Writer's Block: Spirits

[packbat]

Do you believe in ghosts? Have you ever encountered one? View other answers

First: "believe in" is the wrong phrase. I don't believe in torture, but it still exists.

Second: to my recollection, I have never encountered anything that appeared to be a ghost.

Finally: based on my knowledge of the sciences (from physics to biology to neuroscience to computer science), the existence of ghosts strikes me as not merely implausible, but downright ludicrous. fin.

Comments

What science doesn't accept

[maharia.livejournal.com]

Physics and psychology has until now rejected a large sum of information about ESP despite convioncing evidence mostly because there was little money to be made in it once the military found it an impractical tool but you cannot deny it altogether without a consideration of these psychical phenomenon... related to this may be some eastern particularily hindu Homeopathy or fengshui that have large followings of a 5th force of energy. It is not necessarily religious in natural but ghosts much like many of the previously mystical phenomenon might be logical... we once though meteorites were sent from angels interacting with crystal spheres around our flat world...
Many psychic critics even believe that there might be something here it has been compared to alchemy which eventually created chemistry... it's not quite scientific ... yet.

xkcd #373.

[packbat.livejournal.com]

There have been societies researching psychic phenomena since 1882 or earlier without fruit (http://skeptico.blogs.com/skeptico/2006/06/pretty_soon.html) - not even byproducts like the mortar, glass, and gunpowder given us by alchemists. I have better things to do with my time than research a dead field.

[ailado.livejournal.com]

I was really surprised to find that so many people answered this question with a yes. Totally not surprised that you didn't, though.

[packbat.livejournal.com]

There may be a selection bias - a lot of rationalists might simply roll their eyes and click past it.

[ailado.livejournal.com]

true enough

[bourgeoisify.livejournal.com]

Comfort mechanism, maybe? Like religion in a sense. Believing your loved ones are there after they die, when most likely they just enter an eternal sleep.

[packbat.livejournal.com]

I don't know that it's a comfort mechanism so much as naive dualist theories of the mind (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/dualism/) combined with hallucinations associated with sleep paralysis (http://skepdic.com/sleepparalysis.html), instinctive seeing of faces where there are none (http://www.skepdic.com/pareidol.html), and similar phenomena.

Edit: You may well be right, of course - stories about ghosts are old, and their origins could have been in anything for all I know.

[kirabug.livejournal.com]

Do you believe in the idea that brain waves might be recorded in ferrous metals the same way that other computer storage mechanisms work? Because that's the current working theory (that I've heard) to explain Gettysburg.

As for me, I'll believe that just about anything exists -- very difficult in a gigantic universe to prove they don't exist *somewhere*.

[packbat.livejournal.com]

That ... seems unlikely - I wasn't under the impression that there were any brain waves, or if there were they weren't involved in the actual thinking part (a la electromagnetic interference from circuits). Then again, I don't know what about Gettysburg is in need of explanation.

Sure, I can buy that stance - it's crazy to be infinitely certain of anything. I'm still suspicious, though.

[kirabug.livejournal.com]

"Brain waves" is probably the wrong term. But there is a high correlation (from what I read a looooong while ago) between ghost sightings in Gettysburg (where such things are frequent) and the amount of ferrous metal in the immediate area (ore, etc.). In addition, the scenes that people describe are almost exactly the same, as if the experiences of the soldiers were somehow recorded, and are played back for no obvious reason.

[packbat.livejournal.com]

That's interesting, but I'm highly skeptical of ghost sightings in the first place. From what I know about neuroscience (which could probably be cataloged on the back of a postcard), I can't see how the presence or absence of ores would affect anything, but if I'm wrong about Gettysburg that doesn't mean much.

[(Anonymous)]

dillusions have many forms, not necessarily error, just misinterpretation based on suggestion, the famous critic of psychic phenomenon, Ray Hymen, found that suggestion was the most powerful tool, however even he couldn't negate all esp evidence it just falls under the "radical claims require radical evidence" psychic phenomenon has recieved statistically significant evidence just not "radically" significant.
Because of that you shouldn't totally rule out a ghost sighting as just illusion it could be a mix of psychic and illusion and suggestion.

[packbat.livejournal.com]

Sir, if a large number of trials are performed seeking evidence of a particular effect - and a large number of trials have been performed seeking evidence of paranormal phenomena - some of them will show statistically significant results by pure chance. Until such a time as repeatable results are obtained in rigorous trials, when some method or individual has been proven to demonstrate supernatural powers at a consistent level above chance time and time again, I don't consider it even worthy of consideration. And the only exception I'd make offhand is if someone I know and know to be trustworthy was involved - and that I'd only make as a favor to them, as a friend.

"Totally rule out" is a blatantly leading phrase here, whether you meant it that way or not. Give me a mountain of evidence, and I'll believe the Sun is made of orange soda - but "he couldn't negate all esp evidence" isn't even worth my time.