Are these Ghosts or Just my Imagination?

[Para]

All arguing aside, still no one has provided any good evidence or even an entertaining personal story.

[Chris Leach]

That so looks like someones face in the first pic..how does one explain that?


I might be convinced that ghosts are real with these pics...

[sevin0seven]

Ghost are real, just look at these pictures and story: http://www.ghostresearch.org/ghostpics/

I've seen one myself.

... HEY! i remember seeing this pic on the local news while i was living in Manila:

Not much is known about the circumstances behind this strange picture. However it was taken by a total stranger through a Nokia 7250 picture-phone at Eastwood City in Manila when a strange ghostly figure was seen apparently grabbing the arm of one of the women in the picture. Nothing was seen or felt at the time the picture was taken but it seems to be quite a friendly spirit.

[lisalover1]

There's a link above that refutes this (a Gallup poll). I'm pretty sure he was talking out his ass on this point...

Orly?

The Gallup Organization asked American adults a series of questions to gauge credulity. Do dreams foretell the future? Did ancient advanced civilizations such as Atlantis exist? Can places be haunted? Is it possible to communicate with the dead? Will creatures like Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster someday be discovered by science?

The answers were added up to create an index of belief in occult and the paranormal. While 31% of people who never worship expressed strong belief in these things, only 8% of people who attend a house of worship more than once a week did.

[dsheinem]

There's a link above that refutes this (a Gallup poll). I'm pretty sure he was talking out his ass on this point...

Orly?

The Gallup Organization asked American adults a series of questions to gauge credulity. Do dreams foretell the future? Did ancient advanced civilizations such as Atlantis exist? Can places be haunted? Is it possible to communicate with the dead? Will creatures like Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster someday be discovered by science?

The answers were added up to create an index of belief in occult and the paranormal. While 31% of people who never worship expressed strong belief in these things, only 8% of people who attend a house of worship more than once a week did.

Thanks for that, would have been useful the first time. Here's the link for those who want context - http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122178219865054585.html

So we seem to have two Gallup polls which each come to different conclusions. There are also some links about half way down this page which show negative correlations between intelligence/education and religious belief. The discussion on that page is quite interesting, especially for the monument of idiocy that is Yahoo questions.

The fact that the poll you cited, lisalover1, is the first I've ever heard of such a thing makes me dubious of its methodology or generalizability. I'd love to see more recent support (other than the stuff cited from the 80s in the WSJ article) if you have it.

[Inazuma]

There's a link above that refutes this (a Gallup poll). I'm pretty sure he was talking out his ass on this point...

Orly?

The Gallup Organization asked American adults a series of questions to gauge credulity. Do dreams foretell the future? Did ancient advanced civilizations such as Atlantis exist? Can places be haunted? Is it possible to communicate with the dead? Will creatures like Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster someday be discovered by science?

The answers were added up to create an index of belief in occult and the paranormal. While 31% of people who never worship expressed strong belief in these things, only 8% of people who attend a house of worship more than once a week did.

Your point is that atheists are dumber than theists because believing in ghosts is worse than believing in God? They are both ridiculous. Either way, it is foolish for anyone to believe in spiritual stuff that has absolutely no proof.

"I believe in God, but I don't believe in ghosts, therefore I'm not as dumb as you."
Dumb or dumber, both are bad. This conversation is annoying. If it makes you feel better about yourself that there are people more foolish than you out there, then good for you. It's all bullshit and I choose not to believe any of it.

[Limewater]

Your point is that atheists are dumber than theists because believing in ghosts is worse than believing in God?

I don't think he ever implied this.

I think the reason irrational people tend to believe stuff like ghosts, gods and angels is because they feel like they absolutely must have an answer to everything.

<snip>

It is OK not to know everything. It is OK not to understand something and have an answer for everything. This is a very important lesson that some of you need to understand. If you don't understand something, keep an open mind and when the answer finally does get discovered, you can then consider it.

If you always automatically assume that unknown things are the work of supernatural beings, you shut yourself off from a possible truth.

If someone asks me how the universe started, I tell them, "I don't know." Maybe you should too.

I think you say some good things here, but I also think you're starting from a false assumption. Belief in the supernatural usually raises more questions than it answers. Rather than letting someone "know" everything, it allows more things for them not to know.

I'm not saying that someone might choose to believe in the supernatural because he needs an answer to everything. I'm saying that doing so would be a terrible idea. You do specify irrational people in your opening sentence, though.

I think, in general, people are a lot more likely to believe in the supernatural due to cultural context. Chinese people are usually atheists because they're raised as atheists. People in the southeastern US tend to be Baptist because they're raised as Baptists.

[yomomma1]

^ Chinese people are mainly non-religious and agnostic, not mainly atheist.

[Limewater]

^ Chinese people are mainly non-religious and agnostic, not mainly atheist.

I think I'm using a broader definition of atheism than you. A part of that is weak atheism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_atheism

[yomomma1]

So you are saying atheists may believe in gods?


However you can say: Chinese people tend to be less religious than people in the south eastern American states.