Do You Believe in Ghosts?

[Randall]

I don't delete because once I post it I own it. But, I do think about it at times and it has kept me from hitting the "post reply" button.

I have the same stuff up on my own website, so I don't need to archive it here. The reason I post here on the Paracast is precisely because I can delete my posts. Other UFO and PSI forums have that feature disabled. I prefer having the choice, and what good is choice if you never exercise it?

j.r.

P.S. Thanks for the Psycho-Grandma story ... she really made her "point" there with that knife ... who cares about the freaking feathers in wind analogy ... I'd be "Yes Gramma, anything you say ... nice sister ... good Gramma."

 

[Gene Steinberg]

I'd ask you to be judicious about removing your own posts. What that does is mess up the thread, because folks who answer you are suddenly talking to a blank wall.

I haven't disabled this feature, but hope it's not going to be abused. It takes but a single click on a checkbox to change.

 

[tyder001]

P.S. Thanks for the Psycho-Grandma story ... she really made her "point" there with that knife ... who cares about the freaking feathers in wind analogy ... I'd be "Yes Gramma, anything you say ... nice sister ... good Gramma."

You miss the point brudda! But, it's OK.

 

[Snidely Whiplash]

I would love to say that ghosts are real but as far as can be known they seem to be more flights of fancy and hopefull wishes. Perhaps some day we will know the truth.

 

[Randall]

P.S. Thanks for the Psycho-Grandma story ... she really made her "point" there with that knife ... who cares about the freaking feathers in wind analogy ... I'd be "Yes Gramma, anything you say ... nice sister ... good Gramma."

You miss the point brudda! But, it's OK.

Hey Tyder ... I hope I "missed the point" ... with that knife weilding gramma story ...

j.r.

P.S. Of course I got it ... my humor is just bent ( my bad ).

 

[tyder001]

No Prob. Hawaii is a magical place if you get off the beaten path. They love to "talk story" and I gotta say I miss it. As for ghosts, yeah I do believe we go on when the "earth suit" dies. Reincarnation makes sense to me. But, to be honest so does everything from oblivion to another dimension to oneness with the universe. We all gotta dip our toe in that river someday so until then all we can do is speculate and be honest with ourselves.

 

[Randall]

No Prob. Hawaii is a magical place if you get off the beaten path. They love to "talk story" and I gotta say I miss it. As for ghosts, yeah I do believe we go on when the "earth suit" dies. Reincarnation makes sense to me. But, to be honest so does everything from oblivion to another dimension to oneness with the universe. We all gotta dip our toe in that river someday so until then all we can do is speculate and be honest with ourselves.

Hey Tyder ... I've only heard stories about Hawaii from people who've been and lived there. I thought about moving there but the only place I could find to buy that wasn't a condo was over 700K and consisted of a house trailer on a lot half way up the side of a mountain.

On reincarnation, I used to believe in that, but not so much anymore, at least not in the typical sense or the religious sense. The reason is that I was introduced to the idea that true immortality means we keep everything including our "Earth suit". If as the mystics claim, some other part of us is retained after it's gone, that part seems to consist primarily of memory. For example when someone says they were in a "past life", what they are really saying is that they remember being somewhere else, usually in another time, and if it's really clear, they say they remember not only being somewhere else but someone else, which essentially makes reincarnation some form of memory transference. How much else is transferred along with memory is unclear, but the strange trances and so on that go on with alleged "manifestations" of these memories isn't the same as that person actually being present and alive as they were before. So it's not true immortality, and in cases where people spontaneously remember past lives, it's rare, fleeting and very partial. There is no continuity of a complete and unique consciousness or personality going on.

However the phenomena do suggest some interesting possibilities. Suppose complete continuity of consciousness and personality is possible? How might that happen and what would facilitate that process? Again we return to the computational model of the universe. In such a model, it is plausible that there is some vast database of sentient existence where the essence of who we are is retained and could be "reincarnated" or possibly even adapted to a new "state of existence".

j.r.

 

[tyder001]

Have you ever read the "Physics of Immortality" by Frank Tipler? It sounds a little like what you are talking about. I have to admit I didn't get through the first few pages but he's really serious. I also have a book called Physics of the Soul by Dr. Amit Goswami. Again, I have to admit I have it on the shelve. I did get a little deeper into this one but just couldn't finish. Dr. Goswami is (imo) very much a scientist and I just didn't feel like devoting enough time to get into it. But, there are many ways of looking at the universe. I have to say I stopped looking for a guru or even a "Eureka" moment some time ago. Doesn't mean I don't have beliefs but, it does mean I'm not married to any certain way of looking at life the universe and everything. 8)

 

[Randall]

Have you ever read the "Physics of Immortality" by Frank Tipler? It sounds a little like what you are talking about. I have to admit I didn't get through the first few pages but he's really serious. I also have a book called Physics of the Soul by Dr. Amit Goswami. Again, I have to admit I have it on the shelve. I did get a little deeper into this one but just couldn't finish. Dr. Goswami is (imo) very much a scientist and I just didn't feel like devoting enough time to get into it. But, there are many ways of looking at the universe. I have to say I stopped looking for a guru or even a "Eureka" moment some time ago. Doesn't mean I don't have beliefs but, it does mean I'm not married to any certain way of looking at life the universe and everything. 8)

I've only scanned through them for useful information and didn't find anything I could use or didn't already know. I'm further along with my current speculation. BTW: It is a growing paradigm. Only a few years ago people thought the idea of a generated universe was preposterous ... not so much anymore.

j.r.

 

[tyder001]

Yeah, I can't get into the Tipler book at all. The Goswami book is a little more interesting to me but I haven't done more than scanned it myself. Generated universe? Hmmmm, well I don't know. I don't think so, but I honestly don't know. I have wondered about it. I kind of put it alongside the ufo question in my files. Enough to think about but not enough evidence to jump on the true believer bandwagon. Still, I'm willing to consider the possibility.

 

[Randall]

Yeah, I can't get into the Tipler book at all. The Goswami book is a little more interesting to me but I haven't done more than scanned it myself. Generated universe? Hmmmm, well I don't know. I don't think so, but I honestly don't know. I have wondered about it. I kind of put it alongside the ufo question in my files. Enough to think about but not enough evidence to jump on the true believer bandwagon. Still, I'm willing to consider the possibility.

Oh no ... by all means, there is no suggestion in my outline that anyone should "believe in" anything except what seems the most reasonable at the time given the available information. In the case of a generated universe ( computational model ), the idea can be outlined as plausible. All that is needed is enough processing power. I've posted some universe simulations elsewhere on the thread that use physics to render the imagery ... not simple animation. Although these renderings are crude, they are still quite fascinating. So imaginine what could be done with an "infinitely powerful" computer ... you would get an "infinitely complex" universe ( like this one ), but how is an infinitely powerful computer possible? I don't want to ramble on and bore you or make you think I'm trying to convert you or anything ... just reflect on it or if you get interested just ask.

j.r.

 

[Brad]

However the phenomena do suggest some interesting possibilities. Suppose complete continuity of consciousness and personality is possible? How might that happen and what would facilitate that process? Again we return to the computational model of the universe. In such a model, it is plausible that there is some vast database of sentient existence where the essence of who we are is retained and could be "reincarnated" or possibly even adapted to a new "state of existence".

I like the idea that, along these lines, the whole reincarnation type concept comes through in using the first consciousness to plug into the system as the basis of a random number generator to figure out the second consciousness.

 

[Randall]

I like the idea that, along these lines, the whole reincarnation type concept comes through in using the first consciousness to plug into the system as the basis of a random number generator to figure out the second consciousness.

Now that one's right on the edge ... that's keen.

j.r.

 

[tyder001]

I still think I'm right. But, that's because I'm sure I don't know. But, it's fun to consider and to have hope that this wonderful mystery we call life may lead to more wonderful mystery. Anyway, I'm getting my popcorn ready for the rest of the journey.

 

[Randall]

I still think I'm right. But, that's because I'm sure I don't know. But, it's fun to consider and to have hope that this wonderful mystery we call life may lead to more wonderful mystery. Anyway, I'm getting my popcorn ready for the rest of the journey.

Cool ... let's enjoy the ride!

 

[jbell842002]

to believe tough its more like i know that theres something there whatever it is Ghost, spirit or poltergeist. I believe everyone has at least one or two experiences in their life some are blessed to have more...

As for Playing with the ouija board NO NO NO dont do it... its like opening a portal. You let bad things in or simply unwanted things none the less....

 

[Angel of Ioren]

You realize that the oujia board is made by a toy company right?

 

[trainedobserver]

You realize that the oujia board is made by a toy company right?

I was just thinking, "Hey, wouldn't a virtual Oujia board work better than a material one?" Shouldn't supernatural whatsits find it just as easy, or perhaps easier, to control the outcome of such a thing? As usual I'm a day late and a dollar short, google reveals many Ouija board programs out there. But that begs the question, has anyone like Joshua Warren or any of the EVP type folks attempted to employ some electronic form of automatic handwriting? An example of this sort of thing would be a story that Jeff Ritzman told on the Paracast several years ago about the encyclopedia program that displayed "Jeff thinks that God is an alien." on the screen.

An electronic Ouija board type device could be something as simple as a isolated computer with Notepad open on it. With all the claims of people channeling this and that you'd think someone would be getting email from the other side by now. The widespread ability to display high resolution graphics and now 3D material would make the transmission of their important messages to mankind even more effective. Why aren't they using it? How many dead computer scientists would it take to figure that out on the other side? Answer: 20. One to write the code and 19 to stand around and complain about Microsoft. But seriously folks. If there is something attempting to communicate with mankind from some other place that have already employed handwriting, the materialization of plates, books, and tablets, voices recorded by electronic means, and so forth, why hasn't that continued to progress into modern communication methods? Why aren't the tickers on national transmissions of the nightly news being swamped with cryptic messages from the great beyond? Why aren't ghosts playing out their life re-runs on the digital projectors down at AMC? Maybe there is a clue in there somewhere.

Of course this brings to mind Jacob's IM from the Hybrids and posters claiming to be aliens and A.I. programs on youTube, so I guess it is already appearing to some degree. I think these kinds of electronic spirit (non-human) writing claims will continue to grow as time goes on and may eventually replace their older counterparts. Turning on your computer may some day be seen as opening a portal where "You let bad things in or simply unwanted things none the less". Hey, wait a minute ...

 

[inxesoft3]

For me I don't believe in ghost but I believe in life after death..

 

[trainedobserver]

I believe that I can't tell who is a ghost and who isn't on American Horror Story.