Believer or non-believer?
I had an experience many years ago when I was in bed and I saw a person walking across the bedroom. The three clear things I remember are that the shoulders stayed perfectly level whilst the guy was walking, he walked into a corner of the room that didn’t have a door/exit and I don’t really remember seeing his legs. 😯
But what I’m not too clear on is whether I saw a ghost or if it was a particularly lucid dream.
I’m still skeptical.

Non – surely Most Haunted/Ghost Hunters/the local paranormal society and global equivalents of the above would have caught something conclusive on film by now?

Never understimate the power of the mind to play convincing tricks. Is what I would say. Having had a couple of similar “events”, and being firmly sceptical about the whole thing (despite really wanting to believe in ghosts, because they are pretty ace in theory).

Human imagination is a wonderful thing. That and many humans’ desire for there to be something more to life than just multiplying and dying (hence gods, aliens, etc).

Daytime sceptic.

Ask me again at midnight. Whooo-ahhh!

Up until this point you’ve been on my list of vaguely sensible people. Now I’m going to have to add you to the other list.

i believe in ghosts about as much as i believe in the following:
Unicorns
Dragons
fairies
trolls
homeopathy
an all powerful being who made the world and medles in our lives

Wooobob +1 you have an overactive imagination, eat less cheese before bed

🙂

Driving in the Peak District to Eyam a few years ago with the missus. We saw a runner on the verge next to the road. As we were driving past he stepped out. We swerved and slowed but the fecker was nowhere to be seen.

We both saw it.

We have no explantion as to where he went.

We were once prey. We have bits in our minds dedicated to look for threats, “monsters”, predators stalking us. That’s why you can often “feel” someone looking at you even though you didn’t consciously see them.

I reckon “ghosts” etc are often just these senses kicking in.

I’m sceptical. But, and it’s a big one, my father in law had a crazy experience in his house that I’m not sure how to explain. He was a naval overseer on Polaris subs, not given (or even capable) of ‘flights of fancy’.

I’m thinking that the universe is infinitely more complex than we can hope to understand, maybe ‘ghosts’ are part if the bit we haven’t rationalised yet.

grown-ups dont believe in ghosts, the ones that do i tend to end up receiving medication from people like me until the ghosts go away 😉

the human brain is an incredible thing, once looked after a lady who didnt move from her chair for over 48 hours because she could see, hear and feel a gargoyle type creature sitting on her back with claws dug in tight. once the chemicals in her brain were levelled out a little she never experienced anything like that again and hasn’t been back in hospital for years now 🙂 medication free and doing great.

Perhaps you CAN help me phil because I keep seeing smiley faces in your written text… Can anyone else see those happy smiling faces? They really are there, aren’t they?

Who is this “phil” you keep talking about don?

Who is this “don” you are talking too?

😀 😀 😀 😀 before 🙂 i can 🙂 assess you 😀 don i need:D to know if you’re the 🙂 murdering sort? 😀 😀 if so its not 😀 😀 😀 a problem, i’ll just 😀 need to bring the paperwork for our 😀 😀 😀 place in oxford instead 🙂 of reading.

🙂 🙂 😀 :):D

non – strictly speaking

I spent a large portion of my early 20s completely at the mercy of my imagination though.. so I am aware of the power of the mind..
but that strange time also gave me cause to wonder if there possibly are other life experiences just at the edges of our perception..

On the other hand my other half I suspect would like to believe in ghosts and for this reason I call her a fruitcake at every opportunity.. 🙂

I always thought somewhere like Auschwitz, the Somme or Cannae would be very haunted places due to the carnage and death there?

Murder is premeditated, no?

Nope not seeing any smileys here.

not given (or even capable) of ‘flights of fancy’.

and therefore just as susceptable as anyone else..

don simon – Member
Who is this “don” you are talking too?

Caher, I’ve been to the war graves in Northern France and while there is an atmosphere there and they are very sombre, thought provoking places, there was no sensation of the supernatural.

I once pretended to be a ghost just so i could rub up against some fit bird in pottery class.

I had an experience when I was 19. I won’t forget it. The climax was a plastic carrier bag travelling in a dead straight line for 45 yards or more before wrapping around my feet. At this point I did scream and run for the front door.

The climax was a plastic carrier bag travelling in a dead straight line for 45 yards or more before wrapping around my feet.

Making a note of this for the next time I’m caught in the toilets standing in a carrier bag.

imagine how many people die in hospitals, often in painful ways, ‘too young to die’ and with unfinished business….. had a family friend who claimed to be psychic, communicate with spirits and even designed and released her own tarot deck, she didnt consider the whole hospital thing until i pointed it out to her, all of a sudden she could sense ghosts around us in the hospital ward.

our understanding of the world is limited by several things, what we can observe, measure and record; then there’s our imagination. there could be squillions of things happening around us that we’re not aware of… the idea of ghosts however require a ‘soul’ to be left behind, a soul is a spiritual/religious concept that i don’t adhere to personally.

I am sceptical too, although I would love to see something, or even see some compelling evidence.

My take on it is that our brains are basically electrical signals and our bodies contain a lot of energy: Is it not a fundamental law of physics that states that energy can not be destroyed, only transferred, so what happens to all this energy that creates our personalities after we die?

I spent a large portion of my early 20s completely at the mercy of my imagination though.. so I am aware of the power of really good acid..

FTFY

LOL brassneck.. very perceptive..!

the idea of ghosts however require a ‘soul’ to be left behind

Not necessarily, you could just as easily come up with a dodgy pseudo-science Dr Who style explanation:

loops in the dimension of time giving us glimpses of the past; the magnetic field of people being somehow recorded into ferrous material; partial rifts to parallel universes;

That kind of guff.

so what happens to all this energy that creates our personalities after we die?

Ever watched a body burn? Or felt the gentle warmth of a decomposing corpse?

(if not, pop round to my cellar after midnight…)

Nice bikes

Video killed the radio star.

The supply of dependable electrical lighting killed the ghost.

Are there any modern-day ghosts? Ghosts occupying swanky modern bars or townhouses? Ghosts in cinemas or bowling alleys? Ghosts in MacDonalds?

so what happens to all this energy that creates our personalities after we die?

eaten by worms, cremated and transferred to heat energy… that kinda thing 🙂

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vX07j9SDFcc[/video]

Mrs. S. floated from the bed to the ceiling when she was about 20. She felt the rough ceiling artex against her face and after a few seconds she plunged back into the bed. She thinks her heart may have stopped in her sleep (out of body bit) and then re-started (back to bed at speed bit).

She’s embarrassed about it and won’t tell anyone but me.

The Infinite Monkey Cage

Mon 04 July 11: Science and the supernatural

Tue, 5 Jul 11

Duration:
29 mins

Robin Ince and Brian Cox pit science against the supernatural, as they explore ghosts and other paranormal phenomena with the help of actor and magician Andy Nyman, psychologist Richard Wiseman and neuroscientist Bruce Hood.

[audio src="http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/timc/timc_20110705-1015a.mp3" /]

OP I’ve also experienced this. Apperently (well I heard somewhere) it can be mould/fungous in the room that affects children.

Ghosts? What a load of $hit.

Makes good movie viewing though!

(Sorry for my silent but deadly…)

so what happens to all this energy that creates our personalities after we die?
Ever watched a body burn? Or felt the gentle warmth of a decomposing corpse?

(if not, pop round to my cellar after midnight…)

Quite probably, although these things don’t generally happen in isolation and there must be some kind of interaction with the surroundings.

I am not saying they exist, or that this maybe a relevant point, I am just thinking of possible answers.

As I said, I would like to see some compelling evidence. However, as there hasn’t been any (unless anyone else has seen some) it pretty much suggests that they don’t exist. I mean, it’s not as if no one has tried to collect evidence.

My main reaction to hearing most ghost stories is, as others have mentioned, that the mind is a powerful thing.

If you don’t really believe in them they never show themselves.