Im just curious to know what everyone's thoughts are about ghosts. Do you think they are real? If so why?
I personally do. In my old neighborhood there was a house that was abandoned and put up for sale since the early 80s. No one ever bought the house and i grew up with stories about it being haunted and that wierd and unexplainable things would happen when ever someone would enter the house, thus why it was never sold. So one night durring summer break, when i was about 13 years old, me and two of my friends went to the house and tried to stay in there. About an hour later we had explored the house fully and were in a room on the second floor when suddenly the room got extremely cold. I could literally see my breath. One of my friends stated that she wanted leave and that she felt like something was watching her. Right as I began to calmer her down we hear a loud shriek. We ran out of the house and up the street aways. We looked back to see the door slam shut on its own. After that i never went back to the house, and as far as i know, neither have my friends. Thinking back on it, i dont count the door closing as something a ghost did, it could have been the wind or just the door closing on its own, but the scream, and the room suddenly going so cold to where you could see your breath I attribute to a ghost.

I hope this doesn't come out as harsh, but if you're hearing disembodied screams you have a full blown case of psycho.

I don't believe in ghosts-- in fact I think that people that say they do are either insane or full of nine kinds of shit. I've seen my share of bogus "Haunted House" shows on T.V. and, being the forum troll that I am, read countless of testimonials-- nothing has ever convinced me.

But alas, it is difficult to disprove something like ghosts, as people will either hide behind the "well I saw one, so you're wrong" excuse or "well you can't prove they're not real, so nyah" excuse.

I would say a firm maybe.

No.

There are no ghosts. I grew up next to a graveyard. It was a shitty graveyard, all the graves were wooden crosses, people vandalised them often, and it was next to the ocean so the salt pretty much killed what little vegetation could have grown there. This was in Iqaluit(Capital of Nunavut, really far north), so im willing to say its probably the worst graveyard in Canada. However, even under these conditions, I have never witnessed anything that might be explained as spiritual unrest. Maybe massacres and unburied dead are more likely to cause ghosts then this, but ghosts sightings arent as common in Africa despite the many RECENT slaughters. As in 1408, the sightings are more common as a way to attract people to small towns after the highway that pumped money into the town gets moved.
Sorry if im rambling.

HSIAMetalKing:
I hope this doesn't come out as harsh, but if you're hearing disembodied screams you have a full blown case of psycho.

Or you're just a normal human that psyched yourself out to the point that you had an auditory hallucination ;-D

Or some homeless people in your neighborhood found out about that legend and decided to move in, knowing they'd be left alone because they could chase any nosy people off with a high-pitched shriek.

Thegreatoz:
Im just curious to know what everyone's thoughts are about ghosts. Do you think they are real? If so why?
I personally do. In my old neighborhood there was a house that was abandoned and put up for sale since the early 80s. No one ever bought the house and i grew up with stories about it being haunted and that wierd and unexplainable things would happen when ever someone would enter the house, thus why it was never sold. So one night durring summer break, when i was about 13 years old, me and two of my friends went to the house and tried to stay in there. About an hour later we had explored the house fully and were in a room on the second floor when suddenly the room got extremely cold. I could literally see my breath. One of my friends stated that she wanted leave and that she felt like something was watching her. Right as I began to calmer her down we hear a loud shriek. We ran out of the house and up the street aways. We looked back to see the door slam shut on its own. After that i never went back to the house, and as far as i know, neither have my friends. Thinking back on it, i dont count the door closing as something a ghost did, it could have been the wind or just the door closing on its own, but the scream, and the room suddenly going so cold to where you could see your breath I attribute to a ghost.

Did you make it out alive?!

I would say no. But if I did see one I would quickly change my mine.

I don't "believe" in anything. Things can either be empirically verified, in which case they exist regardless of my belief in them, or they can't, which is indistinguishable from them not existing at all.

"Ghosts" fall into the latter category. There is no empirical evidence for their existence.

Gloating Swine, that sounds like my philosophy for religion, but I make room for things I disbelieve. Ghosts are like Scientology for me, Id rather be wrong than go along with it. The odds are by far in my favour.

Ghosts, bullshit.

Its probaly me going insane but every now and then i here my name but can never find out whos saying it. Thus giving me some reason to beleive in the supernatural

Well, I did hear some weird stuff when I was at my cousin's along time ago and they even said there was some spooky stuff going on in their house ~ I think they blamed it on that they lived right beside the cemetery. But I don't necessary believe myself... although there are a lot of unexplained mysteries in this world, I wouldn't be surprised.

My mom and grandma, both extremely rational people, have experienced ghosts (separate occurrences). I thought I saw a ghost once.

My mom sat in her bed for nearly 15 minutes watching and listening to the ghost of her grandfather talk to another unidentifiable ghost.

My grandma felt and saw a depression on her mattress and felt a chill in the air while she was staying at a women's hostel during WW2.

I saw a shadowy form floating midair while in bed staying at my grandparent's summer house.

All three of these happenings have one thing in common: They were all during periods of the onset or interruption of sleep.

I do not think ghosts exist. They are manifestations of suggestion, or waking dreams. I would suggest reading "The Demon Haunted World" by Carl Sagan for an excellent description of why our minds make us believe we see ghosts.

GloatingSwine:
"Ghosts" fall into the latter category. There is no empirical evidence for their existence.

There's actually plenty of empirical evidence that ghosts exist. There's plenty of sensory experience of what people call ghosts.

It's actually a situation where the scientific paradigm of 'no ghosts' is way more coherent than the one of 'ghosts gone wild'. It's just that it's much simpler to explain the empirical experiences people have that some label ghosts as, say, hallucinations.

It's really more a matter of Occam's Razor than any lack of empirical evidence.

No, but this does remind me of a joke.

There once was a ghost appreciation convention and the MC kicked things off by asking the audience

"Who here has seen a ghost?". All of them raised their hands
"Who has spoken to a ghost?" about half of them still had their hands raised
"Who here has fallen in love with a ghost?" Only 10 people remained, one of them an old man
"Has anyone...ever made love to a ghost?" Only the old man had his hand raised
"Wow! Please do come down here and tell us about your experience!"

The old man walked onto the stage to rapturous applause and the announcer asked him again "Would you like to tell us about your experience with the ghost?"
"Ghost?" the old man replied "I thought you said goat"

Don't ghosts shed ecoplasim? I'm just going off what I saw in Oblivion. Oblivion had vampires as well. Raise your hand if you believe in Vampires.

Ghost is a way of society, and people to explain things that they can't otherwise classify.
Hearing a ghost is probably due too living to much much in a sleepy state, or just afraid of the dark, making up noices in your head, or just mistaking a cat's miaw, or something, for a ghost.
Either that or a way to get media atttention, thereby money, from popular ghostshows, on TV.

In short, no.

On vampires.
*Raises hand
They go clubbing every night in my neighbourhood, sick bastards.

Personally, I don't think ghosts are out there.

What we experience, what we hear, see, smell, taste, and touch, are not absolutes. Everything we experience (or think we experience) is an interpretation of reality by our brains, that we do instictually. We interpret as we experience, that is how we view the world, and as a result we color the world as we see it. We're not lying when we do this, or even being disingenuous, it's how we work.

What this comes down to is that not so much you hear what you want to hear or see what you want to see, but rather that you experience what you expect. Anyone who has ever spent time in an old house becomes familiar with it's sounds as the house settles. Creeks, thumps, popping noises, houses can make strange noises. If you want them to be someone trying to communicate to you in Morse Code, you could probably hear it. If you want to it to be the ghost upstairs rattling for her lost love, it can be that too. And if you want it to be the house just settling and aging, it can be that.

What I'm getting at, is that everything is subjective, and that, call me a cynic, I don't believe what people tell me at face value. Again, not to say that they're liars or that they're crazy. But people see and hear things that are often not the case.

As for my own experiences (which I have just fully discredited I think by talking about how flawed these can be) I haven't seen anything that I would explain as a ghost in all my years. I've spent time in some old houses, and been to some creepy places, but haven't seen any ghosts, heard any whispers or been sucked into any closets.

Convincing tangible evidence I've also found wanting. I've seen photos that half the time look like bags in the wind or the infamous "orbs" which are usually just dust or other small things that reflect light when a camera flashes. Using equipment to measure Electromagnetic Fields as proof of ghosts can be almost comical on some television programs, with people constantly moving with them and being surprised to see jumps as they pass exposed wiring in a basement.

So, with a lack of evidence and my feelings on the testimony of people, I wouldn't say I believe in ghosts. I love old places, I love the night, I love the quiet, and honestly I would love to know with absolute certainty that our existence didn't end when our neurons stop firing. But I've seen no evidence of it.

Havent any of you seen the matrix?

Ghost are simply rouge programs that are hiding from deletion, jeez I thought everyone knew that.

I answer to the OP question, I don't beleive in ghosts but I do beleive that something similar might exist. I've lost count of hom many times i would be walking (anywhere) and feel an icy touch on shoulder or spine and like someone else posted I have also heard people calling my name but had no idea who did.
But the idea of a howling banshee haunting a house for god knows what reason is a sack filled with BS!

GloatingSwine:
I don't "believe" in anything. Things can either be empirically verified, in which case they exist regardless of my belief in them, or they can't, which is indistinguishable from them not existing at all.
"Ghosts" fall into the latter category. There is no empirical evidence for their existence.

Not to be rude or anything, but that's more atheism than anything.

At GrowlersAtSea:
Truth be told, you hit it right on the head.
.
.
.
At least in terms of you being a cynic. Because that's really just what you described yourself as being (no offense).

Not for my person views...
I think ghosts exist, but that they can't interact with us and the world (Aren't ghosts supposed to be immaterial or something people? How could material things be acted upon by immaterial things and how could light reflect off of or be produced by something that isn't tangible?) but still exist alongside of us.
As for the people talking about empirically proving or disproving or whatnot then you should remember that everything is equally unbelievable. Howso? Well, if you've ever heard of hallucinogenic drug then you should know. I'm not saying everyone is under the influence at all times, but those drugs only induce effects in our minds which can occur without them. And since we "know" that the mind can fake anything as long as it is active, after which nobody knows what's going to happen (no matter who you think you are, what god you've talked to, blah, blah, blah, garble, farble, wangety dum, I don't care). Sure, there are "real" "unexplainable" phenomena, but those can be attributed to something that's supposed to be physical instead of ghosts. Like domovye or brownies.
So I'm basically saying that anything could be real, but any "proof" of or against it is sketchy.

I don't believe that there is any such thing as a ghost. People often experience something that they just can't explain. "I saw a ghost" is a reaction we're programmed from childhood to have whenever our rational minds cannot explain the situation.

Vampires do exist, just nothing supernatural about them. They're just people who have a hobby for drinking blood. I'm pretty sure the History Channel did a report on them when they ran out of WWII shows.

Ectoplasm: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ectoplasm_%28paranormal%29#See_also

And something cool I found on vampires, although I was unable to find anything on "Blood bars", where people who consider themselves vampires drink blood ,that I saw on CSI once. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhampir

Easykill:
And something cool I found on vampires, although I was unable to find anything on "Blood bars", where people who consider themselves vampires drink blood ,that I saw on CSI once. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhampir

Funnily enough, thats were i heard of them to, thats when i realised why all those wierd people, hung around the place 3 houses away from mine. Yeah, i know i live in a sick neighbourhood.

Vampires are a completely different story-- they're out there. I actually make vampire hunting a hobby of sorts-- you don't often find one, but when you do it's always an exciting hunt. I've got a few of their bodies stored in my parent's garage (don't worry-- the corpses have been pierced through the heart with a crucifix made of garlic).

That's... wonderful? HSIA.

I don't believe in ghosts.

And IF ghosts exist, there would be probably no way to prove it, as there are just about always logical reasons behind ghost sightings.

That said, i do not BELIEVE, however, i also do not deny the possiblity that such things may EXIST.
Like God, Reincarnation or whatever, it is only logic that things man cannot comprehend may exist and that we are unaware of it exactly because of that.

However that would mean that it is unlikely that Ghosts, as we imagine them (!), do not exist.

Ghosts are totally real and if you don't believe me, you smell.

Sorry, I know that came out a bit harsh but it's not my fault. A ghost told me to write that.

Ghosts, the afterlife, psychics, gods, reincarnation... It all boils down to five-year old logic from people who defy logical thought.

"You can't prove that ghosts exist or not, so my opinion's still valid!"

But the worst aspect of this crap? Derek Acorah. If I hear the words "residual energy" one more time, I'm hunting him down and gutting him in his sleep. Let's see if that spirit guide of his lets him know where his intestines have been relocated to.

Short answer: No.
Long answer: Ghosts are a combination of wishful thinking and an active imagination.
Ever woken up in the night and seen a shadow and KNOWN that it's someone there, until you turn the light on and "oh, it was just my shirt hung over the closet door"?
Take that, sprinkle in a good deal of "I wish Robert was here today", add a smudge and a backlit bush in your daughter's wedding photo and voila: "That's Robert! His ghost was there that day!"
"No, that's just a smudge and a bush. It's a coincidence"
"It's Robert's ghost. This blurry thing that looks like a round shape with two eyes, if you squint and hold it like this, is proof!!!"

Also: Residual Energy.

eh no. Years of most haunted have turned the whole ghost thing into a joke.

Well, as there's no real physical evidence that disprooves ghosts I'd have to say yes, they exist.

If you say there's no such thing as ghosts in your opinion that's okay, but if you announce that ghosts don't exist as a fact, your thick, because obviously, you can't proove that.

Cheeze_Pavilion:

There's actually plenty of empirical evidence that ghosts exist. There's plenty of sensory experience of what people call ghosts..

Anecdotes are not considered evidence in any field of enquiry.

Esta:
Well, as there's no real physical evidence that disprooves ghosts I'd have to say yes, they exist.

If you say there's no such thing as ghosts in your opinion that's okay, but if you announce that ghosts don't exist as a fact, your thick, because obviously, you can't proove that.

There is a giant invisible elephant right behind you. You can't prove there's NOT one there, you might just not be able to see or smell or touch it. Doesn't mean it's not there, thus it has to be there. Flawless logic, really.

propertyofcobra:
There is a giant invisible elephant right behind you. You can't prove there's NOT one there, you might just not be able to see or smell or touch it. Doesn't mean it's not there, thus it has to be there. Flawless logic, really.

Actually, invisible just means not visible, not intangible. Therefore, your logic fails and you required outside assistance from someone who does believe in ghosts to illustrate your point of trying to (sarcastically) say that ghosts do not exist if you were to correct yourself and say intangible or come up with another example. And it isn't an elephant, it's a giant mutant venus fly trap that only eats prehistoric dragonflies, get it right.
Also "right behind you" is highly subjective as "right" isn't a quantitative measurement.

I rarely talk to any imaginary friends, be they gods or ghosts. I like to think it's a sign that I'm sane ~~