A lot of times there is no proof either way. I've heard some compelling ghost stories before. Things seemed to happen that could not have been ordinary occurences. But I wasn't there. I didn't see those things. The people in certain cases seem to be normal rational credible people with nothing to gain.
So where do I draw the line?? I guess I don't. If I feel that a person is genuinely communicating their story, then I have to remain agnostic to the situation. I really don't know. We've never seen actual proof (well proof good enough to pass through all the hard-core skeptic filters). Either way I'll say I haven't seen proof beyond at least some doubt. But still to chalk it up and say these people are delusional is just as assbackwards. Really?? Are they all experiencing delusions?? Maybe, ... but the "skeptics" say either they are lying or they are nearly insane. That's it. No other options because as far as they know it's completely impossible and they seem to be sticking to their guns.
Myself, I'd like to plead a little ignorance. I don't know the inner secrets of the universe. I don't know exactly what happens to all the neurological connections in the entire human body every second. I don't know what consciousness is or why it had the need to arise in our species. I don't know what exactly happens at the subatomic level when the human mind is exposed to all kinds of stimuli. And I can't readily explain away all ghost stories as some kind of mental problem. So reasonable and honest answer might be "I just don't know". I believe you saw what you saw, but perhaps you just had some kind of mindfart! Or maybe you just saw what you saw, I don't have any reason to disbelieve you just like I don't have any reason to believe you.
Would anyone be able to cite some mass hallucination proof for me?? Sometimes I think there is a rapid dash to call any strange story hogwash, ... perhaps too rapid. Do we really have all the scientific tools to determine with 100% accuracy that what actually happened was a malfunction somewhere deep in the brain?? I know we have studied the brain intensively and have learned lots, even that it sometimes conjures up stuff that really isn't there. But is this enough to tag everything with "mindfuck"? Again, I don't know.
Either way, these stories sometimes seem to have a profound effect on the witnesses. People have changed their entire lives and lifestyles after these types of events. Whether the actual event was real or not, the effects can be quite dramatic and lasting. So, to them, it doesn't matter whether people believe them or not. They don't care about providing proof of the event because for all practical purposes it served them personally in some way and it just isn't important to convince the world of the authenticity of their encounter.
There is more to be said, but glossing this post over I see that it already too long. I've made this post disregarding the hoaxers and liars, we all hate them and know they are of no value to the conversation.
So where do I draw the line?? I guess I don't. If I feel that a person is genuinely communicating their story, then I have to remain agnostic to the situation. I really don't know. We've never seen actual proof (well proof good enough to pass through all the hard-core skeptic filters). Either way I'll say I haven't seen proof beyond at least some doubt. But still to chalk it up and say these people are delusional is just as assbackwards. Really?? Are they all experiencing delusions?? Maybe, ... but the "skeptics" say either they are lying or they are nearly insane. That's it. No other options because as far as they know it's completely impossible and they seem to be sticking to their guns.
Myself, I'd like to plead a little ignorance. I don't know the inner secrets of the universe. I don't know exactly what happens to all the neurological connections in the entire human body every second. I don't know what consciousness is or why it had the need to arise in our species. I don't know what exactly happens at the subatomic level when the human mind is exposed to all kinds of stimuli. And I can't readily explain away all ghost stories as some kind of mental problem. So reasonable and honest answer might be "I just don't know". I believe you saw what you saw, but perhaps you just had some kind of mindfart! Or maybe you just saw what you saw, I don't have any reason to disbelieve you just like I don't have any reason to believe you.
Would anyone be able to cite some mass hallucination proof for me?? Sometimes I think there is a rapid dash to call any strange story hogwash, ... perhaps too rapid. Do we really have all the scientific tools to determine with 100% accuracy that what actually happened was a malfunction somewhere deep in the brain?? I know we have studied the brain intensively and have learned lots, even that it sometimes conjures up stuff that really isn't there. But is this enough to tag everything with "mindfuck"? Again, I don't know.
Either way, these stories sometimes seem to have a profound effect on the witnesses. People have changed their entire lives and lifestyles after these types of events. Whether the actual event was real or not, the effects can be quite dramatic and lasting. So, to them, it doesn't matter whether people believe them or not. They don't care about providing proof of the event because for all practical purposes it served them personally in some way and it just isn't important to convince the world of the authenticity of their encounter.
There is more to be said, but glossing this post over I see that it already too long. I've made this post disregarding the hoaxers and liars, we all hate them and know they are of no value to the conversation.
