At the end of life, 'seeing ghosts' may be a self-awareness of being near death

Rodger

Rodger

Ad Honorem
#1
Jun 2014
5,367
US
#1
I came across this article this morning:

At the end of life, 'seeing ghosts' may be a self-awareness of being near death | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

I was intrigued my the concept. As a logical person, I find it hard to believe in ghosts. As a spiritual person, something tells me it may be possible, a phenomenon that transcends the natural order of things. Years ago when my younger brother and cousin were children, they swore they saw a ghost. I found the original article:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nati...d706461fa4f_story.html?utm_term=.f3d65ac43900

I would say it is possible to see ghosts, especially loved ones from the past, as one prepares to leave this life.
 
BRIAN GOWER

BRIAN GOWER

Ad Honorem
#3
Oct 2011
4,468
Gwendraeth Valley, Carmarthenshire, Wales.
#3
My sister died recently, but shortly before passing away she pointed to the side of her bed and said 'look, Snowy' referring to her beloved white West Highland Terrier who died in 2014.
 
S

sculptingman

Ad Honorem
#4
Oct 2009
3,416
San Diego
#4
Delusions on one's deathbed are common...

And folks swearing they saw a ghost is no different than folks swearing they saw jesus in a cheese sandwich.

Its called Pariedolia- its the fact that, when confronted with ambiguous sensory input- your brain will IMPOSE a pattern it recognizes on the noise, and from that moment on you are not seeing what you are looking at- you are seeing what your brain has DECIDED you must be looking at.

As an artist, I use this trick all the time... getting people's brains to "decide" they are seeing "hair" in a sculpture thats actually just a solid lump of clay.


And folks who never heard of ghosts- NEVER see ghosts. Folks who never hears of aline saucers, never see flying saucers.

you see what you are conditioned to see.
 
BRIAN GOWER

BRIAN GOWER

Ad Honorem
#5
Oct 2011
4,468
Gwendraeth Valley, Carmarthenshire, Wales.
#5
sculptingman said:
Delusions on one's deathbed are common...

And folks swearing they saw a ghost is no different than folks swearing they saw jesus in a cheese sandwich.

Its called Pariedolia- its the fact that, when confronted with ambiguous sensory input- your brain will IMPOSE a pattern it recognizes on the noise, and from that moment on you are not seeing what you are looking at- you are seeing what your brain has DECIDED you must be looking at.

As an artist, I use this trick all the time... getting people's brains to "decide" they are seeing "hair" in a sculpture thats actually just a solid lump of clay.


And folks who never heard of ghosts- NEVER see ghosts. Folks who never hears of aline saucers, never see flying saucers.

you see what you are conditioned to see.
Click to expand...
Is that a conditioned response?:)
 
Todd Feinman

Todd Feinman

Ad Honorem
#6
Oct 2013
5,887
Planet Nine, Oregon
#6
Have to get to differ that folks always know about ufos before they see one; the 16th century broadsheet from Basel demonstrates that, as do sightings of "flying hats" during the 19th century. Foo fighters ("floating mystery balls") are another example:


Even the airship wave was interpreted by many as some kind of terrestrial craft.
Might have to disagree with the ghost statement, too.
 
Last edited:
D

Disciple of Sophia

#7
May 2016
811
Vatican occupied America
#7
sculptingman said:
Delusions on one's deathbed are common...

And folks swearing they saw a ghost is no different than folks swearing they saw jesus in a cheese sandwich...And folks who never heard of ghosts- NEVER see ghosts. Folks who never hears of aline saucers, never see flying saucers.

you see what you are conditioned to see.
Click to expand...
You're showing a delusion yourself here called "normalcy bias". You're assuming because you don't believe in ghosts they're not real and no one can be seeing them and rationalizing your prejudice.

Its called Pariedolia- its the fact that, when confronted with ambiguous sensory input- your brain will IMPOSE a pattern it recognizes on the noise, and from that moment on you are not seeing what you are looking at- you are seeing what your brain has DECIDED you must be looking at.
Click to expand...
Thank you for adding a word to my vocabulary, though a bad explanation. It does not follow that someone seeing a ghost or UFO is confronted with "ambiguous sensory input" or that you're trapped in what your mind has decided to see, e.g. I see a yellow smiley beating a donkey with a stick to the side of this post, that does not cause me to think that the smiley and donkey are in anyway real... now you see them too :deadhorse:

There are better explanations for you prejudice.

#1 Limited perspective, e.g. yesterday I saw a cloud with a large hole through the middle while out for a walk. I wondered is this real and thought that in my whole life I had never seen one of those, as I walked on I saw that it was really two clouds that had created the illusion of a cloud with a large hole in the middle.

#2 People are really seeing it, but they're not really awake.

#3 People are just telling tall tales.

Of course there are real ghosts and UFOs but what are they is the real question ;)
 
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