Why Do Some People See Ghosts While Others Don't?

[Thumpalumpacus]

Perhaps, like a "god module," we have a "ghost module."

[elliebean]

My fiancee sees them, hears them, even recognizes some of them, but she still doesn't believe they're real. How's that for a skeptic? :eek:

[philosoraptor]

I consider myself a rational person.  I don't believe in gods or goddesses and the like.

That being said, I have had experiences that I can't explain logically.  My first apartment in college is a prime example.  It was one of those places that most people said just gave them the creeps without ever knowing why.  It was always cold, even in the summer.  It was not uncommon to leave the apartment with the lights on, and come back to total darkness, or to have appliances turn themselves on and off.  The shower curtain, which we always left open, would often end up closed somehow  On occasion, it would sound like there were people walking and talking in rooms when you were there alone-these were not the sounds of people in other apartments, but as if people were in the room right there with you.  My roommate one night saw something in the bathroom that she refused to speak about.  Towards the end of the lease, when we were moving out I was there alone in the walk in closet one night packing clothes when the light went out.  In those moments I spent fumbling for the light, I felt like I wasn't alone.  Nothing was there of course, but it left me feeling deeply unsettled.

The weird occurrences started happening almost immediately after we moved in.  It wasn't until 6 months into the lease though that I found out a girl had been murdered in that apartment in the 70s, and her killer had never been found.  To quell my roommate (who was Catholic) I called our campus ministries and requested a priest come and bless the apartment.  It seemed as though the activity tapered off after the blessing, and only picked up again when we started moving a few months later.

What does it mean?  Who knows?  I think the power of suggestion can be very strong in instances of supposed paranormal activity, but we didn't find out about the murder until well after we'd started having weird experiences.  So I don't know.  Maybe there were high magnetic fields in the area that could have contributed to some of the unease people felt there, but a lot of the other stuff I wouldn't even begin to know how to explain.  Before I moved into that place, I was a serious skeptic when it came to the paranormal.  Now, I don't know what to think.  I have a hard time reconciling those experiences I did have with my lack of belief in the spiritual.  I had a few other weird experiences when I was in college, but if I wrote about those too this would turn into a real TLDR, if it isn't one already.  

[pinkocommie]

I work in a spooky old drive-in theater with lots and lots of ghost stories attached to it.  I've had a few spooky experiences myself, but not enough to say that I believe in ghosts.  I classify ghosts and the human race interacting with sentient alien lifeforms together as being more likely than god but less likely than, say, someone winning the lottery three times.

[philosoraptor]

So what kind of weird experiences did you have, pinko?

[pinkocommie]

Nothing super weird.  The way the drive-in is set up, there are two sides, each with three screens and fields for parking and watching.  In the middle of the three screens there is a two story building with a snack bar and bathrooms on the bottom floor and then storage and the projectionist room or 'booth' on the top.  Most of my spooky experiences happened in the booth at night (of course, since it's a drive-in after all!) which makes me question my own perception of the events right away since I get jumpy in dark places at night and the building is pretty old and poorly maintained.

Anyway, one experience I had was seeing the shadow of someone move across the room, going over to where I thought I saw movements and hearing the very distinct sound of children giggling.  This is a sound that people have claimed to hear all over the drive-in, but never in the booth.  However, like I said, i's an old building and I had already heard about the giggling, so I could have totally been imagining that.  It really didn't seem imagined at the time, though.  Another time, I was cleaning the bathroom upstairs and I heard someone yell.  I yelled downstairs, but no one was there.  When I went back into the booth, the bathroom door slammed closed.  As soon as I opened the door, a paper towel dispenser fell off the wall in a way that seemed like it was flung.  Again, this happened at night, doors close on their own in drafty buildings and I realize that I could have perceived of the paper towel dispenser being flung from the wall because I was already jumpy/conscious of the ghost myth, but at the time it felt very real.  It felt so real that I can understand how some people might have similar experiences and have it be enough for them to believe.  I still don't feel like my experiences are sufficient evidence of ghosts though.

The only time I had anything happen to me during the day was when I was randomly helping on day crew and everyone else had gone to the other side for something.  I was in the men's bathroom painting and I heard the sound of the video games being turned on.  Raiden makes a very specific sound when it starts up.  I looked out at the games and no one was there.  When I went to turn the breaker off, it flipped as soon as I was about to touch it.  I went back to painting and it happened again.  All of it, from the sound, me looking, walking to the box, and it flipping before I could touch it.  I went back to painting and fully expected a third round, but it didn't happen again.  When I told my boss about it, he said the same thing happened to him once like 10 years ago, but he hadn't heard of it happening to anyone else before.  Keep in mind, however, that the electrical wiring in the place is old and unreliable, and my boss is a jackass who very well might be lying just to keep the ghost myth alive.  =D

I apologize for the giant wall of text!  

[philosoraptor]

That does sound pretty spooky.  But definitely ,I hear you on the inherent creepiness of old buildings.  Even if there are no stories surrounding them, old buildings are weird.

A few years ago, me and one of my friends snuck into an abandoned movie theatre at night.  It was VERY creepy.  All the searches I did failed ot turn up anything though, including a reason why the theatre had closed in the first place.  It was just strange.

[pinkocommie]

Old movie theaters sort of classically have ghost stories attached to them anyway from what I've been told.  My boss has been a manager for 30 years and his dad was a manager for 45 until he died, and they both had their own stories and stories they heard from other theater managers at other theaters about ghosts and spooky activity.  That's one of the reasons I love working there (and am very upset that it is on the verge of being shut down for good) - old theaters have a unique atmosphere attached to them that is difficult to explain.  It's like being a member of a big ol' Addams Family.  

[philosoraptor]

Paranormal stuff is one of my guilty pleasures.  I love hearing people's stories, even if I don't always believe them to be true.

[Tank]

Paranormal stuff is one of my guilty pleasures.  I love hearing people's stories, even if I don't always believe them to be true.

My wife is highly intelligent, has a Ph.D. and is a life long atheist. But she loves John Edwards (so do I  :verysad:

[Davin]

Paranormal stuff is one of my guilty pleasures.  I love hearing people's stories, even if I don't always believe them to be true.

My wife is highly intelligent, has a Ph.D. and is a life long atheist. But she loves John Edwards (so do I  :verysad:

Cold Reading
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_reading
It's known as cold reading, while he does cheat a bit by asking audience members questions before hand and having lots of people helps out his "accuracy" for his guesses. Practice it, it makes a good party trick with people you've just met.

[Tank]

If you've heard of Dan Brown you'll know he does a lot of debunking of Cold Reading. I've seen his shows. I don't believe that John Edwards communicates with the dead. I would like to see him tested in rigorous scientific conditions though.

Of all the 'woo' one hears about the one I am least sceptical of is telepathy because I'm pretty darn sure I have experienced it. There have been numerous occasions where I have started whistling a tune only to have my wife turn around and say 'I was just thinking that!'. On one very specific occasion  not long after we were married I was walking towards the front door of our house with my wife behind me. She said as clear as a bell 'Have we had any post today?' I replied 'No. We haven't had any post today.' She put her hand on my shoulder and turned me around and told me she hadn't vocalised the question, but she had just thought it. I have no explanation for these events.

[philosoraptor]

Maybe your wife is just messing with you.  

I do know what you're talking about, though.  There have been instances where my SO has brought up something that was on my mind, or we've finished each others sentences.  Some of this I would think could be attributed to certain circumstantial/environmental cues, though.  For example, it wouldn't be strange if, when seeing a movie poster for a movie we went to see on our first date that both of us started recalling that memory at the same time.

[Tank]

lol

Intriguing isn't it?

[Davin]

If you've heard of Dan Brown you'll know he does a lot of debunking of Cold Reading. I've seen his shows. I don't believe that John Edwards communicates with the dead. I would like to see him tested in rigorous scientific conditions though.

Of all the 'woo' one hears about the one I am least sceptical of is telepathy because I'm pretty darn sure I have experienced it. There have been numerous occasions where I have started whistling a tune only to have my wife turn around and say 'I was just thinking that!'. On one very specific occasion  not long after we were married I was walking towards the front door of our house with my wife behind me. She said as clear as a bell 'Have we had any post today?' I replied 'No. We haven't had any post today.' She put her hand on my shoulder and turned me around and told me she hadn't vocalised the question, but she had just thought it. I have no explanation for these events.

You just said that you didn't know how he did it, maybe you just meant how he's so good at it?

He is very impressively talented at it, however the people believing what he says is too irritating for me to handle for an entire episode.