# How long do ghosts live? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 4, 2018, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-ghosts-live/805848 "2018-01-04T13:58:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-ghosts-live/805848/81 "2018-01-04T23:03:56Z")
Wait wait wait, are we talking about \*human \*ghosts? They all die off in a few hundred years. But \*robot \*ghosts will continue to live for ever. Not sure about ghost ships or ghost animals though. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-ghosts-live/805848/82 "2018-01-04T23:15:22Z")
Ghosts die when Bigfoot eats them. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-ghosts-live/805848/83 "2018-01-05T00:03:28Z")
> [@Mavic\_Chen](#): > > Every time you yawn a ghost puts his penis in your mouth. > > You’re welcome. Evil! Is that how you teach children to cover their mouths when they yawn? > [@Green\_Bean](#): > > My ghost is more accomplished than yours. He makes a nail in the floorboard pop up, and he likes to hide the remote. . . . No stealing single socks from the dryer? If a ghost would completely discorporate a sock, it would liberate enough energy to allow it to live for . . . hmmm . . . Let’s see, E (Joules) = 0.028 kg (sock) X 300,000 km/sec X 300,000 km/sec = 25,200,000,000 Joules. If one Joule is 0.000239006 Kilocalories, that’s 6,022,951.2 Kcal. Assume 2,000 Kcal/day needed to live and that’s about 3,011 1/2 days or about 8 1/2 years. More if ghosts burn less energy than humans do. Rounding to one sock every ten years is tempting, but I think we need to take the engineering perspective and assume a ghost needs one sock every five years. That’s a safety factor of 1.7. ---
**Author:** ![BlueMerle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@BlueMerle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueMerle)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-ghosts-live/805848/84 "2018-01-05T00:09:06Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > **No stealing single socks from the dryer?** If a ghost would completely discorporate a sock, it would liberate enough energy to allow it to live for . . . hmmm . . . > > Let’s see, E (Joules) = 0.028 kg (sock) X 300,000 km/sec X 300,000 km/sec = 25,200,000,000 Joules. > > If one Joule is 0.000239006 Kilocalories, that’s 6,022,951.2 Kcal. Assume 2,000 Kcal/day needed to live and that’s about 3,011 1/2 days or about 8 1/2 years. More if ghosts burn less energy than humans do. > > Rounding to one sock every ten years is tempting, but I think we need to take the engineering perspective and assume a ghost needs one sock every five years. > > That’s a safety factor of 1.7. Absolutely not!!! It’s been scientifically proven that socks are the larval form of coat hangers. For every sock that goes missing in your dryer a coat hanger appears in your closet. You can’t argue with science! ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-ghosts-live/805848/85 "2018-01-05T01:34:40Z")
What about extension cords? I remember one house that we lived in, where we didn’t seem to be able to keep an extension cord available to save our lives. Then we moved. As more and more things were packed away, we discovered dozens of coat hangers in odd places, true, BUT we also discovered more than a dozen extension cords. I know we had never bought that many cords, so they were obviously both disappearing AND multiplying. Are they part of your hypothetical cycle, or are they doing their own mystic thing? Also, MY theory is more scientific than yours because it’s got more math. [citation - C. Northcote Parkinson] ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-ghosts-live/805848/86 "2018-01-05T03:44:47Z")
You’re very lucky that the Powers That Be have forbidden me to do my Etheric Psychologist shtick. Instead of talking earnestly about Non Corporeal Consciousness Fields and Metaconsciousness, I’ll just share the true\* story of a ghost in my appartment. At first it was just little things- a door opened, strange streaks on the mirror, whispers in the night. Then, I saw him. He was old- ancient. He had long white hair and a huge scar on his neck. He looked oddly familiar. He vanished before I could react. Of course, he came back. I would wake up and find him standing by the bed, muttering in Russian and Yiddish. I didn’t know what, if anything, to do. One day he showed me something. He lifted his bathrobe to reveal a birthmark on his shoulder. The world shook. I have that birthmark. That wizened face was my own. Apparently, at some point in the future, my experiments in time travel succeed. I die and return to haunt myself. Also, I learn fluent Rusian and Yiddish. \*By “true” I mean false. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-ghosts-live/805848/87 "2018-01-05T03:57:14Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Let’s see, E (Joules) = 0.028 kg (sock) X 300,000 km/sec X 300,000 km/sec = 25,200,000,000 Joules. Shouldn’t the speed of light unit be in meters per second to get joules? So 0.028kg \* (9e16 m[sup]2[/sup]s[sup]-2[/sup]), or 2.52e15, or 2,520,000,000,000,000 joules? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-ghosts-live/805848/88 "2018-01-05T05:02:18Z")
I had ghosts in my garden this past summer. They were peppers. I ate 2 right out of hand one day, I thought I would be a ghost before I got that taste off my tongue. And I would have stayed dead and ghostly for a long time. At least 100 years. I have peeps to haunt. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-ghosts-live/805848/89 "2018-01-05T05:18:31Z")
Peeps of Easters and Halloweens past haunt me to this day. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-ghosts-live/805848/90 "2018-01-05T05:40:13Z")
Watch out for the white ones, they are evil demons! ---
**Author:** ![BlueMerle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@BlueMerle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueMerle)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-ghosts-live/805848/91 "2018-01-05T06:42:13Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > What about extension cords? I remember one house that we lived in, where we didn’t seem to be able to keep an extension cord available to save our lives. Then we moved. As more and more things were packed away, we discovered dozens of coat hangers in odd places, true, BUT we also discovered more than a dozen extension cords. I know we had never bought that many cords, so they were obviously both disappearing AND multiplying. > > Are they part of your hypothetical cycle, or are they doing their own mystic thing? Also, MY theory is more scientific than yours because it’s got more math. [citation - C. Northcote Parkinson] First, let me assure you there’s nothing hypothetical about my statement above. As for extension cords it’s been suggested, but never proven, that they are capable of existing in an ‘out of phase’ (for lack of a better term) reality. Not interdimensional mind you, just out of phase. This is thought to be primarily due to their bipolar nature. That’s bipolar in the chemical sense not the psychiatric sense, obviously. Hopefully you were able to thoroughly document your experience You may have me on the math bit, I’m working on it. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-ghosts-live/805848/92 "2018-01-05T07:42:06Z")
That same phenomenon occurs to flashlights around here. Come to think of it we lose alot of Yeti cups. Socks, wash cloths, dog toys, remotes, phone chargers, bic lighters, chocolate bars ( nix that; I ate them). I think I live where there is a doorway to a paranormal world. Or maybe my house is on a Indian burial ground. Aaccckkk!!! Just my luck! ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-ghosts-live/805848/93 "2018-01-05T10:01:36Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Ghosts are not an area of scientific research, even if certain people claim “expertise” on them. [I beg to differ.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk1ELdPIN4A) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-ghosts-live/805848/94 "2018-01-05T12:22:49Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > And I would have stayed dead and ghostly for a long time. At least 100 years. I have peeps to haunt. [Link](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/d2/af/5f/d2af5f7c0d6397f2095140370005aef6--halloween-pictures-halloween-ideas.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-ghosts-live/805848/95 "2018-01-05T18:05:43Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Shouldn’t the speed of light unit be in meters per second to get joules? So 0.028kg \* (9e16 m[sup]2[/sup]s[sup]-2[/sup]), or 2.52e15, or 2,520,000,000,000,000 joules? Thanks for the correction. That’s 602,295,120,000 kcal. 301,147,560 days. And I divided for years incorrectly before, so it’s 825,062 years. Dang. No wonder they’re after our socks. I wonder if they’re risking burning themselves out when they connect with such a strong power source. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-ghosts-live/805848/96 "2018-01-05T18:24:56Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > Twice as long as half a ghost. And since reversing the variables also returns a result of “true” - half as long as twice a ghost - we can now consider the equation proven. You write the paper. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-ghosts-live/805848/97 "2018-01-05T18:26:48Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > [Link](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/d2/af/5f/d2af5f7c0d6397f2095140370005aef6--halloween-pictures-halloween-ideas.jpg). Nice! ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-ghosts-live/805848/98 "2018-01-05T18:41:30Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Ghosts are not an area of scientific research, even if certain people claim “expertise” on them. Of course we can do scientific research on the subject of ghosts, and such research has been carried out many times over the years. And guess what the result of that research was? ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-ghosts-live/805848/99 "2018-01-05T18:47:08Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Have we ruled out the possibility that the “poltergeist” is actually a mischievous fey of some sort? In that case, you can try to befriend it with gifts like milk, or you can wait for it to find someone more amusing to annoy. If you have malicious Fey, they’re worse than anything. Befriend? Sure. But by the legends and stories, we’re just playthings to the Fey. We’d be like talking puppies to a group of sociopathic serial killers with no conscience, no compassion, no remorse. I wouldn’t want anything to do with them. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-ghosts-live/805848/100 "2018-01-05T18:55:23Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > And guess what the result of that research was? [Don’t cross the streams?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyaLZHiJJnE) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-ghosts-live/805848.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-do-ghosts-live/805848.md?page=6)