A die-hard ghost believer

[Venom]

It seems most logical to state that I will believe it when I see it, but one of my friends cannot believe I follow that line of reasoning.

Now to be fair he is from the South Asian countryside and isn't particularly bright, but he can still think, I have faith in that.

So far, I have tried these snappy questions---

1. People in African countries believe in different spirits and entities. Do you also believe those?
2. If someone were to tell you there is an invisible dragon creating strange noises in people's houses, would you believe it?

(for the second, he said he wouldn't, but he didn't see the connection with the subject at hand, it just flew right past him)

I don't know if I can destroy his belief, but what is the best way to pressure people like this when I am confronted about it? There is just too much superstition around me and my friends I cannot bear it.

I was considering mentioning that one Bible verse about the dead not being able to contact the living because he's also a die-hard Christian and making him choose, I think, would pressure him considerably.

 

[Pixel42]

It seems most logical to state that I will believe it when I see it, but one of my friends cannot believe I follow that line of reasoning.

Perhaps a better approach would be to list some of the things that you don't believe even when you do see them - David Copperfield sawing himself in half and putting himself together again is the example I usually use - to illustrate just how easily anyone can be fooled by their perceptions.

Sceptics don't usually assume that those who claim to have seen ghosts are lying or deluded - in most cases they aren't, they have genuinely seen something. It's their interpretation of what they saw that is questionable. Most people have no idea just how fallible their perceptions can be, and how many mistakes you can end up making by assuming that you can reliably believe something "because I saw it with my own eyes".

 

[Learjet]

Optical illusion pages are also a good example of how our eyes/brain play tricks on us.

 

[aggle-rithm]

Optical illusion pages are also a good example of how our eyes/brain play tricks on us.

Also, people tend to think their memory is infallible. They may THINK they saw something incredible when, at the time, they may not have thought that much of it.

 

[Stray Cat]

I was considering mentioning that one Bible verse about the dead not being able to contact the living because he's also a die-hard Christian and making him choose, I think, would pressure him considerably.

Personally I wouldn't want to use one set of woo to refute another set of woo.

If you are "pressured" or "confronted" with any sort of challenge regarding ghosts, it's simply a matter of asking for evidence and then having the patience to go through it giving possible mundane causes.

 

[philkensebben]

If ghosts existed, then we should be bumping into them every single second of the day. The ghost population would be greater than the living population by about 100 to 1. I just made that up and clearly have no idea about maths, but its probably something like that, if not, greater.

You'd think we might have got some conclusive evidence by now. But no. They clearly inhabit the same areas Bigfoot and friends do. That hazy, fuzzy realm outside the focus of even a cheap camera.

 

[LarianLeQuella]

I recall a story a poster had here about a "ghost" they saw on a foggy day that turned out to be a cow with peculiar markings. That sotry should be located and put here as reference!

 

[ExMinister]

I recall a story a poster had here about a "ghost" they saw on a foggy day that turned out to be a cow with peculiar markings. That sotry should be located and put here as reference!

That story is Hellhound's. He reposted it fairly recently at someone else's request, can't remember which thread it was in though.

 

[thenigotoffthebus]

You could try...

Do ghosts have physical mass? If they do they should be easy to touch & detect. If they dont how are they keeping up with us as we whiz through space at crazy speeds held onto this spinning planet by gravity? Spiritual jet-packs?

The only answer that makes sense is that they exist only in our imaginations.

To be honest I dont think there is one snappy answer that will suddenly make someone let go of such a belief. I used to believe in ghosts and I couldn't tell you what made me stop believing in them. Probably just a gradual general exposure to critical thinking.

 

[Cainkane1]

Belief in ghostsis fun. Ghost stories are fun to listen to. If a person believes in ghosts they don't want to quit. You might want to just let this person believe what they want to.