Ghosts!

[Digit]

Just been reading a report about the liner, the Queen Mary, which is apparently prowled by a number of spectral figures.
People seem to fall into two groups, believers and non-believers, the non believers never having seen or experienced such, and those who claim to have done so.
Any comments?

Roy.

 

[Smudger]

It helps bring in the gullible?

Cui Bono?

Oops. Lapsed into French instead of Latin...

Sorry, that explains an edit which didn't come up as an edit.

 

[StevieB]

I am in the no camp! SWMBO claims our house has ghosts but I have never felt/seen/experienced anything at all. Objectively, I am still in the no camp - believeing an awful lot of what is shown as 'evidence' can equally be explained by other phenomena such as the brains ability to see patterns where none exist etc. Programmes such as 'Most Haunted' are just entertainment under the guise of 'scientific' investigation. To date I am not aware that they have ever shown any evidence of paranormal activity or ghostly sightings or phenomena.

However, there are certainly things of which we are not aware in scientific terms. Questions such as 'what is conciousness', 'what is a soul' and 'what is the part of you that dies when the body dies and where does it go if indeed it is an entity in the physical sense'? These still need to be answered.

So a no to ghosts from me. Aliens however - much happier to beieve in them from a simply statistical point of view!

Steve

 

[mailee]

Not exactly ghosts but I once attended a spiritualists meeting out of curiosity. I was alone and sat at the back in the corner and was 'picked on' I made sure all of my answers were of a yes/no to give nothing away and the spiritualist stated some amazingly accurate facts about my relatives who had passed away. I have to admit the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. I did have an open mind before this but now I do believe there is more to heaven and earth etc. :shock:

 

[Smudger]

Have a look at this before you make your mind up - and consider the James Randi Foundation's million-dollar challenge.

 

[StevieB]

Cold reading is actually quite a skill if done properly - its how Derren Brown makes a living for a start and some of the stuff he does is on the face of it quite amazing.

Steve

 

[Digit]

Do posters here classify poltergeists with ghosts?

Roy.

 

[Smudger]

As in 'Things I Don't Believe In' - yes.

 

[Jason Pettitt]

From childhood right up until my late teens I was convinced I had a remote 'sense' of when people (and granny's pet dog) died because I'd get a strange feeling (no, not guilt) that seemed to coincide with deaths that I'd hear about later. I think if you grow up with religion, fairy tales and ghost stories and other such things that promote the idea of the supernatural then you're not so likely to dismiss odd feelings as odd feelings and look to give them meaning instead.

In the cold light of day I don't see any reason to think any of it is anything other than confirmation bias.

p.s. Mailee - you have a scar on your left knee left over from a childhood incident. Doodeedoodoo doodeedoodoo...

 

[Digit]

I would make two observations here. A phenomenon exists or it does not, individual beliefs not withstanding, and anyone visiting here should bring their tin hat with them or learn to duck PDQ as ornaments have a high take off velocity.
My wife used to collect bric-a-brac, no longer!

Roy.

 

[Jake]

You really shouldn't wind your wife up so much that she feels she needs to chuck her ornaments at you, Roy.

 

[Digit]

Agreed Jake. Now all I have to do is stop what ever else does it. Frankly we've got used to it. The most annoying thing is stuff that goes missing then turns up in odd locations later.

Roy.

 

[Jake]

That happens to me, but I haven't the imagination to blame a poltergeist!

 

[Digit]

Ever found something that went missing buried under a pile of building rubble that was there long before the object went missing though Jake?

Roy.

 

[Jake]

No. I'm sure there is a rational explanation.

 

[Digit]

I would agree. Though what that might be is currently a mystery.

Roy.

 

[Jason Pettitt]

I suspect that oftentimes there's probably also rational explanations for why individuals, or couples for that matter, want to see a supernatural explanation for an unexplained occurrence.

 

[Digit]

supernatural explanation for an unexplained occurrence.

Very possibly, so give me an explanation for domestic appliances being unplugged whilst running and no one anywhere near. I certainly would like to see an explanation, and I am not allocating a supernatural explanation, simply curious.

Roy.

 

[Jason Pettitt]

That's really not for me to say Digit. I neither know you or the circumstances. But at a guess I'd say that you and your wife are missing someone and that grouping otherwise unrelated odd occurrences together and attaching significance to them is your way of holding on to memory that you don't want to let go of.

But it is just a guess.

 

[studders]

am not allocating a supernatural explanation, simply curious.

Roy.

It's ya Missus, she's trying to tip you over the edge. Or it could be the Dog?