What are the facts behind paranormal happenings and ghosts?

[roshal]

Hi everyone, I wanted to know if anyone has ever seen any ghost or something like this. As all of us have always heard that ghost does exist but no one has proved their existence. There is no permissible proof that the ghost exist. I am intense to know about the fact of ghosts. What info do you people have on this?

[kpenguin]

Strangely, another thread has been recently made with a similar OP:


Friends, I always had a keen interest towards the paranormal things that happens. I like to share the experiences related to the paranormal events that take place very rarely in general. If anyone had any experiences related to paranormal events then I would like them to share their experiences with me and this community.

Personally, I think that its impossible to prove that ghosts exist. Ghosts must prove themselves real.

[Jayngfet]

Honestly, I don';t know what I think. I remember seeing a glowing humanoid figure at camp once in the middle of the night(couldn't sleep), years ago.

But then I remember two things.

Countless scientific facts

The scale of the universe, which won't bend backwards for us to have a few extera years.

Of course the fact that removing a few properties from an object gives you lots of ghost powers...

[ghost_warlock]

We, as a species, have been telling ghost stories for hundreds of years and have been investigating such stories for almost as long. Meanwhile, we've unlocked the secrets of the atom, explored almost every inch of our planet, and have ventured to other worlds outside our atmosphere. Our technology allows us to study almost everything, from smallest of particles to the largest of stars, and our technology allows us to look beyond the narrow spectrums of light and sound our organic senses can decipher. Despite all of this, we have yet to uncover any conclusive and compelling evidence for the existence of ghosts. Believing in ghosts is confusing metaphor for literal truth and jumping at shadows cast by the firelight.

[Closet_Skeleton]

I remember the book "The Science of Harry Potter" saying some interesting things about this but I've forgotten them all.

One thing I know is that the human brain is really good at making sense out of nonsensical patterns. This is how we can distinguish words out of the sounds people make when they talk and how we can recognise representational art. However sometimes the brain misapplies this ability to things that aren't intended to make sense and it tricks itself into seeing people that aren't there or hearing words in random bits of noise.

Then there's the simple sleight of hand stage magic stuff but that only explains things when you're dealing with a person whose actively trying to trick you.

[ghost_warlock]

I remember the book "The Science of Harry Potter" saying some interesting things about this but I've forgotten them all.

One thing I know is that the human brain is really good at making sense out of nonsensical patterns. This is how we can distinguish words out of the sounds people make when they talk and how we can recognise representational art. However sometimes the brain misapplies this ability to things that aren't intended to make sense and it tricks itself into seeing people that aren't there or hearing words in random bits of noise.

Then there's the simple sleight of hand stage magic stuff but that only explains things when you're dealing with a person whose actively trying to trick you.

*nods*

All of this has a lot to do with the way our brains developed. If you're a hunter roaming through the woods and some bushes move, it could be caused by any number of things. It could be some harmless critter or just the wind. Or, it could be a tiger about to pounce on you. Without any other information, it's safest to assume the bushes were moved by a tiger so your body can be be prepared to deal with the situation - a fight/flight/freeze response.

Since people who ignored the possible threat were eaten more often than people who got ready to fight off/run from the tiger, the people that walk the earth today are predominatly the descendants of the people who assumed the branches were moved by a tiger. Knowing that, can you blame us if we sometimes jump at shadows and our bodies assume we're in danger when we're really not?

People talk about a 'sensation' they experience when they think a ghost, or some other paranormal spook, is about. Well, duh, that's just part of your body's way of preparing you for immediate action. A racing heartbeat and cold sensation is caused by blood flow partially redirecting to your core, primarily to your lungs and heart so that these vital organs have a surplus of energy in case something happens. Goosebumps and 'hairs standing on the back of my neck' are related to an ancient response in many mammals to poof up their fur/hair so as to appear larger (hopefully deterring the theatening critter).

And when do we usually have these sorts of responses? Usually when walking alone, at night, in unfamiliar, dark, or claustraphobic places (take your pic or mix-and-match these particulars). This makes perfect sense as these are the exact sorts of places and circumstances that we're usually in the most danger.

Combine all of this worst-case-scenario preparation with powerful pattern-recognition abilities and you're going to start getting false positives from your sensory organs when checking for a threat. In other words, you see/hear/react to things that aren't really there.

Over the last few hundred years other people have become a much bigger threat to us than any other animal. Our brains recognize this pattern, even if we don't consciously think about it much. Today, that movement in the bushes is much more likely to be a human threat than a dangerous wild animal. As a result, when we're stressed things that might look vaguely humanoid, or cast humanoid shadows, are suddenly transformed in our minds into someone hiding, waiting for us.

Of course sometimes our conscious mind overrides this response, thinking that it doesn't make sense for a dangerous person to be here. Our brain tries to compensate to avoid sensory dissonance. We still end up seeing the vaguely humanoid forms; they just seem a bit less human. Welcome to Uncanny Valley (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/UncannyValley). (Or, as she's known in some circles, FiFi (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dpzhMMFk5U&feature=related). :smallwink:)

Toss a natural fear of death, and the natural thoughts that accompany such a fear, in with our overactive imaginations (a product of a pattern-recognizing brain that tends to expect trouble), then mix liberally with all sorts of cultural beliefs and superstitions that are often self-contradictory. The result is a brain equipped with enough paranoia and pattern-recognition-based hallucinatory power to account for pretty much all accounts of hauntings.

[clark]

Yes, it is absolutely true that the existence of ghosts has not been proved yet but still I have retrieved some information about ghosts from an online service which has videos on paranormal (http://www.xfilestube.com/) and ghost happenings and are a real treat to watch. There you have videos brought by different people as there is an upload facility so that you can share your videos. It is indeed a good place to be surfing when you have interest in paranormal and ghost incidents.