Do you believe in Ghosts and......

[JustAsking]

I don't believe in an afterlife. I don't believe in ghosts or spirits. All paranormal activity observed by man has been satisfactorily debunked in my opinion.

I don't think everything has been debunked since not everything has been subjected to a high enough level of scrutiny. But I would be surprised if any paranormal activity was un-debunkable. I am still open, though, to anything providing sufficient evidence is available.

UFO just means unidentified flying object. I believe that there have been instances of something airborne that we weren't able to identify.

Yes, I agree.

I believe there is probably extraterrestrial life somewhere in the Universe. Whether or not man has observed any... meh... maybe. I think the majority of alien sightings by humans have been exaggerated, imagined, or fabricated.

My thoughts exactly.

little green men? leprechauns? I don't believe in leprechauns. I also don't believe that there are Martians alive today.

Roger that.

Bigfoot? You mean the mythical yeti/windigo/sasquatch creature of legend? No. Could there be some large primate living in the wild not previously documented. Possibly. Probably not likely, but it's possible. I don't think there's ever been credible video or photographic evidence that there is, though.

Yes, I think this, too.

Also bunk: Loch Ness Monster, Ouija boards, astrology, faith healing, speaking in tongues, feng shui, 9/11 conspiracy theories, JFK conspiracy theories, the power of prayer, exorcism, the more outlandish claims of chiropractitioners, magic, reincarnation, chi, yoga, random superstitions, witchcraft, voodoo, zombies, auras, tarot cards, animal whispering, palm reading, karma, angels, anything advertised on late night infomercials, illuminati, zionist conspiracy theories, dianetics/scientology, the war on terror, fan death (look it up)

Fan death!!!??? I looked it up. All I can say is WTF? Also, you forgot Spontaneous Human Combustion.

stuff I'm on the fence about: acupuncture, string theory, entropic heat death of the Universe, alternate explanations for the origin of the species, extrasensory perception, Atkins diet, revisionist histories of WW2

I get most of that, but what is the current explanation for the origin of the species? Do you mean the origin of life or the diversity of life on the planet? Also, the more I read about WWII, the more I realize the old saying that the victor gets to write the history.

outlandish/controversial things I do believe in: the less outlandish claims of chiropractitioners, the theory that not all Americans are stupid

Yes, some stuff that chiropracters do is actually beneficial. Also, the idea that all kinds of ailments could be related to physical problems with the spinal cord, is not outrageous. But do chiropracters really understand that? I think they have happened upon some beneficial therapies, though.

 

[joybunny]

I'm not sure specifically about ghosts but I do believe that there are some things that are just outside the norm. I did have an experience where I'd lay something down and when I'd go back they would be gone. It happen in an apartment I lived in years ago. It finally got so regular that one day I just said "Ok, that's enough." After that I didn't have that problem anymore but I did sense that something or someone was close. For some reason it didn't scare me. Go figure.

I personally get a lot of dream and [SIZE=-1]déjà vu[/SIZE] stuff. Used to freak me out when it would come to pass. I accept it a lot more now. As for aliens, nessie and big foot, possible. There is so much in the world we don't know about. I really feel that if we did, many people couldn't take it. In some cases ignorance can be bliss.

 

[B_NineInchCock_160IQ]

JA: for the most part I believe evolution to be likely I just don't find it very satisfying. Not that there are any other more satisfying explanations out there.

 

[2322]

Funny you mention leprechauns. I know people who claim to have seen them.

The Doppelganger thing is fascinating because I think it's quite possible given what we know about how time works.

In a case that suggests that doppelgangers might have something to do with time or dimensional shifts, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the 18th century German poet, confronted his doppelganger while riding on the road to Drusenheim. Riding toward him was his exact double, but wearing a gray suit trimmed in gold. Eight years later, von Goethe was again traveling on the same road, but in the opposite direction. He then realized he was wearing the very gray suit trimmed in gold that he had seen on his double eight years earlier!

I don't discount anything because there truly is some really bizarre things in the world. My attitude is that anything we label as supernatural is just natural phenomenon which we cannot yet measure or reproduce in a laboratory setting.

Remember, there are 11 dimensions out there and we can only detect four of them. We're just at the tip of understanding our universe.

 

[Dorian_Gray]

I don't know, Sparks. But I guess I'd say if it is just us... seems like an awful waste of space.

those are my thoughts, brownie points to the person that can guess where that was said.

 

[Gillette]

I don't know, Sparks. But I guess I'd say if it is just us... seems like an awful waste of space.

those are my thoughts, brownie points to the person that can guess where that was said.

Contact

 

[Dorian_Gray]

Contact

DING DING DING!! Pick your prize:wink:

 

[B_NineInchCock_160IQ]

I agree with Jason that there are a ton of things out there that we don't understand.

However, I think there are far more things that we just make up or pull out of our asses. Humanity has a very overactive imagination, a need to find explanations for things, and a predisposition toward believing the reality that we are presented with. It doesn't take a lot for obvious bullshit to turn into widely accepted public opinion.

That considered, it makes far more sense to me to be extremely skeptical of everything rather than extremely accepting of everything. I believe you'll end up being right far more often with the skeptical approach.

 

[Dorian_Gray]

I agree with Jason that there are a ton of things out there that we don't understand.

However, I think there are far more things that we just make up or pull out of our asses. Humanity has a very overactive imagination, a need to find explanations for things, and a predisposition toward believing the reality that we are presented with. It doesn't take a lot for obvious bullshit to turn into widely accepted public opinion.

That considered, it makes far more sense to me to be extremely skeptical of everything rather than extremely accepting of everything. I believe you'll end up being right far more often with the skeptical approach.

"lronically, the thing people are most hungry for; meaning,is the one thing science hasn't been able to give them."

 

[B_NineInchCock_160IQ]

On the subject of fan death, something else Koreans also believe will kill you: writing your name in red ink (because it's the same color as blood).

Though it's somewhat ambiguous when exactly this will kill you. So maybe the fact that, to date, nobody who had their name written down in red ink has survived beyond 150 years or so is proof that this is, in fact, true.

 

[Gillette]

DING DING DING!! Pick your prize:wink:

More gallery pics from you.

That quote resonates with me as well.

I'm not a die hard believer in extraterrestrials visiting our planet (why would they? that'd be an awful lot of travel to watch what for them would be like watching Rikki Lake is for us). However, I'm not even close to convinced that crop circles are entirely man made either.

Bigfoot? I'm pretty sure I dated him. He seriously needs to evolve.

Other than annoyingly frequent cases of deja vu I haven't experienced anything remotely paranormal. Ouija boards just make me roll my eyes.

JA, would you believe my Biostats professor once paused in the middle of a lecture to tell us that Spontaneous human combustion was a very real phenomenon and that we should watch out for it? What the hell are the warning signs for that anyway? Smoke curling from one's ears? The ding of the oven timer?

 

[invisibleman]

If your interested in that type of stuff go to the link provided here: COAST TO COAST AM WITH GEORGE NOORY
The site is free, if the page is not to date go to navigation on the left and click home.
chris

I listen to that show on the radio every night when I go to sleep.

 

[unabear09]

Funny you mention leprechauns. I know people who claim to have seen them.

The Doppelganger thing is fascinating because I think it's quite possible given what we know about how time works.

I don't discount anything because there truly is some really bizarre things in the world. My attitude is that anything we label as supernatural is just natural phenomenon which we cannot yet measure or reproduce in a laboratory setting.

Remember, there are 11 dimensions out there and we can only detect four of them. We're just at the tip of understanding our universe.

I would like to know more about these 11 demensions you are talking about.....seriously.....i vaguely remember hearing something about this at some point in my life.....

As to weither or not i believe in ghosts, aliens, ufo's etc. First and foremost I believe that just about anything is possible. Ghosts....I have never actually seen a ghost.... however I have 'sensed' someone or something standing in my personal space, have heard sounds and voices coming from unoccupied rooms, have been touched or brushed up against by something that was not visable. I have seen shadow people before. The one incident that stands out the most in my memory is when I was over at a neighbours house one fall evening. Myself and my neighbour were sitting in her living room, (which has a clear view into her den, kitchen and master bedroom) and I happened to look towards the kitchen. When I looked up I saw as clear as day a full figure crouched down look around the corner, stand up, and run across the doorway to the other side of the kitchen. I did a double take, and then turned to my neighbour and asked if one of her sons had been in the kitchen (since the figure was relatively the same size as her youngest son). She called them both into the living room and asked if one of them had been in the kitchen and they both ademently swore that they had not. This kinda freaked me out a little, because I am in general a skeptic, but having seen what I saw, I changed my mind about a few things. As to UFO's (Unidentified Flying Objects), I've looked up in the sky on a clear night and seen something that was neither a star, plane, helicopter, asteroid, Int'l Space station, nor was it a meteroid. It was simply an object in the sky that I couldn't identify. Aliens....Yes I do believe in the possibility that aliens exist somewhere out there, if not, it seems to be an awful big waste of space. Bigfoot....Nahhh.... Lots of matrixing there (when the mind trys to make sense of somethign that it dosen't understand, it makes that thing into something we can recognize or better understand if that makes any sense). The lochness monster.... I believe that at one point in time there was such a creature(thousands of years ago, most likely before man), but such an animal dosent exist today...... I'll hop off my soapbox now lol UNA :tongue::biggrin1:

 

[JustAsking]

I agree with Jason that there are a ton of things out there that we don't understand.

However, I think there are far more things that we just make up or pull out of our asses. Humanity has a very overactive imagination, a need to find explanations for things, and a predisposition toward believing the reality that we are presented with. It doesn't take a lot for obvious bullshit to turn into widely accepted public opinion.

That considered, it makes far more sense to me to be extremely skeptical of everything rather than extremely accepting of everything. I believe you'll end up being right far more often with the skeptical approach.

This is what I think, too. Humans are amazingly talented at "filling in the blanks" when presented with a scanty amount of information, either visually or intellectually. I suppose we evolved this so we could recognize an animal we were hunting even though just a piece of it was visible in the bushes. But it makes us very bad scientists in that without the use of good methodology, we create all kinds of wacky and superstitious explanations for things when we don't know the real cause.

This spills over into our active imaginations and we invent entire mythologies about things. So the thing to do is either embrace and enjoy mythology, or as NIC says, use the skeptical approach.

...JA, would you believe my Biostats professor once paused in the middle of a lecture to tell us that Spontaneous human combustion was a very real phenomenon and that we should watch out for it? What the hell are the warning signs for that anyway? Smoke curling from one's ears? The ding of the oven timer?

Haha, yes. The thing that fascinates me about SHC, is the preponderance of people running into this over the last 500 years or so. Its one thing to have old legends and stories, but the police records are full of accounts of this phenomenon over and over again. There might be a perfectly natural explanation for it, but it surely is fascinating how often it has been recorded over the centuries.

Those of you who have seen me defend good science against pseudo-science might be surprised that I am interested in this. Well, I actually am greatly entertained by wacky and unusual theories like this one that has had so much anecdotal evidence built up around it.

As for warning signs, I really don't know. Smoke from the ears would be a good start, I would imagine.

 

[Philly05]

It is amazing how we can dismiss others' experiences as simple hallucinations or optical illusions until one experiences something unexplainable firsthand. I have tried to explain away both of my ghostly encounters but I cant shake the reality of them. And regarding fan deaths, WTF!!!!! That is beyond bizarre.

 

[B_NineInchCock_160IQ]

It is amazing how we can dismiss others' experiences as simple hallucinations or optical illusions until one experiences something unexplainable firsthand. I have tried to explain away both of my ghostly encounters but I cant shake the reality of them. And regarding fan deaths, WTF!!!!! That is beyond bizarre.

how can you dismiss fan death as bizarre? There are lots of highly educated and respected individuals who have experienced the phenomena first-hand. It's on the news over there.

 

[JustAsking]

how can you dismiss fan death as bizarre? There are lots of highly educated and respected individuals who have experienced the phenomena first-hand. It's on the news over there.

But that doesn't change the fact that it is bizarre.

 

[B_NineInchCock_160IQ]

But that doesn't change the fact that it is bizarre.

so are many of the things that other people accept as fact or perfectly reasonable... to those who have not been raised in a culture that believes in such things. Quite a few people that would dismiss fan death as completely insane have no problem taking part in a ritual wherein they drink grape juice magically changed into the blood of a long-deceased man/deity.

 

[JustAsking]

so are many of the things that other people accept as fact or perfectly reasonable... to those who have not been raised in a culture that believes in such things. Quite a few people that would dismiss fan death as completely insane have no problem taking part in a ritual wherein they drink grape juice magically changed into the blood of a long-deceased man/deity.

Yes, that is bizarre as well. I think you misunderstand me. The Fan Death thing is no more bizarre than other odd beliefs (including Christian Communion), but it is no less bizarre either. It just seems so arbitrary like something made up on The Onion. Fan Death: something to add to my list of unusual things.

 

[2322]

Haha, yes. The thing that fascinates me about SHC, is the preponderance of people running into this over the last 500 years or so. Its one thing to have old legends and stories, but the police records are full of accounts of this phenomenon over and over again. There might be a perfectly natural explanation for it, but it surely is fascinating how often it has been recorded over the centuries.

Those of you who have seen me defend good science against pseudo-science might be surprised that I am interested in this. Well, I actually am greatly entertained by wacky and unusual theories like this one that has had so much anecdotal evidence built up around it.

As for warning signs, I really don't know. Smoke from the ears would be a good start, I would imagine.

Maybe I missed that lecture. What's the joke about SHC?