Do you believe in ghosts?

Jessica - posted on 10/05/2010

"...and would absolutely LOVE for it all to be true (and for Jensen Ackles to be a real 'hunter' and come to my rescue lmao), .."

Hahaha, I love it!! Well I have to say that I agree with you on that one ;)

Kimberly - posted on 10/05/2010

Chillax a little Jess, give those poor little digits a rest from all that frantic typing. :) You are a woman possessed! Harness that thirst for knowledge and use it where you can do some good.

Jessica - posted on 10/05/2010

Lol, it's more passion for science and knowledge. I have and growing and unending hunger for learning and feel that the world (and universe) holds so many mysteries just WAITING to be discovered and investigated. I also have an almost unhealthy dislike of misinformation (and I understand that 99.9% of the time it is unintentional). Lol, I must admit, I am fascinated with the idea of the supernatural and would absolutely LOVE for it all to be true (and for Jensen Ackles to be a real 'hunter' and come to my rescue lmao), but I just can't accept it without credible, verifiable evidence.

Kimberly - posted on 10/05/2010

Just saying, "Cracked.com" makes me giggle. I just didn't have it in me to sit down and read through your lengthy post and discredit all of your references. I know you put your heart into it, and not to offend, but I am just not that passionate about the ghost issue. I just thought it would be fun to hear some stories around Halloween. Girl, you got a thesis working on DM. I can feel your almost tangible passion for bustin ghosts.

Jessica - posted on 10/05/2010

@ Kimberly,
"Dearest Jessica, try rereading my post again, only with a sense of humor. I was making an attempt to rib you by pretending to have an alternate personality typing for me"

Ok, I apologise for misreading in that case but have to point out that I am unable to read minds, especially through the internet lol.

@ Paige,
"And here I thought I was enjoying a *fun* little debate.."

I thought this too until I had several people jump down my throat. I understand that I may have,originally, come across a little aggressive in my stance (I am aware of this problem and I am trying to work on it, often my passion is mistaken for anger and I am trying to tone it down) but felt that the tone of some responses were a little hasty and felt that my second post wasn't read with impartiality but negative emotions.

Paige - posted on 10/05/2010

And here I thought I was enjoying a *fun* little debate...

Kimberly - posted on 10/05/2010

Dearest Jessica, try rereading my post again, only with a sense of humor. I was making an attempt to rib you by pretending to have an alternate personality typing for me. Simma~ we're talking about ghosts for the love of Pete. Lighten up. Like Casper.

Jessica - posted on 10/05/2010

@ Kimberley,

“Hearing my deceased Grandfather calling my name did not happen at night while I was in bed as suggested by the highly reputable and educational site, Cracked.com.”

Ok, please, before you try to discredit me (most likely because you can't discredit my point) try looking at ALL the links I provided. Not just one. And even though you may view any fun site as not 'reputable and educational', that does not make it so. If you had even bothered to check the sources of cracked.com, you would find that they ARE reputable AND educational. Plus, they stated that it 'most commonly' happened at night whilst in bed. Not every time.

“There is no history of schizophrenia in the family. But I didn't type that, she did. “

For starters, no. I didn't type that. You did. At NO point did I even hint, suggest or imply it. In fact, in all the articles I linked, it was repeatedly stated that auditory hallucinations occur in 'normal' people with NO history and NO tendencies towards mental illnesses.

“And she says people that don't believe in anything that they can't see are boring. Again, I didn't type that- she did.”

This is seriously confusing for me. I did NOT type anything of the sort.

I am seriously annoyed at your post Kimberely. Because you misquoted me, put words into my mouth and blatantly lied about what I had said. You then turned to the community for support in your views instead of addressing me and countering my arguments.

Jessica - posted on 10/05/2010

It seems that some of you have been offended by what I have posted, that was not my intention. I am merely challenging your opinions as this is a debate, after all. If you get offended by people disagreeing and countering your opinions, then maybe a debate forum isn't for you. Again, I am not trying to offend anyone with that comment, I am only defending what I am saying.

I am going to address Loureens' post first, as I said I would.

“Some people are just more in tune with the psychic parts of their brains than others. “

While you say 'some people believe', I get the feeling that you may also share these beliefs, if this isn't the case then this isn't directed at you. As far as I am aware, there has been no evidence indicating that there are psychic parts of the brain and if you believe that the brain is capable of such feats, then you must agree that there is some biological principle that would allow this to happen. With that being the case, a scan of the brain during such a psychic event would reveal extremely unusual activity. If “a person can harness these natural abilities [if developed properly] and train themselves to see ghosts.” then this would imply that it requires substantial neurological effort and would be readily identifiable as unique brain activity never observed under normal circumstances. Since I have never heard of this (which, let's face it, would be VERY big news and paraded by all the 'professional' psychics) then I am forced to conclude that this type of brain activity is not possible.

“Every creature on this planet has natural instincts. But for some reason humans are less in tune with them .”

I agree with you that we are not in tune with a few of our instincts because we are unaware of them and this is exactly the problem that leads to people attributing events that they can't explain to a supernatural agent. I am unaware of any instincts that humans have, in a sense, lost compared to animals. There are quite a few instincts that we don't have because of biological differences, as we lack some of the senses found in other animals. For example: sensing the magnetic field of the earth, which is one of the leading theories on how some animals can sense earthquakes before they happen. A lot of the time we don't even see our instincts at work because they are involved in everyday decisions like the instinct that leads you to differentiate between your child coughing and choking even though the two can sound remarkably similar.

“Our environment teaches us to not trust our instincts. Our parents tell us that the ‘boogie man’ does not exist. “

The 'boogie man' doesn't exist. As you will probably have noticed with your children, until we learn better we will attribute anything to anything. For example: when I was a child, until my dad explained otherwise, I always thought that thunder was the clouds having an argument. It is just the way that we have evolved to see causation in everything. In particular, to see agency causation (in which another entity, human/animal/etc, deliberately caused the effect that we see). Obviously this can be very useful in an evolutionary sense, as assuming that the noise we just heard could be a predator gives us an increased chance of survival. It is not useful when a small pressure differential causes items to fall on a floor and since we did not see or feel the small gust of wind and cannot see another physical cause, we attribute it to a supernatural one.

“And we usually don’t spend much time trying to understand our dreams or feelings like déjà vu.”

By 'understand our dreams', do you mean understand why we have them or the context? I ask because the understanding why we have them explains the content. The leading theory on why we dream is our brains essentially organising information, usually recent memories and things that have happened through the day, which is why people who spend a lot of time together throughout the day can have uncannily similar dreams. Of course this does mean that your dreams can hold some symbolism because it can indicate what or who you have been thinking about the most and what is subconsciously worrying you.

Regarding the Deja vu, again there is a quite widely established theory that the feeling of deja vu is caused by a slight time delay between different memory regions of the brain making your incredibly recent memory have that 'old memory' feel to it.

“Biologically, our bodies have a much wider spectrum of vision when we are younger.[...] It's a fact that as we grow older our ability to see into other bands of light diminishes.”

While I don't claim to be an expert on biology, everything I do know tells me this is not correct. Our eyes may lose some of their vision, but we do not lose our ability to see different parts of the spectrum in the same way that our ears lose their ability to hear the upper and lower bounds of the human hearing frequency. If you have any evidence contrary to this, please let me know. Regardless, the range of our visual spectrum is quite narrow so I do understand where you are coming from. However, we have multitudes of scientific instruments that can see far past that limited range and even past the range of other animal species.

“Some scientifically based theories rely on certain natural elements to be just right in order for a spirit to be able to manifest itself and be seen.”

This is actually getting closer to my point of view. If people's experiences with so called spirits can't all be explained otherwise, then environmental conditions influencing their appearance seems more reasonable. However, you have got to take into account the statistical probability of these things happening, for instance, if a ghost is seen regularly as many claim, what is the likelihood that those specific environmental conditions are happening in the same place over and over again?

@Jocelyn,

“In response to the "why aren't there billions of spirits" bit, there is a little something called reincarnation.”

Well this doesn't make much sense to me, especially as a counter to my argument. Since what determines whether a spirit is reincarnated or stays as a spirit? And again, whatever cause, the sheer amount of them would be overwhelming and if spirits are being left as spirits and the population is constantly increasing, where are the new spirits coming from (this, of course, only applies if you believe in an enclosed cycle of reincarnation)?

@ Amanda.

“I had an experience of the "supernatural" or "paranormal" days after my brother passed away. It wasn't anything I read into it, it just was what it was and I can't explain it - Thus it's PARAnormal.”

I don't intend to rob you of any comfort this experience may have brought you and I do agree that these experiences can bring comfort (although it sickens me that some people will use this to make profit knowing that it is not true) but I also believe that there are other ways to find comfort. That being said, by dictionary definition, yes it was paranormal because from your point of view it was not something that you would normally experience. There are many examples of the so called paranormal that people repeatedly claim could have no other explanation and every time I hear this I can always think of many explanations ranging from the logically, scientifically sound to hypothetical and even somewhat crazy so I think the claims that there are no other explanations are really just an excuse for not wanting to find one. And don't get me wrong, I am only sceptical because I do not see any evidence. Believe it or not, I would actually like ghosts to exist. I would also like a money growing tree to exist but that doesn't mean I could see a tree with crisp 50 pound notes glued to the branches and claim to the world that the tree exists and that there could be no other explanation.

Closing statement,

This is getting very long, so I would like to wrap it up now. If you have any specific questions for me or would like to counter any arguments that I have made, then please make this clear.

This all started with the innocent sounding question “Do you believe in ghosts?”. Please remember, this is a DEBATING forum. If it was an opinion poll then I wouldn't be challenging your beliefs/opinions. I understand some of these beliefs, especially when they concern deceased loved ones, are very strongly held and I don't want to force people into abandoning these beliefs but this is a debate. There is no point in a debate if both sides are not allowed to argue and present evidence against other people's views. If you don't want your beliefs to be challenged, a debating forum is not for you. So I hope I have made it clear, that it is perfectly valid for me to post my views here even if they completely contradict yours. I hope I didn't give the impression that I was not listening to anyone else's views, the problem is that all the views expressed here are nothing new to me. Let me make this crystal clear, in lieu of hard evidence, anecdotal evidence CAN be brought to a debate. However, anecdotal evidence can NOT, by definition, be trusted as hard evidence. For example: I could easily claim I saw a flying cow today. Now using your line of reasoning, anyone presenting the fact that no cow has ever been observed to fly would not be presenting a valid argument. This is a logical fallacy. Obviously, that fact is perfectly valid in the debate, the only difference is that you don't believe in flying cows. The main problem is a lot of you are certain that you have had experience with spirits, just stating this and assuring everyone that is definitely wasn't something else is not a valid argument. Just because you have jumped to the conclusion that it was a spirit, doesn't mean that there are no other explanations when there invariably is.

At the end of the day many strange things have been observed over time and the ones that survived the invention of tools capable to record them, have been explained. The idea that no hard evidence has ever been brought forward in favour of the existence of spirits is shocking. We have managed to find an earth like planet billions of miles away, yet not once have we had a verifiable recording of a ghost. Any arguments that this is outside the range of science are a total cop out, since, “no mystery, ever solved, has turned out to be magic” (Tim Minchin). I firmly believe, if ghosts do exist, there is SOME scientific principle behind them. Think about it, if we can see ghosts then that means that they are causing some distortion of light that enters our eyes striking the photosensitive cells. What stops a camera from being in place of that eye? And if ghosts aren't seen through our eyes, then what stops ghosts from being a figment of our imagination?

Toni - posted on 10/05/2010

Haha yeah I was kind of thinking to myself THIS cannot be what she is talking about, I'm really glad it wasn't as the actual definition is much BETTER!

Paige - posted on 10/05/2010

hahaha Oh wow, I can just imagine the look on your face, wondering if I'm on drugs or something! On the dragons thing, which does relate to ghosts, in my belief system they live on the astral plane. A plane that is parallel to ours, but cannot be accessed except through a rip between the worlds or through serious meditation. It makes my imagination go wild haha.

Toni - posted on 10/05/2010

Thank-you Paige, I googled it and got a load of pages talking about actual dragons breathing fire, I knew you couldn't be talking about real dragons lol.

Paige - posted on 10/05/2010

Sorry, I'm Wiccan and it's a term that most Pagans wouldn't even know. Essentially what it is, is a rip between the worlds so that spirits can easily pass back and forth.

Toni - posted on 10/05/2010

A dragonfire Paige? I've not heard of that what is it?

Paige - posted on 10/05/2010

I definitely believe in ghosts. We had dragonfire in our basement so we constantly had ghosts coming and going in our home, use to scare the crap out of me! Until I learned how to deal with them, and how to protect myself.

Jocelyn - posted on 10/05/2010

All right, I told you all I'd be back to elaborate, and that time has come!
As I was saying, I have had many experiences. For some reason, I always end up working someplace that has a ghost :S
At the bar, I was cleaning up one night and put down the empty coffee pot. I walk around the corner, and then the coffee pot come flying from around that same corner, into the bar area. And there was no one who could have thrown it.
At the liquor store I worked at, we had two ghosts. One lived in the store. He would rearrange the shelves and move the beer bottles in the cooler. There would be no one else in the the store and you would clearly hear someone in the cooler, shuffling bottles around. We also had one older gentleman customer that would enter the store (door buzzing and everything), go into the beer cooler, and then just never come out. He would show up about once a week. I always wondered what type of beer he liked lol.
My old high school was haunted as well. I was frequently in the school until quite late at night (drama geek here lol) and one night I was in the science hallway. All off a sudden it sounded like someone was running down the hallway, dragging his hand along the lockers banging all the locks.
We also had a ghost in the theatre (because really, what theatre would be complete with out a ghost? lol) It was tradition to ALWAYS leave the sound booth light on, for said ghost. One night it accidentally got turned off and it suddenly got really cold in the theatre. Then all the lights started flicking on and off and things started banging around behind the stage. We were in full view of the light switches the entire time.
I also have a spirit that follows me around (protective, an older brother type) I've seen him around. I was walking down the stairs at my mothers house, turned the corner and there was this guy just standing there! I came flying up those stairs pretty fast lol. Also at my moms house, if you sleep in the basement, be prepared. Nothing bad will happen, but you'll most likely get to witness a cool light show on the floor (like when someone is walking and shines a flashlight on the ground).

Cindy - posted on 10/05/2010

I have had so many things happen around me, in my house, my sons have seen & heard things that can't be explained. I had a near death experience as a teen that turned my life & beliefs around. Yes, there is something out there that we cannot begin to understand.

Stifler's - posted on 10/04/2010

That's cool! Its never happened to me though.

Wanda - posted on 10/04/2010

When it happened to me I was doing an overnight shift at the store where I work. It had been an aweful night, nothing was going right and I was dog tired. I walked down an aisle that I'd walked down a dozen times already that night and there in the middle were 3 shiny new pennies that hadn't been there seconds before. I was alone it that area so noone else had dropped them. I knew it was a message from my grandmother, who'd passed 2 months prior, telling me that it was okay and she was with me. I didn't feel as tired anymore and the rest of the shift flew by. I got more accomplished in the few hours that remained than I had the whole night.

It happened to my mother as well. My mother took her mother's passing really hard, they'd been really close. My mother was having a really rough day when she noticed a shiny new penny in the middle of the kitchen floor. She'd just finished sweeping and she was home alone. She swears it was from her mother letting her know she was okay.

Wanda - posted on 10/04/2010

It's when you find a brand new shiny penny/pennies somewhere and you know they weren't there a short time ago. It's believed that the pennies are left by a loved one who has passed on to let you know that they were there. It's like saying 'hello' from the afterlife.

Stifler's - posted on 10/04/2010

What's pennies from heaven?

Wanda - posted on 10/04/2010

I believe in ghosts/supernatural and believe that I've encountered at least two ghosts. My grandfather, a deeply religious man, maintained to his dying day that he encountered the ghosts of a family who died by drowning in our home village years before he was born (I kept hoping to encouter this family in my wanderings but never did). And one of my son's great-grandparents keeps playing with his toy piano and Sweeping Sam (a toy broom that talks) but despite my repeated requests to show themselves, they haven't (or maybe they have and I lack the ability to see them. I have a strong feeling that it's my mother's mother). I have also experienced the phenomenon commonly called 'pennies from heaven'.

Kim - posted on 10/04/2010

I had premonitions until I had my son. I could even look at a pregnant lady and tell them if they were going to have a boy or a girl and I always won those lotteries about when they would be born(we never did it for money). But I have never seen ghosts(well except my Great Grandmother's telling me I was going to have a girl on her b-day when I didn't even know I was pregnant yet. I had had a recent miscarriage). But my Aunt's family always sees ghosts and actually have helped some on their way. My older daughter came down the other day saying she saw a little girl ghost in her room. I couldn't tell her it wasn't real or anything, I have no idea, she could have. After my dog died I heard her running around the house, up and down the stairs, felt her jump on my bed, so didn't my Brother. I've also known when a family member had died. And actually I dreamt all about my Great Grandmother's death and knew who was coming by before they showed up and I knew I was going to be with her, alone, when she died. Is that supernatural enough?

Jessica - posted on 10/04/2010

@ Jessica Barnett, the question was do you believe in ghosts, not do they or do they not exist. We are entitled to believe in them.

^^ YES, good point, I was going to add that too. There's almost no point in debating whether they exist or not- the hard skeptics won't be convinced with anecdotal and other debatable evidence, and those of us who believe have strong reasons for doing so and most likely, science won't persuade us otherwise.

Rosie - posted on 10/04/2010

i don't know, it may be just me, but everybody else explained their reason why they BELIEVE in ghosts. why can't jessica explain her reasoning why she DOESN'T believe in ghosts?

Stifler's - posted on 10/04/2010

@ Jessica Barnett, the question was do you believe in ghosts, not do they or do they not exist. We are entitled to believe in them.

Amanda - posted on 10/04/2010

I can also add, that my brother who passed - had a near death experience about 7 to 8 years prior. He was in a horrible car accident and was in the hospital for days. He later told us, that after he hit the tree and was black out for several minutes that he saw these things in black robes...he said that he was straining to see what they were & who they were and he just couldn't make it out. As he was just giving up, there was a huge bright light that he said was brighter than the sun. He said that he saw angels and they told him that it wasn't his time yet, but that his time would be coming very soon. He passed away several years later and very quickly. I'll never know if he saw the angels when he did pass, but I take great comfort in the fact that he did and that he came to visit his little sister only days later, in the form of a PARAnormal experience.

Stifler's - posted on 10/04/2010

Oh no. Please don't.

Jessica - posted on 10/04/2010

I haven't forgotten to reply, but it's been a busy night, and I've got work tomorrow, I will try and get my response finished by tomorrow evening.

Toni - posted on 10/04/2010

Try again damn site losing my responses AGAIN grrrr!

Jessica, you shouldn't enter a debate if your not at least prepared to hear the information the other side presents, be it anecdotal or not (and there is research for spirits and as well as against). Sometimes debates are NOT about hard scientific fact (things like this debate there is NOT always hard scientific fact either way) but more about learning and understanding people more, so there is a degree of open mindedness needed.

Yes there is evidence to prove that SOME psychics, clairvoyants and mediums are hoaxers, but there is NOT evidence that ALL of them are! Some people are more receptive to the other side, it is as simple as that. This links in with not everybody experiencing spirits, some people are just not aware of what they are experiencing, some are oblivious and others just explain it away without actually considering what it may have been. Oh and BTW many people have experienced spirits and many will continue to, that does not mean that everyone who encounters a spirit truely is encountering one, sometimes our imagenations do play tricks on us.

I apologise for accusing you of disrespecting my opinion if you hadn't read any of the previous posts, I mistook this statement..."And that stuff about violent deaths and unfinished business 'trapping' spirits in this realm is absolute tosh."...as you commenting on my post, as it was pretty much exactly what I had said.

Yes many of people have died in horrific manners but NOT all of them have issue with it, similarly to when they were alive spirits react to different events differently, so what one may find traumatic another won't. What one needs to gain closure from another won't. Likewise NOT all spirits will gain closure and transcend to heaven. For example a girl who has been raped and murdered may find closure in her murder being punished for his actions OR a man who cheated on his wife in life may get closure when his wife moves on and remarries.

My beliefs may be illogical to You but to ME they are VERY logical thank-you very much!

Yes *I* know that YOU do not believe in heaven or God but *I* do (as do many others) and these beliefs WILL impact MY beliefs regarding the afterlife, on this we will have to agree to disagree!

Joy - posted on 10/04/2010

I believe in the possibility of ghosts. Nothing wierd or unexplained (regarding ghosts) has ever happened to me personally but I have heard stories from friends and family. Some, I believe THEY believe it and some....well, a few of my friends are exaggerators lol I believe more along the lines that there may be other dimensions that sometimes overlap into ours, or ours into theirs. I don't know if this is where people go when they die (the other dimensions) or not, but it makes a strange kind of sense to me to believe that way.

Jessica - posted on 10/04/2010

Just to let you know I've read everyones responses, and I'm preparing a response but it may take some time, please bear with me.

Tawny - posted on 10/04/2010

I believe there are weird and unnatural things that happen .... When I was about 10 or 11 I was given a doll that had a stand that you would put on a shelf she was around the same size as a barbie doll and had black hair and a blue old fashioned dress on. I put it on a shelf and would get a really weird feeling every time I walked by it. It felt like she was watching me wherever I would be in my room I couldn't take it anymore so I put her away in a drawer but kept hearing noises coming from the drawer. I got freaked out one night and my mom came in and asked why hadn't gone to bed yet I told her what happened so she took the doll and put it in her room. She put it in a drawer and went to bed. The next morning she told me she had to throw the doll out in the garbage in the garage because she woke up to noises coming from the drawer like someone laughing and it freaked her out so she threw it in the garbage in the kitchen and it still was making noises. So she tossed it totally out of the house. My mom doesn' t believe in ghosts but she said that doll was evil and I or my sister would not have anything like that again in the house.
Lets just say I am not a big fan of dolls or clown dolls.

Jessica - posted on 10/04/2010

@ Jessica- first off, while I do think that many experiences can be explained by hallucinations and other psychological phenomena, in my particular case that is not what happened. I'm sure it could be easy for you (or anyone reading this) to come to that conclusion, but that's not what happened. The main reason I think this is because my sister and brother experienced the same thing.

And while I'm all for scientific, hard evidence being used in debates, this is one of the few subjects where I don't think that necessarily applies. Its not, by nature, a scientific, provable thing and yes, it defies logic in many cases. But does that mean we can't talk about it, or believe in it? I don't think so. I'm normally a very analytical, skeptical person but for me this is one of those things I "believe in" even though there's only anecdotal evidence and nothing to scientifically study.

Kimberly - posted on 10/04/2010

Hearing my deceased Grandfather calling my name did not happen at night while I was in bed as suggested by the highly reputable and educational site, Cracked.com. This took place in the early afternoon with sunshine streaming through the windows. There is no history of schizophrenia in the family. But I didn't type that, she did. And she says people that don't believe in anything that they can't see are boring. Again, I didn't type that- she did.

Amanda - posted on 10/04/2010

Jessica B -



Just because you don't believe in something (which is your opinion and you are very much entitled to that opinion), you can't bash people for feeling, believing and experience the latter. The "Supernatural" or "Paranormal" belief, is just THAT. A BELIEF.



I had an experience of the "supernatural" or "paranormal" days after my brother passed away. It wasn't anything I read into it, it just was what it was and I can't explain it - Thus it's PARAnormal.



And at any rate, since I had this experience and I found comfort in the experience - who are you to say that it is plausible? It's definitely not "archaic". My logic and my conclusion are just fine :)

Jocelyn - posted on 10/04/2010

In response to the "why aren't there billions of spirits" bit, there is a little something called reincarnation.

Jessica - posted on 10/04/2010

@ Jessica A., "why do you think that *every* person who dies must turn in to a ghost"



I don't, because I don't believe in them. HOWEVER, given the amount of people that have died in the history of humanity, even if a small fraction had 'stuck around' then there would be daily occurrences with almost, if not all, every person frequently experiencing it.



"Also, why is it so hard to believe that some people may be more inclined to "see" them than others?"



Because that would imply that 'psychics', 'mediums', 'clairvoyants' and 'seers' have 'special powers/abilities' which is impossible given that PLENTY of studies have shown that they are false.



" Explanations we come up with- such as "unfinished business" or violent deaths, are only guesses because we don't really know... "



So instead of looking for a valid, scientific, PROVABLE theory, we instead revert to the cave mentality that it was 'magic' or 'supernatural'.



"but there are so, so many cases of people experiencing things that its hard to just totally discount them"



I am not discounting ANYONE's experience. Just their logic and reasoning in coming to such an archaic conclusion.



"They're anecdotal, sure, but still!"



Sorry, but I don't and won't sit for this type of thinking being used in a debate, let alone in trying to provide a FACTUAL base for an argument. No offence, but that type of thinking is why ignorance prevails (not directed at anyone specifically).



"And in the case of my "experience", I wonder what else would have been banging around in my grandmother's kitchen when everyone else was asleep? You simply can't logically explain something like that.."



Yes, yes I can.

Scroll down for the auditory info on the first link.



http://www.cracked.com/article/199_5-hor...



http://www.hearinglosshelp.com/articles/...



http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/informati...



http://www.lawofficer.com/article/needs-...



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallucinati...



Auditory hallucinations, and in particular the hearing of a voice, are thought of as particularly characteristic of people suffering from schizophrenia. However, normal subjects also report auditory hallucinations to a surprising extent. For example, Bentall and Slade[15] found that as many as 15.4% of a population of 150 male students were prepared to endorse the statement ‘In the past I have had the experience of hearing a person’s voice and then found that no one was there’



@ Toni, "Nice to see your being open minded about this Jessica B, thanks..."



No offence, but I don't have to be open minded about a subject that has NO evidence in favour of it and a LOT of evidence against it.



"Ok some people are more receptive to the other side and so are able to 'communicate' with spirits easier than others."



Please see my response to Jessica for this one.



"If you are completely closed to the idea of there being spirits you may be missing the signs of them."



I was, at one time, a firm believer and have NEVER experienced it, so it isn't my being 'closed' that's the problem.



"Also spirits are an energy rather than an actual being so they will not be taking up space on earth"



My point was, that TOO MANY people in history have died for only a few to 'experience' them.



"As you completely disrespected my opinion,"



I did no such thing, thank you. I hadn't even read any of the posts till after I had posted myself. You taking offence is on you, not me. At any rate, me holding a strong opinion on this matter does NOT automatically mean I am disrespecting yours or anyone else's opinion.



"If a person dies in a violent or incredibly sudden way and they feel they have unfinished business then until they resolve that issue they are trapped here"



And in the ENTIRE history of ALL of humanity only a few hundred die a violent or traumatic death in every generation? No, thousands of people die violent, tragic and traumatic deaths EVERY DAY. People with unfinished business die by the hundreds, every day. That line of reasoning is just illogical.



"spirits of 'bad' people such as murders are also stuck in this realm."



So again, that is in the thousands range, EVERY DAY.



"Spirits can resolve issues and make ammends for their actions,"



How? (Genuine question)



"but when they have sorted their issue that keeps them here they transcend to heaven."



Sorry, don't believe in heaven, or hell for that matter. God/s don't cut it for me either.



@ Loureen, I have to go pick up my son now but I will address your post when I come back. Have to say, this is a fun debate :D.

Petra - posted on 10/04/2010

Krista - I was going to bring this up too, lol. The concept of linear time is the easiest one to grasp for pretty much anyone who is not a theoretical physicist. If, as we are experiencing time now, the past and the future are also happening, and have also already happened, the notion of glimpsing an overlap (or hearing one) makes a lot more sense to me than ghosts.

That being said, I am highly skeptical of ghosts and supernatural phenomenon - but I tend to want to believe in it for the pure magic of the idea of it. I had some really, really weird Ouija board experiences in my teens and now that I'm old and boring, I don't view them with the same excitement and possibility that I once did. But, I have heard of, and been party to, some odd, scary or disconcerting occurrences where either ghosts or eternal recurrence could fit the bill as an explanation.

Krista - posted on 10/04/2010

As someone who experiences overwhelmingly strong deja vu's, I don't discount other people's "weird" visions anymore.

I get that often as well. And yeah, it's REALLY strong. Some people believe that it's due to eternal recurrence (a concept which posits that the universe has been recurring, and will continue to recur, in a self-similar form an infinite number of times, due to time being cyclical, not linear), and us catching a brief glimpse of all of these things happening before.

I honestly think I could get behind the idea of eternal recurrence...it makes a lot more sense to me than any other theory I've heard so far.

Charlie - posted on 10/04/2010

I disagree Jessica .
Some people believe that we all have the ability to see ghosts but that not all of us are aware of the fact. Some people are just more in tune with the psychic parts of their brains than others. If developed properly, some believe a person can harness these natural abilities and train themselves to see ghosts. Every creature on this planet has natural instincts. But for some reason humans are less in tune with them. Our environment teaches us to not trust our instincts. Our parents tell us that the ‘boogie man’ does not exist. And we usually don’t spend much time trying to understand our dreams or feelings like déjà vu. But these are all natural instincts that we are born with. Some people have learned to pay more attention to these abilities and these people, in theory, are more likely to be able to see ghosts.

Biologically, our bodies have a much wider spectrum of vision when we are younger. This could be the reason that people are more likely to see a ghost when they are young. It is believed by some that ghosts are all around us but that they are invisible to us because they exist in a spectrum of light that we cannot see. It's a fact that as we grow older our ability to see into other bands of light diminishes. For some people this gradual loss of perception is quicker than for others. This theory is backed up by the common belief that our pets can see ghosts when we can’t. Science has proven that animals like cats and dogs have much better sense than humans and can see into spectrums of light that we can’t. So perhaps it is our distinct differences biologically that helps some of us see ghosts.
Some scientifically based theories rely on certain natural elements to be just right in order for a spirit to be able to manifest itself and be seen. Things like weather and atmosphere need to be just right. Certain lighting and temperature may be required for us to be able to see ghosts. And other scientifically based ideas like electromagnetic fields, ionic fields, and other elements around us could possibly be needed for a spirit to have the ability to manifest itself into visible form. Perhaps the fact that some people can see ghosts and others can't has nothing to do with us directly but with the unseen forces around us.

But really it comes down to personal belief , we cannot see what we are not open to .

Toni - posted on 10/04/2010

Nice to see your being open minded about this Jessica B, thanks...



Ok some people are more receptive to the other side and so are able to 'communicate' with spirits easier than others. If you are completely closed to the idea of there being spirits you may be missing the signs of them. Also spirits are an energy rather than an actual being so they will not be taking up space on earth.



As you completely disrespected my opinion, I will explain it to you a little more to see if you can at least understand where I am coming from, I know I will not change your mind and I do not intend for you to.



If a person dies in a violent or incredibly sudden way and they feel they have unfinished business then until they resolve that issue they are trapped here (in a realm between earth and heaven), spirits of 'bad' people such as murders are also stuck in this realm. Spirits can resolve issues and make ammends for their actions, when this is done they then move onto to heaven. There are many spirits trapped on earth at the moment and people do see them, although not everyone, but when they have sorted their issue that keeps them here they transcend to heaven.

Jessica - posted on 10/04/2010

@ Jessica- why do you think that *every* person who dies must turn in to a ghost? Isn't it plausible that only some do, for whatever reason? Also, why is it so hard to believe that some people may be more inclined to "see" them than others? Explanations we come up with- such as "unfinished business" or violent deaths, are only guesses because we don't really know... but there are so, so many cases of people experiencing things that its hard to just totally discount them. They're anecdotal, sure, but still! And in the case of my "experience", I wonder what else would have been banging around in my grandmother's kitchen when everyone else was asleep? You simply can't logically explain something like that..

Jessica - posted on 10/04/2010

There is no such thing. If there were, EVERYONE in the world would see, feel or communicate with them on a daily basis. Imagine all the people who have died in the history of humanity. BILLIONS upon BILLIONS!!!!! And that stuff about violent deaths and unfinished business 'trapping' spirits in this realm is absolute tosh. Again, think of all the people in the world who have died a violent death or with unfinished business in the ENTIRE history of humanity. Again, BILLIONS!!!!!! If they did exist, then why do we not encounter them several times a day. If they did exist, then we would have every street, house and building packed to the brim with them. So, if they did exist then why can't I see, feel or communicate with one right now?

Jessica - posted on 10/04/2010

I do believe in ghosts/spirits, though I don't have many explanations on specifics- but like Carol said, there is just so much out there that we can't even explain.

I had an experience when my grandmother died- she'd been in the hospital and we went down to stay with my grandfather while it was going on. That night, my brother and sister and I were sleeping in their living room, which is off the kitchen; the rest of the family was in extra bedrooms. I was laying there awake and started getting a horrible feeling- its hard to explain, just a miserable, terrified kind of feeling and it was very strong. then, things started banging around in the kitchen. Chairs being moved, pots and pans clanging. I was next to my sister and she heard it too- we were both scared shitless. I couldn't even look over in the kitchen because I didn't want to know what I'd see. The next day my brother, who had heard it too, said he looked and there was a shadowy figure in the kitchen. We were very freaked out as well as baffled because the spirit, or whatever it was seemed so evil, but our grandmother wasn't a mean person so we don't think it could have been her ghost, even though it happened the night she died..?

Jocelyn - posted on 10/04/2010

Yes totally. I have had many many supernatural encounters. I will elaborate tomorrow (off to bed finally!)

Sharon - posted on 10/03/2010

yes

Johnny - posted on 10/03/2010

Not specifically. But I do believe that there are a great many things that we currently have no explanation for, so it is not out of the realm of possibility. I know people who feel that they see ghosts. As someone who experiences overwhelmingly strong deja vu's, I don't discount other people's "weird" visions anymore. This is despite the fact that I am a huge skeptic.

Good Day! - posted on 10/03/2010

Sure. There are all kind of unexplainable things our there.

There is a haunted plantation home close by. A friend and I went and toured the house. One old superstition is that if you don't cover mirrors when someone dies, their soul is trapped. Supposedly that happened to the master of the house. I took a picture of the mirror in question, and there is a man in the mirror when I got the film developed. I was alone in the room. There are tons of stories about this house. A slave woman that tucks overnight guests into their beds at 3 am, little girls laughter and footsteps in the hallways...

Charlie - posted on 10/03/2010

I believe in the supernatural and have had a few terrifying encounters .