No. Everything we know about consciousness, and really the natural world says "NO".

What have I done?!

Well I try to keep an open mind, we live in a very complex world and I don't understand many things that happen in it. Also I've heard of some pretty weird things from friends and family members that make me wonder. I don't believe in ghosts, but don't rule them out entirely. You never know.

Thats my feeling about them as well.

i dont doubt that they exist. i would like to see one, i would be more fascinated than scared.
a friend of mine died from a drug overdose on new years eve 5 years ago. his brother told me that he woke in the middle of the night and saw the apparition of my friend sitting on the end of his bed. i dont think his brother would lie about something like this to be honest


this happened to an old friend of mine too. he didnt have a clue why it happened, so i explained it to him. i also want this to happen to me (yes, im weird)

In a word, no. I believe the whole nonsense about ghosts is a bunch of hogwash. Good for a nice scare for some people who like scary movies, or a campfire stories, but mostly useless otherwise.

Yes no maybe so. I have similar feelings about them when compared to most things metaphysical; I'm not a science fanatic, I just don't care. Way I see it the only way to really find out about any of this stuff is to die, which I don't plan on doing any time soon.

EDIT: That said, I do believe sites of murders/suicides harbor a very thick air. I've even experienced this ominous atmosphere while being completely ignorant to what happened.

It sounds a good thing that it's not still your current house, then! Mirrors in the dark do have an odd quality to them; I don't find them creepy or anything but there's something odd about them. Perhaps that one is just my over-active imagination though.

Anyway, can't quite work out what it is about that house that's odd. The layout is slightly awkward so it may simply be that, though we remember that the uncomfortable feeling was worse when her father wasn't around (you'd think it'd be the opposite since he could be quite an ogre) and also affects the much newer neighbouring house.

There's actually a neat little trick one can do to emulate a "ghost" sighting. Set a light colored towel or article of clothing over something in your room, then focus on anywhere except it. While your eyes adjust to the darkness, the object will suddenly enter your peripheral vision and you will see what would appear to be a "ghost" to someone who wasn't aware of what the object was. Not saying this disproves everything, but it's one of the ways I believe some people are fooled into suspecting activity. This would mostly affect those waking from a sleep state or are heavily fatigued enough to have difficulty coming to a logical conclusion.

To add onto that, I also believe this explains the majority of sightings where the person says that the apparition "suddenly disappeared" before they could get a good look at it, because if you then focus on the object directly, your eyes will begin to readjust and it will vanish, seemingly into thin air. Any details they recall could be made from an incomplete memory of the event paired with the mindset that it was indeed a ghost.

No, I don't.

However I still find ghost stories and stuff pretty creepy.

Guess I just have an active imagination or something

there might be something out there but i don't think much about it
i don't think it's dead people though. dead is dead.

Do I believe in ghosts? No.

Do I believe in Demons? Yes.

I just love everything has to be defined by science...

Yeah, ridiculous how some people rely on such frivolous things as 'evidence' and 'proof'.

I mean, obviously Unicorns exist, the fact that no one has seen one doesn't mean anything.

I believe you've said this before, and I'm very curious as to why. One would normally put demons and ghosts on at least a similar plane of existence, so I'm assuming you believe they exist in an entirely separate state of being? Then again, the word "demon" can refer to many things spread throughout many religions and assorted mythos. If the explanation is heavily rooted in a religion in your case, perhaps it's best not to get into that discussion. Feel free to PM me if so, because I'm awfully curious.

Well I happen to be the member of a very prestigious organization; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9We2XsVZfc

oh I see, nobody thinks it's funny...okay guys whatever, last time I ever post a link, I'm no good anyway....

ABORT! ABORT! ABANDON THREAD! EVERYBODY TO THE ESCAPE PODS!

(I think he just dislikes that scientific types tend to look down upon those who don't follow their method of understanding the universe.)

But yeah....ABANDON THREAD.

Come on now, there's no need to get into this again. If someone thinks science is flawed, let them. If someone thinks science is the answer to everything, that's their prerogative.

Oh yes, just as we use to be apes back in the old ages. I am sure someone was there in those days to see them.

Yup.

I've never heard of a Unicorn fossil.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_evolution#Evolution_of_the_great_apes

There is evidence right there. Take a look.

So, you prefer written/verbal accounts as stronger evidence rather than various forensic dating methods and evidence of transitional species?

It explains a lot I suppose.

I think both perspectives have merit in some ways. Science doesn't explain everything...however, that's because science doesn't claim to explain anything that can't be backed with some kind of evidence. The fact that science currently doesn't have an explanation for phenomena that some describe as "ghosts" doesn't represent a flaw in science. It's just an indication that we don't yet know how to go about proving anything one way or the other.

Sure, sometimes people choose to believe things because they want to or convince themselves they saw something that they didn't. Other times people see things they can't explain and prefer to jump to some conclusion (g-g-g-ghost) rather than to simply say, "I don't know what that was."

There are a lot of things that we still can't explain with science (yet). If someone told me that they saw a candelabra float across the room I might think they imagined it. I'd also be open to the possibility that they actually did see it. I would not jump to the conclusion that it was caused by the spirit of a dead person, however, because that's just one of an uncountable number of explanations for what they saw (magnetic field...brain tumor...etc.).

That summarizes my outlook on it

I agree, but I try to avoid getting into this debate in these threads. However, it's seemingly impossible for the flame war to be averted, so it might as well have been going on from the very beginning. I'd gladly discuss my views with someone in a more private manner, since I'm interested in how other people think of this stuff (so long as they are civil about it). Anyway, this thread's crashed and burned, though I can't say I'm surprised.