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Ghosts/Apparitions/Spirits etc

  • 26-04-2012 1:42pm
    #1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 33,733 ✭✭✭✭


    Admittedly, I'd be fairly skeptical of the paranormal. To me, there's usually always an explanation for most things, with Occams Razor applying in most situations to me. That being said, I'm quite open to the belief that the paranormal can/does exist, I just feel simpler explanations are usually more applicable in most cases.

    Anyway, a quick nuts n bolts question about ghosts/apparitions etc. If someone sees/encounters such a phenomenon, I immediately ask myself this:

    If something appears & is visible, it must be subject to the laws of nature & gravity. Given that the Earth is revolving at roughly 1000 mph, & orbits the sun at 60,000 mph...anything that wasn't affected by gravity would simply be left at the point in space that it appears surely.

    How can ghostly figures, spirits remain with us, given the enormous speeds we are traveling...all the while in some cases being not made of matter/passing through walls etc.

    I probably explained is assways, but I'd be interested in hearing any input :)


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Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,182 ✭✭✭Genghiz Cohen


    EnterNow wrote: »
    How can ghostly figures, spirits remain with us, given the enormous speeds we are traveling...all the while in some cases being not made of matter/passing through walls etc.

    I probably explained is assways, but I'd be interested in hearing any input :)

    They are locked to the quantum vibrational energies of the places where they died and move in and out of the spiritual 4th dimension at will.


    But srsly, never heard anyone explain how that would work other than the building or surroundings have memories of the people, which doesn't really make any kind of sense to me.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 33,733 ✭✭✭✭Myrddin


    They are locked to the quantum vibrational energies of the places where they died

    But how do you strictly define a 'place'. In the broader sense, they died at a quantum place in a three dimensional universe. That 'place' or set of co-ordinates doesn't move or follow the Earth's movement.

    I know what you mean re attachment, but in the bigger picture, if you die at a defined place...you should remain at that place...regardless of where the Earth is in its orbit, you get me?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,736 ✭✭✭✭kylith


    So they'd only be visible for a couple of minutes each year as the earth passes that point in space? Unless they're tied to a house or some rocks rather than a point in space.

    Here's one: if they died during the medieval period and are locked to a place why aren't only their torsos and heads above ground, since ground level was lower back then?


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 3,455 ✭✭✭krd


    kylith wrote: »
    So they'd only be visible for a couple of minutes each year as the earth passes that point in space? Unless they're tied to a house or some rocks rather than a point in space.

    Here's one: if they died during the medieval period and are locked to a place why aren't only their torsos and heads above ground, since ground level was lower back then?

    No. Not only is the Earth orbiting the sun, our solar system is orbiting the centre of the Milky Way (our galaxy). And the Milky way is moving too - very fast.

    The way the stellar bodies are moving through space, the chances of crossing the same space twice, are virtually zilch.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 33,733 ✭✭✭✭Myrddin


    krd wrote: »
    No. Not only is the Earth orbiting the sun, our solar system is orbiting the centre of the Milky Way (our galaxy). And the Milky way is moving too - very fast.

    The way the stellar bodies are moving through space, the chances of crossing the same space twice, are virtually zilch.

    Yeah, it takes a phenomenally long time to do a galactic orbit, & even then, the galaxies are moving/space expanding so your never truly in the same 'place' twice.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,736 ✭✭✭✭kylith


    krd wrote: »
    No. Not only is the Earth orbiting the sun, our solar system is orbiting the centre of the Milky Way (our galaxy). And the Milky way is moving too - very fast.

    The way the stellar bodies are moving through space, the chances of crossing the same space twice, are virtually zilch.
    Consarn it, I forgot about the rotation of the galaxy. You're right; they'd be haunting a space in the middle of, well, space, just waiting for another planet to pass through so they could put the willies up some aliens.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 33,733 ✭✭✭✭Myrddin


    kylith wrote: »
    Consarn it, I forgot about the rotation of the galaxy. You're right; they'd be haunting a space in the middle of, well, space, just waiting for another planet to pass through so they could put the willies up some aliens.

    Seemingly proving if the phenomenon exists, ghosts/spirits are not tied to 'place' per se, but rather an object - with place strictly being defined as a set of co-ordinates. We're never in the same co-ordinates twice, so either ghosts are affected by gravity, or else they're tied to matter of some kind. Would that be rational enough?


  • Subscribers Posts: 19,425 ✭✭✭✭Oryx


    Here's one: if they died during the medieval period and are locked to a place why aren't only their torsos and heads above ground, since ground level was lower back then?
    I often wondered (when ghosts are portrayed in films and such) how they can walk happily along floors yet go right through walls. :)


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 33,733 ✭✭✭✭Myrddin


    Oryx wrote: »
    I often wondered (when ghosts are portrayed in films and such) how they can walk happily along floors yet go right through walls. :)

    Yeah same here...it seems to contradict itself. But then you hear that maybe ghosts are 'echoes' of times past, & maybe your seeing a replay of an event that happened before say of a person walking along a floor & through a wall...whereas the wall may not have been originally there.

    This whole thing just came about when I was thinking of spirits that can interact say, ghosts/poltergeists/demons. How are they here if they're not affected by gravity?


  • Subscribers Posts: 19,425 ✭✭✭✭Oryx


    EnterNow wrote: »
    Yeah same here...it seems to contradict itself. But then you hear that maybe ghosts are 'echoes' of times past, & maybe your seeing a replay of an event that happened before say of a person walking along a floor & through a wall...whereas the wall may not have been originally there.

    This whole thing just came about when I was thinking of spirits that can interact say, ghosts/poltergeists/demons. How are they here if they're not affected by gravity?
    Ah, big presumption to make, to presume they are not affected by gravity or some other ghostly physical limitation!


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 33,733 ✭✭✭✭Myrddin


    Oryx wrote: »
    Ah, big presumption to make, to presume they are not affected by gravity or some other ghostly physical limitation!

    I suppose it's a big assumption alright. But gravity being by far the weakest force, if ghosts are indeed energy rather than matter, they arn't going to be affected by it.

    If there is some other ghostly form of limitation, what could it be is what I'm asking originally I suppose :)


  • Subscribers Posts: 19,425 ✭✭✭✭Oryx


    What if ghosts were nothing but 'thought' (I know all thought is a product of electrical activity in our brain but they still argue about the 'ghost in the machine') in whatever form it would need to take to exist outside of a brain. :)
    Then the limits would be thought or electrical based rather than physical. As in when we see them, it is a hallucination of sorts caused by their presence in our thoughts/synapses.

    *this is completely off the cuff and ill thought out so cut me some slack for not wording it well. Its just another crackpot theory among so many, cos we just dont know.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 33,733 ✭✭✭✭Myrddin


    Oryx wrote: »
    What if ghosts were nothing but 'thought' (I know all thought is a product of electrical activity in our brain but they still argue about the 'ghost in the machine') in whatever form it would need to take to exist outside of a brain. :)
    Then the limits would be thought or electrical based rather than physical. As in when we see them, it is a hallucination of sorts caused by their presence in our thoughts/synapses.

    *this is completely off the cuff and ill thought out so cut me some slack for not wording it well. Its just another crackpot theory among so many, cos we just dont know.

    To be honest, if I were to theorize what ghosts/spirits are...that's exactly the line I'd be following. The human mind is a far more powerful device than we give credit to, & for me, could aid to a simpler explanation of certain things that would be considered paranormal.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 27,564 ✭✭✭✭steddyeddy


    Well theres fantastic progresssion in our understanding of the effects of infrasound on human and animals/ Funnily enough the effects include auditory and visual hallucinations, a feeling of dread, a cold feeling and a feeling of another presence in the room. Also sources of infrasound have been found at some sites of reported hauntings. This for me goes a long way towards explaining hauntings but I am open to discussion on the matter and to being proved wrong.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,714 ✭✭✭✭maccored


    infrasound generally affects the senses, but it doesnt say explain evps or various other bits and bobs. a mixture of infrasound and environmental radiation could explain the vast majority of 'paranormal' things. Not all of it though.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 3,455 ✭✭✭krd


    EnterNow wrote: »
    I suppose it's a big assumption alright. But gravity being by far the weakest force, if ghosts are indeed energy rather than matter, they arn't going to be affected by it.

    What do you mean by energy?

    In science energy is a property mass has. There isn't energy that's free in itself. If you burn a lump of coal, the chemical bonds holding the coal together will break. When they break they release that energy in the form of heat and light.

    Gravity is the weakest of the forces. But it's not that weak. It's what's stopping you from flying into outer space. If you jumped off the top of a building, you'd find it's not really that weak at all.

    Gravity can bend light. In a black hole, the gravity is so strong it stops all light from leaving it.


    Say for the sake of argument, if the soul left the body as a form of concious electricity, that had some way of sticking together. If would hang in the air, near the body, until it decided to go somewhere else. It wouldn't fly off into outer space.

    I'm not saying that does happen. That might be what happens.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 33,733 ✭✭✭✭Myrddin


    krd wrote: »
    What do you mean by energy?

    In science energy is a property mass has. There isn't energy that's free in itself. If you burn a lump of coal, the chemical bonds holding the coal together will break. When they break they release that energy in the form of heat and light.

    I mean energy as in a waveform energy like light etc, not necessarily matter...though I know light has properties of being matter & being a waveform at the same time. I'm not really sure, but it's hardly likely ghosts & apparitions are actually matter is it?

    As you said yourself, energy is converted from one form to another. So the chemical energy stored in coal, is released as heat/light when it's burned. Whats the conversion process when a ghost appears? IS the energy of their form being created out of nothing, violating all known laws of physics? Or is there a conversion happening on a level we simply arn't aware of?
    Gravity is the weakest of the forces. But it's not that weak. It's what's stopping you from flying into outer space. If you jumped off the top of a building, you'd find it's not really that weak at all.

    Gravity can bend light. In a black hole, the gravity is so strong it stops all light from leaving it.

    Yet for all of Earth's gravitational power, it can be beaten by a simple childs magnet. I'm not saying gravity is weak by any means, but when it comes to the known forces, it is by far the weakest.
    Say for the sake of argument, if the soul left the body as a form of concious electricity, that had some way of sticking together. If would hang in the air, near the body, until it decided to go somewhere else. It wouldn't fly off into outer space.

    I'm not saying that does happen. That might be what happens.

    How do you know though? Again, looking at light, that's not defeated by gravity at all & if shone towards the sky it will happily travel upwards without hindrance from gravity. Light can be bent/curved etc, but again as you mention, it takes an extremely powerful gravitation force to do so. It does not happen on Earth via its gravity.

    The point of all this? If ghosts are indeed mass/matter, where is the energy coming from? Why can they seemingly pass through solid objects? How can they then interact with other objects?

    If they are a form of zero-mass energy, how are they affected by gravity & stay in one place?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 368 ✭✭gillad


    Ghosts/Apparitions/Spirits etc are a form of conscious energy,the very same energy that you use to think and dream.Your thoughts and dreams are not affected by gravity or time so spirits ect..are not affected either.
    Most of us cannot control our dreams and we all have random thoughts that we cant control.We are not intelligent enough yet to have full control over our consciousness so untill we have full control,most of us(especially the logical minds)will not believe in spirits or anything unless it can be proven.
    The proof is in your own conscious mind and if you want to find it you will.

    All thought is energy and energy cannot be destroyed so every thought and dream that you`v ever had is out there somewhere and it will have a positive or negative effect(it depends on what your thought is) on whats around you plants/animals/other human consciousness.These thoughts/energies and spirits are what influence the conscious thoughts and behaviour of the everything on this planet.It is only when we can understand and control these energies that we can truly understand and control ourselves.
    When someone sees a ghost,this energy is influencing their thoughts and it is having a positive or negative effect on that person.Some people get positive results from these energies/spirits(people who go to mediums and psychics often come out with hope and clarity).Some people are scared after an encounter and it affects them in a negative way but it also opens up their mind to what is really there so in reality a ghostly encounter is a positve thing.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 33,733 ✭✭✭✭Myrddin


    gillad wrote: »
    Ghosts/Apparitions/Spirits etc are a form of conscious energy,the very same energy that you use to think and dream.Your thoughts and dreams are not affected by gravity or time so spirits ect..are not affected either.
    Most of us cannot control our dreams and we all have random thoughts that we cant control.We are not intelligent enough yet to have full control over our consciousness so untill we have full control,most of us(especially the logical minds)will not believe in spirits or anything unless it can be proven.
    The proof is in your own conscious mind and if you want to find it you will.

    All thought is energy and energy cannot be destroyed so every thought and dream that you`v ever had is out there somewhere and it will have a positive or negative effect(it depends on what your thought is) on whats around you plants/animals/other human consciousness.These thoughts/energies and spirits are what influence the conscious thoughts and behaviour of the everything on this planet.It is only when we can understand and control these energies that we can truly understand and control ourselves.
    When someone sees a ghost,this energy is influencing their thoughts and it is having a positive or negative effect on that person.Some people get positive results from these energies/spirits(people who go to mediums and psychics often come out with hope and clarity).Some people are scared after an encounter and it affects them in a negative way but it also opens up their mind to what is really there so in reality a ghostly encounter is a positve thing.

    Very interesting take on it, cheers :)

    But to again go back to our physical laws, in that energy cannot be created or destroyed, merely changed from one form to another...our thoughts and dreams are 'merely' chemical interactions within our brains, the energy of which comes from the sustenance we eat everyday ultimately.

    If ghosts/entities/spirits etc are conscious form of energy, what process is going on that allows them to even exist? Where is the energy transformation, & what is it from and to? It also doesn't explain why an energy that isn't affected by gravity as you say, is able to really be here as a static form...


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 3,455 ✭✭✭krd


    gillad wrote: »
    Ghosts/Apparitions/Spirits etc are a form of conscious energy,the very same energy that you use to think and dream.Your thoughts and dreams are not affected by gravity or time so spirits ect..are not affected either.

    Now you're getting very sciencey. Your claiming something called conscious energy exists, and that it is not effected by time or gravity. How do you know it's not effected by time or gravity? Have you any scientific proof that it's not effected by time or gravity?

    Most of us cannot control our dreams and we all have random thoughts that we cant control.We are not intelligent enough yet to have full control over our consciousness so untill we have full control,most of us(especially the logical minds)will not believe in spirits or anything unless it can be proven.
    The proof is in your own conscious mind and if you want to find it you will.

    You mean, if I imagine something it's real? Faeries at the bottom of the garden, Jesus Christ, Santa Claus, they're all real if I just use my "conscious mind" and imagine I'm having a conversation with them.
    All thought is energy and energy cannot be destroyed so every thought and dream that you`v ever had is out there somewhere and it will have a positive or negative effect(it depends on what your thought is)

    The memory in your computer, and the processor, work by using energy. The ones and zeros are powered by electricity. That energy can neither be created or destroyed. But it does not mean that whatever you've ever used your computer for, somewhere all that information still exists. Because energy can neither be created or destroyed.

    The brain works by chemistry and electrical signals. "thought" is not an energy. You can use energy(light) to project a picture onto a wall - but it does not mean the picture is energy. And that the picture can be converted into another form of energy. The energy that creates the picture is not lost - it goes somewhere else, but when you turn off the projector, the picture vanishes, and is gone. And that is what science has to say about the human brain - once it's switched off, the person is gone forever. The energy is still there - you could burn the brain if you want

    You can believe in ghosts, spirits or whatever you like but you cannot use the First law of thermodynamics, to begin a justification for their existence.

    I've met plenty of evil spirits in my life. But they have all been human. And a lot of them went to mass too.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 368 ✭✭gillad


    krd wrote: »
    Now you're getting very sciencey. Your claiming something called conscious energy exists, and that it is not effected by time or gravity. How do you know it's not effected by time or gravity? Have you any scientific proof that it's not effected by time or gravity?




    You mean, if I imagine something it's real? Faeries at the bottom of the garden, Jesus Christ, Santa Claus, they're all real if I just use my "conscious mind" and imagine I'm having a conversation with them.



    The memory in your computer, and the processor, work by using energy. The ones and zeros are powered by electricity. That energy can neither be created or destroyed. But it does not mean that whatever you've ever used your computer for, somewhere all that information still exists. Because energy can neither be created or destroyed.

    The brain works by chemistry and electrical signals. "thought" is not an energy. You can use energy(light) to project a picture onto a wall - but it does not mean the picture is energy. And that the picture can be converted into another form of energy. The energy that creates the picture is not lost - it goes somewhere else, but when you turn off the projector, the picture vanishes, and is gone. And that is what science has to say about the human brain - once it's switched off, the person is gone forever. The energy is still there - you could burn the brain if you want

    You can believe in ghosts, spirits or whatever you like but you cannot use the First law of thermodynamics, to begin a justification for their existence.

    I've met plenty of evil spirits in my life. But they have all been human. And a lot of them went to mass too.

    You have a logical and sensible view on this subject and nobody will convince you to change your view unless they provide you with proof(but nobody is going to give you proof).I was the same as you a few months ago but i experienced some paranormal stuff and i had to change my view to make sense of it and now everything makes sense.You wont understand or even want to understand until you experience something paranormal for yourself and i really hope you do because it is a real eye opener and it makes life much more interesting.There is no fear of growing old or death anymore and thats a great way to be.:):):)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,182 ✭✭✭Genghiz Cohen


    gillad wrote: »
    You wont understand or even want to understand until you experience something paranormal for yourself and i really hope you do because it is a real eye opener and it makes life much more interesting.There is no fear of growing old or death anymore and thats a great way to be.:):):)

    No, that is simply not the way to go about anything.
    I know the earth is a spherical shape, not because I have seen it for myself, but because someone was able to present convincing and reasonable arguments that it is so.
    If you cannot present convincing and reasonable arguments for your belief then your belief may not be convincing or reasonable.

    On another note, have you fully thought out all the baggage that comes with believing in some sort of spiritual experience occurred? Stuff like what is listed above.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,714 ✭✭✭✭maccored


    If you cannot present convincing and reasonable arguments for your belief then your belief may not be convincing or reasonable.

    Who cares? Im sure the person you are quoting isnt too worried about what others think of the paranormal. If you havent had a paranormal experience, then you just havent had a paranormal experience. Hard luck. And the experience isnt reasonable because someone isnt convinced? Thats cobblers ... its as reasonable to the person who experienced it regardless of what anyone thinks.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,182 ✭✭✭Genghiz Cohen


    maccored wrote: »
    Who cares? Im sure the person you are quoting isnt too worried about what others think of the paranormal. If you havent had a paranormal experience, then you just havent had a paranormal experience. Hard luck. And the experience isnt reasonable because someone isnt convinced? Thats cobblers ... its as reasonable to the person who experienced it regardless of what anyone thinks.

    I didn't say that.

    And, who cares?
    I do hope you take a better approach than that when you are trying to figure out why people feel chills in an old rundown house.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,714 ✭✭✭✭maccored


    when you're dealing with people who have experienced these things, they generally dont say things like "If you cannot present convincing and reasonable arguments for your belief then your belief may not be convincing or reasonable."

    And yes you did indeed.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 368 ✭✭gillad


    No, that is simply not the way to go about anything.
    I know the earth is a spherical shape, not because I have seen it for myself, but because someone was able to present convincing and reasonable arguments that it is so.
    If you cannot present convincing and reasonable arguments for your belief then your belief may not be convincing or reasonable.

    On another note, have you fully thought out all the baggage that comes with believing in some sort of spiritual experience occurred? Stuff like what is listed above.

    People believed that the earth was flat until it was proven.That doesnt mean that the earth WAS flat until it was proven,it was always round so people changed their view when it was proven.When science starts to understand the conscious and unconscious mind,thats when you will start to get proof.It could be 10/20 years or more before that happens but it will happen and it will change the world for the better.

    I have never seen a ghost.I have witnessed the power of the conscious and subconscious mind.My own mind(in training now) and two other people iv met who have very powerful minds.

    What baggage are you talking about?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,182 ✭✭✭Genghiz Cohen


    maccored wrote: »
    when you're dealing with people who have experienced these things, they generally dont say things like "If you cannot present convincing and reasonable arguments for your belief then your belief may not be convincing or reasonable."

    And yes you did indeed.

    "may"


    EDIT:
    And the experience isnt reasonable because someone isnt convinced?
    To expand;
    People are not convinced that the universe is older than 10,000 years. There are plenty of reasonable arguments to say it is.
    So there is something that is reasonable even though someone is not convinced of it.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,182 ✭✭✭Genghiz Cohen


    gillad wrote: »
    What baggage are you talking about?

    The kind of stuff like; if ghosts exist, then what are they made of, are they conscious, if so what is consciousness. Is there another world, how do we detect it, it obviously has an effect on this world so we should be able to.

    There are at least 9000 questions for spirits alone, never mine telekinesis, energy healing, homeopathy, remote viewing and all sorts of other paranormal phenomenon.
    If you accept even one, there are a lot of things that need explaining.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 368 ✭✭gillad


    The kind of stuff like; if ghosts exist, then what are they made of, are they conscious, if so what is consciousness. Is there another world, how do we detect it, it obviously has an effect on this world so we should be able to.

    There are at least 9000 questions for spirits alone, never mine telekinesis, energy healing, homeopathy, remote viewing and all sorts of other paranormal phenomenon.
    If you accept even one, there are a lot of things that need explaining.

    Thats not what id call baggage,its all very interesting stuff and the conscious energy of yourself and everything else that ever lived on this planet is responsible for everything you mentioned above.
    Dont ask me for proof because you know i dont have any for you.I`m not trying to convince you of anything,i`m letting you know my view and im hoping a small bit will sink into your subconscious and you may have a "EUREKA" moment at some stage in your life.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,182 ✭✭✭Genghiz Cohen


    gillad wrote: »
    Thats not what id call baggage,its all very interesting stuff and the conscious energy of yourself and everything else that ever lived on this planet is responsible for everything you mentioned above.
    Dont ask me for proof because you know i dont have any for you.I`m not trying to convince you of anything,

    As a scientifically minded person, I demand some kind of evidence! :pac:
    Even a story of what happened, if that's OK.
    If you don't want feedback just say so, but I am very interested to hear your experience.
    gillad wrote: »
    i`m letting you know my view and im hoping a small bit will sink into your subconscious and you may have a "EUREKA" moment at some stage in your life.

    That came a across as kinda condecending you know. :(
    (That means it sounded like you were talking down to me :P)


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 3,455 ✭✭✭krd


    maccored wrote: »
    when you're dealing with people who have experienced these things, they generally dont say things like "If you cannot present convincing and reasonable arguments for your belief then your belief may not be convincing or reasonable."

    Wait a second.

    This isn't people saying. "I've had an experience, and I have no way of explaining it". That' not what they're doing. They're couching the experience in terms of a scientific explanation. They quote the first law of thermodynamics - energy can neither be created nor destroy. That's the sciencey bit. Then it moves on to declare that all thought is energy, so thoughts can't be destroyed.

    All psuedoscience follows a similar pattern. First an established scientific law is quoted, then followed by an unsubstantiated extrapolation - using the established scientific law as its basis.

    Bit of quantum physics are twisted around too. The reality of quantum physics is as strange and hard to believe as the paranormal. Quantum particles seem to be in more than one place at once - they can seem to be everywhere, and only when they're measured in a very specific way, do they appear one place. This has been twisted around by some psuedoscientists to mean all reality is just a projection of the mind.

    The thing is. If ghosts and spirits really do exist. The half baked "scientific" explanations some people come up with do not explain them at al.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 368 ✭✭gillad


    As a scientifically minded person, I demand some kind of evidence! :pac:
    Even a story of what happened, if that's OK.
    If you don't want feedback just say so, but I am very interested to hear your experience.



    That came a across as kinda condecending you know. :(
    (That means it sounded like you were talking down to me :P)

    I didnt mean to be condecending,id just love everyone to know what i know, but what i know has to be experienced to understand and believe and their are plenty of people who do know because im coming into contact with these people now.
    A lot of different stuff has happened to me and its private so i`ll just say one thing and i`ll leave it at that because i know i cant convince anyone without proof.
    What started all this was two different people at two different times joined their conscious mind with my conscious mind.That proved to me that consciousness is not trapped in the brain/body.It can go anywhere and its infinite.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 368 ✭✭gillad


    krd wrote: »
    Wait a second.

    This isn't people saying. "I've had an experience, and I have no way of explaining it". That' not what they're doing. They're couching the experience in terms of a scientific explanation. They quote the first law of thermodynamics - energy can neither be created nor destroy. That's the sciencey bit. Then it moves on to declare that all thought is energy, so thoughts can't be destroyed.

    All psuedoscience follows a similar pattern. First an established scientific law is quoted, then followed by an unsubstantiated extrapolation - using the established scientific law as its basis.

    Bit of quantum physics are twisted around too. The reality of quantum physics is as strange and hard to believe as the paranormal. Quantum particles seem to be in more than one place at once - they can seem to be everywhere, and only when they're measured in a very specific way, do they appear one place. This has been twisted around by some psuedoscientists to mean all reality is just a projection of the mind.

    The thing is. If ghosts and spirits really do exist. The half baked "scientific" explanations some people come up with do not explain them at al.

    Ya,i shouldnt be using the laws of science to try to explain this because what im trying to explain doesnt use the laws that we know of.Its a completely different reality and may have its own laws but im starting think that it may not have any laws at all and that anything is possible.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,182 ✭✭✭Genghiz Cohen


    gillad wrote: »
    What started all this was two different people at two different times joined their conscious mind with my conscious mind.That proved to me that consciousness is not trapped in the brain/body.It can go anywhere and its infinite.

    Thanks, I have a much better idea of what you believe now.

    Don't worry about the condecending bit, I don't get easily offended :p


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 33,733 ✭✭✭✭Myrddin


    Yeah I was hoping this wouldn't turn into the kind of thread where people have to justify their beliefs...I give full respect to followers of all the different faiths, & to hose who simply believe what they believe.

    I was hoping to discuss the paranormal & how it does or doesn't fit with with established laws/theories of physics & science. Stuff like gravity, energy, thermodynamics etc.

    Some great posts from both sides though


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  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 3,455 ✭✭✭krd


    EnterNow wrote: »
    Yeah I was hoping this wouldn't turn into the kind of thread where people have to justify their beliefs...I give full respect to followers of all the different faiths, & to hose who simply believe what they believe.

    The thing is to never mix the two up. Science is not a religion. (Even though some people act as if it is). It's really about measuring things. What can't be measured is not science. It doesn't mean something is wrong - means it's not in the domain of science. Funnily, I know a very religious scientist. He keeps both his science and religion very separate from each other.

    Religion can get itself into trouble if it involves itself with science. Galileo was locked up for making the Catholic Church look like jack asses - they claimed the earth was the centre of the universe, and that the sun orbited earth. Galileo, proved them to incorrect. So they locked him up for making them look like eejits.

    The minute religious leaders begin expounding on scientific matters, they're on a hiding to nowhere.
    I was hoping to discuss the paranormal & how it does or doesn't fit with with established laws/theories of physics & science. Stuff like gravity, energy, thermodynamics etc.

    See, there's a few things - and don't take any of these as me confirming a belief in the paranormal.

    There is no scientific proof that the paranormal exists. But it might. It might be somewhere, where science just hasn't found. And if it does exist, it might follow all the laws of physics - gravity, quantum mechanics, etc.

    Science is strange enough as it is. 13.7 billion years ago. The universe appeared out of nothing - literally thin air. It was the size of a pinhead, then it exploded in a massive big bang. That isn't just a scientific theory, there is a lot of proof that this actually happened. Amazingly, there is a way to see back in time - back billions of years ago to the beginning of the universe - just by pointing telescopes into outer space, and knowing what to look for. The light from the big bang was so huge, it's still there - amazingly they can see a picture of the universe as it was billions of years ago.

    Energy cannot be created or destroyed.......But there is one major fluke - the creation of universe broke the law.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 33,733 ✭✭✭✭Myrddin


    Cheers KRD :)

    Taking the discussion back down to Earth for a bit :p, the question of how non corporeal entities can interact with the corporeal world still hasn't really been touched on. How, if a spirit is non corporeal, do we hear stories of hauntings/poltergeist activity etc?

    Surely, if something like a spirit isn't made of matter, it can't interact with normal matter? And if a spirit id made of matter, where is the energy for its existence being got from & what form of matter it is?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 368 ✭✭gillad


    Science is strange enough as it is. 13.7 billion years ago. The universe appeared out of nothing - literally thin air. It was the size of a pinhead, then it exploded in a massive big bang. That isn't just a scientific theory, there is a lot of proof that this actually happened. Amazingly, there is a way to see back in time - back billions of years ago to the beginning of the universe - just by pointing telescopes into outer space, and knowing what to look for. The light from the big bang was so huge, it's still there - amazingly they can see a picture of the universe as it was billions of years ago.

    Energy cannot be created or destroyed.......But there is one major fluke - the creation of universe broke the law.[/QUOTE]

    There is no flaw in Albert Einsteins theory.
    Energy was not created in the the Big Bang.Energy expanded(not exploded)from a singularity(not thin air).Science does not know how or why this energy was compressed.Maybe it was compressed because of the expansion of another opposite universe(an anti-universe,just a thought).Our own universe may be now expanding into another universe that is collapsing.We dont know yet but we will one day.

    Energy cannot be created or destroyed


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 3,455 ✭✭✭krd


    gillad wrote: »
    There is no flaw in Albert Einsteins theory.
    Energy was not created in the the Big Bang.Energy expanded(not exploded)

    Expanded, exploded, tomahto, tomayto.
    from a singularity(not thin air).

    If there isn't really any word I hate more in science, it's singularity. It doesn't really mean anything.
    Science does not know how or why this energy was compressed.Maybe it was compressed because of the expansion of another opposite universe(an anti-universe,just a thought).

    There are a lot of theories, but the only thing that is known - that can be seen for certain, is the early universe, 300,000 years after the big bang, when it cooled down enough to release light.
    Our own universe may be now expanding into another universe that is collapsing.We dont know yet but we will one day.

    We don't know that either. There are different theories. As of the minute we can't see another universe coming towards us. Our universe is so huge, you could travel it at the speed of light for millions of years and you still wouldn't cross it.
    Energy cannot be created or destroyed

    That's not completely true. We can't create energy out of thin air - but in thin air - or the vacuum, energy is being created all the time, out of nothing, energy and anti-energy, that happens so fast and cancels itself out so quickly we don't notice it.

    One main theory for the creation of universe was matter appeared out of nowhere - made of matter and anti-matter. Most of it cancelled itself out, but there was some imbalance and there was enough matter left over for our universe to exist.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 3,455 ✭✭✭krd


    EnterNow wrote: »
    Taking the discussion back down to Earth for a bit :p, the question of how non corporeal entities can interact with the corporeal world still hasn't really been touched on. How, if a spirit is non corporeal, do we hear stories of hauntings/poltergeist activity etc?

    We don't know if any of these stories of hauntings or poltergeists are true. Some stories are completely made up. Some incidents of poltergeist activity have been faked.

    Surely, if something like a spirit isn't made of matter, it can't interact with normal matter? And if a spirit id made of matter, where is the energy for its existence being got from & what form of matter it is?

    It is said when a ghost appears, they "materialise". They become matter - they could maybe grab whatever they can get their hands on, like the air. Certain theories in physics believe there are other dimensions that we cannot see. String theory. There's no reason the spirits couldn't be hiding out in those dimension...........but there isn't any reason why they could.

    The things is, scientists have been running all kinds of experiments for years, trying to find things. They find things by accident. They've found lots of things. One thing they haven't found is any trace of the paranormal.

    The first law of thermodynamics - energy can neither create nor destroyed, has been around a long time. But early theories of the universe - like the steady state theory, where the universe has always been there - Einstein initially believed this - in that theory, it was believed in parts of the universe the law didn't apply and stars and galaxies were being created all the time. There wasn't any theoretical reason why this should be happening, it was just the idea that it must be happening.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 368 ✭✭gillad


    EnterNow wrote: »
    Cheers KRD :)

    Taking the discussion back down to Earth for a bit :p, the question of how non corporeal entities can interact with the corporeal world still hasn't really been touched on. How, if a spirit is non corporeal, do we hear stories of hauntings/poltergeist activity etc?

    Surely, if something like a spirit isn't made of matter, it can't interact with normal matter? And if a spirit id made of matter, where is the energy for its existence being got from & what form of matter it is?

    Its vibrations and frequencies that seperate the different dimensions.
    Here is a very interesting article that explains it all.
    http://www.worlditc.org/f_02_macy_spirit_world_realms_0.htm


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 3,455 ✭✭✭krd


    gillad wrote: »
    Its vibrations and frequencies that seperate the different dimensions.
    Here is a very interesting article that explains it all.
    http://www.worlditc.org/f_02_macy_spirit_world_realms_0.htm

    I read Mark Macy's piece. There's a few things wrong with it. Radio, and television signals are understood - they're made of electro-magnetic radiation. They're waves, they vibrate and have frequencies. But it's just the same as sun light. We don't really see these things with the naked eye - we can see light, but we can't see the waves, unless we set up certain scientific experiments - then we see them. Everything is radiating these waves all the time - but mostly it's just noise. I wouldn't be surprised if one day, computers could read thoughts - it may be possible - it may not. But a lot is known about the waves/vibrations all around us. As of the minute, no one can tune into human thoughts like they're a television signal.

    Though, every radio broadcast ever made on earth, some escapes into space - and will travel on for probably billions of years. There probably is alien life out there - one day, they'll point a telescope at our solar system, and they will hear music. But, for someone in the nearest galaxy to hear a radio broadcast from today, it will take 25,000 years. And the strange thing to, is if they had the right telescope they could look at you walking around, but it would be you 25,000 years in the past. And if they had even more advanced equipment - and if the brain gives off thoughts that can be read as radio signals, then they could read your thoughts. Even though you'd have been gone for close to 25,000 years.

    He claims there is a physical realm, and then goes on to say there's a quantum realm - where he gives a description of this quantum world. He's making stuff up. The real quantum world, is part of the physical world. It's the stuff that happens down at the atom scale - but it happens all around us. It is part of our physical reality. Whatever he's describing he shouldn't be calling it the quantum realm.

    See, this where everything starts going wrong - people grab a word like quantum and use it, because it's mysterious and sciencey.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 128 ✭✭Silvics


    ... to the quantum vibrational energies of ...
    please explain:confused:


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 914 ✭✭✭Dramatik


    EnterNow wrote: »

    If something appears & is visible, it must be subject to the laws of nature & gravity.

    Personally I think that it's subject to the laws of the dimension in which it resides, not our own. In my opinion it's more like our dimension sometimes overlaps with it's dimension and sometimes under the right conditions, information from their dimension leaks through to our dimension, I'm not sure how or why this happens but that's the way I look at it.

    A dimension doesn't have to be like ours either eg. something with physical objects, gravity ect. It could be an infinate space completely made of different forms of energy/entitys. There could be nothing existing in it, it could be a blank canvas waiting for the big bang to happen. I try not to think about these kinds of things though as it completely frys my brain!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,714 ✭✭✭✭maccored


    krd wrote: »
    The thing is. If ghosts and spirits really do exist. The half baked "scientific" explanations some people come up with do not explain them at al.

    I totally agree.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 33,733 ✭✭✭✭Myrddin


    maccored wrote: »
    I totally agree.

    I also agree, but more so because science cannot account for something that doesn't exist.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,714 ✭✭✭✭maccored


    EnterNow wrote: »
    I also agree, but more so because science cannot account for something that doesn't exist.

    thank goodness you arent a scientist or else we'd never find out anything. Science is a learning, evolving thing. Not a static book with unchangable rules in it.
    something that doesn't exist

    You're meant to leave your cynicism at the door ... this is a skeptics forum.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 33,733 ✭✭✭✭Myrddin


    maccored wrote: »
    thank goodness you arent a scientist or else we'd never find out anything. Science is a learning, evolving thing. Not a static book with unchangable rules in it.

    True, but after all thats been invested in researching the paranormal, is there a single shred or scrap of evidence to prove it exists? Anything?
    You're meant to leave your cynicism at the door ... this is a skeptics forum.

    I'm skeptical about the existence of ghosts & apparitions. Do I need to have written scientific papers on the subject to be allowed have an opinion now?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,714 ✭✭✭✭maccored


    EnterNow wrote: »
    True, but after all thats been invested in researching the paranormal, is there a single shred or scrap of evidence to prove it exists? Anything?

    Sorry ... but who's been studying the paranormal? not too many people thats for sure. Lots of 'ghost busting' but very, very little research. There have been and there are people researching the paranormal but theres no way research has been ongoing long enough. Not unless you believe the paranormal starts and ends with mediums and ESP.

    I'm skeptical about the existence of ghosts & apparitions. Do I need to have written scientific papers on the subject to be allowed have an opinion now?

    saying something doesnt exist is not skeptical. thats a cynical statement. if you believe its all bull**** then you no longer have any doubts ... ie you are no longer skeptical.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 33,733 ✭✭✭✭Myrddin


    maccored wrote: »
    saying something doesnt exist is not skeptical. thats a cynical statement. if you believe its all bull**** then you no longer have any doubts ... ie you are no longer skeptical.

    So what are you saying, if I've made up my mind then I'm not entitled to be posting here? Give me a break


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