# You just died. You're a ghost. How long before you get bored and step into the light? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 18, 2013, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-just-died-youre-a-ghost-how-long-before-you-get-bored-and-step-into-the-light/669182 "2013-09-18T22:15:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-just-died-youre-a-ghost-how-long-before-you-get-bored-and-step-into-the-light/669182/21 "2013-09-19T01:50:43Z")
Do I feel things? If not, visit Antarctica, the inside of a volcano, scale Everest. I could enjoy it for years. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-just-died-youre-a-ghost-how-long-before-you-get-bored-and-step-into-the-light/669182/22 "2013-09-19T02:13:57Z")
If I have the ability to interact with the physical world - immediately - and on CNN during the afternoon newsbreak - there will be doubt that there are ghosts. Of course - ahead of time, I will have managed to secure the rights to all that footage to my heirs for perpetuity. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-just-died-youre-a-ghost-how-long-before-you-get-bored-and-step-into-the-light/669182/23 "2013-09-19T02:23:32Z")
I can’t imagine I’d ever get bored. Am I limited to Earth’s environs, or can I cruise the universe? ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-just-died-youre-a-ghost-how-long-before-you-get-bored-and-step-into-the-light/669182/24 "2013-09-19T02:49:09Z")
Quite a while. I’d want to watch the singularity unfold on earth, plus it would be fun to haunt people. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-just-died-youre-a-ghost-how-long-before-you-get-bored-and-step-into-the-light/669182/25 "2013-09-19T03:15:41Z")
I just re-read the OP - so, my choice is obviously off the table - see ya. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-just-died-youre-a-ghost-how-long-before-you-get-bored-and-step-into-the-light/669182/26 "2013-09-19T03:47:16Z")
If there are no other ghosts, then either I’m an incredibly “special” case, or everyone instantly goes into the light - If I get a choice, then there are going to be at least a dozen other people dying every minute - if I don’t even get to see them, why not? Especially since I died in a plane crash with 200 other people. And only me is here? So, I"m incredibly special, after all! Wooo-Hooo! I KNEW it! You bet I’m sticking around - even if it’s to figure _some_ way to screw with people’s minds? Can I get to the launch controls for ICBMs? Maybe make one of those rocks “racing” across Death Valley turn left? Dress myself up as Stalin and tell Putin he’s got a good start? Tell Kim Jung Un “It doesn’t work, you moron - look at what happened it Russia and China! Even Albania gave it up!” Buy a fucking clue, fat boy!" As I said, if I’m all that special, I’ll figure out a way… ---
**Author:** ![Caneknife](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@Caneknife](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caneknife)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-just-died-youre-a-ghost-how-long-before-you-get-bored-and-step-into-the-light/669182/27 "2013-09-19T08:07:13Z")
> [@cherry](#): > > I’d hang out a bit and watch my children grow up into their old age after that I’d probably want to go to the light and hopefully reunite with them. Well said ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-just-died-youre-a-ghost-how-long-before-you-get-bored-and-step-into-the-light/669182/28 "2013-09-19T08:22:55Z")
You could haunt a hotel room and when a guest came in say “I’m the ghost of Mable Fable. Put your money on the table” Granted, it would only be a few days before someone said “I’m the ghost of Davy Crockett. I keep my money in my pocket.” ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-just-died-youre-a-ghost-how-long-before-you-get-bored-and-step-into-the-light/669182/29 "2013-09-19T08:43:12Z")
Since I’ll be walking around at a fixed altitude above sea level, I’ll leave when that height has been covered up with new payment or land fill. Or if it gets flooded too often. ---
**Author:** ![Waxwinged](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c2a13f/32.png) [@Waxwinged](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waxwinged)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-just-died-youre-a-ghost-how-long-before-you-get-bored-and-step-into-the-light/669182/30 "2013-09-19T09:20:30Z")
Why wouldn’t you want to check things out? Visit all those places you’ve always wanted to go to… And, hell, since you can’t interact with the living, you could at least start a shell collection in the Outer Banks… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-just-died-youre-a-ghost-how-long-before-you-get-bored-and-step-into-the-light/669182/31 "2013-09-19T13:06:03Z")
If “the light” is oblivion or ambiguous then I reckon I would put it off for a long long time. I would probably go on a sightseeing tour of the world, (and yes one of the “sights” would be Rashida Jones’ bathroom), then I reckon I could be infinitely entertained purely by theatres and cinemas or whatever else they have in 2300. There would always be something I’d like to watch. If “the light” is some known next stage, like heaven, I’d have to judge what’s there compared to what’s here. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-just-died-youre-a-ghost-how-long-before-you-get-bored-and-step-into-the-light/669182/32 "2013-09-19T13:32:45Z")
I’d hang around a bit, just to see places I never had the chance to visit while I was alive. Being alone wouldn’t particularly bother me, but I sure as hell would want to go around scaring the living shit out of the dozens of assholes I’ve encountered in the last 50-odd years, along with pulling some poltergeist-type stunts on them. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-just-died-youre-a-ghost-how-long-before-you-get-bored-and-step-into-the-light/669182/33 "2013-09-19T13:48:43Z")
Add me to the chorus of hangers-on. But really…hundreds of people die every second. Where are their ghosts? Too many places to see. Gotta take advantage of that. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-just-died-youre-a-ghost-how-long-before-you-get-bored-and-step-into-the-light/669182/34 "2013-09-19T13:58:08Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Add me to the chorus of hangers-on. But really…hundreds of people die every second. Where are their ghosts? > > Too many places to see. Gotta take advantage of that. Heh, people keep trying to throw logic into this crazy hypothetical. I phrased it the way I did because I was curious to see if people would pay the (high) price of total isolation for a really cool power. Or would they go for door number two with out knowing what’s behind it. ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-just-died-youre-a-ghost-how-long-before-you-get-bored-and-step-into-the-light/669182/35 "2013-09-19T15:13:35Z")
There are too many places to visit on Earth and too many people to see (naked). I’ll be around for a long while. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-just-died-youre-a-ghost-how-long-before-you-get-bored-and-step-into-the-light/669182/36 "2013-09-19T15:24:40Z")
I’m sure I’d hang around for a while, and unless I instinctively “know” that I’ll never find another ghost or find a way to interact with the corporeal world, I’d probably spend a very long time trying to figure out a way to do that. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-just-died-youre-a-ghost-how-long-before-you-get-bored-and-step-into-the-light/669182/37 "2013-09-19T15:28:03Z")
I’d also hang out for a long time, depending on the psychiatry of the situation. A lot of aesthetic pleasure is obviously derived from our physical brains, and our urges for certain types of pleasure might be altered by no longer having a corporeal body. If they aren’t, then not being able to eat or drink for pleasure or finding other ways of pleasuring oneself (IYKWIM) would become unbearable after awhile. ---
**Author:** ![Macca26](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/13edae/32.png) [@Macca26](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macca26)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-just-died-youre-a-ghost-how-long-before-you-get-bored-and-step-into-the-light/669182/38 "2013-09-19T15:47:46Z")
The “hang around” option is so ambiguous in time frame compared to “step into the light immediately” that it’s hard to see anyone who wouldn’t pick it. Who wouldn’t want to stick around for at least a few minutes? Who wouldn’t be a bit confused about being a ghost and accidentally waste a few minutes trying to figure out what exactly is going on. That counts for “hanging around” if the only other option is immediate light engulfment. Not sure what “other” in this poll would mean. And if the light is there whenever the heck you want it, there’s absolutely no reason to not go off and see the hundreds of thousands of amazing things to see in this world. I could probably spend an entire average human lifetime observing things silently. Heck, and who knows what that light is. I’d only go to it when I was ready to die-die, like a second death. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-just-died-youre-a-ghost-how-long-before-you-get-bored-and-step-into-the-light/669182/39 "2013-09-19T15:48:35Z")
I would hang out long enough to see places that always interested me - I might try to see a few people I haven’t seen for a while [a couple people I grew up with that I lost track of in the intervening 30 years] then I would go into the light. Call it maybe a year or so? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-just-died-youre-a-ghost-how-long-before-you-get-bored-and-step-into-the-light/669182/40 "2013-09-19T15:55:00Z")
I’d want to haunt skeptics such as James Randi and celebrity psychics such as Sylvia Browne but that’s outside the parameters. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-just-died-youre-a-ghost-how-long-before-you-get-bored-and-step-into-the-light/669182.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-just-died-youre-a-ghost-how-long-before-you-get-bored-and-step-into-the-light/669182.md?page=3)