rockyracoon
...
Magius, just curious as to why you're such a skeptic.
Or any of you other skeptics out there, how come?
Anyone Into Ghost Hunting?
- Thread starter The_Q
- Start date
Magius, just curious as to why you're such a skeptic.
Or any of you other skeptics out there, how come?
"Skeptic" is just the politer way to say bullshit. 
I'm not going to mock anyone for taking it seriously, but for myself, I expect repeatable evidence that's verifiable by independent parties. I find it entertaining, but I don't believe in a bit of it.
I'm not going to mock anyone for taking it seriously, but for myself, I expect repeatable evidence that's verifiable by independent parties. I find it entertaining, but I don't believe in a bit of it.
Ghosthunters season premiere last night was funny enough, at Fort Mifflin. Pretty wild!
Ya pretty intense.
I've been looking into Ghost Hunting, but have just never found anyone else nearby interested.
No-Mercy
Feanor
Dolamite S. Biffle
Biffliest Person Ever
Pellaz
Tigron of Immanion
"Skeptic" is just the politer way to say bullshit.
That's pretty much how I feel, too. I guess I'm too much of a science nerd.
I'm rather empirical by nature, I therefore require reliable evidence to believe. It will take more than spooky stories and ghost busters running around with psuedosince Specter Detectors to convince me of things I have personally failed to whitness on many occasions.
OrbWeaver
BECAUSE FALCONER
The thing I've noticed about most skeptics though, is that even if they see something for themselves, they find away to convince themselves it isn't real. 
A healthy dose of skepticism is a good thing. But sometimes it goes too far. As does too much willingness to believe. I like to temper things. I won't immediately dismiss something out of hand, but I'd perfer to see some proof. In most things, Occam's Razor helps for explinations.
A healthy dose of skepticism is a good thing. But sometimes it goes too far. As does too much willingness to believe. I like to temper things. I won't immediately dismiss something out of hand, but I'd perfer to see some proof. In most things, Occam's Razor helps for explinations.
MetalOperaChick
Perfectly Flawed
"Skeptic" is just the politer way to say bullshit.
Ditto.
'Amen' to that! haha
But the 'idea' of supernatural ghosts still freaks me out. haha
The thing I've noticed about most skeptics though, is that even if they see something for themselves, they find away to convince themselves it isn't real.
Well yeah, because they take the evidence they have about the situation and rationalize it. As opposed to making something a big deal out of nothing...Like "orbs" in a photograph. haha Or that EVP (Electric Voice Phenomenon) stuff...You hear what you want to hear is all in my opinion.
I don't think i know of a skeptic that has even ever witnessed something of substance, like an actual person walking around. Do tell. I know I haven't...and I've even hallucinated before
haha But I know that if a skeptic ever DID see something like that they'd probably eventually change their mind. At least that's what the skeptics I know would do...If you know of a person that calls themselves a skeptic but doesn't change their mind when presented SOLID evidence, then they're not a skeptic. but then again, i don't know any solid evidence in favor of the supernatural so...yeah. I highly recommend the book 'Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife' By Mary Roach
Not only is the book HILARIOUS but she's really open ended about everything. She doesn't try to convince you about anything (as she is someone who is hopeful about the possibility of the afterlife). She just presents the evidence and leaves it at that...while being hilarious about it. Great read. Recommend it for topics on this and such.
The thing I've noticed about most skeptics though, is that even if they see something for themselves, they find away to convince themselves it isn't real.
A healthy dose of skepticism is a good thing. But sometimes it goes too far. As does too much willingness to believe. I like to temper things. I won't immediately dismiss something out of hand, but I'd perfer to see some proof. In most things, helps for explinations.
Ack! I am cut deeply. Never before have I found myself at odds with OrbWeaver.
As MetalOperaChick pointed out: anyone who doesn't change their mind when presented with irrefutable evidence isn't sceptical, they're irrational. Show me a ghost and you'll have a believer. I promise. Forgive me if I don't, as they say, hold my breath.
What they said. ^^ But it's *got* to be a) repeatable and b) verifiable by independent parties. It doesn't happen with ghosts. Humanity is notorious for deceiving themselves and seeing what they want to see and not necessarily what's actually there. But should I be confronted with an actual ghost, I will certainly reconsider.
I hold the same belief about God - if Mumbo Jumbo should come down from the sky waving his flaming mop, I will also reconsider my position as a nonbeliever. But until that point, I don't really worry about it much. Same with ghosts.
I hold the same belief about God - if Mumbo Jumbo should come down from the sky waving his flaming mop, I will also reconsider my position as a nonbeliever. But until that point, I don't really worry about it much. Same with ghosts.
TXHOSER
Nobody f**ks w/ the Jesus
As much as I would like to believe in ghosts, if they are in fact spirits of the dead I find it hard to believe that an all powerful creator of the universe would have allowed such as huge glitch in his soul recovery program.
It seems that people who have had traumatic lives/deaths are the ones typically believed to be trapped here as ghosts when they should be the most deserving of the peace and tranquility of the afterlife. I would hate to think that at the end of my mortal existance I would be required to live out eternity at the site of a car crash, hospital, or cemetery appearing as an orb in photographs and turning over tape recorders.
Having said that, photos and video of alleged ghosts really creep me out.
It seems that people who have had traumatic lives/deaths are the ones typically believed to be trapped here as ghosts when they should be the most deserving of the peace and tranquility of the afterlife. I would hate to think that at the end of my mortal existance I would be required to live out eternity at the site of a car crash, hospital, or cemetery appearing as an orb in photographs and turning over tape recorders.
Having said that, photos and video of alleged ghosts really creep me out.
BlackRoseMetalHeart
Metal Mistress
Unfortunately I did not save the link to the one that had a really great forum. I thought it was something like Marylandghosthunters.org or mdghosthunters.org, but I did some searching and I can't find that one now.
Catonsville, where we live is home to Spring Grove, the oldest mental institution in the country. Anyone ever seen that movie/documentary called "Spooked: Inside The Waverly Hills Asylum"? That's what this place (particularly the historic abandoned buildings that they won't ever tear down) reminds me of from the pictures I've seen and stories I've heard. We've been to and peered inside (although not explored) the Foster-Wade building, which was the building they used to house and treat the criminally insane for a period of time ... that was until it was condemned for asbestos. The legends surrounding this particular building on the grounds of the hospital were so interesting that Nick decided to name the band that he and I are working on together Foster-Wade. (We claim to be "power metal for the criminally insane."
)Ellicott City also has ton of local folklore and haunted legends. Hellhouse (Nick actually worked with a guy whose relatives/ancestors were the caretakers of this estate), the Patapsco Female Institute, Seven Hills, Judge's Bench Pub where a woman hung herself, The Simpkins Paper Mill, stories associated with the underground railroad, etc. They may not all be true, but they are fun stories.
This site has some interesting stories listed.
MetalOperaChick
Perfectly Flawed
Hahaha! 'Soul Recovery Program'
Well said though.
That would be a pretty crappy existence. Although it would be quite fun playing tricks on people...Oh the pranks you could pull!
*is watching Beetlejuice as she's typing* haha 
mtndewqueen88
Mark the Music
Interesting read I stumbled upon while wikipeding the other day about 'infrasound,' or sounds below the human hearing threshold that our bodies still detect.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrasound
"The Ghost in the Machine
Research by the late Vic Tandy, a lecturer at Coventry University, suggested that the frequency 19 hertz was responsible for many ghost sightings. He was working late one night alone in a supposedly haunted laboratory at Warwick, when he felt very anxious, and could detect a grey blob out of the corner of his eye. When he turned to face it, there was nothing.
The following day, he was working on his fencing foil, with the handle held in a vice. Although there was nothing touching it, it started to vibrate wildly. Further investigation led him to discover that the extraction fan was emitting a frequency of 18.98 Hz, very close to the resonant frequency of the eye (given as 18 Hz in NASA Technical Report 19770013810). This was why he saw a ghostly figure — it was an optical illusion caused by his eyeballs resonating. The room was exactly half a wavelength in length, and the desk was in the centre, thus causing a standing wave which was detected by the foil. [12]
Vic investigated this phenomenon further, and wrote a paper entitled The Ghost in the Machine. He carried out a number of investigations at various sites believed to be haunted, including the basement of the Tourist Information Bureau next to Coventry Cathedral [13] and Edinburgh Castle. [14][15]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrasound
"The Ghost in the Machine
Research by the late Vic Tandy, a lecturer at Coventry University, suggested that the frequency 19 hertz was responsible for many ghost sightings. He was working late one night alone in a supposedly haunted laboratory at Warwick, when he felt very anxious, and could detect a grey blob out of the corner of his eye. When he turned to face it, there was nothing.
The following day, he was working on his fencing foil, with the handle held in a vice. Although there was nothing touching it, it started to vibrate wildly. Further investigation led him to discover that the extraction fan was emitting a frequency of 18.98 Hz, very close to the resonant frequency of the eye (given as 18 Hz in NASA Technical Report 19770013810). This was why he saw a ghostly figure — it was an optical illusion caused by his eyeballs resonating. The room was exactly half a wavelength in length, and the desk was in the centre, thus causing a standing wave which was detected by the foil. [12]
Vic investigated this phenomenon further, and wrote a paper entitled The Ghost in the Machine. He carried out a number of investigations at various sites believed to be haunted, including the basement of the Tourist Information Bureau next to Coventry Cathedral [13] and Edinburgh Castle. [14][15]"
