Again you fail to understand the difference between your dead Aunt sitting on your sofa talking to you for 30 minutes, and a lightening bolt that strikes and kills people, starts fires, etc. Lightening is measurable, and it causes damage! There is a sound component to lightening too, it's called thunder. Most kids have seen and heard thunder and lightening all their lives. Dead Aunts on the sofa? Never!
Re dead aunt scenario: I have such an aunt. Dead that is. But as yet she has made no visitation. I would like her to do so, as she was a good laugh. Should she do so, I would consider whether she was a product of my imagination. As the imagination is by its nature unverifiable, I would be left wondering whether the apparition was real or not. I would apply this test. Many things that my aunt knows, I also know. But many things which she knows, I do not know. I would question my aunt to find out if there is anything that she knows that would be impossible for me to know. That knowledge must be definite and verifiable. If my aunt starts saying "My information is something to do with gas, or it could be pass or maybe ass", or "There's a name of someone beginning with an S" or she starts mumbling so I can't quite make out what she's saying. Immediate rejection. If the information given proved correct, I would give the aunt temporary credence, pending further investigation. If the aunt had no knowledge of anything outside of what I knew myself to be true, I would assess that she was a product of my imagination.
Ghosts are certainly measurable with emf meters and motion detectors. They can cause damage by moving objects. They can make noises and talk. And as I already established with Abe Lincoln's ghost, have been seen by numerous witnesses. Ghosts have been sighted all over the world since ancient times. I doubt there's an app for it yet. I'll check and get back with you. Well wadda ya know! Here's a Google app for turning your phone/computer into a ghost detector! https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.spudpickles.grc&hl=en
You just said you would be if you saw her on your couch. Are you now saying you can't hallucinate such a thing? Make up your mind.
That's probably correct. No, I am saying I do NOT hallucinate such things. (can != does.) Since you have admitted the same thing, looks like we agree.
I've never admitted I can hallucinate the ghost of my aunt and my visiting neighbor at the same time. That was your claim. Remember?
My test is a good way to sort the false from the true, with regard to aunty apparitions. See post #83 Even if you have a pre-existing faith in apparitions, it is a way to sort out the possibly true from the definitely true. After all, even if you believe in apparitions, you need to divine which are genuine and which are the product of wicked emanations.
Again, can != does. (In case you didn't understand that shorthand, it means the word "can" is not the same as the word "does.") Since you have admitted you DO not hallucinate your aunt, looks like we agree.
It was a hypothetical question. You understand what that is don't you? IF this happened, what would you do? The IF assumed you were seeing an apparition of your aunt. You claimed it would be a hallucination. You even claimed the neighbor seeing her was a hallucination. I never agreed with that at all. Sinking in yet?
No, I claimed that I _assumed_ it would be a hallucination. In general I assume the most likely explanation unless presented with good evidence to the contrary.
No. I would _assume_ it was a hallucination. In general I assume the most likely explanation unless presented with good evidence to the contrary. If you got off the Internet I am sure you would do the same. If a friend of yours came to you and said "I see dead people sitting on my couch! And they're talking to me!" your first concern would be for your friend's mental health - not whether he had a couch cover to keep the ectoplasm off his couch.
No I wouldn't assume that. If he said his aunt appeared to him on his couch and spoke to him for awhile, even having his neighbor coming over to confirm it, I'd assume it was a real experience and not a brain glitch. See, the prospect of the paranormal doesn't threaten my world or my sanity like it apparently does yours. It's simply one of those unexplained aspects of reality that goes on. It doesn't effect my grasp on reality in any way whatsoever. We have hardly scratched the tip of the iceberg of what is out there. There's still so much left to learn about what reality is and what is possible for it.
What did your neighbor do? Did your aunt acknowledge him? What did you guys talk about? Did she know she is dead? WWe need all of the details here to figure this out...