# Why do so many people believe in ghosts (and other paranormal)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 29, 2013, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-believe-in-ghosts-and-other-paranormal/664802 "2013-07-29T10:55:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-believe-in-ghosts-and-other-paranormal/664802/101 "2013-08-01T11:01:53Z")
> [@Caneknife](#): > > I have personally seen ghosts , I swear on a bible, I did not believe in them at all, but 1 night I was with my girlfriend(wife now) sitting at a table and my tea cup started moving across the table from left to right every few minutes, we both saw it happen then a week later I saw a old lady in clothes that they wore in the 1600 floating in front of our bed at midnight, it scared the hell out of me but did not feel threatened, they are true. How banal. ---
**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:** [August 1, 2013, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-believe-in-ghosts-and-other-paranormal/664802/102 "2013-08-01T12:08:51Z")
> [@Blakeyrat](#): > > They have a financial incentive for you to recommend their tour to other people. It was probably a hidden air conditioner they switched on. Shows how wrong assumptions can be. I was in the Navy when my ship visited the old fort. The military draft was in place. What we felt was real. ---
**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:** [August 1, 2013, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-believe-in-ghosts-and-other-paranormal/664802/103 "2013-08-01T12:12:00Z")
> [@Caneknife](#): > > I have personally seen ghosts , I swear on a bible, I did not believe in them at all, but 1 night I was with my girlfriend(wife now) sitting at a table and my tea cup started moving across the table from left to right every few minutes, we both saw it happen then a week later I saw a old lady in clothes that they wore in the 1600 floating in front of our bed at midnight, it scared the hell out of me but did not feel threatened, they are true. Thanks for posting here, I believe you. Millions of people have seen ghosts and other paranormal phenomenon. Hardly a day passes that I don’t experience spiritual events. ---
**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:** [August 1, 2013, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-believe-in-ghosts-and-other-paranormal/664802/104 "2013-08-01T12:15:23Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > 1)How can something with 0 Mass produce enough force to move a teacup? > > 2)Even if a 'ghost could exist, just how could its cloths manifest themselves? It is easy when you understand spirits can create any image they wish. Usually they create an image of themselves as they looked in their latest physical life. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-believe-in-ghosts-and-other-paranormal/664802/105 "2013-08-01T12:23:03Z")
> [@lekatt](#): > > It is easy when you understand spirits can create any image they wish. It’s even easier when you just make stuff up and don’t reply in any meaningful manner to the counter arguments made against your illogical, unsupported, and internally inconsistent nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-believe-in-ghosts-and-other-paranormal/664802/106 "2013-08-01T12:23:03Z")
> [@lekatt](#): > > I remember visiting the fort on Dry Tortugus. When I entered a prison cell which once held a famous pirate I felt a drop in temperature of over 30 degrees. Cold inside and very hot outside, everyone with the group also felt it. There is a lot to it. Are you talking about Dr Samuel Mudd? Because his ghost presumably commutes from [Maryland](http://rob-tom-dolly-franklin.blogspot.co.uk/2009/09/my-experience-with-dr-samuel-mudds.html). ---
**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:** [August 1, 2013, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-believe-in-ghosts-and-other-paranormal/664802/107 "2013-08-01T15:33:44Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > It’s even easier when you just make stuff up and don’t reply in any meaningful manner to the counter arguments made against your illogical, unsupported, and internally inconsistent nonsense. I tell you what I have experienced. I know you don’t believe, it is OK. There are hundreds of books on the subject you could read. ---
**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:** [August 1, 2013, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-believe-in-ghosts-and-other-paranormal/664802/108 "2013-08-01T15:48:16Z")
> [@Bozuit](#): > > Are you talking about Dr Samuel Mudd? Because his ghost presumably commutes from [Maryland](http://rob-tom-dolly-franklin.blogspot.co.uk/2009/09/my-experience-with-dr-samuel-mudds.html). I was told the famous Pirate Jean Lafitte was held in that jail, and he was the one who haunted it. I can’t verify this, but the experience was very real. I am not frightened by ghosts and other paranormal events. I have experience hundreds of them and know what to do. Spirits and/or ghosts have only the power over you that you allow them through your fear. ---
**Author:** ![Blakeyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blakeyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blakeyrat)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-believe-in-ghosts-and-other-paranormal/664802/109 "2013-08-01T18:25:51Z")
> [@lekatt](#): > > Shows how wrong assumptions can be. I was in the Navy when my ship visited the old fort. The military draft was in place. What we felt was real. … how does your bring drafted into the Navy have anything whatsoever with what I just said? Am I being trolled? ---
**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:** [August 1, 2013, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-believe-in-ghosts-and-other-paranormal/664802/110 "2013-08-01T19:07:26Z")
> [@Blakeyrat](#): > > …“They have a financial incentive for you to recommend their tour to other people. It was probably a hidden air conditioner they switched on.” > > how does your bring drafted into the Navy have anything whatsoever with what I just said? > > Am I being trolled? It shows I was not on a tour nor could I recommend this false tour to others. Very plain to me. ---
**Author:** ![Blakeyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blakeyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blakeyrat)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-believe-in-ghosts-and-other-paranormal/664802/111 "2013-08-01T19:38:42Z")
Because… people in the Navy are physically barred from taking or recommending tours? Strange, I’ve known people in the Navy and none of them mentioned that. You know what? Nevermind. I have no idea how your brain works, or what “obvious” point you think I’m missing. I’ll just bow out. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-believe-in-ghosts-and-other-paranormal/664802/112 "2013-08-01T22:57:34Z")
> [@lekatt](#): > > I was told the famous Pirate Jean Lafitte was held in that jail, and he was the one who haunted it. I can’t verify this, . . . Well, your last statement is true. Lafitte had been dead for 23 years before the U.S. began building the fort and had been dead for over forty years when it was first used as a prison. Poor guy had to haunt a place he had never been when alive. THAT must have been disconcerting. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-believe-in-ghosts-and-other-paranormal/664802/113 "2013-08-01T23:08:49Z")
> [@lekatt](#): > > It is easy when you understand spirits can create any image they wish. Usually they create an image of themselves as they looked in their latest physical life. > [@lekatt](#): > > I tell you what I have experienced. I know you don’t believe, it is OK. > There are hundreds of books on the subject you could read. > [@lekatt](#): > > I am not frightened by ghosts and other paranormal events. I have experience hundreds of them and know what to do. Spirits and/or ghosts have only the power over you that you allow them through your fear. All right. The topic is “Why do people believe in ghosts?” Posting your own belief(s) over and over is not addressing the actual question. You have made your point: you have had experiences that you believe were ghostly. Fine. Unless you have something specific to address the actual question, quit simply repeating your anecdotes. You have now posted enough information about your beliefs to provide other posters with enough information to make up their own minds about your beliefs. You have no need to keep flooding the thread with more such anecdotes. [/Moderating] ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-believe-in-ghosts-and-other-paranormal/664802/114 "2013-08-01T23:48:03Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > 2)Even if a 'ghost could exist, just how could its cloths manifest themselves? See post #51. Another theory: If a ghost is the memory of a person who won’t let go (its own memory, I mean, not that of the loved one who sees it), it would manifest in accordance with its most accustomed self-image, which in most cases includes clothes. That nightmare everybody has of going to work or school and suddenly noticing they’re naked? That doesn’t change when you die. ---
**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:** [August 1, 2013, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-believe-in-ghosts-and-other-paranormal/664802/115 "2013-08-01T23:55:02Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > All right. The topic is “Why do people believe in ghosts?” Posting your own belief(s) over and over is not addressing the actual question. > You have made your point: you have had experiences that you believe were ghostly. Fine. Unless you have something specific to address the actual question, quit simply repeating your anecdotes. You have now posted enough information about your beliefs to provide other posters with enough information to make up their own minds about your beliefs. You have no need to keep flooding the thread with more such anecdotes. > > [/Moderating] Been expecting you Tom, and you never disappoint me. Love ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-believe-in-ghosts-and-other-paranormal/664802/116 "2013-08-02T00:00:20Z")
On the other hand, you always disappoint me. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Gary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9dc877/32.png) [@Mr.Gary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Gary)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-believe-in-ghosts-and-other-paranormal/664802/117 "2013-08-02T02:14:44Z")
There are all sorts of fancy explanations that can be given but it will all boil down to the fact that most people fear death. When I die what will happen to my thoughts and memories? Do they just vanish like a program that has been deleted? Admittedly not a pleasant thought so people create the “ghost” as a way to gain a small amount of comfort and solace. Me, I don’t fear death, one day I’ll have the answer. dam I hope the Jehovah’s Witnesses aren’t right! Hope that helps just a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2013, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-believe-in-ghosts-and-other-paranormal/664802/118 "2013-08-03T03:06:59Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > Well, your last statement is true. Lafitte had been dead for 23 years before the U.S. began building the fort and had been dead for over forty years when it was first used as a prison. > Poor guy had to haunt a place he had never been when alive. THAT must have been disconcerting. Hah! Figures. There’s not a ‘historical’ ghost ‘haunting’ that doesn’t have at least one huge error like that. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2013, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-believe-in-ghosts-and-other-paranormal/664802/119 "2013-08-03T03:21:34Z")
> [@Mr.Gary](#): > > dam I hope the Jehovah’s Witnesses aren’t right! Why? What do they think happens to dead souls? ---
**Author:** ![Askthepizzaguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askthepizzaguy/32/9405_2.png) [@Askthepizzaguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askthepizzaguy)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2013, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-believe-in-ghosts-and-other-paranormal/664802/120 "2013-08-03T10:01:07Z")
Once, at a friend’s house, I was staying in a bedroom. The closet doors were the kind that fold open, and are on a track. The light was a bulb embedded in a recess in the ceiling. One night, as I lay in bed reading, the closet doors spontaneously closed, and a few seconds later, the light in the ceiling shut itself off. I’m a rational atheist who believes in absolutely nothing supernatural, but I was still spooked by the experience. Mostly because it happened so suddenly and I wasn’t expecting it, not because I believed my sheets were about to strangle me. On further examination: The closet door was experiencing stress while it was folded open. It was sort of like a spring, but if it is folded all the way open, there’s too much friction for it to pop closed. However, given enough time, or a slight breeze, it will get past the point of most resistance, and the “spring” of the tension on the door will release, closing the closet door. The bulb in the ceiling overheats, because it is in a small recess. It is a poor place to put a light bulb. When the bulb overheats, it shuts off. These two easily explained events happened within seconds of each other. Both events were repeatable, and could be duplicated intentionally. My mind doesn’t accept that a ghost was playing with me, so I determined to find an explanation, and there was one. Easily found, if a rational way of thinking is applied. If my mind accepted the idea that there were mischievous spirits afoot, then that would be my story. I totally got haunted by a ghost. I saw it with my own eyes, AND YOU CANNOT EXPLAIN IT!!! Of course not, because I wasn’t there. You might have been able to explain it within the realm of the natural world if you accepted that sometimes unexplained things happen within the realm of the natural world and looked for a natural world explanation for such an occurrence instead of being impressed by the obvious and resounding evidence of the “supernatural”. \*\*Friction \*\*and **heat**. Two very common things. Oh my, how scary. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-believe-in-ghosts-and-other-paranormal/664802.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-believe-in-ghosts-and-other-paranormal/664802.md?page=7)