# Who ya gonna call? \[Is there any proof of ghosts, demons, or evil spirits?\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 5, 2013, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-ya-gonna-call-is-there-any-proof-of-ghosts-demons-or-evil-spirits/673119 "2013-11-05T03:02:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-ya-gonna-call-is-there-any-proof-of-ghosts-demons-or-evil-spirits/673119/121 "2013-11-07T18:52:12Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > What makes you believe the FBI has this information? It was right there, dude-He _seriously_ believes. What more could you want from him? ---
**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:** [November 7, 2013, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-ya-gonna-call-is-there-any-proof-of-ghosts-demons-or-evil-spirits/673119/122 "2013-11-07T18:53:29Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > It was right there, dude-He _seriously_ believes. What more could you want from him? I need about tree fiddy ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-ya-gonna-call-is-there-any-proof-of-ghosts-demons-or-evil-spirits/673119/123 "2013-11-07T18:55:42Z")
I’m going to reply to this as if I was meant, because I’m basically a skeptic rationalist as well. > [@thepillar](#): > > :rolleyes: YOU are the skeptic I was referring to; YOU should try to arrange a meeting with Christoper Warnock so he can refer you to the guys who practice Goetic Ceremonial Magic; and it is YOU who should be present during the ritual in order to witness it yourself. I see literally no reason to. No reason whatsoever. If someone told me, “Travel 5,000 miles to a buddhist temple and stay there for three days without food or water and you will meet the true face of god”, I would not take time out of my schedule to plan a trip to said buddhist temple because it lacks all prior credibility. I’m not going to jump through a lot of hoops to examine the evidence that this is a real thing. Especially not when all I’ll have at the end of it is my own subject experience of something essentially built to fuck with our heads. A lot of people here won’t even watch a 10-minute-long youtube video, let alone travel to see some kooky mystic. > [@lekatt](#): > > This case has been around for many years and has not fell apart yet. > > [Is Reincarnation Real? The Case of Parmod Sharma - Beliefnet](http://www.beliefnet.com/Wellness/2003/02/Is-Reincarnation-Real-The-Case-Of-Parmod-Sharma.aspx) I see no reason to believe it’s anything more than something invented by some woo-ster trying to sell his dumb theory. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-ya-gonna-call-is-there-any-proof-of-ghosts-demons-or-evil-spirits/673119/124 "2013-11-07T18:58:55Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > I see no reason to believe it’s anything more than something invented by some woo-ster trying to sell his dumb theory. There are other ways for people to get swept up in superstition. It’s a story about things a child said in the 1940s, which probably makes it a little tough to apply real scrutiny at this stage. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Quatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc8723/32.png) [@Mr\_Quatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Quatro)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-ya-gonna-call-is-there-any-proof-of-ghosts-demons-or-evil-spirits/673119/125 "2013-11-07T19:52:53Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > What makes you believe the FBI has this information? From the sound of the ladies voice saying they no longer investigate these happenings led me to believe that at one point in time they did investigate them, which probably included UFO’s too, but they know more than they are willing to admit and the time and money spent may have proven to be too much and of course not admissible in any courtroom of the USA, including SD courtroom of Great Debates. You guys are tougher than nails lol [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychic\_detective](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychic_detective) > [@](#): > > A former senior investigator for the FBI has stated that psychics may be used "as a last resort [and] as an investigative tool with caution "for providing clues not directly admissible in the court of law such as a criminal’s character, or the location of dead bodies. ---
**Author:** ![lekatt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lekatt/32/7269_2.png) [@lekatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lekatt)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-ya-gonna-call-is-there-any-proof-of-ghosts-demons-or-evil-spirits/673119/126 "2013-11-07T20:10:01Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Whereas some people, present company included, say, “I can’t prove the claim, even though it doesn’t seem likely in any world we know about, but I will believe it anyway.” > > I don’t know where your Sagan quote came from (provide a reference if you can), but you deliberately ignored 99.99% of the book. I didn’t ignore it, I read it. I read many of Sagan’s books, Einstein’s books, Hawkins’ books, and other science books. I try to keep up with developments in Neuroscience, and Quantum physics. I also read spiritual books. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-ya-gonna-call-is-there-any-proof-of-ghosts-demons-or-evil-spirits/673119/127 "2013-11-07T20:22:56Z")
Until you find and post the real quote, I am going to assume you’ve misremembered another book. I posted Sagan’s actual opinion on reincarnation upthread. ---
**Author:** ![lekatt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lekatt/32/7269_2.png) [@lekatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lekatt)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-ya-gonna-call-is-there-any-proof-of-ghosts-demons-or-evil-spirits/673119/128 "2013-11-07T21:01:20Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Beliefnet-the online version of a psychic fair. Have y’all ever been to a psychic fair? It consists of tables and tents filled with fools and fakers telling you the most fantastic crap for a price, and where it gets weird is when these fly-by-night card and/or glass ball readers tell you entirely different things within each other’s hearing, yet will not directly confront each other over who is right. The unwritten rule of psychic fairs and psychic websites is the same: _You support my bullshit, and I’ll support yours_. Have you been to a psychic fair? I am going to one this weekend. I used to answer questions at them years ago. One dollar for one question. My guide told me the answers, and it was great fun. We had people lined up all day long. But you are right, some of them are not real psychics and just fake it. There is a way to tell the difference. They are mostly just for fun, like gambling or betting on horse racing. I don’t do it any more. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Quatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc8723/32.png) [@Mr\_Quatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Quatro)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-ya-gonna-call-is-there-any-proof-of-ghosts-demons-or-evil-spirits/673119/129 "2013-11-07T21:01:29Z")
Interesting information found while researching topic: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranormal](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranormal) > [@](#): > > Richard Wiseman, of The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, draws attention to possible alternative explanations for perceived paranormal activity in his article, The Haunted Brain. While he recognizes that approximately 15% of people believe they have experienced an encounter with a ghost, he reports that only 1% report seeing a full-fledged ghost while the rest report strange sensory stimuli, such as seeing fleeting shadows or wisps of smoke, or the sensation of hearing footsteps or feeling a presence. Wiseman makes the claim that, rather than experiencing paranormal activity, it is activity within our own brains that creates these strange sensations . This could explain a lot of the sightings: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranormal](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranormal) > [@](#): > > Bainbridge (1978) and Wuthnow (1976) found that the most susceptible people to paranormal belief **are those who are poorly educated** , unemployed or have roles that rank low amongst social values. The alienation of these people due to their status in society is said to encourage them to appeal to paranormal or magical beliefs. > > **Research has associated paranormal belief with low cognitive ability, low IQ and a lack of science education**. Intelligent and highly educated participants involved in surveys have proven to have less paranormal belief.Tobacyk (1984) and Messer and Griggs (1989) **discovered that college students with better grades have less belief in the paranormal**. My simple observation that I reported to the FBI was watching an out of my body experience, but I was not on drugs or alcohol and I was not dying … nor was I a ghost or an evil spirit and I am not an angel so I do not qualify as a field student of the occult. I did not become a Christian for another two years so I can not blame God and adding to the mystery, after realizing that humans can be in control of their own bodies, I no longer leave my body for any reasons what so ever for fear of the unknown. Fear in the Greek language means respect. I respect your views, but like I said it’s hard to explain spirit things to people that have not been there and even harder to prove them, but if these invisible \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ (fill in the blank) are smarter than we are … they surely don’t want anyone to have the proof you demand. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-ya-gonna-call-is-there-any-proof-of-ghosts-demons-or-evil-spirits/673119/130 "2013-11-07T22:04:31Z")
The issue is if you experience them you got to deal with them. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-ya-gonna-call-is-there-any-proof-of-ghosts-demons-or-evil-spirits/673119/131 "2013-11-07T22:12:28Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > The issue is if you experience them you got to deal with them. Then the issue is that we have absolutely nothing to deal with. ---
**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:** [November 7, 2013, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-ya-gonna-call-is-there-any-proof-of-ghosts-demons-or-evil-spirits/673119/132 "2013-11-07T22:23:56Z")
> [@Mr\_Quatro](#): > > From the sound of the ladies voice saying they no longer investigate these happenings led me to believe that at one point in time they did investigate them, That’s reasonable > [@](#): > > which probably included UFO’s too, Of course the government investigated UFO’s. I’ve never heard them deny that they investigated UFO’s. The existence of Project Bluebook is no secret. They do deny finding any extraterrestrials. > [@](#): > > but they know more than they are willing to admit I don’t think this is reasonable. Why would they know anything? Why would they not be willing to admit it? ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-ya-gonna-call-is-there-any-proof-of-ghosts-demons-or-evil-spirits/673119/133 "2013-11-07T22:27:06Z")
> [@lekatt](#): > > But you are right, some of them are not real psychics and just fake it. There is a way to tell the difference. You’re right. There is a real way to tell the difference: If they’re at a psychic fair, they ain’t real. That would include you. ---
**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:** [November 7, 2013, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-ya-gonna-call-is-there-any-proof-of-ghosts-demons-or-evil-spirits/673119/134 "2013-11-07T22:42:42Z")
> [@lekatt](#): > > ]. But you are right, some of them are not real psychics and just fake it. There is a way to tell the difference. And that way is ? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-ya-gonna-call-is-there-any-proof-of-ghosts-demons-or-evil-spirits/673119/135 "2013-11-07T22:55:49Z")
> [@lekatt](#): > > I didn’t ignore it, I read it. I read many of Sagan’s books, Einstein’s books, Hawkins’ books, and other science books. I try to keep up with developments in Neuroscience, and Quantum physics. I also read spiritual books. Your “keeping up” reminds me of the definition of a college lecture: “Where the information transfers from the notebook of the teacher to the notebook of the student without affecting the mind of either.” ---
**Author:** ![lekatt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lekatt/32/7269_2.png) [@lekatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lekatt)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-ya-gonna-call-is-there-any-proof-of-ghosts-demons-or-evil-spirits/673119/136 "2013-11-08T01:34:56Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > And that way is ? If they look at you, into your eyes, they are probably looking for a clue that they are right or wrong. Real readers look at their cards or even close their eyes. They may make contact with you as in holding hands. When I close my eyes it is not black that I see but a world of people, things and actions. I can communicate with them. Sometimes called the third eye. But I am a teacher and don’t do readings. Thanks for asking without judging. ---
**Author:** ![lekatt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lekatt/32/7269_2.png) [@lekatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lekatt)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-ya-gonna-call-is-there-any-proof-of-ghosts-demons-or-evil-spirits/673119/137 "2013-11-08T01:36:03Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Your “keeping up” reminds me of the definition of a college lecture: “Where the information transfers from the notebook of the teacher to the notebook of the student without affecting the mind of either.” Another judgement. ---
**Author:** ![lekatt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lekatt/32/7269_2.png) [@lekatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lekatt)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-ya-gonna-call-is-there-any-proof-of-ghosts-demons-or-evil-spirits/673119/138 "2013-11-08T01:37:11Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > You’re right. There is a real way to tell the difference: > > If they’re at a psychic fair, they ain’t real. That would include you. I get the message– ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-ya-gonna-call-is-there-any-proof-of-ghosts-demons-or-evil-spirits/673119/139 "2013-11-08T12:49:12Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Then the issue is that we have absolutely nothing to deal with. Perhaps but if someone you care about is experiencing these things you may be involved in it as well (involved in the sense that you desire to help them). So it’s just not the person experience these things in a vacuum, but as also a fellow human being. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-ya-gonna-call-is-there-any-proof-of-ghosts-demons-or-evil-spirits/673119/140 "2013-11-08T13:05:51Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > Perhaps but if someone you care about is experiencing these things you may be involved in it as well (involved in the sense that you desire to help them). So it’s just not the person experience these things in a vacuum, but as also a fellow human being. It’s exactly they same concern you would feel if someone you cared about was delusional and only _thought_ they were experiencing those things. If someone tells me that invisible entities are talking to them, my concern over their mental health is in no possible way evidence for the existence of invisible entities. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-ya-gonna-call-is-there-any-proof-of-ghosts-demons-or-evil-spirits/673119.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-ya-gonna-call-is-there-any-proof-of-ghosts-demons-or-evil-spirits/673119.md?page=8)