Ok, so I work at a cemetery that is very old and I can personally vouch for the fact that there are no ghosts here. I have been here alone, with people, on the grounds and in the office, and I’ve done it all at various times of the day including midnight. Never have I been scared, because the fact is, folks, that dead people just lay there.
I believe in God and ghosties. I have lived in a house that was haunted, before that, I didn’t really think about ghosts one way or the other. Amazing how that will change your mind, huh?
Like I said in answer to that recent post, they all laughed at Stric-9 when he said that Columbus said the Earth was round. Please, if you’re going to use lame arguments to back up your claims, at least get them right.
In your post, you are claiming that Columbus was right in the face of all skepticism. In fact, Columbus was hideously wrong, and if he hadn’t had the colossal good luck to sail directly into a previously unknown continent, he would either have died or have failed ignominiously in his attempt to reach India or Cathay.
As described in great detail in the Encyclopedia Britannica
article http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/2/0,5716,117712+2+109621,00.html, Columbus did not originate the idea that the world was round. Columbus’s contribution was the mistaken idea that the world was small enough in diameter so that it could be sailed around with the technology of the time.
I don’t think it logically follows that if you believe in God then you should believe in ghosts.
If you believe in a god then ghosts would depend on the structure you believe that god gave our universe. Conversely, just because you believe in ghosts does not require that you believe there to have been a conscious architect of the universe.
That said, if you believe in either then you should be open to the idea of the other. For both have the same prerequisite:
The belief that there is something fundamentally lacking in our understanding of the universe that would allow for entities to violate the rules as we understand them.
And no, I do not be in God, gods, demi-gods, wood nymphs, or other conscious architects of our universe. Neither do I believe that there is a life force that extends beyond our death, let alone one that could manifest as ghosts.
Stric-9 said:
Wrong. Most people don’t “believe” this – they accept it based on the evidence. This is not even close to the same thing as believing in God or ghosts.
A lot more concrete than for God or ghosts, yes.
First you find me some “evidence of the paranormal.” Then I’ll decide what to do with the door. 'kay?
Who says it hasn’t been studied? I have several acquaintances who have published scientific papers in scientific journals about belief in ghosts. I’ve been to several of their scientific lectures. They are putting out a scientific book next year.
Here’s a hint, though: They specialize in psychology.
I think you don’t have the foggiest idea what you’re talking about.
And, as has already been noted by Finagle, we are all laughing at you for saying that.
Or in the words of Carl Sagan (paraphrased, because I’m going from memory here and proibably have the exact quote wrong) :
They laughed at Gallileo.
They laughed at Columbus.
They laughed at Newton.
But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.
This has the makings of a Great Debate.
So off it goes. 
Searching for logic in an area of faith does seem fruitless doesn’t it?
However, the logic of your analogy doesn’t fit here. If you turn off a switch, the electricity is still there, waiting (for lack of a better word) for the switch to open.
The electricity (energy) is still there, it’s just not where it used to be (in the computer).
Maybe you’re making my point!?
I’m skeptical of a lot of things, but I’m not afraid to take a leap of faith either.
I believe what I believe because it makes me more comfortable with my death. Plain and simple.
If you don’t need to believe anything spiritual to make you more comfortable with your death, good on you. I’m not religious at all. I consider myself spiritual. Huge difference,IMHO. Whether I’m right or wrong doesn’t really interest me. How I feel now does.
Well, I’m not gonna touch the energy part of that post, because it’s just too silly.
But the other part puts a new twist on things that I haven’t heard before. Are you saying that you don’t even care if you’re right? You are just going to believe because it makes you feel good?
That’s a new one for me.
PeeQueue
I’m not even sure where to start here. The point I’m making is that the information is not stored in the energy, but in the physical structure of the computer’s static memory, CD ROM, and so on. The specific energy, if you will, that was in the computer is now just waste heat.
Even if you make the enormous leap that the soul or consciousness or whatever you want to call it is in fact energy-based and not a complex phenomenon requiring the physical hosting of neurons, without a source of constant generation, it is going to rapidly attenuate and lose coherence. This is what entropy is all about. Star Trek-like energy creatures are pretty damn unlikely.
In neither Gods nor Ghosts do I believe. No UFOs, no Lock Ness Monster, no ESP, no elves or dwarves, no Santa Claus, no Astral travel, no Astrology, no palm reading. The credulity of common folk readily lends itself to the belief in these unsubstantiated things. Personally, I think belief in the paranormal or spiritual beings is evidence of an uncritical mind, an open and trusting mind, a gullible mind. Sometimes a faux belief in such silly things can be fun or amusing if taken as game like Astrology or Haunted Houses. I think this is the crux: it is more fun to believe in Ghosts than not, it is more comforting to believe in God than not, and people gravitate towards fun and comfort rather than bleak reality.
Now if God were to speak me through a burning bush and there was no evidence of hidden microphones or delusions, I would re-evaluate my non-belief.
Are we sure this isn’t Contestant#3?
No, the electricity is gone. Sure, you can turn it on again, and have electricity flow again, but it’s not the same electricity. There is no “computer” energy that the power company has set aside for your computer.
Since life gets more ordered through life shoulden’t it get more ordered after death?
It does. It’s called passing on genes.
Take a gander at the picture in this link. The baby is a friend of mine, the picture taken 50plus years ago. What the other thing in the picture is, I leave to you to decide. Whatever, it is certainly an intriguing flaw in the developing. I have the original photo and certify that it has not been tampered with. I merely scanned it.
http://members.tripod.com/~joker49/Ghost1.jpg
Check this out and tell me what you see.
[sarcasm]I find it absolutely amazing that photographers 50 years ago were totally incapable of double-exposing film. The photographers we have today, with the state-of-the-art equipment they use, sure have a lot to learn from those wizards of the past.[/sarcasm]
Yup. That’s what I’m saying. Why does anyone believe in life after death? If you’re honest with yourself, you’ll probably say,… “because I don’t want to die. When the flesh dies, big deal…My energy will live for eternity.”
It doesn’t matter if I’m right. If your right, then the lights go out, and that’s that. If I’m right, then it really doesn’t matter. The difference between me and a religionist is, to them, you’re going to hell for not believing what they believe. I respect your beliefs…because it doesn’t matter who’s right. It’s all about how I feel, today. Of course, it does matter how I deal with people, how I make other people feel. I have more to say…but I gotta run
Santa Claus… Do you believe?
Tooth Fairy… Do you believe?
Cthulu… Do you believe?
Tinkerbell… Do you believe? (If so, clap your hands as loud as you can!!!)
Ogres… Do you believe?
Elves… Do you believe?
Turning off your computer deprives it of electricity and is akin to depriving a person of either food, water or oxygen for a very long time.
But unless you are a necrophiliac, don’t try turning on a dead person.