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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask why people believe in ghosts and other supernatural nonsense?

291 replies

BowieFan · 23/10/2016 14:25

I just don't get it, I really don't.

There has been no scientific evidence of any genuine psychics or people who can contact the dead (and trust me, people have poured millions into trying to find genuine ones) and yet people still believe this rubbish. How do mediums still make money when it's obvious all they're doing is cold reading?

There's never been a single clear sighting of a ghost or any photographic proof of one.

I really feel sorry for the people who believe this nonsense - they must be lacking something that they feel they have to rely on something that doesn't exist to get answers in their life.

OP posts:
Original poster
BowieFan · 23/10/2016 20:16

GinAndTunic

I'm really sick of the "different people have different belief systems" excuse though. There are some things where we should be able to question them. I think religion and the supernatural needs to be questioned. There just is no scientific evidence for them.

Like I said, I don't care what people believe, but please don't have a go at me for being "condescending" or "patronising" - those are MY beliefs and you should respect them, if you want to use that argument.

OP posts:
mumsof4boys772 · 23/10/2016 20:17

To the original poster have you lost someone recently??

itsmine · 23/10/2016 20:19

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

itsmine · 23/10/2016 20:20

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Muskateersmummy · 23/10/2016 20:21

Everything should be open to discussion and debate, but maybe your opening post should have been worded differently if you genuinely wanted to understand other people's beliefs. Saying you feel sorry for people who believe this nonsense, isn't really the opening for a constructive discussion.

GinAndTunic · 23/10/2016 20:22

I'm really sick of the "different people have different belief systems" excuse though.

And I'm really sick of the 'if people don't see the world I do they're morons* patronising, condescending attitude that runs through all of your posts.

Don't have goes at people who don't share your beliefs and then whine about people having a go at you. What goes round comes round. Take responsibility for what you say and your insensitivity in saying it.

GinAndTunic · 23/10/2016 20:23

That * should be ".

NotAMammy · 23/10/2016 20:23

I watched my dad die. I saw the spark of life leave his body, even though he was technically alive for another 45 minutes. It wasn't that he was unconscious, the thing that made him him left him and left behind a warm body. I choose to believe that it was his soul.
My believe in a deity comes from the question - what was there before the big bang.
I'm not an idiot, there is nothing missing from my life. I've never consulted a medium (apart from when I was 14 where she told me I'd marry a fair haired man and live across the sea. I'm Irish, there was a 50/50 chance that these things would happen!)
I think a lot of mediums and fortune tellers are chancers and I agree that a lot of people should be redirected to counselling as they can pray on the vulnerable. I also think they can be a bit of craic. In my experience, the only ones I've known of who actually did have a gift didn't do it for a profit.

I don't appreciate your sneering pity.

DotForShort · 23/10/2016 20:23

Like I said, I don't care what people believe, but please don't have a go at me for being "condescending" or "patronising" - those are MY beliefs and you should respect them, if you want to use that argument.

Why should we? As I wrote above, of course you are entitled to your opinions. I respect your right to believe whatever you want. That does not mean I have to respect the way you express yourself. You have dismissed others' beliefs in a rude and condescending manner. If you don't want people to comment on that tone, then perhaps you could think of different ways to phrase your views.

mumsof4boys772 · 23/10/2016 20:23

This reply has been deleted

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Ohchristmastreeohchristmastree · 23/10/2016 20:27

I also used to see spiders running across my ceiling and see people in my room when I was in bed. It never freaked me out though as it was sleep paralysis (and I'd see people I knew so I was aware it wasn't ghosts). Now my kids are older and I have a decent sleep pattern I don't get it anymore.

So sleep paralysis may explain some people's experiences.

mumsof4boys772 · 23/10/2016 20:30

What about these people that have been on deaths door and out of body experinces? I buy that, but is it just the sub conscious?

Boundaries · 23/10/2016 20:31

*Today 20:23 mumsof4boys772

I would say if people dont see the world as everyone else does they perhaps are on the spectrum or such like x*

WTF?

mumsof4boys772 · 23/10/2016 20:33

This reply has been deleted

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CoteDAzur · 23/10/2016 20:35

"I am scientifically minded (degree in biochem)... When my Grandfather died I wentto see him at the chapel of rest. Within 1 minute of going in - I was ready to leave. My grandfather was NOT there, sure there was a body that looked like him, but that special thing that made him him wasn't there."

In other words, it wasn't your grandfather there but his corpse. The body was no longer alive. Surely this wasn't a surprise.

"That's the moment that made me realise there is an energy that gives us our uniqueness..."

Please put that biochemistry degree to use and tell us what exactly that energy is (heat? nuclear? chemical? ...) and why you believe it must have gone "somewhere else".

" and when we die, that energy goes elsewhere"

Really? Where in your biochemistry studies did you learn about energy going "somewhere else"? I thought conservation of energy mean that all energy remains here, dissipating to surroundings and/or changing from one form to another, but not going "somewhere else". Please explain.

TheHubblesWindscreenWipers · 23/10/2016 20:36

what was there before the big bang

Ooooh well that's a good 'un. But actually a deity isn't the most parsimonious explanation. Some think the question is meaningless - there was nothing. Nothing to expand into. Some think universes 'bubble' in and out of a multidimensional space/time thingy. There are multiple schools of thought, none of which I truly understand on any deep level.
It's a real mindfuck Grin

mumsof4boys772 · 23/10/2016 20:37

Who is to say the energy does not go elsewhere? who are you to say it does not? who are you to say it does?

Secretmetalfan · 23/10/2016 20:37

It could be worse op. I could be a narrow minded person who seeks to pick a random fight over other people's believes for no reason whatsoever

GinAndTunic · 23/10/2016 20:38

Boundaries, I know. I have reported the offensive posts.

mumsof4boys772 · 23/10/2016 20:38

Bowiefan have you lost soemone recently?

mumsof4boys772 · 23/10/2016 20:39

why GinAndTunic? I have 2 children on the spectrum myself! why would you find it offensive?

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 23/10/2016 20:43

those are MY beliefs and you should respect them,

Perhaps you should try respecting other peoples' beliefs. It works both ways you know.

My Dad died when I was 24 and afterwards I was desperate to see him again and convinced myself there was an afterlife. Would you really have questioned my beliefs at that time (I never saw a medium)?

Surely if people find it comforting to believe there is an afterlife it's no one else's business and anyone who disagrees should just wind their neck in. If they are talking about seeing a medium then say something gently, but don't pour cold water on their beliefs.

Original poster
BowieFan · 23/10/2016 20:43

mumsof4boys772

Thank you for comparing me to someone on the spectrum. My son is on the spectrum and I find it offensive that you think he lacks social skills and other things. He certainly doesn't.

I don't either and am not on the spectrum. I'm not even a "tell it like it is" person and if someone told me in person they believed, I'd just say "Oh that's nice, but it's not for me." but I started the thread wanting to know why people believed.

And yes, I lost my sister in August. Doesn't mean I'm suddenly going to start believing in the supernatural. She is dead and she can't contact me. I'm sad about that and would do anything to have her here, but a psychic pretending she's talking to my sister is not going to help me. My sister would say that herself.

I've lost plenty of people in my life - some of them very close. Nothing has made me believe. It just simply isn't something I can believe in. It offers me no comfort to think that if there is an afterlife, my loved ones are stuck being bothered and contacted all the time.

OP posts:
Boundaries · 23/10/2016 20:44

It's offensive because it's a wildly inaccurate generalisation about people with autism.

And it's irrelevant that you have children with autism yourself, it doesn't give you the right to make such ridiculous claims.

Original poster
BowieFan · 23/10/2016 20:45

PinkSparklyPussyCat

I said if you wanted to use the "respect other people's beliefs" argument then equally you have to respect mine, which people haven't done. I don't believe that argument, so I don't really care if people respect mine or not but if you're going to use that argument, it goes both ways.

OP posts: