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The supernatural chooses who they show themselves to, always for a reason.

No, they are not real. The mind is a master at constructing "realities" from fragmented actualities. Our brain has to translate what our eyes see and create the picture for us.

In answer to the question as posed, Doogie has hit the nail right on the head!

It is a proven fact that the power of suggestion does have actual effects on what we think we see.

1946, near Tacoma, Washington a civilian pilot (who only way later in life admitted to being under the influence of alcohol) reported what he thought was a group of unidentified flying objects that were disc shaped while flying at an altitude of fourteen thousand feet. After that hit the news, "flying saucers"(so named by the Seattle newspaper reporter who wrote the story) were seen literally everywhere – prior to that story, all UFO's had been reported as cigar-shaped(here is the test question = what does a blimp or dirigible look like?).

To this day in Roswell, New Mexico there are people who actually believe that a UFO crashed near their town back in 1947 in spite of the fact that after being declassified it was actually a nuclear sniffing high altitude balloon that was made out of a material we now know as Saran Wrap(before it got to be the clingy type).

Yes, the power of suggestion plays a huge part in what we Humans think we see.

And that is just my not-so-humble opinion.

So ghost arent real, but god is? Since you call god "the holy ghost", how real does it make him..?

why don't you believe in them? there is a lot of evidence proving ghosts exist.

Please provide us with this plethora of "evidentiary" support instead of simply stating that there is such a treasure trove of laughable material that we have ignored.

Most paranormal researchers aren't full-time. They are usual blue-collar, hard-working people. There's no science at all behind it. We probably will never find out for certain.

So if there's no science behind it, where's the "lots of evidence"?

Some pretty scary videos, that are unexplainable.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UovBlbzzwlE

Check that out.

That's old and been debunked. You're either looking at people walking on a path at night (a fairly common experience for Gettysburg given the numbers of people who camp there) or an altered image, depending on your debunker.

"Ghosts" rely on a series of psychological tricks the mind plays in unfamiliar or sensory deprived situations (like darkness). We assemble this "evidence" into things that aren't actually there. The brain is good at doing that. That's all peripheral vision is for example: ghost images that your brain remembers or processes into existence from other incomplete sense data.

That video was shot by an elderly couple visiting the place. In the paranormal world, they call that "residual energy". They can't talk to you or communicate in any shape or form. It's kind of like watching a movie and playing it over and over again.

Ghosts and spirits could be two completely different things.

Nobody can "prove" the paranormal to other people, the proof comes from your own personal experiences, not many people have the ability to see, hear or feel the spirit world or paranormal activity, and it is usually up to the spirit themselves if they wish you to know they are there. If you are lucky enough to experience the afterlife from this world that i would say you were one of the few that believe what they see. Like myself. I have seen heard and felt the spirit world and do believe myself that there is such an afterlife, and its a happy thought that loved ones are still around, and only when you feel it yourself will you truly believe.

What about cameras?

Only a skeptic says ghosts aren't real. in fact, skeptics believe nothing is real. Therefor, skeptics believe in nothing. They just burry thier heads in the sand and pretend that thier closed up little world is safe and will always remain safe if they continue to believe in nothing. and, as far as "scientific" evidence, it doesn't even need to come down to science. Everyone has "personal experiences", but only a skeptic will exscuse these experiences away by claiming they arew merely figments of thier imagination. Besides, science teaches two things which, in my opinion, supports the existance of ghosts. One, energy never ceaces, it only changes form. Two, we, as living creatures, are essentially energy. therefor, when we die, our energy has to go somewhere and change into something continual. So, why not become "ghosts"

What the hell are you talking about? I think your 'energy' is vibrating at such a high frequency that you've radiated your brain.

No matter what you think everyones different. I believe in ghosts because I want to and because I think there should be. No matter what people say its not going to change the fact that anyone believes or not.

@Tina
First off, get your facts straight. The ”holy ghost” as you put it is more often referred to as the Holy Spirit. ”Well explain to me how that’s any different”. Well funny enough it’s not really any different. My personal opinion is the there are no such things as the generalized ”Ghost”. There are good and evil spirits. Angels and demons. Whether having good or bad intentions, they may manifest themselves in some way (a sound, picture, movement, etc.). I have hear of many stories about ”ghosts” appearing and helping or even saving people. These are explained as the Angels off god protecting someone.

Secondly, and lastly, god himself isn’t referred to as the Holy Spirit. There are three forms OF god. Jesus, The Holy Spirit, and God himself. In genesis (he first book of the bible) it is said that the holy spirit “hovered” over the waters of the earth. In other instances throughout out the bible the HolySpirit is said to float and is describes to as “smoke”. It’s rater unfortunate that such things have been twisted to convince people of exactly what toy said. For that, I am truly sorry and will pray for you. God bless you.
Zack

So what you’re saying is that God is smoke on the water. Far out.
Oh, and please keep your judgmental opinion to yourself.

Ghosts are in fact, sometimes actually the physical remnants of a human being’s consciousness.
Other times they are indeed only the simple psychological tricks of the mind.
And even at other moments, a sort of mixture of both of these is achieved among those of us with the certain inclination, wherein we not only trick ourselves to believe that there IS a ghost present, but we end up actually manifesting our own personal evidence.
The mind is more powerful than most people know. Willpower and fright can be a dangerous combination. When one actually begins to believe that ghosts exist, they open themselves up to a world they are not, at first, prepared to deal with. Only with experience can you learn to understand and eventually master your “invisible” surroundings.

Do not fear what you do not understand, for there is nothing to fear but fear itself. – yo mama

Oh and deesmithart is right about everything being made up of interconnected, never ceasing energy. Matter=Energy. Death is not the complete end of you, although your body and possibly your personal consciousness will be lost. Go to zeitgeist.com or watch the movie religulous. Don’t believe in things just because someone else brainwashed you when you were a little kid. Use your brain.

I never believed in ghosts. I have believe in the idea that we are spirits in a shell we call a body. We are basically energy in a machine. I'm a Christian so I believe in the spirit world. My idea of it is more open then before.
My wife and I moved into a haunted apt. a few years ago. After 2 years of strange things happening…seeing , hearing and feeling things we could only explain as coming from something invisible to us. I believed. ( I caught evps). I could tell you alot of our experiences that most of you would NOT believe, so I'll spare you that. I'll just say, I agree with an old man I saw interviewed on a UFO doc. once. After explaining what he had witnessed, He said " I don't expect anybody to believe me…but when YOU SEE IT, you'll believe it, with a slight grin on his face. That's really what it comes down to. If it doesn't happen to you, then you will never truely believe it. Heck, it took me awhile to come to grips with it and I was living it everyday.

Well, when you see shadows walk across you kitchen. Not just you but you and your wife at the same time. When you feel spiderwebs or bugs crawl across your arm or leg, yet there is nothing there . Or both you and your wife hear knocks in the walls or voices at the same time that are coming from thin air. Or you are awaken by someone bumping the couch your napping on and noone is standing there….You may start to second guess that theory of yours.

You may have something there. With my experience, they seem to get more aggressive when you continually acknowledge them. I think ones reading this a I write it. Seriously. My wife and I live in a haunted apt. By the way, I never believed in ghosts before we lived here. I do now. I don't know what they are but they are there. Spirits from deceased humans? Don't know. They suck though…that I know.

Yeah my bed used to “breathe” with me in it. It would rise and fall beneath me as if breathing. I used to see shadowy figures surrounding my bed even when the lights were still on. I could hear a little girl scream sometimes right before I fell asleep. I was very foolish when I was younger. Someone very very dear to me committed suicide when I was very young and I vowed to connect with them no matter what it took. Religion failed so I began to do my own private research and eventually was able to sense presences and such. I began to invite ghosts, spirits, “demons” and any such beings into my bedroom at the house I grew up in. I would allow them to enter my mind and share my body. I never gave them full reign over me but I was affected. I used them for my own personal power. And no matter what I tried or how many I called to me, I could never find the one that mattered. I feel her now when I want to but it only brings pained sorrow. I’ve learned to accept death and the many different things I cannot explain as natural parts of this world. I am generally not trifled with by any invisible forces as they understand that I don’t play nicely when messed with. I eradicate when necessary.

No offense, but I always say, if you don't know what you're talking about, then you probably
shouldn't talk at all. If you took the time to educate yourself on this issue before pretending
to know something, you would save yourself some embarrassment. There is actually
quite a bit of "science" involved in paranormal investigations. And, there is a lot of
evidence that "ghosts" exist, besides pictures and videos. And, if it is just our brains
tricking us at the moment, then how do you explain a photo of a paranormal event, is the
camera being "tricked" as well? If you take this issue seriously, and take the time to
educate yourself on the matter, you will find out there IS a lot of science involved in
proving their existence, and there is more and more overwhelming convincing evidence
coming about with the constant numbers of video cameras being installed everywhere
increasing. So, in closing, all I'm saying is learn about what you are talking about, before
speaking! And if everyone did this, there would be less debates and arguing. Thank you!

So… Simply because I find that your commonly presented evidence herein is insufficient that means I do not know what I am talking about? Cameras recording things that are then interpreted by our brains' excellent pattern recognition "software" is not the same as proof of ghosts and their existence. The camera does not need to be tricked, only human beings and our own powers of perception need be fooled

Or that the field is certainly lacking in empirical and repeatable studies common to scientific research does not mean I do not know what I am talking about.

The burden of proof is on you to convince me that you have a valid study of an actual object. I do not see how it is incumbent on me to study a sham-science in order to talk about it.

Thank you for your reply. Actually, I have absolutely no burden of proof to prove anything to you at all. My goal isn't to convince the world of the existence of spirit activity, or anything else deemed "paranormal". I only help those who ask for my help, to try and find answers and explanations, and even solutions to paranormal activity evident in there home, or other. I find that the only true believers are those who have had an actual experience with a ghost, human entity or non. But, the only thing I am saying is that you cannot blame our brains for misinterpreting an image every single time you cannot explain it. If something is captured on video, and the video is clear, and examined by experts, thus proven to be genuine, then what exactly is it that we would be seeing? Would we see something different from each other? Or would the skeptic explain it away by saying that their brain is being tricked by what their eyes are seeing? It is what it is, but unless you were to have a personal experience for yourself, and see it for yourself, you will more than likely never believe. And the way it sounds, even if you did see for yourself, you would probably just try to rationalize it somehow. I know ghosts exist. Of course several years ago I would have been on your side. But seeing and hearing is believing.

Perception is merely the human brain assembling information. Because the human brain's has a built-in bias toward creating recognizable patterns out of sense-data, we "see" and "hear" ghosts. It's not rationalizing away something, it's recognizing what the human brain is good at doing does not establish proof of something that does not in fact exist.

In my reply you would find that the camera "evidence" is simply more of the same, so it's a moot point. The human mind still interprets visual and audio captures just as it would when it is really there. It doesn't matter that someone captured this on camera or not. What matters is the actual instrument you are using is still your own head. And your own head has a pre-conceived bias for anthropomorphizing unexplained behavior and ascribing to them motivational or unnatural forces. (See "Act of God"). Which creates "ghosts", but only in our own head. They are an inherently subjective experience, as you suggest, true. But they are no more real than Santa Claus.

O.K., I am finished trying to talk to you, apparently you are crazy as hell, and you don't understand anything that I am saying, or probably even half of what you are saying. So, I give up! I'm done.

I'm attempting to explain evolutionary neurology to you. That you apparently haven't studied human perception in a basic psychology courses is not my fault.

I understand it pretty well. You aren't understanding my criticisms because you don't want to.

Can a chicken chew bubble gum?

Check out:

Bill Schnoebelen ex Satanist,34 degree mason, Ilumminati, etc.

Christianity vs. Science
Internet Sources

“Professing to be wise, they became fools…..”

“Let me explain the problem science has with Jesus Christ.” The atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students to stand.

“You’re a Christian, aren’t you, son?”

“Yes, sir.”

“So you believe in God?”

“Absolutely.”

“Is God good?”

“Sure! God’s good.”

“Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?”

“Yes.”

“Are you good or evil?”

“The Bible says I’m evil.”

The professor grins knowingly. “Ahh! THE BIBLE!” He considers for a moment. “Here’s one for you. Let’s say there’s a sick person over here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help them? “Would you try?”

“Yes sir, I would.”

“So you’re good…!”

“I wouldn’t say that.”

“Why not say that? You would help a sick and maimed person if you could… in fact most of us would if we could… God doesn’t.”

[No answer]

“He doesn’t, does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him. How is this Jesus good? Hmmm? Can you answer that one?”

[No answer]

The elderly man is sympathetic. “No, you can’t, can you?” He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax. In philosophy, you have to go easy with the new ones. “Let’s start again, young fella.”

“Is God good?”

“Err… Yes.”

“Is Satan good?”

“No.”

“Where does Satan come from?” The student falters.

“From… God…”

“That’s right. God made Satan, didn’t he?” The elderly man runs his bony fingers through his thinning hair and turns to the smirking, student audience. “I think we’re going to have a lot of fun this semester, ladies and gentlemen.” He turns back to the Christian.

“Tell me, son. Is there evil in this world?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Evil’s everywhere, isn’t it? Did God make everything?”

“Yes.”

“Who created evil?”

[No answer]

“Is there sickness in this world? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness. All the terrible things – do they exist in this world?”

The student squirms on his feet. “Yes.”

“Who created them?”

[No answer]

The professor suddenly shouts at his student. “WHO CREATED THEM? TELL ME, PLEASE!” The professor closes in for the kill and climbs into the Christian’s face. In a still small voice: “God created all evil, didn’t He, son?”

[No answer]

The student tries to hold the steady, experienced gaze and fails. Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace the front of the classroom like an aging panther. The class is mesmerized. “Tell me,” he continues, “How is it that this God is good if He created all evil throughout all time?” The professor swishes his arms around to encompass the wickedness of the world. “All the hatred, the brutality, all the pain, all the torture, all the death and ugliness and all the suffering created by this good God is all over the world, isn’t it, young man?”

[No answer]

“Don’t you see it all over the place? Huh?”

[Pause]

“Don’t you?” The professor leans into the student’s face again and whispers, “Is God good?”

[No answer]

“Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?”

The student’s voice betrays him and cracks. “Yes, professor. I do.”

The old man shakes his head sadly. “Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you?”

“No, sir. I’ve never seen Him.”

“Then tell us if you’ve ever heard your Jesus?”

“No, sir. I have not.”

“Have you ever felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your Jesus…in fact, do you have any sensory perception of your God whatsoever?”

[No answer]

“Answer me, please.”

“No, sir, I’m afraid I haven’t.”

“You’re AFRAID… you haven’t?”

“No, sir.”

“Yet you still believe in him?”

“…yes…”

“That takes FAITH!” The professor smiles sagely at the underling. “According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn’t exist. What do you say to that, son? Where is your God now?”

[The student doesn’t answer]

“Sit down, please.”

The Christian sits…Defeated.

Another Christian raises his hand. “Professor, may I address the class?”

The professor turns and smiles. “Ah, another Christian in the vanguard! Come, come, young man. Speak some proper wisdom to the gathering.”

The Christian looks around the room. “Some interesting points you are making, sir. Now I’ve got a question for you. Is there such thing as heat?”

“Yes,” the professor replies. “There’s heat.”

“Is there such a thing as cold?”

“Yes, son, there’s cold too.”

“No, sir, there isn’t.”

The professor’s grin freezes. The room suddenly goes very cold. The second Christian continues. “You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat but we don’t have anything called ‘cold’. We can hit 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can’t go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold, otherwise we would be able to go colder than 458 – You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.”

Silence. A pin drops somewhere in the classroom.

“Is there such a thing as darkness, professor?”

“That’s a dumb question, son. What is night if it isn’t darkness? What are you getting at…?”

“So you say there is such a thing as darkness?”

“Yes…”

“You’re wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something, it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and it’s called darkness, isn’t it? That’s the meaning we use to define the word. In reality, Darkness isn’t. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker and give me a jar of it. Can you…give me a jar of darker darkness, professor?”

Despite himself, the professor smiles at the young effrontery before him. This will indeed be a good semester. “Would you mind telling us what your point is, young man?”

“Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start with and so your conclusion must be in error….”

The professor goes toxic. “Flawed…? How dare you…!”

“Sir, may I explain what I mean?”

The class is all ears.

“Explain… oh, explain…” The professor makes an admirable effort to regain control. Suddenly he is affability itself. He waves his hand to silence the class, for the student to continue.

“You are working on the premise of duality,” the Christian explains. “That for example there is life and then there’s death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science cannot even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism but has never seen, much less fully understood them. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, merely the absence of it.” The young man holds up a newspaper he takes from the desk of a neighbor who has been reading it. “Here is one of the most disgusting tabloids this country hosts, professor. Is
there such a thing as immorality?”

“Of course there is, now look…”

“Wrong again, sir. You see, immorality is merely the absence of morality. Is there such thing as injustice? No. Injustice is the absence of justice. Is there such a thing as evil?” The Christian pauses. “Isn’t evil the absence of good?”

The professor’s face has turned an alarming color. He is so angry he is temporarily speechless.

The Christian continues. “If there is evil in the world, professor, and we all agree there is, then God, if he exists, must be accomplishing a work through the agency of evil. What is that work God is accomplishing? The Bible tells us it is to see if each one of us will, of our own free will, choose good over evil.”

The professor bridles. “As a philosophical scientist, I don’t vie this matter as having anything to do with any choice; as a realist, I absolutely do not recognize the concept of God or any other theological factor as being part of the world equation because God is not observable.”

“I would have thought that the absence of God’s moral code in this world is probably one of the most observable phenomena going,” the Christian replies. “Newspapers make billions of dollars reporting it every week! Tell me, professor, Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?”

“If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do.”

“Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?” The professor makes a sucking sound with his teeth and gives his student a silent, stony stare.

“Professor. Since no-one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a priest?”

“I’ll overlook your impudence in the light of our philosophical discussion. Now, have you quite finished?” the professor hisses.

“So you don’t accept God’s moral code to do what is righteous?”

“I believe in what is – that’s science!”

“Ah! SCIENCE!” the student’s face splits into a grin. “Sir, you rightly state that science is the study of observed phenomena. Science too is a premise which is flawed…”

“SCIENCE IS FLAWED..?” the professor splutters.

The class is in uproar.

The Christian remains standing until the commotion has subsided. “To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, may I give you an example of what I mean?”

The professor wisely keeps silent.

The Christian looks around the room. “Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor’s brain?” The class breaks out in laughter. The Christian points towards his elderly, crumbling tutor. “Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor’s brain… felt the professor’s brain, touched or smelt the professor’s brain?”

No one appears to have done so. The Christian shakes his head sadly. “It appears no-one here has had any sensory perception of the professor’s brain whatsoever. Well, according to the rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science, I DECLARE that the professor has no brain.”

The class is in chaos!

The Christian sits… Because that is what a chair is for.

The brain is pre-programmed for pattern recognition, and for anthropomorphizing forces. You can look see the same thing you're talking about when people look at a water stain or a grilled cheese sandwich and see Jesus or the Virgin Mary as what you're saying makes us see a ghost in a wisp of fog. These are not simply quick glances at objects, but people seeing something persistent, stuck in their beliefs, based on those quick glances. The fact that there is more time exposure involved actually will work against your argument because it gives the mind more time to look for patterns. It does cut against the most obvious declination, that most of these "unexplained" events seem to happen at night, when there are more shadows and uncertain visual stimuli, but otherwise, you're not getting anywhere as far as providing proof.

As far as force or unexplained behavior, human beings have been providing benevolent or malevolent forces to natural phenomenon like weather for eons. Simply because people shout "it's a ghost", or "I saw a ghost!" does not make it real. It may be a "real" experience for them, the way their brain interpreted the sense-data, but it's not "real" in the sense that anyone else must certainly admit it must have been a ghost.

The burden of proof is still on you to show that these are real events and, in particular, that they are not something other than what you claim they are. I'm demonstrating that they are something other than what you claim they are, that is, that they are simply a well-recognized human psychology behavior (pattern recognition and anthropomorphizing).

It may be more comfortable for you to dismiss me as crazy. I fail to see how demanding empirical results to decide that you have proved something as real is crazy, but supposing it is, what you are asking us to do is to declare a subjective personal experience as universally valid and objectively real. That to me sounds far more crazy than what I'm asking you to do.

“Professing to be wise, they became fools…..”

Ghosts arent real.

Is there any evidence that ghosts dont exist? Ghosts do infact exist! They are alway around us. There were a couple of archeologists that lowered a recorder into a cave that is supposedly one of the gates to hell, and what they heard were bone chilling sounds of the souls screaming and being tortured….:@

Bravo
G.