Believe in ghosts?

[midlifebear]

Do you believe in ghosts?

I'm not a great believer in the super or even the supra natural. But I once lived in a grand old home, 175 A Street, in the Avenues neighborhood of Salt Lake City. Times were a bit lean and I had been given an ancient black and white TV that was filled with vacuum tubes and enormous capacitors instead of transistors and tiny capacitors. It was a Philco 24" portable, (yeah, I know, 24" portable?) circa 1958-59. Despite the poor reception, I would turn it on and listen to David Letterman much as I would listen to NPR on the radio. When I moved into that giant creaky home on A street the old TV would spontaneously turn itself on without warning. Even more curious was the old 525 interlaced black and white lines displayed a sharp clear picture. Coincidentally, the house at 175 A street had originally been built by Philo T. Farnsworth, who for all intent and purposes is the real inventor of television. Some historians insist he only invented the cathode ray tube, but he did a lot more than than. He demonstrated the first TV completely electronic broadcast in San Francisco to a bunch of potential investors in 1929, which meant he also invented the first TV camera.

I took the TV to my neighbors' houses and plugged it in checking the reception in all of the rooms. It was poor and often there was no signal. But back at 175 A Street the old TV worked like new.

One day some tubes went out. I took the back off of it and simply turned the set on to see which tube(s) were not glowing. After turning off the TV I pulled the tubes and found a small TV repair shop a few blocks away where one old guy had shelves of dusty, unused vacuum tubes. He sold me three. Once I plugged in the replacements the TV worked even better. I might add that instead of rabbit ears I had an uncoated wire hanger screwed to the connector where a dual wire cable would normally be run from the back and up to a rooftop antenna. Curiously, a week after I bought those replacement tubes the store where I bought them was bulldozed.

Anyway, if it wasn't Philo T's ghost that ensured I received good reception on one of his old Philco sets, maybe it was just left-over resonatting karma? Who knows. I certainly don't have an answer. Any suggestions?

Anyone else have a similar or related experience? Just curious. :wink:

 

[Phil Ayesho]

there are no such things as ghosts.

Anything capable of affecting the physical world, must use a physical force.
Such forces are detectable.

The qualities attributed to ghosts are inconsistent with all known physics, and all 'evidence' for ghosts is nothing but subjective anecdotal reportage.

All purported "hard" evidence for ghosts is consistent with profit oriented hoaxes and fakes.

We are a species that now has both scientific methods, and the collective power to destroy the world, either accidentally or on purpose.


It is well past time for us to let go of delusional beliefs in magical nonsense and start taking reality seriously for a change.

 

[nudeyorker]

mlb...that was a very interesting story. I have never been able to have any feeling for the esoteric except in books and film. However I don't disrespect people who have had experiences with it. For me I think the closest experiences are dreams about friends and loved ones who have died and I feel that they are a result of my emotions and memories and subconscious. I will listen to others experiences with an open mind however.

 

[lucky8]

there are no such things as ghosts.

Anything capable of affecting the physical world, must use a physical force.
Such forces are detectable.

The qualities attributed to ghosts are inconsistent with all known physics, and all 'evidence' for ghosts is nothing but subjective anecdotal reportage.

All purported "hard" evidence for ghosts is consistent with profit oriented hoaxes and fakes.

We are a species that now has both scientific methods, and the collective power to destroy the world, either accidentally or on purpose.


It is well past time for us to let go of delusional beliefs in magical nonsense and start taking reality seriously for a change.

Everything you have said here is under the assumption that humans know everything. We as a species know very very little about the universe we reside in, and the dimensions we don't. A rather small, close minded approach to a subject science can neither prove nor disprove because we don't have the appropriate instruments to measure things our senses filter out. It's like radio waves and infra red. 200 years ago people would have laughed at the idea that there are invisible waves and light spectrums, yet they've always been there, even though we could not observe them until recently. Science is not the end all of everything, as most things in science are merely theories, and usually proven wrong by another scientific discovery

 

[2322]

I think there are ghosts. What they are made of, or how they function, I haven't a clue. I'm sure at some point the technology will exist to detect and possibly discover what ghosts are. It doesn't seem to me we possess that technology now, or if we do, it hasn't been applied to ghost hunting.

Ghosts are things that cross cultures and times since forever. I tend to believe that where there's smoke, there's fire and there are far too many anecdotal stories about ghosts to dismiss them outright. I realize that detecting or measuring a non-regularly repeating natural phenomenon is very difficult, but that doesn't mean something isn't going on. Look how long it took to prove ball lightning exists despite loads of anecdotal evidence. Until it was duplicated in a lab, many scientists dismissed ball lightning as a myth.

We just need time and greater insight into human psychology, physiology, and natural phenomenon before we discover what ghosts really are.

 

[D_Jared Padalicki]

Nope, don't believe it, but it's great to act there are ghosts to scary other people, so much fun lol :tongue:

 

[HellsKitchenmanNYC]

There are def. ghosts. I grew up in New England in an olddddddddddd house from the mid 1800's. There were always lots of spooky things going on. My parents never believed it. Buuuut every Friday @ 7 one of the window shades would go up all by itslef like clockwork. me and my sister would frequently see a woman in the attic window just looking out, hand to chin. Things would constantly be found in places we hadn't left them. Weird noises were a constant thing such as sliding feet across the floor, hushed whispers etc.
A friend of mine and I discovered and started to read Hans Holzers books. He was a famous ghost hunter back then. He told lots of interesting stories.
Yes there was always something happening in my house. I used to write it all down and chronicle the times and dates etc. That house, as much as I loved it, always felt sad. I don't know how to explain it but you could feel it as you walked into the house.
Everytime I went to the cellar to do laundry I had the sense that a boy ghost was there. I never felt him anywhere else in the house but the cellar.
Off the top of my head that's some tales but there's more.

 

[2322]

I have Holzer's "Ghosts" book which compiles everything he ever wrote. It's an enormous book, very heavy, but lots of fun to read before bed. I'll let you borrow it if you have a forklift and a flatbed truck. Holzer never really did any ghost busting in the modern sense, but he was a fantastic ghost writer.

 

[Bbucko]

There is a spirit realm and a physical realm, and sometimes one will manifest itself in the other. I have lived with an uneasy knowledge of this my entire life; to catalog them all would be a book, not a message board post.

I have no explanation for these different events, and am in no position to postulate theories as to how or why they have happened. And I have no stake in any dogma that insists that they must have been entirely non-subjective, despite having had them happen to others who noticed something unusual with no prompting on my part whatsoever.

In a totally objective way, denying my experiences would be denying reality, in as much as perceptions (and, again, in some cases shared perceptions) are how we process what happens in the world around us. Part of the dilemma here is like trying to explain snow to a remote Amazon tribe, or describe a specific color that someone without sensitivity to such matters wouldn't be able to differentiate from another, more familiar color.

There are no absolutes in science, only the certainty that data is subject to laboratory replication and close study. That which is not data is merely anecdote, the subjective interpretation of something by the experiencer using only the cultural tools s/he has to describe what s/he perceived/experienced, with all their inherent flaws and limitations. But empirical study without any room for doubt or an open mind to other possibilities is arrogant and deeply anti-curious, which seems antithetical to the discipline.

There is much yet that we cannot explain but which is manifestly real. Quantum physics attempts to wrestle with these things, but is a very young discipline. As with everything else, the curious mind acknowledges that the more we learn, the more we discover how much we don't yet understand.

 

[B_bi_mmf]

As is generally the case in discussions here on topics about the supernatural, Phil is the one who makes sense to me. Well stated, Phil.

Evidence is absent. Do folks believe in the Easter Bunny too?

True, Lucky8, our scientific understanding is incomplete. However, that fact does not make delusions reality.

 

[SCsoccerMom]

ummm...I am personally terrified.....oh not the ghost thing (which yeah I think you are eaten up with 'um btw) I am petrified that you have a 900 year old TV no satelite and you watch Letterman and NPR MY GAWD man....Walmart sells 32" plasma HD everyday of the week for like 100 bucks...RUN screaming to the elctronics department TODAY! lol...if the ghost works on old blenders let me know....I have an ooolllddd sunbeam I need him to tinker with. :>)

 

[HellsKitchenmanNYC]

there are no such things as ghosts.



All purported "hard" evidence for ghosts is consistent with profit oriented hoaxes and fakes.

I don't know if that's quite true. Actually I do. As far as I know there are no universities or organizations doing real research on this. Most evidence we have of happenings are either handed down or passed around telephone style. Yes the stories sometimes get bigger and bigger as they go along the vine. I can only tell you I've experienced and seen things I cannot explain. At all. And I have other stories from that old hoouse and even newer ones I cannot explain.
My brother's aunt died. She was wealthy. After her death one of his other family members went to a psychic and the psychic told her to go back to the house before it was sold that weeks and look in a certain closet for a mint blue envelope and that there would be a huge amount of money in it. This was supposedly coming from my brother's aunt. That relative went to the house the day before it was sold and in the exact closet found a blue envelope w/ 100,000 dollars in cash.

 

[D_Jared Padalicki]

Ow come on, there are no ghosts, it is something you imagine yourself, and imagination is a powerful thing. You can be scared by hearing something, and if you don't find an answer on it, you look for a reason, and that is a ghost.
That is how the human being works, if we don't have an answer on it, you give it a reason that has no sense.

 

[HellsKitchenmanNYC]

Ow come on, there are no ghosts, it is something you imagine yourself, and imagination is a powerful thing. You can be scared by hearing something, and if you don't find an answer on it, you look for a reason, and that is a ghost.
That is how the human being works, if we don't have an answer on it, you give it a reason that has no sense.

Actually no. Most people do look for a rational reason for things and happenings before jumping to the supernatural.

 

[798686]

I don't really believe in ghosts, as there usually seems to be a physical explanation for most things.

I think if you get a spooky idea in your head, it's easy to start interpreting things from that point of view - but it's not necessarily anything out of the ordinary.

(interesting story though - and sounds like a cool old telly :tongue

 

[D_Jared Padalicki]

Actually no. Most people do look for a rational reason for things and happenings before jumping to the supernatural.

Not really, most people don't know much about science and stuff like that too explain things. Supernatural is easyer, also because these days there ar eprograms on tele where they search in houses after ghosts, bullocks. People are more intended to believe in supernatural, why do so many still believe in God and so. He is not real, but is always "there" when you need him, but does he helps, nope. Just imagination to clearify things.

 

[HellsKitchenmanNYC]

Not really, most people don't know much about science and stuff like that too explain things. Supernatural is easyer, also because these days there ar eprograms on tele where they search in houses after ghosts, bullocks. People are more intended to believe in supernatural, why do so many still believe in God and so. He is not real, but is always "there" when you need him, but does he helps, nope. Just imagination to clearify things.

OK P revisit yr post in another 15 yrs when alot stuff happens to you.

 

[D_Jared Padalicki]

OK P revisit yr post in another 15 yrs when alot stuff happens to you.

Ow, now this started in an age-issue, well bullshit, I already had a lot happening in my life the last years, and there's nothing that would help me, nothing supernatural, and it won't because it doesn't exist.
Deal with it come on, you can't say that because I'm 20 I don't know anything yet, you don't know with what i have to deal with in daily life, so leave that age thing out because by doing that, you don't give others a chance.
So wrong, when you were my age, you also would appreciate if people don't use your age against you!

 

[nicenycdick]

Yeah, I believe in ghosts...and aliens built the pyramids, and the moon landing was a hoax, and AIDS is a government conspiracy, and...but need I go on? We humans will always invent an answer for things we can't explain or won't accept.

 

[HellsKitchenmanNYC]

Ow, now this started in an age-issue, well bullshit, I already had a lot happening in my life the last years, and there's nothing that would help me, nothing supernatural, and it won't because it doesn't exist.
Deal with it come on, you can't say that because I'm 20 I don't know anything yet, you don't know with what i have to deal with in daily life, so leave that age thing out because by doing that, you don't give others a chance.
So wrong, when you were my age, you also would appreciate if people don't use your age against you!

I'm NOT saying that. What I AM saying is at 20 and a few of those yrs as an adult will NOT compare to what's going to happen in the next 15.