hi,
this may be a stupid question, but...
do ghosts etc.. see/understand webcams & computers and such?

This would be of course assuming ghosts exist.

true, true!
i'm still not sure...

I for one don't believe in them but hypothetically speaking, why would a ghost would had died before computers and webcams had been invented know how to use them.

sorry, i don't mean using them. i mean , do they know they are there , why they are there etc...
do they act up, if you like, in front of the cameras?

lol Orite sorry I'm tired nd kinda tipsy
Well the ghost would have to be conscious of it's surroundings to realize the webcam was there and what to do in front of it and seeing as there is no conclusive or convincing video evidence of ghosts then I say nope.

ok! that cleared that one up then!! cheers
i would still like to hear from other um members, though...
what do you believe in doctor?

I believe in facts and what makes sense
The most logical explanation is often correct, but every once in a while something comes along that isn't so easy to explain.

ive never heard of a story with a modern day ghost, or not that i remember.

as for webcams in general they are POOOOOR quality, and as such people pick out faces in the image pixelations and get all exited about it.

To really answer the question, we'd have to define "ghost." Then we'd have to figure out some way of determining what a "ghost" knows. Whatever a ghost may be, I'm not confident it would be amenable to standardized testing.

But if I may throw all the things we call "paranormal" into a pile-- ghosts, aliens, demons, angels, our own ESP or astral bodies or what have you-- one thing strikes me as almost certain: If any of these things exists, it plays games with electronic devices. The only alternative explanations I can think of are: Electronic devices sometimes malfunction in seemingly impossible ways that we cannot distinguish from "otherworldly" communication; human beings sometimes deliberately cause such malfunctions as a hoax; or ALL the reports of such events, including the one just posted here to start another thread, are lies or hallucinations.

I'm pretty familiar with electronics and can't think of how ordinary malfunctions could account for some of the stuff we hear about. Sometimes the truth is weird though.

Also, reports have existed since the dawn of radio of events that would be extremely hard to hoax, even with modern equipment.

And you may call me cynical, but I'm not so cynical as to assume such a large number of witnesses are ALL psychotic liars without a better reason than that they report something I find hard to explain.

So in short, to answer your question, I'd say yes, with many qualifiers.

I would say that yes, ghosts can see webcams etc, wether or not they understand them or how they work would probably depend on the ghost as if it was a ghost who lived before computers were invented they might not know what it is, but other ghosts who lived after they were invented probabbly would know what they are.
Wether or not ghosts and so forth can affect webcams, computers etc, I honestly don't know.
I know that people have posted on the whole haunted PC stuff before, but wether or not it can actually happen, i honestly don't know.

Well if the ghost is part of a traditional haunting it's just playing over and over like a record or a video and it's not going to be aware of anything really. A poltergeist might throw a webcam at you....I dunno. I've never seen a ghost video where the ghost was hamming it up for the camera.

I think they are aware of computers and webcams just as they are of other appliances if in their time they understood them. As for crawling into a PC or webcam and possessing it no...They can however affect any electrical applience for energy, most commonly with draining batteries, you would only be aware of this if the appliance suddenly stopped working for no good reason. As for interacting with equipment I have seen that happen with TV's and Radios in them being turned station or on and off. Also with phones as well going as far as leaving messages (EVP) cold calling etc...

It is actually very rare for a spirit or ghost to fully manifest itself to the naked eye strongly enough for all to see, it requires alot of engery and the right conditions, it is also not their prime method of making their presence known. Therefore I think the odds of catching one on a webcam whilst on a computer is as high as winning the lottery. I think you have more chance of catching such evidence from a computer through its audio capacities (EVP)

I also think the odds of catching one that is strong enough to make contact with a keyboard and actualy use a computer as its ment to be used is extremely high as well, people often confuse interactions with objects as in movement with poltergiests. They are a different kettle of fish and not of spirit. The precisness for typing would be an ultimate challange, remember spirits are energy sources without a physical body, it would be like the wind or something trying to focus enough direct force to press a button on a keyboard.

hi,
a webcam sucks if your trying to capture good video.for the last 10 years we have used cctv cameras with infrared.they work really well.so far no ghost has turned off any of our cameras,even when they've had a bad hair day!as far as them knowing what they are,i guess it's possible.thanks.

well thankyou for all your comments!
it was just something that was playing on my mind.

Sometimes I wonder why we can't have various degrees of "flags" on our computers. This thread is the sort of exchange of opinions that I would like to "flag" with two flags in order to mark it as extra-special. In response to the original question I would say that "ghosts" may well be aware of the purpose of web cams, and all other electronic devices as I believe that these entities exist in a form of pure energy. I also like to think in scientific terms as far as that will go but am not afraid to go yet further and accept other other ideas at least as hypotheses. In answer to the question of whether "ghosts" are aware of the purpose of web-cams I would say that they are probably aware of them but are not particularlu bothered about them. I always turn the little computer cam in this public cyber-shop away from me as I don't like cameras pointing at me all the time whether they are switched on or not. I don't think entities that exist in a pure enrgy form will be much concerned about web-cams. I have had some "funny" experiences at home involving the TV's turning itself on, the bedroom light turning itself on and then off again while the light-switch is in the "off" position and I think that different forms of energy can and do sometimes merge and complement each other. In fact I have a theory about emotional energy which I believe to be able to manifest itself as kinetic energy and thus affect obejects and people (as well as other animals). It could be that the very presence of "ghost" or emotional energy reacts "automatically" with electronic devices. I found the postings by Anvil and Boorite (is that right?) very interesting and sensible. There is an admission that many strange quirks of behaviour say, of computers, are inexplicable. Many so-called lovers of logic would avoid making such an admission. Not here, though. This is a very laid-back statement I think and I wish we could always discuss these things so matter-of-factly. We do not have immediately to think of the "paranormal" as the direct cause of such electronic anomalies but we should always admit an inability to explain phenomena when such is the case. Then we can move forward in our investigations.

I would just like to mention here without (I hope) going off thread, that the dismissive response we often encounter to Poltergeist acitivity as being the result of stress or puberty in human "agents" should be reëxamined. If this is truly the case then it is in itself an amazing discovery which should be researched with government funding. I can see good reason (or bad) for the military to back research into a phenomenon which clearly shows that human emotional energy can have a kinetic effect and move heavy objects about. Instead of just saying that it is the human agent which causes Poltergeist phenomena and leaving it at that, we should research further into the matter. If we do not believe that to be the case then we should still research further to find the cause.

As I cannot flag this thread twice I am keeping it on file. Thanks to all who have contributed so far. I find this a very interesting topic and generated from a very cogent question in the first place. LONECAT

To Purffect:
First of all disregard most of the things that have been told to you here.
Spirits are the souls of the Dead which is known as Everlasting Life, and The Spirit World is where we all go after our bodies die from accidents, disease or just old worn out bodies, and when the body dies the Spirit with all its intelligence leaves the Earthly Body and goes to the Spirit World where it retains all its memories, and emotions, and it can communicate back to Earth, and it knows how to use computers, and webcams if it can find a Channel to work with it.
From the Spirit World they can go anywhere they want to and they can visit supermarkets and work cameras and keyboards through automatic writing if they can find a Channel to work with them.
They can make suggestions on everything in our everyday life.
The problem that most spirits have is earthlings don't believe much in them and so sometimes they have to go to extraordinary extremes in some cases to get Earthlings to believe.
I of course can't guarantee that you can shoot a picture of a Ghost because when you go to the Spirit World most people can't see them but once in a while after a person develops their Psychic Gift some of them can see Ghosts, and hear them, and things like that.
Then of course the Psychic Channel and the Ghost develops more problems because when a Talented Psychic tries to tell the World others say that the Psychics Gift and the Ghost is a figment of the Channellers imagination, but I am hoping that will all change in the future when more and more people begin to develop their Psychic gift and learn all the things that Psychics like I and Sylvaia Browne, John Edwards, Edgar Cayce, Ruth Montgomery and many other Psychics, too numerous to mention have been taught by the Guides, and others in the After Life.

And of COURSE Rosemary is the ONLY authority on the subject. All the rest of us are inexperienced duffusses according to Rosemary.........

Ghosts can manifest through the phone and play with tv sets (my personal experience) and Stereos (again, my personal experience) ......... so why not webcams?

All opinions count, whether or not you happen to agree with them.

Because you are the all powerful God that can tell everyone what they should believe and only your opinion is valid and worth reading? You were the one that was going on about how we are here to learn and increase one another's knowledge when people didn't take in what you tell them. I guess that theory only works one way for you. YOU tell EVERYONE what to think.

now, now boys and girls.
no need to fight!!
i really do appreciate all of your comments.
i did not think i would have this much interest on the subject!
anyway, i have a webcam and i am going to try this out tonight, wish me luck

thankyou lonecat, i appreciate that "long" comment! cheers

That is indescribably rude. When you get elected Supreme Ruler of the Universe, then you can decide who is right and who is wrong. Until then you might have to restrain yourself a bit and keep it down to personal opinion.



They can go anywhere in the universe and they go grocery shopping??? I just don't see it. It makes no sense whatsoever.

LOL - nor does crawling in and out of 'openings'

I better take myself off before this turns into another derailment hahaha

Why don't they crawl in and out the ear holes, isn't that closer to the brain?


OK I'm really going now for a while!

Ha! Yeah that makes more sense to me.

If a ghost were to exist and for a ghost to be non-repetitive (like a recording of thier final drastic moment as in some ghost cases have been claimed) but a ghost showing intelligence then i would not assume that they were ignorant of thier surroundings so in turn the answer would be a yes they would percieve that there was a recording device present, especially if there was a visual (monitor displaying webcam results for example) of the cam within close proximity, it would simply have to put 2 and 2 together if it had the sufficant intelligence to, old spirit or new. This is all hypothetical however.

I'm sorry, but that was just flat out rude
Who says that you know everything when it comes to the paranormal?
This is supossed to be a discussion forum, and everybody's opinions count, not just yours. Wether you believe in other peoples opinions is beside the point. We are hear to learn, not to be told what to do by some "expert".

Sorry, rant over now.

Now back to the topic at hand:
If as said before, spirits can interact with other electronic equipment then why not webcams.
Did you get anything when you recorded stuff with your webcam as I'm curious.

no, not a sausage! nothing... but that was only one night......
i'll keep trying

I am not happy with the things that were posted under my name above but you have to realize some days the Spirits are not doing a good job and they are the ones who are writing some of these rude things through automatic writing.

I am not coping out and blaming this on something else its absolutely true they do these things and the days they are the meanest are the days that arguments start here after I post things and this is one of the reasons I am not typing on the forum much lately because these four Spirits are becoming more violent and meaner because I haven't been bringing them on the Forum to write recently.

And they are becoming meaner and meaner every day and night and there is nothing much I can do about them right now except to keep them off the computer as much as I can and hope they will decide to come out and straighten up so they can come back and interact with their new found friends on the Forum.

What makes them the meanest is people keep calling them ghosts and say they are just my imagination.

I guess for a few days I will just let them sit this out and unless they decide to try to be nicer to Earthlings I am just going to take away their writing privileges.

Rosemary you can't do this, the spirits aren't automatically writing through you to say these 'rude' things to others, or to imply that, you see the spirits in your body have become an excuse for everything, this is innapropriate, I'm telling you, if you can't decide on the differences between someone who can control themselves and someone who has the urgent need to post something and blame it on something else, then you need to go to psychiatric help, you seem pretty sure that your not psychiatric, and your not an internet spoiler, please do what you can to show us all that you are at least rational and capable of realizing what you are doing.

I agree totally.

You cannot come on here and say things and then blame it on something else when everyone has a go at you for being rude. You need to stand by what you say or you will always be just a joke.

Sorry for being off topic, but OMG you look like Helen Hunt off your blog!

I am not sure if it was mentioned but Web Cams are usually of bad Quality making any visual sighting of questionable reliability. A good Video Camera with shielded wiring to your computer is far superior though costly.
My two cents worth.

For some strange reason, I'm flashing on Julian Jaynes's The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind.

for some strange reason... hmm that seems to indicate a small portion of what you accuse her of doing, indirectly. Sensing any parallels yet? its funny how observation can work in such strange and inconceivable ways.

I didn't "accuse" anyone of anything, and I assure you the "parallel" was not a coincidence.

What the hell are you talking about?

firstly you stick your "nose" in towards a conversation that implies rosemary's behavior so as to add your own two cents, that is where an indirect accusation becomes pertinant. Secondly, you take on similiar characteristics while presupposing that you do not fit within her classified ailment. What im wondering is, why didnt the same strange reason give a better sense of awareness that you yourself do; that mimics in relative concepts but in a different belief system.

Thanks for the link to that site btw.

I still can't make head or tail of what you're accusing me of. Rosemary's view that she is being addressed by spirits reminded me strongly of Jaynes, who posited that it used to be normal to experience one's own intuition (right-brain processes) in exactly this way. I presented this impression as if it were an instance of such intuition, which really it was. I'm aware of the irony.

I don't know where all this stuff about accusing her of having some ailment comes from, but thanks for the chance to vivisect a passing remark.

That's because most of the time your likely to find people getting caught off-track because of what Rosemary does to threads, given that she might not mean it all of the time but she does in fact steal threads.

People here cannot neccessary come into terms with whether or not Rosemary is able to think for herself and not for the spirits possessing her, this kind of thing happens all the time where we can get "derailed" and it can be the result in confusion.

Boltwave, I don't think I made my remark because I was "derailed" or "confused." I think I knew what I was saying.

do you lack comprehension skills?

comprehension:

com·pre·hen·sion ( P ) Pronunciation Key (kmpr-hnshn)
n.

The act or fact of grasping the meaning, nature, or importance of; understanding.

ok, thanks i'll keep that in mind.

On the contrary, I usually score in the 99th percentile on standardized tests of reading comprehension.

I didn't "accuse" anyone of having any "classified ailment," whatever that means. I was talking about Jaynes and the experience of hearing voices that one attributes to spirits.

Do you just enjoy flaming people? It seems like your main activity here. I'm not one to tell people how to have their fun, but my experience is that there are more enjoyable things to do here.

I must compliment you on an apt choice of username.

You did accuse her in an indirect fashion for you felt it necessary to whatever degree and motivation to basically spur on even more of an indepth analysis to her "problem" that you see but evasively deny. I have more than abundantly made clear what you are doing but since you STILL dont get it, i will narrow it down to 5 words:

you are an ignorant hypocrite.

You keep using quotes around words I didn't use. That's not nice. It's called misquoting.

I'm sure there's nothing to understand in your criticism, except that you like saying nasty things about people. I'd be grateful if you went away.

... yea well for some strange reason it just came to me as well, how do you like that?

It reminds me of Julian Jaynes.

It is ambiguous which could mean a brain the size of an peanut

blah blah blah I'm trying to catch up but the spirits are in me right now im just home from the pub