

Ask HN: Do you believe in ghosts? - anujkk

Just wondering what HNers think about existence of ghosts? Do you believe in it? Any personal experience if any? Do you know about any scientific studies about it?<p>My take is that I'm not sure about it. Absence of proof can't be proof of absence.
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lutusp
Do you believe ghosts are topical at HN?

> Absence of proof can't be proof of absence.

Learn about the null hypothesis -- the scientific precept that assumes an idea
without evidence is false. It saves huge amounts of time in the game of
sorting out everyday reality.

~~~
anujkk
> Do you believe ghosts are topical at HN?

For the Hacker News Guidelines - "anything that gratifies one's intellectual
curiosity". That's probably the reason I thought it is OK to post this
question on HN.

~~~
lutusp
> For the Hacker News Guidelines - "anything that gratifies one's intellectual
> curiosity".

They also say: "If they'd cover it on TV news, it's probably off-topic."

The phrase you quoted from the guidelines probably causes more confusion than
it prevents, because IMHO it means anything that would gratify a hacker's
curiosity, but it isn't worded that way.

I always obey the writer's rule -- before posting something, for a while I
read what others post about, to find out what's really topical.

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jtheory
Yes, as psychological phenomena -- that is, I believe that people actually do
see ghosts, sometimes.

The shortcuts our brains take to make sense out of the flood of input from our
senses mean that it's quite common to legitimately see things that aren't
there, though.

So I certainly don't believe there's anything actually there -- no troubled
spirits, no influence from beyond the grave, any of that nonsense.

If someday there's any supernatural phenomenon that stands up to a James Randi
style test, I'll wonder what's going on. As it is, every "ghost story" I've
ever encountered is far more easily explained by brain tricks and human error
than anything remotely supernatural.

"Absence of proof isn't proof of absence", but that also applies to teapots
orbiting the Sun between Earth and Mars, of course... there's no sense in
spending time chasing down silly ideas that aren't even rationally coherent
when you dig into details.

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27182818284
No.

[http://www.amazon.com/The-Demon-Haunted-World-Science-
Candle...](http://www.amazon.com/The-Demon-Haunted-World-Science-
Candle/dp/0345409469)

(Also, for fun, I have tried actively seeking them out by staying in places
that are on top ten lists for hauntings. In some cases I've gotten to spend
the night thanks to cash bribes. Unlike TV, you know what happens in a really
"haunted" place with no electricity? Boredom and darkness. Mostly darkness. )

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jkmurray
It depends on how you define 'ghosts'.

I'll tell you a little story. In March this year someone I loved deeply died.
It was the woman which I would marry this month.

I've bever really believed the fact that there are people who could speak to
those we have lost. The fact that my girlfriend died did something to me that
at first was something that came to me as the shock. But being advised by a
remarkable friend made me realise that it wasn't my mind playing tricks. And
after reading about it, going to her grave and being completely open for what
I felt, I saw what happened. She wanted to talk to me, to ask me a final
question. And this was the only way to ask that question.

Is it a ghost? Yes. But not the spooky one. And not everyone can see or talk
to them. If you want to block them, they will ignore you. And believe me when
I say: it's not a blessing or gift. It's a world full of pain.

Because of the nature of the subject, it's very hard to find people who are
willing to talk about this. Business will use it to make money, and science
ignores it, because it's difficult to test it.

Who am I? 26 years old, C# programmer for a multi-million company. A year ago
I laughed at your question. Now I'm answering it, because you asked for it.

~~~
kls
Sorry for your loss.

------
kls
This is really more a philosophical subject which really are looked down upon
on HN as HN tends to trend towards science. To the extent that it attracts a
portion of it's readers that see no value in philosophical pursuits. The
reality is at some point though we all take philosophical leaps, some are more
aware of that fact, some intentionally deny it and yet others are comfortable
with the fact that every day we rely on philosophical reasoning. The following
is a good read about the concept of Physicalism often confused with a
materialist view <http://www.serendipity.li/dmt/physicalism.htm> (for the
record, I don't advocate for psychedelics, but good points are made in this
article about our assumptions based on the tangible, I also don't personally
agree with every conclusion drawn in the article but it suffices as an example
of my point, that there very well may be stuff beyond the human experience and
the testable)

That being said, I personally feel that the possibility that their is extra
dimensional consciousness beyond what we are currently able to experience on a
day to day basis given that we are constrained to 3 and 1/2 dimensions, and
have no way to even conceptualize the extra dimensions that are theorized to
exist. Now in saying that, just because I hold out the possibility that such
could exists does not mean that I subscribe to ghosts and seances or ingest
hallucinogens in blind faith that it is opening up the ability to perceive
additional dimensions, but I do feel that one cuts out a lot of possibility
when they take to rigid of a Physicalism type view. The more we learn about
reality the less real it becomes. It's fascinating to ponder, but the problem
with pondering is everyone has convictions one way or another yet no one has
proof, so there is never a resolution, so I tend to take the view that it is
something best discussed among a group of peers that are interested in
pondering the currently unresolvable. There are just too many opinions one way
or another on a forum such as HN for the subject matter.

------
northband
OK - here's one for Halloween. My niece asked for some sage to smudge her
house - I didn't think any thing of it. Anyhow - during conversation I asked
how my nephew is doing, he's 4. She said he won't sleep in his room for the
last week. I said 'oh? is that bad?'.

Apparently she heard someone upstairs walking around then all of sudden he
started screaming hysterically. She said it took her 10-15 min to bring him
awake, into full consciousness. He said someone was in his room - on the
ceiling. I'm like "Uhh...hmm that's weird".

She goes on to tell me he's had an imaginary friend - Maria. He's seen him
talking to her, playing with her etc... I said "when did this all happen?".
She said after her mother-in-law gave her an old chair that belong to a great
grandmother or something.

Then she goes on to tell me that her mother-in-law came over to drop off old
picture for her husband. One of them my nephew points out "Maria!"...his
imaginary friend, the lady who the chair belonged to...

Needless to say - she doesn't think Maria is bad - but perhaps someone else is
there or got invited in.

After smudging the house - which she said was very odd because the house
started creaking like crazy, everything has subsided - and they got rid of the
chair.

Anyhow - I considered getting the chair to play a prank on some friends - see
if anything happens to them.

Always hear of ghost stories but kind of cool when you bump into one so close.

