If everything has a "soul"....

[PaletteSwap]

Joking aside, I obviously don't believe there is souls. I think it's just one more things humans have imagined. There's no evidence to suggest otherwise. However, what I do believe in is energy. Energy is neither created nor destroyed. Once we exist, I believe some part of us will always exist. To what degree and in what context I am uncertain.

So, the traditional idea of a ghost isn't just something I don't believe exists, I don't believe it can exist.

I'd say I believe pretty much the same thing. There is obviously more to life than we have the capacity to understand, and I don't even doubt that people have seen ghosts. Everyone's reality is a different reality existing within in a (seemingly) defined universe where each clashes with another.

Sorry I went meta, but what I mean is, I can't say with certainty that another's hallucination isn't real just because I am not seeing what they see, or in tune with whatever wavelength their reality sits on. I know, most of us think "yeah, well they're just crazy" and you may be right but who are we to define what's real? One thing we know is the psychological result of a supernatural vision is real as fuck.

Psychological medicine is in it's infancy. We so don't know what the fuck we are doing for the most part. Let's not forget, the science of today was the mysticism of the past.

Still, I'm 95% convinced that ghost sightings are a case of convincing yourself, or hallucination due to illness or deficiency. I've seen my share of shadow people from sleep deprivation, and I've had conversations with them for hours. It's bizarre and I could see how someone could be convinced they were dealing with entities.

Because I was aware of why these shadow people were with me(ADHD med, plus 48 hours awake), I was able to have fun with it. One of them instructed me while I drew an occult, humanoid owl mage in a cloak with glowing patterns. My wife entertained the idea that maybe they weren't fake and I was just on a spectrum of reality that is only accessible through sleep deprivation. I don't buy it, but it's a fun thought.

 

[shaowebb]

Dinosaur ghosts manifest as the climbing costs of oil. Science dispells superstition once again.

 

[Living Corpse]

In terms of supernatural experiences, why do human beings only see or mostly report seeing other human spirits, whether evil or good? If there is a God, and we aren't just a system of organs, why doesn't anyone see dinosaur ghosts? I want to see a Tyrannosaurus Rex ghost or a ghost of Megalodon.

Actually there have been reports of horses, bears and even dogs coming back as ghosts.

 

[WaywardStranger]

Ray kurzweil is a must read for you guys speaking of these complex thoughts. It takes a certain mind to even entertain the genius behind the books but read "age of spiritual machines- when computers exceed human intelligence" .
I believe we are part of a cycle that has happened many many times.

Good call man. I read The Age of Spiritual Machines and How to Create a Mind by Kurzweil. Both greatly influenced my worldview.

 

[Pterodactyl]

But it's a living thing, it's not like it's any different from anything else alive.

Well, most if not all religions are full of stupid contradictions with no real explanations or solid reasoning.

Facts of life.


IMO.

 

[Johnny San]

Someone do the "Bloody Mary" thing and report back.

 

[YOMI DJT]

I think souls are something we can't prove are real but we also can't prove they aren't real. People have been saying they have souls for years. I guess the only way to find out if you have a soul is when you die. Interesting thread I predict will get past 10 pages aha

 

[Saboteur-6]

to answer your question






42

Hitchhikers Guide reference? Awesome. I approve.

 

[Euphoric]

Souls are interesting things if they exist yeah. If I were to see a spirit, why would I want to see a human spirit, I see humans on a daily basis. Would rather meet something cool like a Dinosaur.

 

[Killphil]

1. When I was 4 or 5 I was arguing with my brother in the bathroom over who gets to take a bath first. In our argument something lifted us both up at the same time. It was as if a big dog had appeared underneath us. I decided to opt out of the bath that night.

2. In high school one morning before my alarm went off I woke up. I saw a girl enter my room(basement at the time) and proceed to stand on a small table and try to reach for the light. I rubbed my eyes, she didn't go away. I put on my glasses, she still didn't go away. Finally I asked my niece what she was doing (I thought it was her) and she proceeded to get off the table and huddle underneath it. When I actually got up to investigate the bright spot she was in it turned out to be a stack of super white towels.

 

[WaywardStranger]

Seems to me the "soul" is how most people interpret mind-body dualism, which is an illusion. Folks want to be more than the sum of their physical parts. It's natural, useful and ignorant.

 

[Euphoric]

What if Clifford was real and he died than we saw his soul?

 

[Hellbringer]

A couple of days ago i saw a documentary of george harrison from the beatles. While i had the song "my sweet lord" for some days in my head and seeing that docu, i decided to purchase that song on itunes.

To my suprise i already had it on my phone, wich is weird cause i never purchased anything from GH or the beatles on itunes.
Thanks for reading my little ghost story.

 

[BaronVonRupert]

Someone do the "Bloody Mary" thing and report back.

i am kill

 

[SneakyTortoise]

I have personally had multiple encounters with what we call ghosts. I'm not crazy. I'm not lying or making it up.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but until you experience it first hand, you just don't know.

No you have not. Whatever you think you saw/experienced was not a ghost. It's not an opinion, just fact.

 

[Vocket]

To me there are no such thing as souls and when we die we are gone forever. Our consciousness only exists because of our physical body so it makes sense that our "self" would disappear when we die. I don't even entertain the notion of life after death, there is no reason for it to exist besides wishful thinking.

Until there is proof for a supernatural existence I will stay 99% sure that no ghosts, souls or things of that sort exists. This way of thinking is the simplest and most honest way for me to live, albeit rather nihilistic when you think about it at first.

 

[Brutal Chimney]

I don't mess with the paranormal because even if their is .00000001% chance that it is real I don't want to end up in a Corpse Party situation over some stupid dare.

 

[JLG]

No you have not. Whatever you think you saw/experienced was not a ghost. It's not an opinion, just fact.

And you know this, how? I'm genuinely curious because I'd like to know if you've figured out, as fact, something that has eluded scholars and philosophers for possibly thousands of years.

 

[SneakyTortoise]

And you know this, how? I'm genuinely curious because I'd like to know if you've figured out, as fact, something that has eluded scholars and philosophers for possibly thousands of years.

It hasn't eluded scholars at all, because scholars only accept things based on evidence. There has never been a single shred of proof that ghosts exists. No one has been able to prove it and you can bet every dollar you have that no one will prove it. If people want to blindly believe in things that there is no evidence of, apart from anecdotes and heresay, then that is up to them. However, as there is no evidence for their existence, it can be accepted as fact that they do not exist.

 

[TaffyMeat]

If you have no soul, you have no reflection. It's also a Bujinkan trick.

 

[JLG]

It hasn't eluded scholars at all, because scholars only accept things based on evidence. There has never been a single shred of proof that ghosts exists. No one has been able to prove it and you can bet every dollar you have that no one will prove it. If people want to blindly believe in things that there is no evidence of, apart from anecdotes and heresay, then that is up to them. However, as there is no evidence for their existence, it can be accepted as fact that they do not exist.

I'm not debating whether or not evidence has been provided in the past for this or other supernatural claims because, to my knowledge, there has never been any verifiable evidence provided. So we are in agreement on that, and there was no reason to bring it up anyway because that was not the issue. TelekineticBeing made a claim, but had no evidence. Fine, it was expected. Then you made a claim and now appear to have no evidence either. That... was not so expected.

You have no evidence, therefore I do not believe you =/= You have no evidence, therefore what you say is impossible.

 

[SneakyTortoise]

I'm not debating whether or not evidence has been provided in the past for this or other supernatural claims because, to my knowledge, there has never been any verifiable evidence provided. So we are in agreement on that, and there was no reason to bring it up anyway because that was not the issue. TelekineticBeing made a claim, but had no evidence. Fine, it was expected. Then you made a claim and now appear to have no evidence either. That... was not so expected.

You have no evidence, therefore I do not believe you =/= You have no evidence, therefore what you say is impossible.

No, because it's impossible to prove a negative. You're right, I can't definitively prove he did not see a ghost, the same way you can't prove that I didn't sleep with Emma Watson last night. That doesn't mean that anyone should ever believe that I did until someone proves I didn't. It is a fact that I am lying, until I can provide proof that I did. The burden of proof lies on the person making the claim that something IS true, not on someone who is saying it isn't.

People have no difficulty in accepting that it is a fact that unicorns and dragons do not exist, based on the fact that there is no evidence for their existence, yet this isn't reason enough to accept that ghosts do not exist? Why does stating that ghosts do not exist require more proof than stating that dragons don't? It shouldn't. However, they do both require the same level of proof in stating that they do exist. There is no proof of dragons, so people accept it is a fact that they do not exist. Why does the non-existent proof of ghosts not lead to the same conclusion?

 

[Juggs]

It hasn't eluded scholars at all, because scholars only accept things based on evidence. There has never been a single shred of proof that ghosts exists. No one has been able to prove it and you can bet every dollar you have that no one will prove it. If people want to blindly believe in things that there is no evidence of, apart from anecdotes and heresay, then that is up to them. However, as there is no evidence for their existence, it can be accepted as fact that they do not exist.

I agree to an extent. However, absence of evidence doesn't automatically mean evidence of absence. Just because it hasn't yet been proven that ghosts exist, it doesn't mean that they do not exist. I believe that they not only don't exist, but can't exist, but that's my belief. Saying it's a fact that they do not exist is disingenuous, and is the same as people who say that it's a fact that God doesn't exist. You cannot prove this based on lack of evidence, but you can certainly choose not to believe in such silly claims because that same lack of evidence, and unfortunately, you can also choose to believe without any physical evidence.

To be clear, we are on the same side here.

 

[legion666]

Everyone just STFU!!!! None of you are even aware of your souls existence, while Shang knows, and is ready to take that burden from you, fools!!

 

[Euphoric]

I've discussed topics of the self and our consciousness in my philosophy class. In terms of what is reality, most well known is William James.

Okay, you don't have to believe in religion, but, just take this into consideration, we have human emotions, we have morals, we question things, we have something in us that goes beyond every species. We have the human experience.

To completely throw away the thought that we were meant to be by a higher power is somewhat idiotic because there isn't proof. The only fact we have is that we exist because the earth is specifically set a distance and titled at such a precise angle (23.4), that our planets condition allowed us to live and form. Any little change and we'd cease to exist.

You don't think someone had a say in setting the earth at such mathematics precision? The earth and universe is not just randomness, there is order.

Just food for thought.