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What do atheists believe about ghosts, UFOs and the paranormal (skeptics too?)

Started by jimmorrisonbabe, April 26, 2012, 06:18:34 PM

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jimmorrisonbabe

Just wondering about this,

I know it's perfectly normal to not believe in a god but believe in stuff like spirits etc... but are most atheists skeptics as well cus that's the impression I get from reading most people's posts on here and on the internet?

Atheism and skepticism follow similar rules though really...

Amicale

:) you'll find a wide range of folks in the atheist community, who are all over the belief spectrum when it comes to other types of paranormal things like ghosts, aliens, UFO's, etc. Some may be into conspiracy theories, you name it. Being an atheist just means that you don't believe in God, but it doesn't mean you're a skeptic about everything. Being a skeptic, however, means that you're more likely to be an atheist (or at least a liberal believer), and much more likely to think critically about all the other claims too.


"Our lives are not our own. From womb to tomb we are bound to others. By every crime and act of kindness we birth our future." - Cloud Atlas

"To live in the hearts of those we leave behind is to never die." -Carl Sagan

Crow

Personally I don't believe in any of that stuff. I have seen two weird things that I couldn't explain but they didn't necessarily mean aliens, ghosts or the supernatural, I didn't know what they were and didn't presume when I had no idea. Later I found out what they were and they were rather boring and obvious, it was only a lack of light and distance that made them seem unusual.
Retired member.

OldGit

I think most atheists would be loth to believe in invisible entities unless they see evidence.  The same mind-set that leads them to disbelieve in god would lead them to be wary of such stuff.  That's my two-penn'orth, anyway.

ThinkAnarchy

For me, I don't believe in paranormal activity or anything like that. I'm also highly skeptical of UFO encounters. I do think their is a high probability of life elsewhere in the universe though. I'm skeptical that they have made any contact with us though, if they even know we exist.
"He that displays too often his wife and his wallet is in danger of having both of them borrowed." -Ben Franklin

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote." -credited to Franklin, but not sure.

Amicale

Quote from: ThinkAnarchy on April 26, 2012, 06:46:01 PM
For me, I don't believe in paranormal activity or anything like that. I'm also am skeptical of UFO encounters. I do think their is a high probability of life elsewhere in the universe though. I'm skeptical that they have made any contact with us though, if they even know we exist.

:D I once saw a cartoon where the aliens were watching bombs exploding all over earth, presumably during the last world war, and one says to the other, "No sign of intelligent life here, let's try back in a few hundred years".

So while I absolutely believe there's a high probability of life elsewhere in the universe (if we managed to develop, it's likely that others did too, somewhere), if they were intelligent, they'd be wise to stay away from us.  :P

Carl Sagan believed that it was highly probable some form of life existed out there -- hence his work with SETI. But his argument was that the probability of them contacting us, or us contacting them, would be very low. First of all, the distance would make it very unlikely. Secondly, we'd have to have developed as a species, and then developed appropriate technology, at roughly the same time. Thirdly, they'd have to be more intelligent than us, to figure out how to contact us, since we've been unable to contact them. The greater likelihood is that we would have missed one another by millions of miles or years.


"Our lives are not our own. From womb to tomb we are bound to others. By every crime and act of kindness we birth our future." - Cloud Atlas

"To live in the hearts of those we leave behind is to never die." -Carl Sagan

Tank

I think for some people scepticism has lead to their atheistic world view. But you don't have to be a sceptic to be an atheist because you may never have been exposed to theism in the first place. There are also grades of scepticism ranging from '911 truthers' to the generally accepting who will agree until given reason to doubt. I tend to be on the un-sceptical side of the scale until things start to fall apart.

As far as UFOs go I don't think there are ETs visiting. Anything else 'supernatural' remains so until sufficient evidence has been used to reinforce a reliable/robust/explanatory theory.
If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.

ThinkAnarchy

Quote from: Amicale on April 26, 2012, 06:54:58 PM
Quote from: ThinkAnarchy on April 26, 2012, 06:46:01 PM
For me, I don't believe in paranormal activity or anything like that. I'm also am skeptical of UFO encounters. I do think their is a high probability of life elsewhere in the universe though. I'm skeptical that they have made any contact with us though, if they even know we exist.

:D I once saw a cartoon where the aliens were watching bombs exploding all over earth, presumably during the last world war, and one says to the other, "No sign of intelligent life here, let's try back in a few hundred years".

Do you remember what movie and was it a comedy? That quote made me laugh.
"He that displays too often his wife and his wallet is in danger of having both of them borrowed." -Ben Franklin

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote." -credited to Franklin, but not sure.

Amicale

Quote from: ThinkAnarchy on April 26, 2012, 08:52:18 PM
Quote from: Amicale on April 26, 2012, 06:54:58 PM
Quote from: ThinkAnarchy on April 26, 2012, 06:46:01 PM
For me, I don't believe in paranormal activity or anything like that. I'm also am skeptical of UFO encounters. I do think their is a high probability of life elsewhere in the universe though. I'm skeptical that they have made any contact with us though, if they even know we exist.

:D I once saw a cartoon where the aliens were watching bombs exploding all over earth, presumably during the last world war, and one says to the other, "No sign of intelligent life here, let's try back in a few hundred years".

Do you remember what movie and was it a comedy? That quote made me laugh.

Oh, no, sorry. It was an actual cartoon, like one you'd see in a newspaper. It might have been Far Side or Bizarro...


"Our lives are not our own. From womb to tomb we are bound to others. By every crime and act of kindness we birth our future." - Cloud Atlas

"To live in the hearts of those we leave behind is to never die." -Carl Sagan

ThinkAnarchy

Quote from: Amicale on April 26, 2012, 09:44:01 PM
Quote from: ThinkAnarchy on April 26, 2012, 08:52:18 PM
Quote from: Amicale on April 26, 2012, 06:54:58 PM
Quote from: ThinkAnarchy on April 26, 2012, 06:46:01 PM
For me, I don't believe in paranormal activity or anything like that. I'm also am skeptical of UFO encounters. I do think their is a high probability of life elsewhere in the universe though. I'm skeptical that they have made any contact with us though, if they even know we exist.

:D I once saw a cartoon where the aliens were watching bombs exploding all over earth, presumably during the last world war, and one says to the other, "No sign of intelligent life here, let's try back in a few hundred years".

Do you remember what movie and was it a comedy? That quote made me laugh.

Oh, no, sorry. It was an actual cartoon, like one you'd see in a newspaper. It might have been Far Side or Bizarro...

Got ya. I read cartoon as movie for some reason.  :D
"He that displays too often his wife and his wallet is in danger of having both of them borrowed." -Ben Franklin

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote." -credited to Franklin, but not sure.

Stevil

Ghosts, no, absolutely no belief, I would be quite happy to spend the night alone in an alleged haunted house.
Although I do like a good ghost story. 13 Ghosts movie was terrific, I am finding the Unholy Ghosts and Unholy Magic books by Stacia Kane a really good read.

UFOs, it seems near impossible to me that there wouldn't be millions of planets host to intelligent life just in our milky way galaxy, let along our Universe or the probably infinite other universes that there are likely to be (IMHO). The question is, have they actually visited earth? Was Rosewell true? Do they come and randomly anally probe people?

Given the vastness of space and the speed limitations, it seems to me to be extreme to travel for several years to come here and probe some unfortunates rectum.

Paranormal (Ghosts, magic, superstitions), absolutely no belief.

En_Route

I can verify the existence of alien abductions, having abducted several myself. They are willing workers and cheap to feed, subsisting cheerfully on a diet of custard and carrots.
Some ideas are so stupid only an intellectual could believe them (Orwell).

OldGit


The Magic Pudding

"What do atheists believe about ghosts, UFOs and the paranormal"

It's more a thing that I believe about people, they have a problem or avoid discerning what's real.

Lawrence Leung is cool.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1wDus5Y3b8

rickrocks

Consider the range of views and beliefs within the religious. You have people who could no longer get along than sharks and herrings, at seeming opposite ends of everything.

The same range exists between atheists. I can attest that I myself am implanted in the leftist socialist camp. My brother is also an atheist, but he eats up every word that Rush Limbaugh says. We don't even know how to talk about politics, we're so opposite. But on religion we agree. We don't go for the clap-trap and dogma, and we'd much prefer to spend a day in the woods rather than church.

I, for one, choose not to hold any evidence dear, and to always treat new evidence with skepticism and inquiry. Therefore, I try not to hold anything dear, as in a personal belief.