials are suspects as the shadow people. Abductees have reported in many cases that the alien grays seem to be able to pass through walls and closed windows, and to appear and disappear abruptly, among other otherworldly talents. Perhaps, too, they can go about their alien agenda disguised in the shadows.

The site also lists Astral bodies, the imagination, demon spirits, and inter-dimensional beings.

Religion, especially the C-word religion, seems to be a sensitive topic here but it does guarantee life after death. If the religion is true, well there you have it. If the religion is false, who knows but that's what the religion says. Being a touchy topic it's best not to bring the R-word into the thread so we'll have to just ignore it and ponder non-religious possibilities lest the ghost thread go OT.

Yeah.

I know waaaay too many of the people I met have experiences that connect with each other and relate many astonishing similarities to mine.

Yo, Lucid Lobster (kickass name) - speaking of shadow people. I was once PICKED-UP by a shadow person and was thrown onto bed. Anybody want to hear more of it then private message me and all.

http://paranormal.about.com/library/.../aa022502a.htm
possible explanations for apparitions ..

Nice find BTW, I recommend wonder-noggins to read more on that kind of stuff rather than simply going "wow". I don't need to look more on this stuff though, I'm pretty content with what I know and discover in this area (esoterica).

But yeah, uncovering mysteries require crazy, adventurous people like me eh?

Not sure.

The idea frightens me, and so I feel safer believing they simply don't exist.

Higuraaashi! Not promisin' anything but if you ever run into these things, just know that I'm here for you!

Originally Posted by Spi

Higuraaashi! Not promisin' anything but if you ever run into these things, just know that I'm here for you!

Aw, ty

I feel safer already ^.^

Shadow People= Ghosts


>_> Ghosts are least of my worries...
@___@ If YOU only knew....

Anyways, I am skeptical of being skeptical of whats out there. Too many strange
things have happened around me that I couldn't possibly describe into words...T___T"

Hinze the reason I am agnostic. ^_^

or maybe they're invisible UFO's planning on taking over!!

nah i dont believe in ghosts. i also am an agnostic and dont believe in the whole idea of afterlife and religion. although i will believe if i have an experience.

its funny how people who dont believe in them never encounter them

Originally Posted by rahim9876

or maybe they're invisible UFO's planning on taking over!!

nah i dont believe in ghosts. i also am an agnostic and dont believe in the whole idea of afterlife and religion. although i will believe if i have an experience.

its funny how people who dont believe in them never encounter them

I think you are mistaking agnostic for atheist. Atheists, don't believe in anything. Agnostic's believe something exists out there...Just not sure. No definite religion.

Originally Posted by Vira

I think you are mistaking agnostic for atheist. Atheists, don't believe in anything. Agnostic's believe something exists out there...Just not sure. No definite religion.

Agnosticism has two ways of usage. An agnostic might fall into the category you are using...but I'm not able to come up with an example of how they could. EDIT: Someone could be agnostic as to what kind of afterlife there is, but not know what kind, and thus is agnostic about the exact type of afterlife. This would mean they are not agnostics in respect to "a" afterlife. However, as to the existence of "any" after life, an agnostic on "afterlife" would be saying they either don't know, or can't know, if there is an afterlife.


One is to say that the claim is inherently unknowable (as in no one can know). The other is to say that the person in question simply doesn't know.

Agnostics don't believe "something exists," they say that they "don't know if something exists," or "can't know that something exists."

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/agnostic
This is how he was using the word of agnostic. "2. One who is doubtful or noncommittal about something."

It is a common misuse of the word, however, to use it the way you are using it.

Almost every atheist there is falls into the category of agnostic.

Look up "strong atheist" and "weak atheist."

I think all these words really need to be qualified with what specifically you are atheist, agnostic, or theist in respect too. However I find that when a person says "I am atheist," it is very hard to misunderstand what they mean. Unless of course someone has taught you that all atheists are gnostic atheists who don't leave any lee way.

Originally Posted by Vira

I think you are mistaking agnostic for atheist. Atheists, don't believe in anything. Agnostic's believe something exists out there...Just not sure. No definite religion.

well if i was an athiest i wouldnt believe in god but thats not true.
i do believe in god but thats all. no ghosts/afterlife/etc

If ghosts exist, how come their clothes and other stuff seems to survive with them? Those civil war soldier ghosts for example .. decked out in full uniform, boots, guns .. when you die apparently your stuff goes with you so that it can appear later when somebody alive sees you.

Casper's the only real ghost that I can believe in. He came into this world with nothing on and, he left it with nothing on. I guess now a'days we're going to start seeing ghosts with iPhones and $200 Nikes.

Originally Posted by Lucid Lobster

If ghosts exist, how come their clothes and other stuff seems to survive with them?

that's like asking why aren't we always naked in dreams? or for that matter, why can we still smell, taste, hear and feel?

dreams give us the best insight of what it might be like

Why can't you live your life to the fullest and still believe in the afterlife?

Originally Posted by TheMind

and it is a lot easier to explain what a person is skeptical about and asks you to explain, rather than explain the entire subject of ghosts in great detail..

thats exactly why it should be done.someone needs to explain ghosts in detail to make sure people aren't ignorant about what they do or don't believe in.