Do you believe in ghosts?

[NTN]

Random Randomness or Debate? I'm not quite sure, but I have a feeling this belongs here.

I do believe in ghosts. I believe everyone has a certain energy inside him or her, and once he or she dies, that energy has to go somewhere. If there is a strong passion or feeling (revenge, anger, etc.) before one's death, this is where the ghost of that person comes from. They exist around a certain place, of origin, meaning, and unsolved matters. Ghosts are very real to me.

[quack98]

I really wish I did, but I can't. I can see no logical reason why they would exist; what benefit would it have to the universe? Also, we'd have the small problem of the energy; no energy is lost from the body at death, but some is created in a ghost? Breaking fundamental physics there...

[NTN]

It sounds like you're responding. I would describe it as a special energy that does not depend on physical things and isn't something we can control or detect.

[Wolstenholme]

I love the idea of the supernatural, if people can believe that God exists then why wouldn't ghosts? I don't know, sometimes you can just find places which don't seem... still, its intriguing. 

[quack98]

This is the problem. Energy is everything. Conservation of energy = conservation of everything. Even matter is incarnate energy.

As I say, I'd love to believe in ghosts, but I can't see any rational explanation to their existence.

And don't get me started on god... That's the most ridiculous story ever (in my opinion, of course)

[lugia95]

I'm really not sure. I have heard a lot of ghost stories from people I trust, but then I have yet to experience a supernatural incident myself. So I'm not discounting the possibility.

[Milsap]

Personally I believe in no such thing. I see it as a camp fire scary story thing.

[Wolstenholme]

And don't get me started on god... That's the most ridiculous story ever (in my opinion, of course)

The thing about God is that so many people believe in him... I don't think its real, I think Christians are actually just people who have been scared into believing it.

There is not rational explanation for a lot of things...

[SirBlaziken]

God may exist, so like Chloe said, why not ghosts and spirits. Yes, I believe.

[Webby]

I consider them in the same way as God/deities/higher powers - there's not enough evidence to prove or disprove their existence, so I'm agonistic about it.

[Wolstenholme]

(On God, again - I go to church and I would believe in God but I just don't think church is my style... it's a bit to personal for a public place for me, I usually just sit with my Dad and play Pokemon.)

I went on a ghost walk at Bolsover Castle once (near Chesterfield) there's just this feeling that you get when you're about somewhere that is said to have ghosts that feels different idk.

[Turner]

Ehhh the idea of dead people coming back to haunt you/me/us for no reason? I personally think no, I don't believe that.

But I have witnessed a few things which can't be explained and most people would consider to be 'ghostly' or paranormal, I've also heard it second hand from people who would not bother making this sort of thing up and I'm sure many people here have. I do think something is happening and people are seeing SOMETHING. I don't believe it's all smudges on the camera lens/you're insane/it was a draft/etc.

My complete pseudoscience theory is that electromagnetic waves are causing this, I think places that are 'haunted' may collect energy in ways that manifest themselves caused by electromagnetic waves and the earths polarity. For example, if you walk into a room where something terrible has happened without knowing it, you can often 'feel' it. Or you can feel tension in a room if you walk in on an argument unknowingly.

Obviously there's no science to back this up and it's not even scientifically coherent, but I would bet a reasonable amount of cash that in the far future we stumble across something to do with electromagnetic fields and find that it can trigger 'paranormal' events. I definitely think this might be the case for things like 'poltergeist' activity. I noticed something really strange about Poltergeist videos that I don't think anyone has picked up on before that relates to this.

In any case, I am 95% sure that in the possibly far future we will discover SOMETHING that will go a long way into explaining a large portion of paranormal activity however mundane/bizarre it is. It's not case closed yet IMO

[Sebastian Moran]

personally... no. 
on the whole science side of things, energy doesnt have memories or a lasting shape or anything like that. 
energy goes where its most favourable for it to be. 
i dont see anything energetically favourable to retaining the shape of a human... or indeed any other animal. 
there should be ghosts for all sorts of things, sheep and cats and dinosaurs and fish and flies and bees... kind of crowded. 
and then there's the vague argument to what a ~soul~ is and why only humans have them for some reason, which has no reasoning behind it other than wanting to be special. 
 
but people used to not know what volcanoes were, or lightning, and they were treated as something supernatural until they did. 
then it just became facts and science. 
if theres ever found to be scientific evidence for ghosts or the soul, then sure, ill believe in it given an explanation for how they work and why. 
as of now though... nah. 
good for stories though, but i personally prefer zombies. 
 
and theyre good for crack scientific theories to do with quantum physics and the like, i dont see them as anything more solid than a thought experiment though. 
 
edit: turner kind of beat me to the sCIENCE garbling bit oh well its staying. 
 

The thing about God is that so many people believe in him... I don't think its real, I think Christians are actually just people who have been scared into believing it.

aside from the fact that christianity is only one of many religion which believes in a form of God (or gods)... thats p insulting to people who do believe in a higher power. 
some people believe in God because its comforting, or gives them a feeling that theres more to life than being a blip in history. 
its a very understandable belief to have, which is why there are so many religions with different origins starting up... some people are more or less forced into a religion, or force others into it, but im not convinced that that would even be the majority of religious people. 
if it gives people hope and comfort and satisfaction, then its kind of dickish to take that away from them. 
which is why i hold aggressive atheists in the same contempt as i hold aggressive religious people. 
 
(lmao im aware that my signature doesnt help that last sentence to look convincing but its true). 
 

[Wolstenholme]

I never said that this was true, but it is my opinion that some people might be scared that if they do not believe in a higher power and there is one, that they would then damn them. Which they wouldn't because they're supposed to be kind, so I don't see why they would damn anyone!

- I'm not an aggressive atheist, I'm willing to be religious but I'd want proof of higher powers first...

[Sebastian Moran]

the people who believe in ghosts... what about things like ouija boards and psychics and the whole series of ghost-hunting television shows or whatever? 
does that come with the territory or is it too silly? 

I never said that this was true, but it is my opinion that some people might be scared that if they do not believe in a higher power and there is one, that they would then damn them. Which they wouldn't because they're supposed to be kind, so I don't see why they would damn anyone!

sounds a bit like pascals wager: the idea that you may as well believe in God, because if you dont and there is one then youre damned... but if you do and there isnt one then it doesnt make any difference. 
 
but yeah believe in what feels right to you, rather than trying to reason with it, thats what id say. if the idea just doesnt sit right because of no proof, then you dont have to feel guilty for not believing. if you like the idea, then you shouldnt feel guilty for believing in something unproven... the whole point of God is, i think, that its a ~higher existence~ thing. 
same for coincidence or superstition or luck, people believe in those but theres no real basis for it.
 
not that you need my permission to believe stuff or anything haha.