Why do you believe in the paranormal?

Just a simple question that has unlimited answers. We all know there is no concrete evidence of the paranormal, but what makes you believe it exists? Was it something you saw, heard or felt? Were you born with it? Did you start believing later in life?

For me it was events that happened to me since around the age 5. I've been aware of the paranormal ever since. I've seen some crazy things like stick figures and babies. I've felt something crawling on me at night. I've heard my name called out from an unknown voice on numerous occasions, footsteps, scratching, and knocks. I even made a home made Ouija board when I was 11. I haven't touched one since.

I even started another thread detailing a few experiences I've had Here
Although everything can be explained rationally, To me they were strange occurrences that I labeled as paranormal that I can still recall in detail to this day.

So, What is it that makes you believe?

Originally posted by Tartarspoon
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Although everything can be explained rationally, To me they were strange occurrences that I labeled as paranormal that I can still recall in detail to this day.

So, What is it that makes you believe?

So what makes you believe, stating what you just said here above.

If it can all be rationally explained why deny your concious being from accepting that their is no paranormal, and just accept the paranormal instead of feeding the rational side of your brain?

nope i dont believe. i used to, not any more.

or maybe i didnt believe and just liked researching ghosts. i cant tell

[edit on 9-7-2009 by ELECTRICkoolaidZOMBIEtest]

reply to post by ELECTRICkoolaidZOMBIEtest


I think the OP was mainly asking who believe, but I jumped on too :p
You're on the boards alot! no offense just an observation.

I notice though that it seems they placed it can all be explained rational to try to keep, well guys like me out as in well ok, but no it's not okay, if it can be explained rationally, then it is proven false. You can believe a false event even when proven untrue!

It's ridiculous it hurts your being, sometimes the answer you want is complicated but the right answer is the one you don't want.

There are no ghost, no demons, no sneaking demons scratching your personal closet.

Think like this, all the children starving in africa, do you think they have time to worry about demons under their bed, no because they have no bed! They may make up stories, but their also malnutrioned and out of their mindset due to conditions. Why follow that, when your eating healthy and a sane person. Because it sounds neat! No, we have the privieldge of knowing there is no paranormal thats great, we've conquered something!

See here. www.abovetopsecret.com...#

2nd line.

reply to post by Republican08


yes i am on the boards a lot. somehow i got addicted to this place even though i really should know better

ive noticed youre on a lot too.

i originally was going to talk about when i believed and why i did..then i realized i had no idea. im not even really sure when i stopped believing. back then i pretty much only believed in ghosts but wanted to be psychic. i guess i just wanted to believe ghosts because of the properties that i thought ghosts had and i thought they were awesome.

The only way to believe is to have first hand experience. Nothing anyone says will make you believe. You need to see it first hand.

reply to post by ELECTRICkoolaidZOMBIEtest


Ive been sick the past few days, so i'm really apartment bound till I cant get well for work, you can see my newest thread for whats going on

Why believe what you believed as a kid, the same era as when tooth faerie and santa was real that's foolish.

For PHI618. First hand experience are useless, it's like asking me to believe a bush was burning but telling me I can't see the bush, or go around it, and just trust you. Trust is worthless!

You ask so much from science but when paranormal comes around it's just like religion, faith based, and faith requires no evidence.

ill check your thread out after this.

i honestly want an answer about the paranormal (and god too)

and honest straight forward answer. i dont care either way. the only problem is if/when ghosts are definitely not real there will be a "ghost of the gaps" type scenario where theres some loophole where ghosts still somehow are possible through some sort of tangled philosophy/speculation.

to me it seems ghosts will never go away.

personal experience to me is too shaky of a thing to rely heavily on

Originally posted by Republican08
reply to post by Republican08

 

For PHI618. First hand experience are useless, it's like asking me to believe a bush was burning but telling me I can't see the bush, or go around it, and just trust you. Trust is worthless!

the title of this thread is why "YOU" believe in the paranormal. I was in no way trying to convince you, or give you a reason to believe.

perhaps ive missed the point, or perhaps you have.

To add, i think that once someone has an experience which is truly beyond explanation multiple time, then there are only two options. First the person is having some sort of experience which can be classified out of the ordinary ( paranormal ). Usually its the first option, but sometime the person is insane and is seeing things, in which case there isnt much to worry about because your too far gone.
So if your not insane, then its a paranormal experience.




[edit on 9-7-2009 by phi1618]

Originally posted by Republican08
For PHI618. First hand experience are useless, it's like asking me to believe a bush was burning but telling me I can't see the bush, or go around it, and just trust you. Trust is worthless!
e.

I think you are mistaken. When you have a firsthand experience, you can see the bush burning, touch it, et c. You experience what is happening as it's happening, and you can make a decision on your own, without having to believe what happened to others.

Edit: So basically I'm just wondering why first hand experiences are useless to you?

[edit on 9/7/09 by wisefoolishness]

reply to post by phi1618


i didnt really miss the point. i tried to post about why i used to believe in the paranormal, but i couldnt really do a decent job. i was going to just leave it at the one post that sort of the opposite to the topic but i guess now its up to three since ive had to explain myself

Originally posted by ELECTRICkoolaidZOMBIEtest
reply to post by phi1618

 

i didnt really miss the point. i tried to post about why i used to believe in the paranormal, but i couldnt really do a decent job. i was going to just leave it at the one post that sort of the opposite to the topic but i guess now its up to three since ive had to explain myself

sorry the quote thing got messed up(now fixed), that post was meant for Republican08. Im sure you understood the topic just fine


[edit on 9-7-2009 by phi1618]

reply to post by wisefoolishness


I've met people that see tupac when it rains.....
is tupac really there, god no he's not, but firsthand for the man that sees him it's a first hand experience.

The mind is a tricky thing, and an unusual occurence can mind **** the imagination into all different areas scrambling for an explanation.

If anyone is seeing dead relatives, that's a clear sign psych evaluations need to be done, and some grief counseling.

It's nice to think, and irrational, that the dead are contacting us, it provides us with a sense of false relief, although it's not true at all.

If your seeing dead people, or "demons'' are scratchin against your closet, you either need to toned down what your watching, try to be rational, or seek medical attention for a mental disease.

mental disease isn't all bad, I have severe anxiety, it's a mental disease and I freaked out because of it (freaked out due to the anxiety too! lol) I didn't want people thinking I was mentally ill, but I was, and although, I don't take medication, I recognize what my mind is trying to do, and deal with it, I don't assume demons are conjuring nervous thoughts in my head, that's just silly.

Good question. I would have to say that it is not so much a belief for me, rather it is more of a notion that I cannot disprove. Science has yet to prove or disprove the existence of Ghosts or any other paranormal phenomenon. I have had MORE than my fair share of paranormal activity in my life, yet none of it can be measured.

I do not believe nor disbelieve simply because I have seen and experienced it first hand, yet cannot provide solid evidence as to its existence.

reply to post by phi1618


Well honestly you don't have to be extremely insane, just a heck of a wild imagination!

I also am in no way thinking your trying to convince me of the paranormal, more or less think i'm trying to get you to stop believeing it!

The main purpose of this thread, would be to acknowledge your beliefs, it seems in your OP that you aren't quite sure and want an acknowledgement and an it's ok, your ok feeling from the commentors, but it's not.

There is a logical and reasonable explanation for everything you just have to look for it, the faery tales are over, there is no santa, there is no boogey man, these paranormal activities, are just the imagination trying to explain things that we're too ignorant to know about.

You saw the thread about the exploding coffee cup, first thing the guy jumped to was ghost done it! Lol, no it's usually a common phenomenon when a manufacturer makes a mistake, no paranormal there, but I had to bring it to his attention. Otherwise it's possible, it couldve been another starbucks faith boosting story of why ghosts are real.

hehe however all those arguments go out the window if more than lets say two people experience the same thing at the same time.

If im with lets say 5 friends and an ET landed and we all saw it ( hypothetically of course ) and the people 30 feet away in a van saw it, and half of a Boeing landing at the time saw it....and so on.

SO hypothetically we all had the first hand experience. I think unless it was mass lunacy, we where all sane and hypothetically seeing something.

There could be a case such as seeing someone who is dead and simply mistaking them for someone else. Those types of things fall into a gray zone. But there are definitely some things that fall into a "white" or "black" category. By this is mean occurrences or sightings that cannot seem to be something else, such as a UFO withing feet of you, or an alien being withing feet, or even seeing a ghost face to face.

It honestly depends, that is why experiencing something that cannot be explained is the only way to believe.

keep in mind "cannot be explained", as in no explanation can be given whatsoever(however rare that may be is irrelevant, since some explanations are simply bogus and have an agenda behind them).


[edit on 9-7-2009 by phi1618]

reply to post by phi1618


Ok we'll go with an alien landing with five friends, what was around, was there a gas leak, was an illicit material being exchanged and smoked?

Then if a boeing saw it too, and everyone on it consented they saw it, this could also be social conformity, look at how it goes on youtube, people will go against what they see, and react as if they saw how the group saw it.

Mass hysteria could be a rule in there too, leaving Aliens absolutely landed should be a last resort to all of this.

LOGIC

Almost everything can be explained, except for the things we're still ignorant on, such as the universe, we're very ignorant on it, but clouding it with deities and aliens and nibiru, and telekinesis, is only making it a garden with faeries beneath it.

Although aliens is the only one worht its salt if your speaking on no contact with earth, because it's statistically plausible. The rest are fake hoax, lies, misdirection, and ignorance.

Look up Dawkins, Enemies of Reason, or Derren Brown.

If it's real, and has a plausible side science can stand by it, otherwise a bunch of plumbers looking to make a tv show will snag on for a few extra bucks on the side, feeding off people's 'feelings'.

reply to post by Republican08


BUT, but, a firsthand experience for someone else is not a firsthand experience for you. You only need to believe what you see. If you trust that you're not nuts, and have eliminated all logical/normal reasons that you know of for something to happen, then there are only so many choices. If then you pass mental examinations with flying colors, what do you make of your experience? You're sane, have eliminated all logical explanations for an event, and so what? It's just nothing?

reply to post by Mr. Toodles


You say because science can't disprove it, that it must have plausible evidence.

There could be a teapot revolving around mars, well can you tell me thats not true, and do you have large amounts of prove disproving it, so I can stop believing it NO!

Your common sense kicks in and says that's unreasonable, ergo it's false!

You also expect science to explain a ton of things, and when it does it's ignored as the post in predicitons that never get moved to hoax after the date passes.

Science has gone under the most scrutiny ever encountered, religion and paranormal get no scrutiny thoguh! this my friend is bogus! A man was killed for believing in science over religion....copernicus!

You love science, look around you, theories from it is why you can read what this college guy is blabbering about. It's why you have light, it's why I won't go blind because it gave me medicine to stop the bacteria from eating my cornea away!

If I sat and prayed I would be blind, but i'm not I can see what i'm typing it's a blessin from knowledge, prayer is a paranormal phenomenon that isn't so phenomenal.

Life isn't rainbows and leprachauns and unicorns, It's Refraction from rain, hallucinations from ill people, and imaginative and poetic words, believed to be real from ignorant people.