Supernatural discussion thread

[Guest John Hancock]

I think the smoke was actually ghost smoke, from a recently extinguished fire that was put out in mysterious, yet tragic circumstances. WoOoOoOoO!

[Guest Saz]

My strange one was when my Grandad died, everyone in the family had come to see him and we were playing cards on the dining room table. No one was leaning on the table but the cross support cracked and the table split in half.

 

10 minutes later we had a call saying he'd died.

 

As for ghosts themselves, I like the idea that they are actually pheremones that people pick up and turn into visual signals. I haven't read the cracked article but scientists have said that pheremones can last for centuries and we are so good at picking them up we'll translate them.

[Guest Jayfunk]

I've not seen a ghost because ghosts don't exist.

 

This. Bascially it's like asking "Have you ever seen a fairy or a troll?" (not the internet kind)

Edited February 13, 2011 by Saz

[The Icon 152]

This. Bascially it's like asking "Have you ever seen a fairy or a troll?" (not the internet kind)

 

Not it's not like that at all.

[Paul 584]

Whats the difference?

[The Icon 152]

Whats the difference?

 

Everybody knows Trolls and Fairy's are extinct. Not supernaural.

[Guest John Hancock]

That's not even slightly true. When I was in Iceland, I met a lot of people there who believed in trolls, because that's a part of their culture, and I had (they're of the generation which is now dead) Russian, Polish and Belorussian relatives who believed in forest spirits and zombies (EDIT: zombies are a really, really common Eastern-European Jewish belief called dybbuks. They're sort of a cross between a traditional zombie and a German doppelganger), because that was their culture in the same way that ghosts and angels are part of ours. Just because you think their unprovable semi-mythical creatures are impossible and stupid, doesn't make it any less valid than ghosts, which a lot of "us" believe to be equally impossible and stupid.

 

That's like a Christian saying that "Do you believe in God?" is a valid question, but "Do you believe in Allah?" isn't.

Edited February 13, 2011 by John Hancock

[The Icon 152]

That's not even slightly true. When I was in Iceland, I met a lot of people there who believed in trolls, because that's a part of their culture, and I had (they're of the generation which is now dead) Russian, Polish and Belorussian relatives who believed in forest spirits and zombies (EDIT: zombies are a really, really common Eastern-European Jewish belief called dybbuks. They're sort of a cross between a traditional zombie and a German doppelganger), because that was their culture in the same way that ghosts and angels are part of ours. Just because you think their unprovable semi-mythical creatures are impossible and stupid, doesn't make it any less valid than ghosts, which a lot of "us" believe to be equally impossible and stupid.

 

That's like a Christian saying that "Do you believe in God?" is a valid question, but "Do you believe in Allah?" isn't.

 

I don't think it's stupid in any way. I just don't believe anybody has actually ever seen a Troll. Even those who use it in their culture have never actually seen one. Also the Irish have Trolls, or leprachauns as we say, in our culture but nobody has actually seen one. Because there is none really.

[Guest John Hancock]

And they'd say that you're wrong, and that they have, whilst I believe that no one has seen a ghost, and you will tell that I'm wrong, and that you have. Surely you can see that it's the exact same issue, just with the name of the beastie changed.

 

http://www.whygoiceland.com/elves-in-iceland.html

Edited February 13, 2011 by John Hancock

[The Icon 152]

And they'd say that you're wrong, and that they have, whilst I believe that no one has seen a ghost, and you will tell that I'm wrong, and that you have. Surely you can see that it's the exact same issue, just with the name of the beastie changed.

 

I lump trolls with mythical creatures like Vampires and Wearwolves. Not with supernatural like Alien or Ghosts So No I see it as a different issue. Mythical and Supernatural are of course similiar in some ways but in others are very different. Either way I have little belief in any of the above. (Life on other planets yes. Aliens no.)

[Guest John Hancock]

But then why are you dismissing Jay's point like there's so genuine difference?

 

Ghosts VS Trolls

 

- People claim to have seen both

- There is no direct evidence for either

- Both are countered by science

- Most people don't believe in either

- Both have their roots in fiction

 

The only difference is that YOU believe in one and YOU don't believe in the other. That's fine, that's what religious people do every day, but you can't say that Jayfunk's point wasn't completely valid just because of your personal beliefs.

[The Icon 152]

I dont Believe in either. I just mentioned I may have seen one.

 

I have not seen Angels, Demons or Poltergeists, or any other supernatural thing. Nor do I believe in anything I have not seen.

 

I only said I may have seen a Ghost.

[Guest John Hancock]

Bascially it's like asking "Have you ever seen a fairy or a troll?"

 

Not it's not like that at all.

 

What do you mean by that then? Other then disagreeing with Jayfunk, just because he's Jayfunk?

[The Icon 152]

I just don't see the two things as sharing anything in common. They are different type of myths despite what you would like to believe. Also the roots of Ghosts are in oral talking and pictures, not in writing. The writing came after. Cavemen were drawing pictures of Ghosts, and talking about them when they could talk. Edited February 13, 2011 by The Icon

[Guest John Hancock]

What I would like to believe? :lol

 

What's the difference then, go on.

[The Icon 152]

What I would like to believe? :lol

 

What's the difference then, go on.

 

I don't really want to bore you but if you really want to know I will try and write something out for you. But I am on my phone now so later.

 

EDIT. Ok anyway you win. You seem to have more knowledge on the subject anyway. Let us get on with the chat at hand.

Edited February 13, 2011 by The Icon

[dsrchris 190]

When I was 5, the day after my Granddad died, I was staying at my Nan's and woke up in the middle of the night. I swore blind that I saw my Granddad standing in the corner of the room, smiling and waving at me, like when he used to pick me up from school.

 

As I got older I started to believe less in ghosts, and more in the power of your mind giving you something reassuring. I didn't get chance to say goodbye, so my mind made a way for me to get some kind of closure. So in instances like that, where people say they saw someone just after they died, I think it's your brain's way of getting you to make some kind of peace with them passing away?

 

I dunno. I don't think there's "ghosts" floating around everywhere, but some strange unexplainable stuff happens and ghosts are the easiest way for some folks to get their heads around it.

[Guest John Hancock]

When I was 5, the day after my Granddad died, I was staying at my Nan's and woke up in the middle of the night. I swore blind that I saw my Granddad standing in the corner of the room, smiling and waving at me, like when he used to pick me up from school.

 

Exact same thing happened to me when I was 13. The fact it was the middle of the night gave it away for me, it was obviously just some coping mechanism because I was really, REALLY upset (I effectively lived with my Granddad for a lot of my life) mixed with being half asleep. I never believed in was a ghost, but it definitely happened.

 

Like you said, I think ghosts are just a way for people to explain things they might not understand.

[The Icon 152]

When I eventually pass on I hope to prove that Ghosts exist. By becoming one and haunting Hancock.

 

No just joking. Some weird physical anomaly isn't direct evidence for anything. E.G. what I saw in my Grandparents does not prove that Ghosts exist. But they might. I just do not really believe even though I do think I saw one. Or saw something.

[Guest Saz]

Note this is not to discuss the existence or not of said. Just to share your supernatural experiences if any.

 

Makes for a pretty boring thread, I agree, but arguing about the existence of ghosts is really going against the theme of this. If you don't believe in Ghosts or have never seen a ghost, the answer is no, if you have, relate the story.

 

Either that or I can change the thread to supernatural discussion.