Proof of ghosts

[Brian Topp]

Are ghosts real? Well, there’s as much scientific evidence to support their existence as there is for the existence black holes. Which is to say there isn’t any, really. And we take the existence of black holes as read by now. People claim to have photographed, observed and studied black holes, but they haven’t been tested under laboratory conditions. That doesn’t mean that they don’t exist, so it by the same token we can’t dismiss the existence of the supernatural either, right? Probably. We don’t know, we’re not Brian Cox. Science is hard. (We got a C at GCSE).

read more: http://whatculture.com/science/10-compelling-pieces-evidence-prove-ghosts-real.php

The writer of this article is grasping at straws

[shrooma]

a good point well made Brian.

after all, if everything were easily explainable, this website would have a different name....

:-)

[MrBene]

I took my time to read this article and I'm still not convinced.

[Patient Zero]

Bah! A top ten list.

Cracked.com does it way better!

i agree with the spoiler!

[JesseCuster]

Yes, grasping at straws. Very much.

In point 7 they claim that Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity postulates the existence of an infinite number of universes. Where the hell did they come up with that idea? The extrapolation they make from the infinite universe claim is extremely dubious, but at least get your basic facts straight about the science behind what you're trying to prove. I get the distinct impression they really don't know how much about actual science.

I saw nothing remotely compelling there.

[sinewave]

I have to disagree with the author, actually, there is plenty of evidence for black holes, just not direct observation. We can see the effects of their gravity and we can see the glowing clouds of gas that are accelerating into them. Ghosts, on the other hand have only fervent believers and some fuzzy pictures.

Indeed, science is not gospel but it does a far better job than belief and superstition when it comes to explaining the nature of things.

#10 is an attack on science, albeit a weak one. What better way to make a case then to try to discredit that which does not support your belief? Wow, science cannot make up its mind. What does that even mean? Science assigns probabilities to hypotheses based on the evidence. It does not have a "mind" to make up. Not every scientist involved with an area of study agrees with all of the other scientists working on the same things, even on a good day. This statement could only be made by someone with no clue as to how science works.

# 9 Well, there are people who call themselves researchers who have tried to prove something but no real science has ever been produced from those efforts. BTW belief in ghosts, UFOs, Bigfoot, etc does not mean a person has an open mind. Irrational belief is not some progressive mind set that makes a person enlightened. Honestly taking stock of the evidence demonstrates an open mind.

#8 Beware of anyone who say things like "there are plenty of pics that couldn't have been so convincingly doctored in the eras they were taken." That is utter nonsense.

#7 Theoretical physics offers some fun and interesting possibilities but only in scifi have I seen discussion of one universe "bleeding" through into another. In any event, the fact that parallel universes have been discussed in physics does not stand as proof of anything much less ghosts.

#6 The "Stone Tape" hypothesis is just wild speculation. There is no basis in science for it. How this "energy" is stored and played back is not clear and the idea ignores lots of established physics.

#5 But not nearly as much as the location, schools, community, infrastructure,. and local economy. In general, home buyers really don't give a **** about ghosts.

#4 No discussion of this type is complete without NDEs. Before we start looking at them as a glimpse to the other side, there are lots of mundane explanations for NDEs that have yet to be exhausted.

#3 The popularity of ghost myths is not in any way an indication that ghosts actually exist. Human cultures have held many irrational beliefs over time. The number of believers proves nothing.

#2 This is a different way of stating what was said in point #3. Yes, people believe but that alone does not make it true. How can something be that common but that illusive? Nothing else in nature is that way.

#1 All kinds of irrational beliefs have been prevalent in human culture. That does not prove anything but human imagination can indeed manufacture realities.

[Duck33]

That saved me a lot of time Sinewave although I'd go further on the Stone tape theory since it started its life in a 1970's play script rather than a well considered scientific hypothesis. Of course it holds no more weight than the homeopathy idea that water has a memory. Reasoning by analogy, which we outgrew back in the 16th century...C in Science, I'm guessing the author got lucky that exam day.

Edited June 30, 2014 by Duck33

[sinewave]

That saved me a lot of time Sinewave although I'd go further on the Stone tape theory since it started its life in a 1970's play script rather than a well considered scientific hypothesis. Of course it holds no more weight than the homeopathy idea that water has a memory. Reasoning by analogy, which we outgrew back in the 16th century...C in Science, I'm guessing the author got lucky that exam day.

Yeah, the Stone Tape idea has been kicked around since the 70's. It was one of the first sciencey sounding ghost explanations I ever encountered. At the time I thought, why not? As my understanding of physics grew I found there were many reasons why not. The upshot of the author's remarks seems to be that ghosts exist because a lot of people believe they do. What does that mean for the tooth fairy, the Easter Bunny, and Santa Claus?

Edited June 30, 2014 by sinewave