Do you believe in ghosts?

What is your definition of ghost?

Like “spirits” people who have died but are still stuck here.

No, I don’t believe in ghosts. I don’t believe in out-of-body existence at all. But I would like to.

I have had many experiences. I have never seen anything.

What experiences have you had? Sounds or touch? Tell us more about it. It would be interesting to hear about.

No, I do not.

And you are right to ask for more evidence.

Here are a couple of resources:
Skeptic: Ghost hunters practice ‘pseudoscience’
Ghost
Mysterious Beings or Mere Accidents?
Is It a Ghost?

Ghost exists in the X Files series. In real life they don’t. The paranormal is a fictitious playground our brains seem to enjoy. Like Harry Potter and his magic wand.

There’s no scientific evidence. No need to be scared.

Yes , I do but not ghosts as earthbound spirits / souls of departed loved ones or friends but demonic spirits masquerading as departed loved ones or friends to deceive the masses that there’s no eternal consequences for sins commited here on earth and thus no eternal salvation(heaven) or eternal damnation(hell).

@mattbrowne

If only we would apply that basic bit of logic towards everything we wonder might exist.

I don’t believe in ghosts, but I don’t not believe in ghosts either.

I don’t wanna think about it!!! lol

@Ivan – Yes, I agree. If only we would apply that basic bit of logic towards the incompleteness of math and science. People think computers can do anything. All we need is time. What a shock it must be to realize there’s no program to deal with the halting problem.

Ghosts and Spirits are mental projections. Spirits as in watching over us or hanging around.. Even if you do not realize it. That sub conches always messing things up. You want to see a ghost you will. Ya don’t you wont. Then there are people that have to find a conspiracy in everything.

a GHOST? , i believe that anyone can put a sheet over their head and body. now spiritual being is a different thing to me. and i do believe in SPIRITS.

All speculation, and I’m really not sure what I believe – but it’s definitely a stimulating thing to think about. There are so many possibilities, each one with different consequences. I’ve had some “ghostly” experiences that I can’t explain, but that doesn’t mean there’s not an explaination.

One theory I like to think about is this: what if a “ghost” is an impression left in the fabric of space/time by someone or something in the past? Maybe someone felt something so strongly that it left an indent. This theory would be supported by the tendency of “ghostly encounters” to be repetitive and not interactive. For example, lots of ghost stories involve a ghost that will appear at the same time every night, or do the same thing every time it’s seen. If this is the case, then there is nobreason to be afraid, because they are not sentient creatures, could not be aware of you, and cannot hurt you.

Keep thinking about all the possibilities, but don’t be afraid :)

Yes, I believe we have spirits/souls that leave our body. Are those spirits ever “stuck” here on earth and can we ever see them…?? I don’t know.

I do know that most of the “ghost sightings” we hear of are bogus. For example, someone visiting Charleston, SC sees a ghostly figure wearing Civil War era clothing. NO WAY!

A person’s clothes don’t have a spirit…

:-)

See paranormal state and ghost hunters make good tv. But it IS a show. How much is real? I don’t know about those people who seen a person in civil war gear or the people who see a lady in a white dress. I have never personally seen a spirit but if I did I can imagine it to be more like a giant mass. Not like a actual person. I’m not sure. I don’t know what to believe.

I don’t know, and I’m not sure anyone can know for sure. There’s a lot of evidence supporting all sides of issues like these and religion and extra terrestrial intelligent life. I want to believe in ghosts and goblins and magic and space aliens- who doesn’t? But I just haven’t ever seen the evidence that will ultimately make up my mind one way or another. Here’s hoping!

I have had paranormal experiences since I was a child. Ghost, spirits, or whatever you want to call them are real. I believe some are trapped spirits. Trapped by their own issues. Unable to move on. Others are residual hauntings. Kind of like watching a recording. Their energy made an impression on the area or living space. We all have an energy. Non believers will only ever be convinced by an encounter.

@Russell_D_SpacePoet : See, some people are so sure that they’ve lived through these experiences that I don’t know how the rest of us can deny that they exist just because we haven’t seen anything. I wish I could just get some glimpse so that I can judge for myself.

@Russell_D_SpacePoet I believe you are right. I can’t find it in me to believe in that, considering I don’t believe in any afterlife, but I hope I have an encounter some day. I would like there to be an afterlife.

For a very long time people believed that there was Zeus and Athena looking over them. And rocks and trees were spirits. And, it was not just a few here and there. It was the common person up to the great thinkers of their time. It was the way it was. When the day comes that I get hit with a 2×4 floating in the room. I will see it more of a form of ESP then a spook.

@ubersiren I can’t speak for others. I just know what my experiences have been. I wish everyone who wanted to could catch a glimpse. I’ve been called stupid, crazy, etc. They can say what they want.

@Russell_D_SpacePoet

The human mind is incredibly and egregiously imperfect. First hand experience usually only serves to corrode objectivity.

@oratio I don’t know if “afterlife” is the right term. I believe it is more of a move to a different phase of existence. Life as we know it, I imagine will be much different than ascension to a higher plane of existence.

@Ivan Same old Ivan. Your mind is closed as of yet. That’s ok. You are young and have your whole life ahead of you.

@Russell_D_SpacePoet

My mind is not closed; if you were to present empirical evidence for the existence of ghosts, I would believe in them. You, on the other hand, are the only one saying things like “nothing will change my mind, if only everyone else could know what I know.”

@Ivan : I didn’t take what @Russell_D_SpacePoet said that way. Maybe if someone gave him empirical evidence that what he has seen was some other anomaly his mind would change. He didn’t claim to know, he only claimed to have seen. I could be totally wrong about this… that’s just how I read it.

i believe in spirits of dead people hanging around.

I do believe in spirits. On many levels.
In fact in my culture there are numerous levels of the “paranormal”.
I also have some personal experience.

be careful saying there is scientific evidence for this without having about 10 references in hand because you will get busted by some regular flutherites who jump on it when someone says there is scientific evidence for anything abstract

No, I don’t. There is no supernatural of any sort. When a person dies, their consciousness ceases, and they cease to exist. They are no more. Paranormal events are fables that are the result of either an over-active imagination, or a deliberate attempt to mislead.

Yes I do because I’ve experiensed some and I watch them on tv

@FireMadeFlesh I might have thought I was crazy also if there hadn’t been numerous friends and family that had different experiences along with me. When there or four people say, “did you see that?” and everyone saw the same thing, something is up. I have no reason to lie. I really don’t care if you or anyone else believes me.

@Russell_D_SpacePoet Replicate it for me, and I will believe you. I have no reason to believe that any part or whole of a human remains after death and decomposition. Your experience may be more difficult to explain if everyone saw the same thing, but I still think there is a naturalistic mechanism by which it may occur. Consider the case of Miracle of the Sun at Fatima. 10,000–80,000 people were conned by an optical illusion that made the sun appear to move backwards. If it is possible for that many, would it not be possible for four? All the same, I respect your point of view.

I’ve never seen a ghost or experienced paranormal activity on a first hand basis so I don’t know if I believe in them or not. My mother and father told me that they have both seen a ghost so I’m inclined to believe they could exist and I would like to see at least one so that I would know what the experience was like.

I lived not far from the Amityville horror house. And, for all the times we use to sit in the back and drink beers. The only “supernatural” thing I saw was the amount of debris coming out my friends mouth. The ghost of anheuser bush.

@ChazMaz Really? Has it become an abandoned house where kids go to goof around?

It was for a while. And, who did not want to see a ghost? I really think it was a well executed scam and publicity stunt, as do most of the residents of the surrounding area. The house is really nice, on the water with a boat house. It is funny how they portray the house in the movies. It did finally sell for something like $80,000 dollars. It was worth $300,000.
People did not want to buy it because of the haunting. The people that did buy it scored big time, because there have been no ghosts since. Ok, they do have to this day, people “haunting” the house to take picture.
Side note: A friend of the family was at the corner bar from where the house is. Ronnie DeFeo, the killer of his family. (the foundation for the whole story). Was sitting with him and said, ” I’ll be right back, need to do something at home.” And, the rest is history.

@ChazMaz Wow

Not in the least.

I do believe that some people are sincere believers, not liars or scam artists, but I don’t believe in the reality of the things they think they see.