I would disagree with the assertion that Randi’s followers actually know that he is a fraud. Maybe some of them do, perhaps on a subconscious level, but mainly what I get from them is blind-faith devotion to him as if he were some religious cult leader.
They do tend to bully around people who’ve had genuine paranormal experiences, though (which is basically what got my dander up…)
No, that’s what I used to think. My experience has taught me otherwise.
Mostly he’s supported by obnoxious jerks who just enjoy making trouble. Discussions like this one start out entertaining, then turn to crap as soon as Randi is mentioned. He’s the paranormal Godwin. As soon as he’s mentioned, the thread is effectively over, and the one who mentions him demonstrates a clear lack of anything relevant to say… There may be a very small number of people who believe his stories, but mostly they are troublemakers who get a kick out of shitting all over threads.
I’ve already spoken before about my experiences with my ghost friend. I had other experiences in the past where I felt really creeped out in certain places and stuff, but I’m willing to dismiss those as just me psyching myself out in a creepy place.
It’s neat to hear other people’s experiences of this stuff. 
[quote=“KGS, post:39, topic:464984”]
(I find it very interesting that nearly ALL ghost sightings involve a ghost who was supposedly murdered, or drowned, or some other form of violent death – you rarely hear about the ghost of a 95-year-old man who died peacefully in his sleep!)"
I think the granny-at-my-bedside or uncle-joeys-hand-on-my-shoulder type stuff is pretty common - one lady told me her husband was pottering around for days after he died - benign experiences you wouldn’t call the film crew in for.
Litoris - that’s really exciting although I think even if they do manage to record something it’s not going to look too impressive - or maybe the phenomena will perform and start flinging stuff around! Are you able to quieten Bob down in any way? Have you ever tried to get him going - bang out a rhythm with him?
No, I’ve never seen a ghost and am quite sure I never will. I’ve heard unexplained noises, but hell, it’s just a noise that I might not understand. None of my friends has ever admitted or claimed to see a ghost that I can remember.
I’ll have to see if I can find a link to that video somewhere to post here. I’ve seen it, but I didn’t think much of it. Most of these ghost hunter shows almost alwas have something like that in it. ***“Wow, that teacup moved 3 inches! Its a ghost!”. ***Its diappointing in a way. If you’ve got people reporting all kinds of crazy stuff from things moving to full body apparitions it gets frustrating that none of it is ever seen on camera. I’m not saying its because its a hoax, I’m just sayin’…show me the freakin’ money!
Here ya go:
Hmm, it occurs to me you probably meant the armory one. Whoops.
There are at least two possibilities. One is that your friends have powers that will only work under conditions where it isn’t possible to control to an extent sufficient to tell if they have any powers or not, and the other possibility I will leave to you to work out.
As to your reference to Randi refusing to test a breatharian, it’s been done to death but what it comes down to is simply this. Randi says he has tested them before and he now refuses to test any more because (paraphrasing) (a) it’s boring because you have to sit around watching someone for days waiting for them to try to sneak out to have a burger, and (b) inevitably they always sneak out for a burger sooner or later. He’s also said (or at least the JREF has I think said) that they won’t test breatharians because they have a general policy of not testing things that involve risking the participant’s health perhaps because of potential liabilities. I think this latter is a bit of a poor excuse because I don’t think watching to see if someone has some food or not is going to make you liable if they don’t and stave to death but you 'mericans and your crazy tort law, who knows.
Fact is, Randi won’t test breatharians. It isn’t possible to surmise that a breatharian is a fake on the basis that if he was for real he’d take Randi’s prize, because Randi doesn’t test breatharians. Some people (me, for example) may surmise that the breatharians that Randi hasn’t and won’t test aren’t likely to have any more ability to live without food than the breatharians that Randi did in the past test, but whether you agree is up to you.
What does seem passably clear to me is that the fact that Randi won’t test breatharians says stuff all about the veracity of things that Randi will test.
And as to the OP, can you answer my usual question on this subject which is:
What is a ghost?
Read your first and second sentences just quoted. Note how you completely and utterly contradict yourself. Consider the cognitive dissonance involved and why it is necessary for you to engage in it.
Why indeed. The answer is in your hands, my friend, the answer is in your hands.
(Even though I’m not the OP)
My typical response:
Are you SURE you want to go there? 
[[I’m convinced that everyone has at least 3 different definitions of ghost]]
I won’t pretend to know. A disembodied human spirit? A soul? Energy? Maybe they’re all just some kind of imprint left in an area. I could just spout the dictionary answer, but I think it would say pretty much the same thing.
I wish I could tell you. I don’t know if people that claim to have seen one could really tell you what it is, beyond ***“It was a ghost!”. ***
I just know that people that have told me that they have seen a ghost had no reason to make it up, and I don’t think they were delusional. The lady I spoke of in my OP for instance, was a coworker of mine in the Nat’l Guard (before I left for active duty) and she didn’t seem “crazy”, and I don’t think she was making it up.
I’m not looking for some sort of sophisticated answer of this nature. I just want to know what one is sufficient to recognise one and distinguish it from a tree, or a clap of thunder or a kiss on the cheek.
I think there are several LEVELS of classification, with either “Ghost” or “Spirit” being at the top (and then an intersecting tree with demons, but hooo boy, we’re not getting into THAT load when we’re still touching ghosts in the discussion). However, saying “I saw a ghost” or “I talked with a spirit” is a pretty solid thing. It’s basically saying “I communicated with/witnessed what appears to be a non-corporeal or otherwise enchanted entity.” You don’t have to specify dead, and if you word it carefully you can include the really out there stuff like “Astral Projections” “nature elementals” or (if you really want to stretch definitions) “faeries,” all of which, by all counts, could be mistaken for ghosts/spirits in some way. (We’re operating under assumptions of existence for our definitions)
You’re neglecting the third possibility, “innocently mistaken.”
I’ve posted this before, so I guess I might as well post it again.
I lived, for a while, in a very large house that was built in the late 1800s. Although the upstairs had largely been restored, the basement had not. Like other houses of that time and place, the basement had nothing but dirt floors and there were several rooms down there. There was one room in that basement that I absolutely could not bring myself to enter. My son and ex-wife didn’t find anything threatening about that room; my son used to go inside that room and dare me to come in with him. I couldn’t do it. The hair on my arms and on the back of my neck would absolutely bristle and I came very near to panicking just as a result of opening the door. I have absolutely no explanation for what happened to me; all I can say is that that particular room absolutely terrified me. The rest of the house was benign, although it did have a few cold spots.
Well thats certainly true. If someone says that a ghost makes footstep noises all night in their house and then find out its actually pipes banging or whatever, thats mistaken.
If someone says I saw a man dressed in 19th centure clothing sitting in the attic and he looked solid, but then he just disappeared, well, they could be imagining things. I don’t think that every ghost sighting is real, I just think that some of them may be real. But if I had to investigate it, I would do like TAPs does…I’d actively try to disprove it.
I’m confused…where’s the contradiction? 
A “ghost”, as I understand it, is a manifestation of energy left behind by the death of a human being. This doesn’t necessarily mean that such a manifestation retains the consciousness & memories of the person’s previous life (indeed, the entire nature of consciousness itself, how it’s formed and how it relates to the brain, is still a matter of debate) but most likely, there is a connection. I also believe that it’s not a specific form of energy per se, but the resonance or rhythm created by tiny fluctuations of subatomic particles on a quantum level – which would explain why science has yet to “prove” a ghost, because our current level of technology is insufficient to detect such an anomaly with absolute precision.
At least, that’s my theory.
Here, I’ll help with some emphasis:
“Fact is, **Randi only picks **the amateur psychics, the people who haven’t had any real training, are overconfident, and are temporarily blinded by the promise of a $1 million payout. Sure, **Randi has publicly solicited **the big fish – Browne, Geller, et al. – but they have all turned him down, for good reasons.”
In your first sentence you are trying to make it sound like Randi selects only amateur bunnies, even though you know damn well (as your second sentence indicates) that he invites all comers, and indeed has made a point of trying to test the big pros. You’re not fooling me, and I wouldn’t care if you tried, but you might introspect on why you are attempting to fool yourself.
Sorry, this is waffle. Give me something I can use. How does one recognise a “manifestation of energy left behind by the death of a human being” and distinguish it from a tree, or a clap of thunder or a kiss on the cheek? You’re just replacing one nonce word with a nonce phrase.
But however subtle the characteristics of this ‘energy’, it would have to be able to manipulate sound and light in order to create visible/audible ghosts, and even be able to impart a force to objects for poltergeist phenomena – none of which is exactly a subtle effect, and any effect – any interaction – can be utilised for detection, thus, if such an energy existed, it ought to have been found by now. Never mind all that quantum stuff.