Which fool are you?

Somewhere between #1 and #2. I'm not a total skeptic but I do not see ghosts in every fuzzy or overexposed picture either.

I keep an open mind about lots of stuff.

Like take Tarot for example. I don't say that it is false. But on the other hand I don't say it is true.

There are benefits to playing with the Tarot that are more about communication with your own unconscious mind rather than something paranormal. But I wouldn't rule out a paranormal input.

Consider the word paranormal. Above the norm. We only use a small percentage of our brain capacity. Who's to say we can't sometimes see things or hear things that we may not ordinary do so.

Like I believe ghosts are recordings made (like video) by walls and building - captured in and replayed under certain phases of moonlight.
But I wouldn't rule out the capacity to communicate with the dead.

I do think a lot of people are crazy. Those that say they've talked to ghosts or seen aliens. But who knows?

I have no opinion of the paranormal. I have never encountered paranormal activity. However, if I get visited by a ghost, I'm not going to shut my eyes, plug my ears, and start saying "lalala you don't exist lalala..."

Somewhere between #1 and #2,I guess.

Other. If there were hard facts, I'd consider believing.

I don't believe in the paranormal.
I'm a fool in lots of other ways, too!

I believe in things when I have evidence that they are real... other? I don't feel like a fool.

I'm somewhere in between. I think that there is no way to tell, although, I think I lean a little more towards not believing.

I'm somewhere in between answers #1 and #2.

I'm not really a fool, I just have a vivid imagination. I believe there might be some paranormal aspects in the world. This is partly because if people are so narrow-minded about what they see right before them, they're as narrow-minded about what might be before them and therefore I don't go with their way of thinking.

Somewhere between the two.
I'm open to the idea of the paranormal, but I need to see something to believe it.

I believe in the Abby Normal

Oh, Sweet mystery of life at last I've found you!!!

It depends on the specifics. I'd say it's mostly mis-represented fact. 'Mediums' are generally onto something, and it's generally something interesting (though hardly world-changing), but it ends up being presented differently than it out to be.

I'm somewhere in between #1 and #2. Some I believe. Some I do not tend to believe.

I'm somewhere in between answers #1 and #2 but I'm no fool.

I like proof... But I also like to speculate, because; although some things have not been proven to be true, it doesn't mean that they will not be true in the future.
Ex.: Go back one hundred years and tell your friend that man will walk on the moon...

I rest my case!

Funny that you should say that about not wanting to plug your ears and etc. I think that when we are confronted with something unusual, we tend to rationalize it away with "sane" explanations.
I lived in a house, an old house, in the city of Montreal. Strange things happened there. (Too many to write here.) The funny thing about it was that, many years later, my sisters and I had gotten together for a work bee at my parent's place. We were all sitting on the porch at the end of the day, recounting events that my husband and I experienced there. One of my sisters told the stories of what she had experienced while baby-sitting for us in that house. (Same kind of things that happened to me.) I looked up at our oldest sister, and she was crying. She said that she experienced some things that she had rationalized and pushed away in the back of her mind (it was too freaky for her to deal with). Her reaction was proof to me, as well as my other sister's stories, that something did go on there but while you're living it - you tend to try to make sense of it. In retrospect, I would never live in that house again...

Lots of responses! Thanks, all of you. I definitely believe in life after life but I have no way of proving it exists. I also believe in ghosts but I've never seen one. Then again, I've never seen God either but I am CERTAIN God exists. On the other hand, I'm not as open minded about aliens and people being abducted into outer space...
too scary! And I think Big Foot and the Lok Ness Monster were completely made up from people's imagination but to no harm. Ultimately, I think to be fooled does not make one a fool...not does
believing in the unknown and unproven. And what really struck me odd
here is I wrote all this in response two nights ago but I ended up in oblivion somewhere and couldn't get back on again until just now. Made me wonder! Do do doo do!

Been there, done that! Unlike you though, I would move back.

Ewww! Where and why?????

I guess I'd consider myself an open-minded skeptic.

Wow! I like that, SueBee. Very good.

Well, like you, it's much too lengthy to go into but maybe your experiences were not like mine. My "ghosts" were friendly and playful, so although, it was weird, I never felt as though I was in harms way. Certainly kept life interesting! Maybe that's why I would move back.

I sure do! All the way! I'm a fool all the way! (That means all eight of me are fools.)
Actually, one of my personalities is such a fool to believe in the paranormal like this. A ghastly character, he is, stay away:

Like Scully!!!!!!!

I wish!

I would describe myself as extremely skeptical, but with an open mind. Some things are completely beyond scientific proof, in that they are not falsifiable. In these situations, one must come up with a philosophy or belief system that works for you, and is hopefully flexible enough to be reconstructed in the event that it becomes unworkable.

I'll wait until someone shows me evidence for what you call "paranormal". A scientists should reconsider what they think if they are presented with evidence that contradicts the paradigm that they're operating within.

Doesn't that depend on how you define science? Whether you go with the idea that science has to be falsifiable or whether you go with the idea that science is a methodology?

Oh god! I thought that had trickled out of my brain by now . Damned sociology!

Isn't it both? My understanding of the methodology is that the hypothesis MUST be falsifiable. Otherwise you could say things like "There is an invisible fairy that sometimes hides my socks when I'm asleep. It won't do this if anyone is watching or in the presence of a camera."

How do you create an experiment to prove or disprove a hypothesis like that?

I actually agree with the falsification method, so it's hard to say But, I believe that there are scientists out there who would say that as long as an experiment that was standardised, generalisable, quantitative and repeatable then the evidence thus gathered can be considered proof. Doesn't seem to do much proving or disproving though......

I do think that a lot of the time scientists are obsessed with proving their theories whereas they'd get much better results if they tried to disprove them. Science should be about making mistakes, seeing the evidence showing what a wally you've been then altering your theories.

I spent way too much time studying the different ways that people define what science means to them. Every time that someone mentions it I get a great desire to spew out something on the subject! Soon it will be banished from my brain!

Have you ever checked out the Advanced Stats on your surveys? Lower right, below [Next New] or [Last], whichever applies at the moment. It's pretty interesting, gives a lot of stats on how people voted. Plus, the comments made in Qual-Land are still recorded there. Check it out!

I agree. It seems to me that any reputable scientist should put the search for truth far above any pet theories (or even established, widely held beliefs).

Interesting! Thanks for the info...and the vote Feeling better?

Did you know the history of the place? Who might be lingering there?

Yes, we did. Did you?

You still have the painting of RAWA - the Indian who told us all about it, huh?

Irene, this is GinnsInn, my mother. Ma, meet Irene007.

Irene and I have been having some fun in "Hypertales.com" - a place where you contribute to an ongoing story, one chapter at a time. If you visit the place, the story she began for us is called "The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight". It's fun, although I'm long overdue for a visit. (I wanted to wait out all these server problems before chance continuing.)

Very nice to meet you, irene007. I didn't mean to cut my answer short but, for one thing, it was so long ago. For another, when you take "incidents" out of context (so to speak), it seems to lose a lot.
For example, if I were to tell you I have proof of ghosts or the paranormal because of paintings suddenly hanging upside down, or because I woke up to the dryer coming on in the middle of the night or because I found my dishwasher upside down one morning (without a broken dish in it, and mind you, it was full of dishes, it always was
), you would determine I just had a prankster living in my home. Right? People that haven't been "there" would definitely say that, but I know differently. It was years of many different experiences but I refrain from sharing them publicly (just on a national website! LOL) because it seems to carry an estigma with it. The fact that you and your sisters didn't share these events until much later indicates to me the events were too unpleasant or each of you were afraid you were "crazy" and didn't want the others to know. Too bad, huh?

Okay. You already have me hooked on SC. What a great place to hang out! Now you want me to try another website?!? I will look into Hypertales a little later but I'm going to avoid it like the plague right now because I can't afford the time it probably will take! For instance, I have been up three hours so far this morning and I have been right here all three hours And loving it Remind me about Hypertales when we get together again so that you can show me around the place (like you did this one).

That reminds me of the chairs stacking up in Poltergeist. If those things happened in my house, I think it would scare me half to death! It's too much like the beginning of a horror movie where things get worse and worse until someone gets hurt, but you say you didn't feel you were in harm's way. Wasn't it frightening?

Honestly? Yes, sort of. Let me compare it to you this way...did you ever go on a roller coaster ride even though you know you're going to be scared to death but you do it anyway. It's sort of like that feeling...frightening but intriguing. Crazy, huh?

By the way, it was nothing like the Poltergeist movie. Had it been, I would have been scared half to death, too

I have to object to that analogy. A roller coaster may be scary, but you know you're pretty much safe because the park owners don't want to be sued, and lots of other people have ridden it before you and exited unscathed. Having some unknown entity moving large objects around inside your home sounds much more unpredictable!

The trick to that is the same..."know you're safe".

It was the "feeling" I was trying to convey to you...not the analogy.
"Frightening but intriguing."

Nice to meet you too!!

We didn't have anything so wild, just creepy little things that you tend to rationalize away; like our dog often growling at the same spot above the stairs when there is no noise or anything. Or a guy standing in front of our house and his story about having lived there. In retrospect, the things he said did not add up, for one; he said that the apartment building next door was not there but considering the age of the building, that would have made him a much older man than he was when speaking to me. Then I remembered our landlord, she said that she had grown up there and she was about the same age as this man. It used to be an English community that has changed over time, more French live there now (as was my landlord - he could not have been her brother; besides, her only brother died of cancer {so she says} in that same house). I went back into the house at the end of our conversation and then remembered something I wanted to ask him, I stepped out and there was no one in sight. That was really weird...
A lot of things happened and seemed more like mind games at the time - I'm not so sure anymore...

People end up believing far too strongly. Scientists mock people with strong religious belief and forget to what extent what they preach requires faith too.

I think since there is hardly ever anything tangible to prove our "events" it does feel like mind games. You're sure of what you saw and heard but later, it doesn't feel real any more.

I think you have pretty much hit the nail on the head with your last comment. I think it's all about "faith". Well said.

It is one thing to believe something that is never likely to be proven right or wrong. It is quite another to insist on believing something absurdly wrong when the truth is staring you in the face. Unfortunately there are plenty of people like that out there...

Exactly!!

Speaking of spooks - go to the forum and check out Cuteasabutton's Ghost Picture posted on 13-Jul-2002. Let me know if you can see the ghost. I had trouble at first and then, WOW! It's really good!

Amen to that! Some of the ideas they come up with to back up their misguided beliefs...For example, I could rant about anti-evolutionists for weeks. Or years even. It could be my life's work! But why bother?

Okay, fair enough!

Okay! We won't go there then...

Oooo.. Have you ever heard of a film from the early 70's called "The Stone Tape"? Based on what you said about walls being able to record images I think you'd really like it.

I'll look out for it.

Nice to see you back btw.

"The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God."

Oh, am I ever going to get you for that one Irene! And cuteasabutton as well! I fell line, hook and sinker for that one...and it scared me to death! Yep I am now dead and I'm going to haunt you for the rest of your lives. You thought you had trouble before?

I am no fool, thank you. I have seen enough of the "paranormal" to know there are many truths about it and many falsities.

Really. Care to share any of it with us?

Great huh? I laughed until I cried, my stomach hurt, I was hysterical! I loved it!!

I thought that it was quite "à propos" considering that we were talking about spooks... Now, if you're going to haunt me, try to keep my stuff where it's supposed to be... I hate housework!

This is off the subject, but have you read Left Behind or any of the other books from that series?

No

No, but my sisters have. I don't like to read anything. Have you read them?

I'm on the third one in the series. They're pretty good. One thing I have gotten out of them is a better understanding of why many Christians feel so strongly about "preaching" to non-Christians. I guess I'd be trying to spread the word, too, if I felt sure the rapture was coming.

The first one, Left Behind, was made into a movie. We saw it for rent at Blockbuster yesterday.

I've just been reading to much Stephen J Gould lately........

Yeah, I've thought about renting it.

Cool to hear you think that about preaching.

Don't worry though, I won't start in on you. I think my points have all been made in the past.

OK.

Oh, me too! I love a clean house and I don't even mind cleaning it but when I do, I want it to stay that way for a long long time and that just never happens. It's like nobody cares how hard you just worked. I've always considered housework THE most thankless job. I'd
much rather go to the office and shuffle papers around.

Yeah, I think we've about beat that debate into the ground anyway. Sorry I was so terribly stubborn in my views. Maybe you've helped me learn not to take certain things so personally.

I know I've learned a lot here.

I hear ya!

Hey, if you see that son of yours, ask him if he's given up on our book! I'm on vacation for the next week and a half so I'm just popping in and out. Tell him that I expect to see a new chapter by Friday!!

Well, IF I see him, I sure will pass on the message to him. He stays so busy lately, I don't get to see near enough of him. As it happens, though, I think we're getting together this weekend. Ooops!
You said by Friday. Okay, maybe I'll be talking to him before then.
Have a great vacation!

I just popped in and now I'm popping out to head back to the hills!! Time sure flies when you're having fun, I can't believe my vacation is nearly over...