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[Muz]

So, do you believe in the paranormal? By paranormal, I mean demons, ghosts, spirits, black/voodoo magic, prophecies. Things that you can't see, haven't been conclusively proven true, but are possibly around. And nothing religious or "proven via religious means" (e.g. God, Satan, angels, hell), because I don't want this ending up a flame war about religion.

Where I come from, the paranormal is accepted as a truth. People might joke about certain things related to devils and other religious things, but almost nobody messes with ghosts. It's not even a religion thing, the same stories of possession happen with pagan/christian/muslim friends as well.

Pretty much everyone I know has heard a story about ghosts. I know a good friend whose claimed to have gone through a long exorcism, after swimming in a haunted pool. I have an uncle who tried to contact spirits with a few friends. The 'spirit' gave them correct lottery numbers, only asking for some KFC placed near his tree when they win it. His friends tried contacting the spirit without him a week later, and he claimed that he suddenly went berserk at a party at the same time they did it. Also, some stories about some of my neighbors being possessed/attacked, because they live near the forests.

Personally, I wouldn't dismiss it. I've just been in a hospital recently. Ghosts aren't really the first thing to come to mind when visiting a sick friend, but there's a really odd, creepy feeling inside. The food, maternity, and waiting areas aren't so bad. But the corridors from the ambulance to the emergency rooms are creepy, as well as certain emergency wards. I'm a little surprised to find out that everyone's feeling the same way near the same areas of that hospital.

What I find interesting is that when I ask people around here, "Do you believe in ghosts?", they reply "What do you mean do I believe in ghosts? Of course they exist." I'd sort of like to see what you westerners think of it, since movies always portray a very skeptical point of view.

If you have an explanation why, by all means say so. It could be that the very belief of ghosts makes you more susceptible to "possession". I mean, heck, typing this alone at 1.30 AM gives me an odd feeling that something's about to possess me suddenly. Could that explain ghosts jumping from one person to another, or group possessions? Regardless of culture, we all felt some odd, instinctive fear from playing Silent Hill.

On the other hand, it's odd that western media developed the same portrayal of ghosts separately from the east. There are words for the paranormal in many different languages. Plenty of cultures fear ghosts that lurk in woods. Many have a bloodsucking one. Almost every culture expects ghosts in graveyards, hospitals, and murder scenes, without contact with each other.


And this has to be repeated in the OP, but no discussion on religion. That's just going to derail things and lead to a perpetual fireball. You can start another thread to talk about it if you like. Go on and argue for or against paranormal stuff, but not about religion.

[Morrigi]

Nope. I will always assume nothing paranormal exists until scientific evidence for it is found. However, the concept of spirits and otherworldly creatures seems to be hardwired into the human brain. Exhibit A would be, as you said, many cultures from around the world having references to them.

[Duke 2.0]

 I will give my thanks to UFO believers, as it was due to them that my parents met and got together. However, beyond that I hold little belief in anything beyond normal in this world. My spirituality does tie in with a spirit world that is a bit more influential with the physical than most Christian denominations, but I'll keep this short as I can emphasize with your fear of this getting religiously derailed.

 And I do know the difference between this and actual paranormalists, but the ghost hunter type shows on the History channel look rather stupid in their methods. I can understand that one cannot feel what they feel through a recorded visual medium, but I get the general feeling that they are uninvolved with what the "normal" paranormal people work with.

[Org]

Nope. I will always assume nothing paranormal exists until scientific evidence for it is found.

This. My acquaintances believe in them, and I guess I do joke about their beliefs, only because they can't take me poking holes in their arguments.

[Morrigi]

This. My acquaintances believe in them, and I guess I do joke about their beliefs, only because they can't take me poking holes in their arguments.

Same here, but poking the occasional hole can be fun now and then.

[Jude]

I apply the unicorn standard to all beliefs; that is, is believing in this thing logically equivalent to believing in unicorns? If so, I disbelieve in it pending further evidence.

After all, there's no evidence that unicorns don't exist, so why not believe in them?

Well....

[Morrigi]

Why bother with believing in something with no evidence either way?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I will shut up now, before this turns into a religion fight.

[chaoticag]

I am pretty skeptical about it outwardly, because there are plenty of people who would pull your leg or mistake normal things for the paranormal. However, I personally believe that it is possible to turn into a ghost, although it is pretty obvious that not everyone advertises.

[Idiom]

I believe in the existence unexplained electromagnetic phenomena that is commonly accepted as "ghosts". I also dismiss a lot of "ghosts" as an illusion caused by the brain's predisposition to the deception that it's not alone (that creepy feeling can be caused by explainable events).

I do, however, eagerly await that electromagnetic phenomena to be proved as some kind of ethereal imprint of people. Would subconsciously ease my primal fears.

[Dependent]

My door opened and closed itself in the middle of the night a few nights ago. I assumed it was my parent peaking in to check on me or something weird like that, but it only stayed open for maybe half a second before closing again. I'm not saying a ghost did it, because personally, I don't believe in them. But maybe we could talk about the possibilities?
I opened the door afterwards and stepped out - my parents were both sound asleep. There's nobody else in my house. My door had been securely closed before "the opening". Any idea what could have caused it?

[Idiom]

My door opened and closed itself in the middle of the night a few nights ago. I assumed it was my parent peaking in to check on me or something weird like that, but it only stayed open for maybe half a second before closing again. I'm not saying a ghost did it, because personally, I don't believe in them. But maybe we could talk about the possibilities?
I opened the door afterwards and stepped out - my parents were both sound asleep. There's nobody else in my house. My door had been securely closed before "the opening". Any idea what could have caused it?

Air pressure. Happens in my house all the time. Between moving heat pockets, leaky door seals, and outside wind, all my doors do that on the occasion...
...or my house is really haunted.

[Jreengus]

Why bother with believing in something with no evidence either way?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I will shut up now, before this turns into a religion fight.

For the same reason I don't believe my socks run around a night and have little sock orgies on my face. Occam's razor.

If there is no proof something exists it's simplest to believe it doesn't exist.

[Cthulhu]

I believe high tension power-lines can cause the "something's behind you" feeling.

This one time I was in bed, and I don't know if I was really tired or if something I ate wasn't sitting well with my brain, but I became 100% convinced there was something malevolent in the room with me.  Paralyzing fear, shadows darting around in the corners of the room, I could almost hear things whispering at the edge of my perception, so I turned my iPod on.  The first song that came on was some stupid song I don't listen to anymore, but the first few seconds was a recording of someone whispering in reverse.  My stomach imploded, my lungs caught on fire, and my heart stopped.  After I realized it was just the song I started to calm down a bit, but there for a minute I was sure something otherworldly was after me.

Oh, my dad grew up in a haunted house.

Some of the stuff that happened to him:

He heard some mechanical toys in his closet moving around the room, and when he woke up they were under his bed.

The whole family, especially my aunt, had blankets yanked off the bed, hair pulled, and the like

Something white with holes for eyes was looking in the window at him, when the only other person there was my grandpa, in the back yard.

A table slid across the living room floor, with no one to push it.

My aunt now lives in another house, and every morning she can hear people walking around the house when she's the only one there.


Also, yeah, my door creaks whenever another door in the house opens, or just when it feels like it.

[Idiom]

If there is no proof something exists it's simplest to believe it doesn't exist.

Kind of disappointments me though that the semi-authentic/plausible bits, like the EM anomalies, don't have any authentic investigations largely because of this.

[Jack_Bread]

One time, about a year after my grandpa died, I was sitting in my front yard, waiting for a friend to arrive. I looked back at some point and saw my grandpa standing there. He waved to me and said something like "Bye, boy."(He actually said what he used to call me instead of 'boy', but I forgot what it was. :-/ ) I idly waved at him, turned back to watch the street, then turned back around because I had realized what I saw.