Ask HN: Do you believe in ghosts?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4680277

by anujkk • 14 years ago

4 9 14 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

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?

My take is that I'm not sure about it. Absence of proof can't be proof of absence.

lutusp2• 14 years ago

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• 14 years ago

> 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.

lutusp2• 14 years ago

> 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.

jkmurray• 14 years ago

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.

kls2• 14 years ago

Sorry for your loss.

jtheory• 14 years ago

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.

northband• 14 years ago

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.

27182818284• 14 years ago

No.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Demon-Haunted-World-Science-Candle...

(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. )

kls2• 14 years ago

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.

Ask HN: Do you believe in ghosts?

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