Why do people believe in ghosts?

Question

Given that Most Haunted has been running for a number of years...and no proof of any ghost has been provided - other than the suberb acting abilities of psychic fraud ..er medium Derek Acorah. Why do people bellieve in ghosts? They are merely the product of an overactive imagination and people awaking from sleep!

Answer 1

For those who are ready, no explanation is necessary and for those who are not, no explanation is possible! http://www.psychic-junkie.com

Answer 2

I've seen a ghost - it was a sunny afternoon, I had just got home from work and had been picking tomatoes in my garden. I turned round to take said tomatoes to the kitchen and there was my dead cat, strolling round the corner into the house. Sorry but I was wide-awake and couldn't have been more surprised. My husband thought I was crazy until he started seeing the dead cat too. I have also heard and smelt ghosts, seen a dog reduced to abject terror by one, and seen an 8 foot Christmas tree suddenly pushed over by one. It's pointless to keep insisting they don't exist in spite of all the evidence that they do. Most Haunted is a tv show - it's there for entertainment really, not serious investigation. As for mediums, I met one once - 200 miles from home, in a place no-one had known I would be. The first thing she told me was my name, and among all the other information she poured forth was an unusual symptom my late grandmother had had before she passed away - an inability to swallow due to a stroke. How could that be "acting" or "overactive imagination"? It's much more reasonable to concede that although frauds certainly do exist, we do continue to exist after death and we want to communicate with those we've left behind. This is not easy and some people are able to help, i.e. genuine psychic mediums. A colleague of mine once met Derek Acorah - she's a churchwarden and she says he was spot on.

Answer 3

Tell a person a place is haunted and they are more likely to see a ghost, even if they are sceptical it plants the idea in there head, how many times have we seen strange shadows in the night only to turn the light on and find a more down to earth explanation.

Some people are scared of the fact that when they die, that is it. Hence the reason for believing in, god, the soul, ghosts and many other silly things.

As an adult how many people believe in Santa? The Tooth Fairy? Very few I suspect, what makes them different from God, the Soul or Ghosts?

No doubt I will be told what a shallow existence I lead not to believe in these things, but I am a good person, and I believe i should live the life I have got, not the one I may or may not have when I die. If I see good scientific evidence for ghosts, god or the soul been real then I can change my opinion on it.

Till that point I believe that ghosts are the mind playing tricks on you. One it is quite capable of doing, simply type in optical illusions into a search engine and you'll see how powerful your brain is.

I'd suggest the book "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins as a good read, there is a good chapter on his theory of why people believe such things.

Answer 4

I think that death is such a grey area and the fact that we just don't know what will happen when we die throws up all kinds of questions! When the person dies, surely the soul must go somewhere. How can it just disappear forever? I don't know what to believe but there are so many people (and sane people at that) who swear they've seen a ghost that I'm inclined to think it's true. But it's also true that a lot of people have an overactive imagination!

Answer 5

When you have more than one person seeing the same apparition (in the middle of the afternoon,I might add),then you can't classify that as an overactive imagination or awakening from sleep!
Personally,I classify myself as a 'sceptical believer'-I've seen and experienced a few things,done a few paranormal investigations-some of the mediums I've come across have been nothing more than actors. (Crappy ones at that!) But I have had some very interesting experiences with some mediums who were spot on.
But my first reaction to anything that seems paranormal is to see if it can be discounted with a 'rational' explanation.

Answer 6

Guess you never meet a Real Ghost.
Or had one march back and forth across your bedroom door.

As for the three males that stayed at a tavern one night..
Neither of them believed in ghosts and when warned of the lady ghost that dwells ... they laughed at the idea.

Till the night when (me being in the next room ) heard there beds thrown against walls..
Dragged around the room.. pushed and yelled.

When i walked past there room ..and looked in i saw three strong men turn into 3 little boys. frightened of there own shadow. Covers up to there necks shivering in fear.

They Paid for 2 weeks rent yet on that room not cheap...
Yet they didnt ask for a single cent back and they ran like the wind from the premise.

you learn to believe..
When you see, hear and feel them around you .

Answer 7

Some people just believe, others believe because they know they exist, such as myself. I have experienced things that no-one else could have modified to make me believe. There is nothing scarier than waking up to a cold room, with a child-like misty figure reaching out for you! And it tokk till daylight for him to leave me! Most of the time I only get 'visits' from 2 family members, one of which is my Nanna, she died 11 years ago, but she still comes, and the other, my sister. My mother was inticed into an abortion with her. My mum and partner knows I see my Nan, but my mum couldnt bear it if I told her my sister also comes, but my partner knows. After my partner moved in, he noticed things aswell and said that he knows they're sometimes there, just by the atmosphere and stuff, he then admittedly said to me that when I first told him about my experiences, he was sceptical! He isnt any longer!

Answer 8

I have seen 2 ghosts and have had a few other encounters- so its not really "believing" in ghosts. People are most susceptible to see ghosts when they are in a relaxed state such as just waking up.

Answer 9

I believe in ghosts because I worked in a haunted hotel. I had dealings with what I can only describe as a ghost. I wasn't the only one to deal with her, and I even had guests ask if the hotel was haunted on several different occasions due to incidents they had dealt with (the hotel did *not* advertise the haunting, we weren't supposed to talk about it because it might deter guests from staying with us).

Answer 10

Haven`t heard one story yet? or seen one yourself???
You miss 1/2 of your life. Spirits are parts and partial of our life time. You really miss the excitement of your lifetime.
All of us human have spirits and it lives past death while your body backs to being soil.
It just means...for centuries, all human spirits are alive...waiting for the last judgement.
If you just have 6th sense, or can meditate deeply, or can alter your consciousness to different levels....... v o i l a !!! you can see them daily, 24 hrs a day, or make an appointment with them by calling them persistently or use their spirit in your demonic play....."spirit of the glass".........................
Good luck !!!!!

Answer 11

believe in ghost dont believe ghost so what .ghost are real if you can see them .most of the time people scare you to see how brave you are if you want to go to a haunted house.