Appologize for the double post, no idea why it did that.

Hm, maybe it should of been labled as a freethinkers view of ghosts. But anyway, their is some science to the claims ie coldspots, evps.

Anyone who believes in ghosts can ghost ick one up their ass.

I never said I believed in it. I don't see how you can compare ghosts to religion, as theres been "evidence" on ghosts, millions of unexplained videos, pictures, coldspots, yadah yadah yadah, but theres never been anything pointing to any theist religion, Miracles can be explained, videos of transparent ghosts have  yet. Anyways I wasn't trying to debate the existance or lack of in ghosts, but what are your thoughts on if science did prove it, and how this would effect atheism (which I don't think it will at all).

I would say if valid scientific evidence for ghost was discovered it would not make us become theists. We would just change one belief.

Yes, atheism only addresses belief in gods.  So it follows that many atheists tend to be skeptical of the existence of ghosts.  Ghosts are often cited by "ghost-believers" as proof of life/existence after death.  Non-belief in god tends to lead to non-belief in all the baggage that comes along with god belief, such as believing in an afterlife.  But it is not always the case, unfortunately.

Harry Houdini was a skeptic who went out of his way to prove that ghosts and seances were crap.  Today, James Randi has taken up the mantle and offers $1 million dollars to prove paranormal activities.  No one yet has claimed the prize. 

Additionally there are these guys:

Me, personally, I don't believe in "ghosts" or "spirits" or anything else like that for the matter. I believe that superstitious people have expectations (for lack of a better word) when they enter a scare place, i.e. a cemetery after dark, or any other place they believe to be spooky; this helps lead to their imagining of such things. To me the logic is simple: There is no such thing a soul, therefore there is nothing remaining after death, and so no ghosts. As for all the "evidence" and pseudoscience, there are two possible explanations, taking into account the previous statement: Either A) the "evidence" is complete bullshit, or B) there is some other naturally occurring phenomenon that has yet to be fully explained by science, but in time, like everything else, will.

It's funny, I recently got to put all this to the "test" if you will. Before I became an atheist, I believed in ghosts (and a handful of other embarrassing things), and was scared of them. A few weeks back a friend and I crept into the old city cemetery at nightfall and walked around in the dark until about 1 in the morning. She was really scared at times and constantly thinking she was seeing things. She even found some rosemary growing along some confederate graves that she thought would protect her. I thought this all was very amusing and ridiculous. The whole time I wasn't worried a bit. I knew there was nothing out there, nothing that was going to "get us", and so I was cool as a cucumber the entire time. Upon noticing my condition she made the comment "You're a proper atheist aren't you....." ^_^

Yes, I think all phenomena commonly labeled as supernatural or paranormal are either false or no different from natural, normal phenomena.  So, if ghosts became proven which I doubt but I suppose it’s possible, we would simply label them as previously unknown natural entities.

Bear in mind; being afraid of the dark is an evolutionary advantage for us. The real dangerous predators for us (big cats and the like) can see in the dark, and do much of their hunting then - while hunter gatherers like us would've been easy game. Monsters, ghosts, etc, that linger in the dark can very easily be dismissed as byproducts of such an evolutionary advantage, as well as several cultural myths, stereotypes, etc.

All that said... meh. Some nights, I simply can't handle the dark without hiding under my covers. I find that some 'authentic' ghost footage really does resonate fear within me (however hoaxed it is), and I have little choice in the matter of certain apparitions:

My brain makes them real to me. I don't think that's the same as 'belief' (...I know that they aren't physically there), and it certainly wouldn't change my mind about afterlife even if I did believe they were real (Dead 'people'? Hah! People hardly look like that).

Skepticism is always important, regardless of your personal emotional attachment.

People have trouble coming to terms with *this* simple truth: We Live...We Die.

All of this beleif in invisible stuff that there is no evidence for is a way to quell fear....and a way for opportunists to make money at vulnerable people's expense. ...The Jon Edwards, James Van Praughs, and Sylvia Brownes of the world are no better than drug dealers in our local schoolyards who take advantage of greiving people looking for closure. 

People miss the ones they love who buy the farm...its sad, sure...but beleiving that there is a way to communicate with a corpse is a sure way to sepparate you from your hard earned coin.

  Here's a little piece I did on one such affront to humanity: http://www.unlearnnow.com/douche.html

Ghosts are not real. When I was 18 before I went to college I worked all summer at a cemetery. I was a groundskeeper and assisted with burials. Several times we had to dig up 40 or more year old graves when a parent died and wanted to be buried with their child in a new location. It was a little creepy the first time but you get over it. Most of the coffins and the body was deteriorated to just a few bones and bits of cloth. I never saw no ghost! Any possible belief I may have had was cured by this experience. If there is anything to ghosts you'd think I would have seen at least one as I was wandering in a graveyard for 8-10 hours a day 6 days a week.

Today I laugh at the horror movies which have ghosts and supernatural BS as a basis. It's not the dead you need to fear, its the wacko live ones.

Here's a follow-up for the previous vid.... just over a minute long

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrVR1oHtOhQ&feature=related

As others have pointed out, atheism has no inherent stance on ghosts.   One may believe in anything one wants except for god and be called an atheist.

As for the evidence of ghosts, it's suspect at best and plain ol' made up at worst.  Beyond that, there's a problem of coherency.  What is a ghost?

*  A spirit?  What's a spirit?  Words like "spiritual" and "immaterial" are incoherent and cannot be scientifically tested.

* A consciousness?  How?  The definition of consciousness is intrinsically linked to material existence -- neurons, to be specific.

* A remnant of life?  Huh?  Remnant how?  Is it alive or dead?  If it's alive, see the previous question.  If it's dead, why speak of it in terms of the living? 

* Immaterial/incorporeal existence?  These words are incoherent and as such, scientifically untestable

We could go on, but the fact is, for science to test something, it needs to know what it's testing.  You can hand a scientist a bunch of data on "cold spots" or "electromagnetic variations" or any other such evidence, and any scientist worth a damn will respond, "Well, that proves that we ought to do more experiments to see if cold spots or electromagnetic variations exist."

Even if verified, the existence of these things doesn't prove, or even particularly lead one towards, the conclusion that ghosts exist.  All it proves is that something causes these things to happen.

I happen to wholeheartedly agree what everyone says about psychics/whisperers, but I don't see what they have to do with ghosts. From what I know about their bullshit, they say they contact the dead (obviously hot and cold readings) but they don't say they contact ghosts. Nor could they because if they did then it would be easy to point out why noone else can see the ghosts. Anywho correct me if I'm wrong, I don't have the time anymore to do thorough research.

I disagree. I don't think a person is racist if they believed that they saw a native american ghost at a trail of tears site. If anything, it only points out that americans WERE racist when they genocided us off in the first place. You cannot say a person is racist just because of what their ancestors might of done in the past. But this is all speculation anyways as many have pointed out, basicly zilch for evidence out there.

Ahh I see, I didn't read apes comment correctly anyways so sorry about the reply.

Probably the TV shows just don't find the stories interesting enough. I grew up in Pueblo Colorado and there are stories of hauntings and spirits in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. There were many Indian ghost stories too about the Comanche killed by the Spanish and how they haunted the mountains and the river beds. Here's a few links for you to check:

http://www.trueghosttales.com/paranormal/native-american-indian-ghosts/

http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/IoiandtheGhostHusband-Chinook.html

http://www.ilhawaii.net/~stony/lore128.html

http://www.ghostbooks.biz/american_indian.htm

http://www.ghostbooks.biz/author.htm

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/624765/haunted_places_in_and_near_pueblo_colorado.html?cat=16

http://www.ghostsandcritters.com/nativeamericanghosts.html

There are many books on Native American Ghost stories they just don't get the attention.

Where is the evidence that all life emits light?

Trying to remember my physics but doesnt all forms of matter  (dead of alive) emit energy ie light?

Was many years seems i did my degree but remember something about black bodies etc

Wasnt really thinking of matter  energy equivilance talking about any body that receives energy (and all bodies receive energy whereever you are in the universe) will eventually emit . Human body generally at room temperatures emits at infra red. Of course there are seperate chemical reactions that product light as welll

I'm assuming wikipedia is relatively uncontroversial on this

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_body

Therefore, our view of ghosts would be "undecided" until we have sufficient justification to form a belief either for or against the existence of ghosts.

I don't know how much of 'communication with ghosts' is a delusion, after all, if a ghost really speaks through a medium, then it is what it is, not a fake communication. Maybe some amateur spiritist sessions are fake, but I've never heard of anyone specific who does them. (maybe some bored, barely teenage girls on a camp)
It's common among people I know to give a lecture to people or an individual, speaking (or writing) completely meaningful, but previously unknown things. Such information is not remembered since before, but immediately intuitively known.
Also, it's even more common for two people to call each other's phone at the same moment, or think about themselves when one of them calls.
I think that a ghost or contacts with ghosts is an equally complicated area of knowledge as any other part of reality. I think, your point of view, including only hypothetical human ghosts, is too much simplified.

And people who believe in angels are even bigger racists. No, wait......not racists.....retards.

I've never seen a ghost.  I have had the crap scared out of me by a ouija board.  And, no, the other 2 people involved were not moving the thing.  There's no way.  All that tells me is that there are likely forces on Earth that we don't know how to measure yet.  What are they?  Well, somebody needs to figure out how to measure them first.

I would not expect anyone else to hold my same belief in a something out there that has been interpreted as a ghost or whatnot (nice and specific, I know) since I not only can I not really explain very well what I experienced, but I definitely can't prove it.

Ok, so I get why some posters are ripping apart your words, and I understand because of the Atheist mindset. So let's look at it this way in a very non-evidential point of view: Ghosts are claimed to be what? If you thought ghosts are real, what would you say they are? Many people think ghosts are the spirits of people trapped in a sort of "limbo," if you will.

Ok, so we've established that a ghost is a trapped soul. Do you believe that a person separates with their soul when they die? If you truly call yourself an Atheist, then that answer would be no. And what is "limbo," per say? Is it the place between earth and heaven? Believers would probably say so, but as an Atheist, you would not believe that heaven exists and without the belief in a soul, there is nothing to be trapped.

So you have to ask yourself if you believe that a ghost is real, taking away that whole "creepy and spooky" factor. If you believe that ghosts are real, and agree that a ghost is a soul in limbo, then by definition you're not really an Atheist. Now I'm not trying to tell you what you are and aren't, I'm just saying that if you call yourself and Atheist, then you must admit that ghosts cannot be real.

So, do I have the scientific knowledge to dissect those videos and other "ghostly phenomenon?" No, but no one is expecting every Atheist to know everything (expect for the Bible-thumpers...now there is a really irrational crowd!). I also don't know everything there is to know about evolution, but I can confidently say that I don't believe in god, heaven, or anything happening after I die, so therefore, believing in a ghost would be absolutely contradictory to that.