Atheists: What is your personal belief in the paranormal?

Question

Do you think it's ALL hogwash? If not please elaborate.

Paranormal being the existence of ESP, UFO's, Ghosts, Bigfoot, The Bermuda Triangle, Spring-healed-jack, and whatever else oddities you may dis?-believe.

It's hard to understand how some of 'you' can say it's ALL hogwash. Do you honestly think that humanity has TOTAL understanding of this complex world? I have personally seen a 'ghost' and so have many MANY others. Though there may be a scientific explanation, I find it difficult to dismiss it all as lies and delusions. Too bad some ppl give atheists a bad rap..... But you others seem on the level. :O

Answer 1

In theory, it is not possible for anything truly supernatural to exist. Any number of phenomena may be claimed or theorized, but nobody is under any obligation to believe them without evidence. Certainly there are observations for which we do not have an explanation; but it does not stand to reason that a reasonable explanation doesn't exist, or that any given explanation someone cares to toss around must be the correct one.

In other words, it's one thing to say "I saw a light in the sky but I don't know what it was" - that's a far cry from, "therefore it's an interstellar craft full of big-eyed little men who will kidnap people, give them anal probes and scramble their DNA."

Answer 2

I'm not an Atheist, but I look at things very logically and I consider myself to be a Free thinker. I don't let other people's ideas confuse or control what I experience. I have seen things I cannot explain. Things mostly considered Ghosts. If they aren't Ghosts, my only hypothesis is that there is something f'ed up with the timeline. If you understand String Theory, you can get this concept easier. Anyway, basically imagine a small loop in the timeline occurs that shows the same moment in time over and over again. This might be connected to the power of the human consciousness. It might eventually be completely explainable.

For example. There are some dead people that apparently have more than one haunt spot. That doesn't make much sense for a ghost to haunt several different areas. But if it were a time ripple, the human consciousness of others is what has caused to ripple and it will forever remain unless something smooths it out.

For example, Mary Surrat, the first woman to be executed by the US Goverment for her part in the assasination of Abraham Lincoln is said to haunt her home and the old jail house were she was imprisoned. As this was a traumatic event for those of that time, it may in fact have caused a time ripple. I'm just theorizing here, but I feel like I might be on to something.

Answer 3

I think it's all hogwash. Evidence matters, and these things all fall short.

What the heck is "spring-healed jack"?

You haven't personally seen a ghost - you've had an experience that you can't explain, and because you've watched so many bad movies you've decided to refer to that experience as "seeing a ghost". Not at all the same thing, of course.

One certainly does not have to know everything about the universe in order to know that ESP and ghosts and the like are "hogwash". You're pretty quick to accuse people of arrogance: you should have made sure that they were the ones showing arrogance before you made that arrogant accusation.
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How interesting that your rather narrow-minded wife (bluefirewitch) chose to harass me through email in response to this, continuing even after I told her to stop writing to me. We'll see if the abuse report shuts her up.

Answer 4

There is some marginal data to support all of those things. However with the lack of abundant, convincing data, it would truly be "belief" at this point. I'll go as far as to say I believe some of it is possible. Most atheists would require more proof, but I wouldn't jump on the "hogwash" bandwagon yet, either.

Answer 5

Everything we experience is due to one force or another. There are forces that we cannot yet define, though they do no lead to the conclusion that their is a sentient all-controlling force. What would someone 1000 years ago thought of a levitating magnet inbetween crossing fields? "Oh my gosh, that mans a sorcerer!". In time, we will find that ghosts, UFO's and all the rest of the above mentioned phenomenon have sensible explanations.

Answer 6

It is called paranormal because it is outside of the reality-based normal / natural world. It is not real, except in people’s dreams and imaginations.

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Edit –

Clearly, we are far from understanding everything. However, we do understand a lot, and some things we understand very well – things like friction, equal-and-opposite force, mass, inertia, momentum, etc.

Let’s take ghosts as an example. Maybe we cannot explain what these experiences/things are, yet, but we know what they are not, or more correctly, what they cannot do.

Ghosts (spirits, gods, etc.) cannot be able to both pass through a door as if it is not there AND be able to slam the same door shut. In our physical world, the rules of physics dictate that if one body exerts force against a second body, it receives an equal force back from the second body.

What that means is – if they can touch us, then we can touch them; if we cannot pass through solid objects, then neither can anything else (not in this universe, and not in these dimensions). And, if something can pass through a door, then we, like the door, are immune from their touch.

Answer 7

I don't think ESP is paranormal... I think it's an instinct that we just don't get how it works, but not paranormal.

UFO...eh. Other life, no doubt, but whether they are actually coming here, just don't know about that. And again, I don't think that is technically paranormal.

"Ghosts"...I've had experiences. A skeptic through and through, but IMO if some form of existence is able to continue, be it energy or whatnot, I don't believe it is at all connected to deities or religion in any way. *If* it were to be real, I think it would be still very connected to this world. But then, maybe it's not "paranormal" either...maybe it's just normal.

Answer 8

hi, i'm no longer an atheist. i've got faith there's a god guiding all! and that i do have faith in spirits,good and undesirable besides. I incredibly have had stories with the two. A mum or dad angel has secure me whilst i replaced into in choose.I incredibly have witnessed the presence of ineffective kinfolk, Had smelled scents concerning to them,as though they following me! And the main memorable replaced into whilst i replaced into awaken via a gargoyle! i did no longer understand what a gargoyle replaced into at that factor. I incredibly have long gone to such various physics and spiritualists. I went to get solutions from them. i will experience whilst pals or kinfolk are questioning of me! yet as we communicate i've got faith that god guides us and that the spirits souls have not come to peace!

Answer 9

I don't believe any of it (however, I do think there is a possibilty of alien life-although, I don't think we will ever be able to make contact)

My husband, who is atheist, believes in ghosts. Well, he doesn't call them that. But, he has his own personal experience to back it up. Of course, he was younger, and for all he knows--it could have been a youngster's mind embellishing what actually was there.

Answer 10

I generally don't believe in things if there's no evidence for them. For most things that are considered "paranormal," there's a scientific explanation (Occam's razor--the simplest answer is usually the right one). I can accept that there are things that happen that science cannot explain yet, but I don't attribute them to spirits or whatever.