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

[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.

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

Same thing really. I don't think he hears spirits. But I'd give him a 1/100,000,000 chance that he may be sensitive in a telepathic way. But I'd have to see a lot of double blind work before I would be convinced of it.

[Nikky]

My mum believes she has seen ghosts a few times. Apparently she saw a woman in a long white gown walk past the doorway when we were all sitting down to dinner. That's fairly easy to justify, but one thing I have tried many times to come up with a logical explanation for is hearing ghost voices. Many years ago when my mums mum had just passed away, my mum and her 2 sisters were cleaning out her house. All 3 of them at the same time heard their mothers voice say "Dawn" (one of the sisters names). They all looked at eachother and said "did you hear that?"

Now I'm a very skeptical person and my logic tells me that there is no way this could really be my grandmother talking. So if anyone has any thoughts, I'd love to hear them  

[karadan]

Telepathy is something I actually think has something to it. As far as I'm concerned, there are senses we don't fully understand and I think telepathy is one of them. Not the 'hearing someone else's thoughts' kind, but more through feelings and subtle nuances of how the behavioural patterns of other people reveal themselves. I'm quite happy entertaining the thought that the brain is a biological mobile phone although some people are more receptive than others. In the future, I'm sure science will play around with it a little. I'm sure the findings will be surprising.

Thinking in tandem with someone is similar, but I don't think it is actual telepathy, per-se. It is more about understanding how the brain of another human works through pattern recognition. I think in tandem with my best friend of 20 years. It isn't because I read his thoughts, but because I'm so accustomed to how his brain works that we will think the same things at the same time, say the same things at the same time and can communicate entire sentences with a simple glance.

I've always wondered how someone can make direct eye-contact with you when staring at them from across a busy room/bar/train station etc. How do they know you are staring at them when they have utterly no cue to work from? I'm not sure anyone has ever been able to adequately explain that phenomenon.

[Tank]

My mum believes she has seen ghosts a few times. Apparently she saw a woman in a long white gown walk past the doorway when we were all sitting down to dinner. That's fairly easy to justify, but one thing I have tried many times to come up with a logical explanation for is hearing ghost voices. Many years ago when my mums mum had just passed away, my mum and her 2 sisters were cleaning out her house. All 3 of them at the same time heard their mothers voice say "Dawn" (one of the sisters names). They all looked at eachother and said "did you hear that?"

Now I'm a very skeptical person and my logic tells me that there is no way this could really be my grandmother talking. So if anyone has any thoughts, I'd love to hear them  

If and it's a big IF there is such a thing as telepathy there is a possible communication path there.

[The Magic Pudding]

I don't believe in this supernatural stuff.
Coincidences happen, occurrences that strengthen the coincidence are noted, if they don't they may be disregarded.
The mind is a funny thing, it does misinterpret stimuli.
Why is every supernatural phenomenon so conveniently elusive and unrepeatable?
Many people really want to believe.
The rational explanations of the weird, are much more interesting to me than the woo.