Are ghosts real?

[Dittohead not!]

Masturbation is real, ghosts not so real.

So you say. Let's see you prove it by means other than simply personal experience.

 

[zyzygy]

So you say. Let's see you prove it by means other than simply personal experience.

I am not claiming that ghosts exist. Neither do I claim that pixies, leprechauns, gnomes, piskies, goblins, fairies and mermaids exist. This will be a very long thread if you wish me to prove that all fantastic creatures do not exist. It's up to the ghost believers to prove that ghosts exist. I don't have to do anything except weigh the evidence that spiritualists bring to the table. I have as yet seen no convincing evidence.

 

[Lethargic Aptitude]

Pleasure derived from masturbation, which was the subject of the post to which I replied, can not be shown to be real except through personal experience, just as a paranormal experience can't be shown to be real except through personal experience.

At least that is what you think.

A Woman’s Orgasm Mapped Using fMRI | Kinsey Confidential

And there is video Orgasm TheVisualMD Video Library

 

[Dittohead not!]

At least that is what you think.

A Woman’s Orgasm Mapped Using fMRI | Kinsey Confidential

And there is video Orgasm TheVisualMD Video Library

Based on that, then, the orgasm is the result of neurological activity within the brain, just as the same sort of evidence suggests that paranormal experiences are the result of the same. There have been many studies of the phenomenon of brain activity being associated with subjective experiences. Here's one

About a year ago, Martin J. Clemens wrote a piece discussing the effect of increased solar activity on paranormal experiences. He connected ghost related phenomenon with increases in solar activity and suggested that there might be a causal effect between geomagnetic radiation and paranormal experiences, by way of an interaction between that energy and the brain. He suggested that most ghost-type paranormal experience is the result of our brains reacting to electromagnetic energy in the environment.
Some of the evidence revolves around advancements in neural scanning technology, such as MRI’s (or fMRI’s), CAT scans, PET scans and the like.

Now the question becomes: Does brain activity generate the experience, or does the experience generate the brain activity?

 

[zyzygy]

Now the question becomes: Does brain activity generate the experience, or does the experience generate the brain activity?

I plump for the former.

 

[Dittohead not!]

I plump for the former.

The former could be correct, but how do we know?

 

[Lethargic Aptitude]

Based on that, then, the orgasm is the result of neurological activity within the brain, just as the same sort of evidence suggests that paranormal experiences are the result of the same. There have been many studies of the phenomenon of brain activity being associated with subjective experiences. Here's one



Now the question becomes: Does brain activity generate the experience, or does the experience generate the brain activity?

I am not sure why you think that I should put any worth into a site like About AboveTopSecret.com

It really deflates your argument to reference such sites. It is good for a laugh though.

 

[zyzygy]

The former could be correct, but how do we know?

Ghostbusters was not a documentary.

 

[Dittohead not!]

I am not sure why you think that I should put any worth into a site like About AboveTopSecret.com

It really deflates your argument to reference such sites. It is good for a laugh though.

There are lots of sites saying the same thing. Here's another, if you don't like the one I posted.

The bottom line is this: Sexual activity and paranormal experiences are related to changes within the brain. Some people think that the brain activity produces the experience, but there is no way to know whether that is so, or whether the experience produces the changes in the brain.

 

[zyzygy]

There are lots of sites saying the same thing. Here's another, if you don't like the one I posted.

The bottom line is this: Sexual activity and paranormal experiences are related to changes within the brain. Some people think that the brain activity produces the experience, but there is no way to know whether that is so, or whether the experience produces the changes in the brain.

I don't know about you but I have never had any sexual activity that happened purely in my brain, outside of wet dreams.

 

[Cephus]

Now the question becomes: Does brain activity generate the experience, or does the experience generate the brain activity?

The brain generates the experience because the individual is nothing but the brain activity. Everything you are, everything you have ever been, resides in the electrochemical activity in the brain. When the brain dies, everything you ever were dies with it.

 

[Dittohead not!]

I don't know about you but I have never had any sexual activity that happened purely in my brain, outside of wet dreams.

So you say, and so you believe. You don't really know, now do you?

 

[zyzygy]

The brain generates the experience because the individual is nothing but the brain activity. Everything you are, everything you have ever been, resides in the electrochemical activity in the brain. When the brain dies, everything you ever were dies with it.

In lieu of evidence I will continue to lean heavily toward ghosts exist only in the brain.

 

[Dittohead not!]

The brain generates the experience because the individual is nothing but the brain activity. Everything you are, everything you have ever been, resides in the electrochemical activity in the brain. When the brain dies, everything you ever were dies with it.

and you know this, how?

 

[zyzygy]

So you say, and so you believe. You don't really know, now do you?

I do know. All my sexual activity involves me or me with a partner. None of it takes place purely in my brain.

 

[zyzygy]

and you know this, how?

Research.

 

[Dittohead not!]

I do know. All my sexual activity involves me or me with a partner. None of it takes place purely in my brain.

If sexual pleasure causes changes in the brain, rather than the other way around, then it follows that paranormal experiences also causes changes in the brain, and not the other way around.

 

[zyzygy]

If sexual pleasure causes changes in the brain, rather than the other way around, then it follows that paranormal experiences also causes changes in the brain, and not the other way around.

Sex exists and can be proven to exist. The paranormal is supposition. No proof. Who knows what sets off a "paranormal" experience in the brain? Are you familiar with the research that showed paranormal experiences can be caused by exposing the brain to a strong magnetic field? The research came about after an investigation into a dungeon in Edinburgh Castle. Many people reported paranormal experiences and the place was reputed to be haunted. A scientist discovered that there was a magnetic anomaly there, and was able to replicate the paranormal experiences in his lab by means of a crash helmet fitted out with magnets. There was a BBC Horizon documentary on the subject.

 

[Lethargic Aptitude]

There are lots of sites saying the same thing. Here's another, if you don't like the one I posted.

The bottom line is this: Sexual activity and paranormal experiences are related to changes within the brain. Some people think that the brain activity produces the experience, but there is no way to know whether that is so, or whether the experience produces the changes in the brain.

Lol Michael Persinger - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The guy is a damn fine example of why pseudoscience is rejected.

If all those sites lead to that guy dont bother linking them. You failed to make a good argument.

 

[Dittohead not!]

Lol Michael Persinger - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The guy is a damn fine example of why pseudoscience is rejected.

If all those sites lead to that guy dont bother linking them. You failed to make a good argument.

OK, then, since all my sites are pseudoscience, does that mean the paranormal experiences are not correlated with changes within the brain?

 

[Cephus]

and you know this, how?

Every shred of evidence we have. If you care to present evidence showing it isn't true, go ahead. Oh wait, we all know you can't do jack squat. :roll:

 

[grip]

Every shred of evidence we have. If you care to present evidence showing it isn't true, go ahead. Oh wait, we all know you can't do jack squat. :roll:

This article has some supposed, real scientific evidence that there may be some credibility to conscious existence, beyond the physical body. Granted, it's not a great source or a significant amount of fact but it is some evidence by a large study.

A team based in the UK has spent the last four years seeking out cardiac arrest patients to analyse their experiences, and found that almost 40 per cent of survivors described having some form of “awareness” at a time when they were declared clinically dead.

Experts currently believe that the brain shuts down within 20 to 30 seconds of the heart stopping beating – and that it is not possible to be aware of anything at all once that has happened.

But scientists in the new study heard said they heard compelling evidence that patients experienced real events for up to three minutes after this had happened – and could recall them accurately once they had been resuscitated.

Dr Sam Parnia, an assistant professor at the State University of New York and a former research fellow at the University of Southampton who led the research, said that he previously that patients who described near-death experiences were only relating hallucinatory events.

One man, however, gave a “very credible” account of what was going on while doctors and nurses tried to bring him back to life – and says that he felt he was observing his resuscitation from the corner of the room.

Speaking to The Telegraph about the evidence provided by a 57-year-old social worker Southampton, Dr Parnia said: “We know the brain can’t function when the heart has stopped beating.

“But in this case, conscious awareness appears to have continued for up to three minutes.

“The man described everything that had happened in the room, but importantly, he heard two bleeps from a machine that makes a noise at three minute intervals. So we could time how long the experienced lasted for.

“He seemed very credible and everything that he said had happened to him had actually happened.”

Life after death? Largest-ever study provides evidence that 'out of body' and 'near-death' experiences may be real - Science - News - The Independent

 

[zyzygy]

OK, then, since all my sites are pseudoscience, does that mean the paranormal experiences are not correlated with changes within the brain?

The experiences are the changes in the brain.

 

[Cephus]

This article has some supposed, real scientific evidence that there may be some credibility to conscious existence, beyond the physical body. Granted, it's not a great source or a significant amount of fact but it is some evidence by a large study.

When they get that into a peer-reviewed scientific journal so other scientists can verify the results, fine. Until then, it's just an unverified claim. That's not how science works, that's how pseudoscience works.

 

[zyzygy]

This article has some supposed, real scientific evidence that there may be some credibility to conscious existence, beyond the physical body. Granted, it's not a great source or a significant amount of fact but it is some evidence by a large study.

They must have missed the research into the effects of magnetic fields on the brain.