I've been always been quite interested on this subject. Paranormal activity, the thought of a spirit world, spirits lurking around us with us not knowing a clue.
though people "supposedly" have evidence on the whole spiritual belief and post it up on youtube or somthing. do you believe in ghosts? have you had a experience with one? or is it just a hoax like the " flying UFO" yesterday

but really what do you think?

It's a hoax. If it can't be explained, then its more reasonable to be at least skeptical.

I might believe it when I see it. I will believe it when a whole bunch of people and myself see the same "it."

I go with Real there. I don't discard the idea in general, but I'm skeptical.

If I can't see any way in which it can physically occur with the movement of atoms in a simple cause and effect way (with small exceptions for quantum theory), I refuse to believe in it. Call me close minded if you will, but I believe in group hallucinations, hoaxes, and schitzophrenia.

Zed, you are close minded.

I'm pretty much with real here.
With so many reported sightings, it is in my opinion ignorance to deny the possibility that ghosts exist. It's even more ignorant to deny it because "it's not physically possible", because to be honest, we don't know shit about physics, and what is physically possible.
However, if spirits actually were real, I would kind of think that we would all know it for a fact by now, since it has been a subject of debate for thousands of year. If something hasn't been proved true in a thousand years, it's probably false.

Well I could say that this is a "real" phenomenon in a way.

See what is "real" is just what a subject perceives through the senses/brain. So if for whatever reason a subject views spirits, feels spirits, speaks to spirits, they are entirely real to that subject. It's not our place to say it's "fake" in anyway.

If your speaking of tangibility or the ability to prove it repeatedly through science, then no it isn't real.

Quote from psilo

Well I could say that this is a "real" phenomenon in a way.

See what is "real" is just what a subject perceives through the senses/brain. So if for whatever reason a subject views spirits, feels spirits, speaks to spirits, they are entirely real to that subject. It's not our place to say it's "fake" in anyway.

If your speaking of tangibility or the ability to prove it repeatedly through science, then no it isn't real.

you've been hittin the pipe, eh

Quote from psilo

Well I could say that this is a "real" phenomenon in a way.

See what is "real" is just what a subject perceives through the senses/brain. So if for whatever reason a subject views spirits, feels spirits, speaks to spirits, they are entirely real to that subject. It's not our place to say it's "fake" in anyway.

If your speaking of tangibility or the ability to prove it repeatedly through science, then no it isn't real.

There's a big debate about what constitutes reality. Your view is caled anti-realism. Realism is my view - ie. what people sense and believe has no bearing on what is physically there.

@alive: How are we defining "ghosts" here? I understood them to be non-physical entities, in which case how much we know about physics has no bearing on the matter.

I've never seen a ghost, but i've heard some weird things in the night. The pictures online are photoshopped, so I never believe that they're true.

Quote from soulless

but how can you be so sure there not there? have you ever had an experience with one? i sure did. sure you can say oh its just ur mind playing games but what makes you think you yourself aren't playing games with your mind...

anyone personally see a ghost?

Sir, I'm afraid you have a disease called dodeca-annum phallic-cranium, more commonly known as being a 12 year dick head. This disease, while not lethal, will make you prone to such juvenile things as being afraid of the dark, believing in ghosts and having poor grammar.

There is no known cure, we'll just need to wait, and see if you grow out of it.

Quote from Zed

There's a big debate about what constitutes reality. Your view is caled anti-realism. Realism is my view - ie. what people sense and believe has no bearing on what is physically there.

@alive: How are we defining "ghosts" here? I understood them to be non-physical entities, in which case how much we know about physics has no bearing on the matter.

It's not really MY view.. I have no solid beliefs on the matter either way. It'd be ignorant and closed minded of me to say either side is the absolute truth.

Edit: @psilo: Ok, sorry. Read instead: "the view which you described".

Quote from soulless

have you ever had an experience with one?

No, for the simple reason that they are not there. If I had had an experience with one I wouldn't be arguing this, but since I have never, and no one in the history of the universe has ever, had such an experience, I intend to hold this line of argument.

Quote from soulless

sure you can say oh its just ur mind playing games but what makes you think you yourself aren't playing games with your mind...

I'm going with Occam's Razor. When there are two possible solutions, the one that is simpler is probably correct.

That my mind is playing games with me requires an infinitely large number of things to be assumed, that I am wrong about every single thing that has ever happened to me. All my experience in the world is of things following a simple cause -> effect chain. For ghosts to exist, there would have to be a new explanation for all of this.

For ghosts not to exist, however, requires only one thing to be assumed - namely that when you had your "experience" you were deceived by perfectly natural things which can be explained by cause and effect.

It is sheer lunacy to believe that the things which you can see to be true around you every day can be just put on hold for one special case with no evidence to support it whatsoever.

maybe my experience can be explained by cause and effect. but it was so real and on past events it all fit. i just don't see science explaining a reflection of a light to prove that its not there.