Ghosts: Are they real?

[Men the Master]

This is also posted on Other Topics.

I've never seen a ghost (and hope I never see one) but I have known too many reliable people who swear that they have seen ghosts. My guess is that their minds were just playing tricks on them. Maybe they were mentally fatigued, or maybe on medication. Has anyone here had any experience with ghosts? Ghost stories are common worldwide. Is it possible that they really are real?

[steamboatin]

Yes, but I am a firm believer in leaving dead people alone. I don't bother them and they don't bother me.

[Duke]

No.

~D

[kalooki45]

LOL
This is what my Grandfather told my Mom when she was afraid of graveyards as a child....
"Don't be afraid of dead people, honey...it's those LIVE SOBs you need to worry about" [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[CrisBrown]

Hi Men,

Actually, there's been a fair bit of research on this, both by "paranormal" scientists (people who go to "haunted" places and measure radiation, EM fields, IR patterns, etc., etc.) and psychologists who try to replicate the experience under laboratory conditions.

The most reasonable theory that seems to fit is that there are places where there are unusual EM field patterns, and for some individuals, this will induce the sensation of a "presence." This has been replicated in laboratory studies where the EM fields are generated artificially; again, some of the subjects sensed a "presence" while the field generator was active. So there appears to be (or at least may be) a measurable physical phenomenon involved.

Keep in mind that the brain is a very complex organism which functions pretty well in the absence of interference, but which can misfire very convincingly (to the experient) when it's interfered with. For example, when scientists were first "mapping" the brain, in the days before EEG and CCT scanning, they did so by applying electrodes to various areas of the exposed brain on pre-surgical subjects. For example, applying an electrode to certain areas of the brain will give you the sensation of smelling something ... and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between that sensation and the actual presence of the scent.

So, for the person who is experiencing the "presence" (ghost), the sensation is very real. That doesn't mean there is really a ghost present. But the sensation is real. Some people are more sensitive to variations in EM fields than others -- in the same way that some people have better hearing, or a more acute sense of smell -- and those people are more likely to experience sensations based on abnormal EM fields.

There are some who speculate that what is currently scoffed at as "psychic phenomena" may eventually be shown to be measurable physical phenomena, probably along the lines of abnormal EM fields, etc. Many police agencies have turned to "psychics" to help them solve difficult cases, and there is some evidence that "psychics" were used in intelligence work back in the 70s and 80s.

The research is still in its infancy, and I for one would like to see it receive further study.

Cris

[Men the Master]

What's an EM field?

[CrisBrown]

Hi Men,

EM field == electromagnetic field

Cris

[Don_Lapre]

Yes they are real. I lived in a very old house for two years and an early owner had died in the house. My roomates and I all saw strange things happen; books falling from shelves, items being moved around, sudden gusts of wind, noises, etc.. I had my blinds open in my bedroom at night when I was in the bathroom next door and the only one in the house. Also we all felt the "presence" of some one at one point and one of my roomates claimed to have seen the man once late at night and then he dissappeared. I ran into the the previous occupant of the house at a party and he had the exact same things happen when he lived there. I've heard similiar stories from reliable sources so I believe ghosts are real.

DL

[Gimpy]

I dont't believe in ghosts, witches, vampires, imps, ogers, fairies, trolls, werwolves, gouls, or zombies.

I am not so sure about leprechauns.

[Gimpy]

by the way, you are all people I would love to play poker with.