gncxx said:
After reading this thread, it seems ghosts are quite common (unless you actually set out to look for one, of course)..
You know, I think you might be onto something there. Ghosts always seem to turn up when you are not looking for them, or somewhere just out of sight in a building, or by making noises but never, ever appearing.
The only phenomenon that I know of that is so sensitive to observation is quantum strangeness. Quantum events rely on an observer to force them to one state or another; I know this sounds like gobbledegook but physicists are certain this is how it works.
So, suppose that our brains and conciousness are primarily a neurological phenomenon, but one which continually generates quantum effects as it operates.
When a person is alive, most of the time the quantum effects are swamped by the brain functioning, but sometimes the brain and the quantum ghosting separates and we see ghosts/thought forms generated, but only if he patterning is continually reinforced and fed.
When a person dies, as the neurological system shuts down it effectively vanishes leaving the quantum effects sitting there on their own, gradually fading over time. Most of the time, the fade-off is rapid, rarely it isn't.
To get the maximum quantum ghosting you'd need to generate very strong brain activity and shut it off very fast: a violent emotional death. To get lesser effects, you'd need to fire up the brain to activity then shut it down to a low level - exactly what sleep does; dreaming alternates with deep sleep and in normal sleep patterns someone'll be entering deep sleep some time past midnight.
Finally, quantum effects seem to be damped by observers. Observing a ghost therefore is almost certain to collapse it's waveform to a stable and non-active state, hence the fleetingness of ghostly events.
Does any of this make sense, or am I merely talking techno-garbage?