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Ghosts: What's your theory?



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Sat Sep 16, 2006 4:09 pm
Dynamo says...



Ok, here's my theory on how ghosts are created and how they interact with people. Your body's nervous system is composed of hundreds of pathways for body electricity to flow throughout your body. When you die this energy gets expelled into the air into a cloud of electricity which is too feint to see with your own eyes. Depending on how the electricity was controlled by the brain of the person when they were alive could also effect how the ghost acts and interacts with the living. When the cloud of energy, or the ghost, comes in contact with a living being the electricity starts affecting the person's mind and causes them to sense and see things that are otherwise considered paranormal. (I know, I'm a science nut.)

But, that's just my theory, and I know it doesn't explain everything about ghosts. That's why I want to hear all your theories to somehow add onto mine and strengthen my argument.

(If you watch the Discovery Channel at 11:00 am on Saturday you can see a show about real ghost stories.)
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Sat Sep 16, 2006 4:19 pm
Sureal says...



Um, y'know that theory is physically impossible, cos that isn't how energy and your nervous system works ;).


My theory?

- People jump to conclusions (something strange happens and usually the first explanation that jumps to mind is a supernatural one, without the person ever taking the time to look into it to discover the true explation),

- Hallucinations (there's a reason why many ghost encounters happen very late at night - lack of sleep causes hallucinations),

- Sleep Paralysis (a stage between sleep and wakefulness - usually you're unconcious during this time, but when you're concious you usually experience many different forms of hallucinations),

- Recognising patterns in chaos (the same reason why ^_^ looks like a smily face - it isn't really a smily face, but our brains try to look for patterns - especially human faces - when presented with chaos),

- Accidental distortion (when someone is telling someone else about their encounter with a 'ghost' it is impossible for them to give the full account - and thus miss out crutial parts - and they will accidently make bits of it sound more impressive then they actually where, as is the nature of story telling),

- Change in the tales (ghost storys are passed from one person to another, and then to another person, and the to another... and so on. Naturally, the storys end up being distorted over this),

- Purposeful distortion (it's not that unusual for a person to distort a ghost story slightly to make it sound more impressive),

- Out-right lies (some people make up ghost stories for a variaty of different reasons).


And that's my theory ;).
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Sat Sep 16, 2006 4:43 pm
Doctor Kitty says...



^^^

What he said.
  





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Sat Sep 16, 2006 5:36 pm
Roaming Shadow says...



Though I do not believe in God, heaven, or hell, I have not disregarded the potential exitance of ghosts. My belief is that people do have a spirit or soul, depending on your preference on what to call it. This spirit may become a new person after death, or it may wander, though I don't know if the spirit would be truly concious separated from a living entity. For that rebirth part, it's like everyone's spirit is a recreation of another spirit, with the creation of a new, pure spirit being a very rare occasion nowadays. As to how a new spirit is made, don't ask. I don't know, and probobly never will.

Perhaps there is something within one's own spirit that makes it easier to see said spirits. Perhaps these wandering spirits are ocasionaly the cause for that feeling of being watched or for whispers in the wind. Perhaps some spirits, for whatever reason, have more conciousness of their spirit form and have an easier time interacting with the living. Who knows? But, if this is true, I also believe that these spirits can not interact with another living thing directly (in a physical manner), though possibly they can with inatimate objects.

I feel that the existance of ghosts is a "see to believe" experiance that can not be proven by science. Though I myself haven't seen one, I still believe that they have the possibility to exist, though not in the form most people see them as. I'd rather not get too philisophical here, but that is the gist of my beliefs on the subject. If you'd like clarification on anything, feel free to ask, and I'll see what I can do.
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Sat Sep 16, 2006 5:47 pm
Sureal says...



Although I'm fully aware that this is randomness and not the debate forum, I do feel like I have to say something in response to RS's post...

You've detailed what happens after death, what these spirits do and on the frequency of souls being created. And yet you do not have a single piece of evidence, information, personal experience or indeed anything at all on this. It is (as far as I can tell) pure speculation (more so than most ghost accounts, in which there is at least a 'psychic' telling us what happens after death).


I could go onto why ghosts aren't possible (eg. lack of physical form = no interaction with the material world), and how the ghost myth has evolved over time (you never hear about ectoplasm any more), but I'll save for another time ;).
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Sat Sep 16, 2006 7:05 pm
Roaming Shadow says...



Okay, forgive me if this is a little out of line (or out of line period), but I've gotta say it.

Sureal, I do believe I said "belief" several times in there, or at least a version of that word. In a way, it's faith, the belief and explaining of something that can not be explained. True, you may be perfectly right, but whose to say that there aren't things that science can't explain? It seems you only believe in what you can explain, and that's fine, but don't go around trying to prove everyone wrong whose belief in things other than science differ from yours, seeing as how you're trying to shoot down both me and Dynamo. Let them be entitled to their opinion. Belief is fine, as long as you don't force your beliefs upun others (not saying you are, that's just my view on belief and faith in general).There is more that I'd like to say, but they would be rude and crossing the line, so I'll hold my tongue.

So, anyone else have beliefs or theories they'd like to share?
"In a fair fight I would have killed you."
"Well that's not much insentive for me to fight fair now is it?" (PotC: TCftBP)

I'm probably dead already, but that doesn't mean I can't take a few scumbags with me. ~Jak
  





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Sat Sep 16, 2006 7:43 pm
Sureal says...



Sorry, I wasn't intending to offend. I agree, everyone has the right to believe whatever they like (and I'm merely trying to show why I believe what I believe - you're welcome to discuss my points too).

My only niggle with your post was that I couldn't see any concievable reason for you to believe what you do ;). Usually someone has some sort of reason for believing what they do (be it personal experience, reading it from a book, talking with a psychic or whatever).
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Sat Sep 16, 2006 7:59 pm
Dynamo says...



(In regard to my first post) These are just theories, no one is right or wrong. Your body has electricity that causes it to move or feel. When you die where does that electricity go? It doesn't just disappear... or does it?
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Sat Sep 16, 2006 8:06 pm
Sureal says...



The left-over energy stored in our bodies is taken up other living things. Our energy comes from the things we eat. The things we eat get their energy from either the sun (in the case of plants) or from the things they eat (in the case of other animals).

So it all goes round and round. The energy from our dead bodies feeds the other life-forms of our planet, which then feeds other life-forms. The circle of life, if you will :).

Energy can be neither created or destoryed - it's all just recycled.
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Sun Sep 17, 2006 2:07 am
Teeeeo. says...



My theory (comes from culture):

When you die, you become one of three things:

1. Spirit of the Earth
2. Spirit in the Sky
3. Spirit of the Living

When you die on accident, and not by human hands directly, (ex: fell off horse, building fell on you etc) your spirit isn't fullay at peace, but isn't in hate either. Because you're not fully at peace with death, you become a Spirit of the Earth. As soon as you die, something else is born, like a deer giving birth or a seedling sprouting, and your soul becomes that of the new being. You live in that being, not knowing of your prior life, until the being's life ends, then you merge with a NEW being being born, endlessly circulating in a reincarnation-like state. A 'Spirit of the Earth.'

When you die in perfect peace with death (ex: knowing when you're to die from old age or old age, you've set all your priorities straight, conquered all obstacles/goals etc), you go to a sort of 'Heaven', watching the living and keeping them safe. You remain there for eternity. A 'Spirit in the Sky.'

When you die with no peace (ex: suicide, murder, hating the living for still living etc), your soul leaves the body at death, but remains on earth with no being to merge with. This soul carries out eternity taunting the living by replaying images of the soul's life, possesions, and in extreme cases, reincarnating as a demonic-human, like the Deer-Stomp Woman, who lured men to her home with dance, and stomped them to death. These souls who have left the body have no electrical fields, magnetic energies or what not, these instruments who read the fields and heat only trigger the responses of a positive test because of the soul's presence. A 'Spirit of the Living'.


So my theory is, ghosts are just these vengeful souls.
  





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Mon Sep 18, 2006 1:58 am
Bjorn says...



A phantasy conjured by the human imagination. :)
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Mon Sep 18, 2006 4:02 am
LamaLama says...



There's one in my house.

It doesn't like me to close my door, and will always push it open slightly. If I lock it, the bolt with throw, and open entirely. It happens every day. I'm not the only whitness to this being, and am told that it stands at the foot of my bed every night.

I also believe it has made sure I wake up at appropriate times, if my alarm doesn't perform properly. Most recently this past thursday. I no longer have an alarm clock in my room, and am using a cell phone. That night, I heard footsteps on the floor behind me, and they stopped behind my head.
I happen to be alone in the house right now, so its no one I know. When I turn around to look, nothing is there. When I look at my phone, it was seconds away from dying from lack of battery power. If I hadn't woken up right then (5:30 in the morning, by the way) it would have, and I would have missed my 6:45 wake up time, missed class, and more badness would follow.
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Mon Sep 18, 2006 4:06 am
Galatea says...



Absolutely real. 100%.

They talked to me as a child. I still see them all the time. I'll post some pictures of what I saw as a little girl.

Very frightening. Better than any M. Night Shaymalan film.
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