Do you believe in spirits?

[SeaWeed]

So i have had this question lingering the past few years and was curious about this topic and looked forward to read some of your input. I have never found it to be impossible for there to not be some type of energy after death, whether they be full apparitions, or any other type of "evidence" which could prove the presence of a certain being whether you knew them or not. how many of you here are open minded and believe in these types of things? any personal experience or know of any?

i know some of you might not answer seriously and that's fine haha just curious is all :D

[DrippingInsanity]

Believing in spirits/ghosts =/= Being open minded

[Sculpy]

[Schwenger]

[Popegina]

Originally Posted by SeaWeed

I have never found it to be impossible for there to not be some type of energy after death, whether they be full apparitions, or any other type of "evidence" which could prove the presence of a certain being whether you knew them or not.

You high on 4/20 man?

[SeaWeed]

Originally Posted by Popegina

You high on 4/20 man?

hahaha no i don't smoke. just thinking too much i guess

[veshly]

There's no good reason to believe in supernatural jibber jabber.

I have a few friends/acquaintances that believe in conspiracy theories/ufo shit/whatever and 'you gatta be open minded' is always tooted as some reason in and of itself to believe in that kind of stuff, when really it's probably because they're fucking bored and need some fantasy shit to keep them interested.

[FreshFlesh]

Never had any experience with any spirit or what have you so I don't believe in them, but I'm open to the possibility but doubt I will ever experience anything that will change my mind.

[Sculpy]

I saw a ghost when I was a kid. But I was a kid, so what did I know.

[imbutawaveto]

Originally Posted by Sculpy

I saw a ghost when I was a kid. But I was a kid, so what did I know.

[earthly vulgarity]

i am ghost

[Schwenger]

Originally Posted by Sculpy

I saw a ghost when I was a kid. But I was a kid, so what did I know.

[_Hez_]

call me a pussy but spirits r too strong for me. beer only.

[The Midnight Rider]

i lol'd

[Schwenger]

[Chromaticity]

I do. 100%. I'll post a story later.

[Antæos]

Originally Posted by SeaWeed

hahaha no i don't smoke. just thinking too much i guess

Actually you're thinking too little. There's a vast body of neuroscience research showing how consciousness depends critically on brain function (see e.g. this talk). Death on the cellular level means your cells stop causing chemical disequilibrium across their membranes, essentially rendering neuronal signal transduction impossible. In other words, consciousness CANNOT persist after death. It doesn't even persist when you're asleep.

Ghost sightings and all that stuff can be readily explained as visual artifacts of human visual stimulus processing.

tl;dr there's no such thing as ghosts because the concept is absurd in the physical sense. pro-tip: whenever you think you've experienced something that would violate the physical principles of the universe, have the decency to be a little skeptical.

[flayedandskinned]

Nope, but I definitely don't want to be proven wrong.

[Chromaticity]

Originally Posted by Antæos

Actually you're thinking too little. There's a vast body of neuroscience research showing how consciousness depends critically on brain function (see e.g. this talk). Death on the cellular level means your cells stop causing chemical disequilibrium across their membranes, essentially rendering neuronal signal transduction impossible. In other words, consciousness CANNOT persist after death. It doesn't even persist when you're asleep.

Ghost sightings and all that stuff can be readily explained as visual artifacts of human visual stimulus processing.

tl;dr there's no such thing as ghosts because the concept is absurd in the physical sense. pro-tip: whenever you think you've experienced something that would violate the physical principles of the universe, have the decency to be a little skeptical.

[FreshFlesh]

Where's my fucking ghost story?

[sara]

i've had a bunch of shit happen to me, but meh not really.

[ShadowHunter]

Originally Posted by Antæos

Actually you're thinking too little. There's a vast body of neuroscience research showing how consciousness depends critically on brain function (see e.g. this talk). Death on the cellular level means your cells stop causing chemical disequilibrium across their membranes, essentially rendering neuronal signal transduction impossible. In other words, consciousness CANNOT persist after death. It doesn't even persist when you're asleep.

Ghost sightings and all that stuff can be readily explained as visual artifacts of human visual stimulus processing.

tl;dr there's no such thing as ghosts because the concept is absurd in the physical sense. pro-tip: whenever you think you've experienced something that would violate the physical principles of the universe, have the decency to be a little skeptical.

[Cognitive Defeat]

Originally Posted by Antæos

In other words, consciousness CANNOT persist after death. It doesn't even persist when you're asleep.

So what about dreaming, and more interestingly lucid dreaming? Are these deemed part of consciousness? Would be interesting if you could elaborate on the definition of consciousness here.

I'm not trying to make any particular point here, I'm just interested.

[Nailed To Gold]

Originally Posted by SeaWeed

So i have had this question lingering the past few years and was curious about this topic and looked forward to read some of your input. I have never found it to be impossible for there to not be some type of energy after death, whether they be full apparitions, or any other type of "evidence" which could prove the presence of a certain being whether you knew them or not. how many of you here are open minded and believe in these types of things? any personal experience or know of any?

i know some of you might not answer seriously and that's fine haha just curious is all :D

First, you have to define what a spirit is.

Do trees have spirits? Animals?

[Labyrinthofslumber]

I want 2 believe

[Corpseifier]

Originally Posted by SeaWeed

I have never found it to be impossible for there to not be some type of energy after death, whether they be full apparitions, or any other type of "evidence" which could prove the presence of a certain being whether you knew them or not. how many of you here are open minded and believe in these types of things? any personal experience or know of any?

I'd say that I'm open minded. However, I have never come across any supernatural or paranormal claim that I could accept. There is just no good evidence for it. By saying: 'not impossible for there not be some type of energy after death'...that is something I agree with, but I also think it would be a poor basis for any belief. One thing that comes to mind is Russell's teapot argument.

[SeaWeed]

Originally Posted by Nailed To Gold

First, you have to define what a spirit is.

just talking about humans in general

[Darcangelo]

thread about ghosts.. ? I'm gonna go take a shit, bbl

[Eschaton]

Originally Posted by Antæos

Ghost sightings and all that stuff can be readily explained as visual artifacts of human visual stimulus processing.

Or, you know, people lying.

[Dunlop]

Faith is faith is faith is faith. It's a nice idea that can not be proven on either side but believing in spirits is pretty benign in comparison to being a part of an institution so whatever floats your boat.