There is such thing as haunted houses?!

[joanmc]

How can you prove that anything doesn't exist? You would always leave yourself open to having used an incorrect methodology.
I think the onus is on proving ghosts exist but we don't know how to do that, which is the crux of this whole discussion.
Just because we don't know how to measure something right now does not mean that it doesn't exist.

 

[hugh72]

For an idea or belief to stand up to scrutiny it must falsifiable, if its not then you cannot define it and its just BS.
To believe in something incredible like ghosts then you need incredible evidence. They human mind is capable of believing in anything but this has little to do with reality

 

[Tim86]

I don't believe or not believe. I don't believe that thousands of people are necessarily wrong just because science cannot prove them wrong.

Scientists once thought the world was flat. That was wrong.

Can science prove there are no ghosts?

Nope. Can't prove that a monster made of spaghetti and meatballs didn't create the universe either. I'm hoping you are equally open minded to the Fsm.

 

[Tim86]

How can you prove that anything doesn't exist? You would always leave yourself open to having used an incorrect methodology.
I think the onus is on proving ghosts exist but we don't know how to do that, which is the crux of this whole discussion.
Just because we don't know how to measure something right now does not mean that it doesn't exist.

That's right it doesn't. It just makes it incredibly amazingly unlikely to the same point as any other made up thing, such as our noodley overlord Fsm.

 

[Tim86]

For an idea or belief to stand up to scrutiny it must falsifiable, if its not then you cannot define it and its just BS.
To believe in something incredible like ghosts then you need incredible evidence. They human mind is capable of believing in anything but this has little to do with reality

Restoring my faith in humanity right there

 

[hugh72]

I cannot disprove Russell's teapot but I doubt it's existence

 

[DaveM]

Has anyone bought a house with a flying spaghetti monster in it?

 

[joanmc]

See, now I feel you are mocking my noodley Lord and that I really cannot accept. May he smite you with his meat ball.

 

[wylie]

Nope. Can't prove that a monster made of spaghetti and meatballs didn't create the universe either. I'm hoping you are equally open minded to the Fsm.

That sort of response is quite childish. I have no idea what the Fsm is either.

 

[joanmc]

To me there is no difference between being open to there being a spiritual world/ghost (or whatever) than say open to there being a god.
Obviously, Tim, you don't believe in God either but are you so openly mocking of those that do?
Do you think there is life on other planets? Is that up for ridicule too? If so, why?
I don't get why you get so uptight about this.

 

[Tim86]

That sort of response is quite childish. I have no idea what the Fsm is either.

"childish" how? Are we no longer allowed to mock ridiculous beliefs and point out their absurdities through satire?

 

[Tim86]

To me there is no difference between being open to there being a spiritual world/ghost (or whatever) than say open to there being a god.
Obviously, Tim, you don't believe in God either but are you so openly mocking of those that do?
Do you think there is life on other planets? Is that up for ridicule too? If so, why?
I don't get why you get so uptight about this.

Aliens don't contradict what science says is possible. Aliens don't require the existence of supernatural forces. But to be honest I haven't thought about or researched it enough to form an educated opinion on their existence.

And to answer your question: yes I am mocking all spiritual belief. Why? Because it's ridiculous and it's not an alien...concept to mock ridiculous things.

If I start telling people I believe in the flying spaghetti monster, I would expect to be mocked. Would I then demand that they stop and respect my beliefs? No because they are ridiculous.

To demand that no one speaks up against your point of view under the guise of political correctness is "tyranny with manners".

 

[hugh72]

Challenging ideas and why people believe what they do without logical reasons or evidence is how progress occurs

 

[joanmc]

I'm not taking the pi$$ here, I am genuinely curious. In your work as a psychologist do you ridicule clients with religious beliefs and tell them to grow up?

 

[Tim86]

I'm not taking the pi$$ here, I am genuinely curious. In your work as a psychologist do you ridicule clients with religious beliefs and tell them to grow up?

Who here let's their personal opinions impact their professional work? I could easily ask the same of Christians, "do you tell all your clients they are going to hell because they don't believe in a zombie jew?" chances are they don't. Because even though they believe that it's unprofessional to harp on about it in the workplace.

 

[Tim86]

Challenging ideas and why people believe what they do without logical reasons or evidence is how progress occurs

Very true!

 

[joanmc]

But you said it was fact and not personal opinion.

 

[Tim86]

But you said it was fact and not personal opinion.

Still an opinion whether or not you believe the facts.

Here I'm using the word opinion to mean "point of view" if that helps clarify the meaning.

 

[EN710]

For an idea or belief to stand up to scrutiny it must falsifiable, if its not then you cannot define it and its just BS.
To believe in something incredible like ghosts then you need incredible evidence. They human mind is capable of believing in anything but this has little to do with reality

To be falsifiable they need to be defined first. Tim said it

Ghost are not "incredible" - nothing is "incredible" in science.

Reality is subjective. It is defined by individual human brain, everyone's brain is different. No one smell or sees the same apple exactly the same way. What most people see is collective reality - they look similar but never the same for each person. If someone has brain slightly different than others and experience reality in a different way (aka. Schizoprhenic, seeing ghost, whatever), it doesn't make their reality wrong.

 

[Tim86]

Reality is subjective. It is defined by individual human brain, everyone's brain is different. No one smell or sees the same apple exactly the same way. What most people see is collective reality - they look similar but never the same for each person. If someone has brain slightly different than others and experience reality in a different way (aka. Schizoprhenic, seeing ghost, whatever), it doesn't make their reality wrong.

"Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?"