Debate: Are ghosts real
Side: No

They may have different ideas of what ghosts are but the point is they still have stories of something supernatural. One or two may just a coincidence but if many of them have it, don't you think that there is something more to it?All there is to it is that death and loss are frightening things and humans have sought a way to make them familiar and explainable since before they understood the world as we do now. Many people believe in ghosts as a mechanism for coping with grief, because the prospect of losing a loved one forever is too much to face honestly. Others fear the termination of their own consciousness and tell themselves it will continue, in some way or another. Others experience a very unlikely coincedince and, unable or unwilling to consider more practical causes, choose to sbustitute a paranormal entity as the cause. Still others simply crave something interesting or mystical in their lives and subsconsciously filter the world through this desire, seeing evidence for ghosts or angels or Bigfoots where there is none. If ghost stories from around the world are all real, rather than a product of people trying to explain a world they didn't understand, then why the differences? Do you turn into a different type of ghost depending on where you died? Do ghosts vastly vary in properties depending on what the observer believes? If so, how and why would the beliefs of an observer influence the properties of the ghost? Why have no claims of ghosts, from the wildest to the most mundane, ever been recreated in a controlled setting? My family and very close friends have told me that they have had supernatural experiences and I know they wouldn't lie or make up random stories. So that also adds to my belief even though it is not the big reason why I believe in it.1. The human memory is surprisingly inaccurate, despite what we would all like to believe. We misremember important things and fall prey to misdirection and manipulation fairly easily. Memories created during times of extreme stress or intense emotion can be especially unreliable. 2. When a person who believes in ghosts or is naturally superstitious experiences a strange coincidence, they are less likely investigate other causes because they have already made up their minds.3. Anecdotal experience is unreliable, even if that source is not intentionally dishonest. For example, let's say a person who believes in ghosts enters a room at an acquaintance's house and sees that a lampshade behind a couch is rhythmically shaking. They watch it for awhile and it continues to shake, despite the fact the air conditioning is off and the windows are closed. Hidden behind the couch is a small fan, making the lampshade move. However, the observer 'knows' they are witnessing the actions of a ghost and, nervous, they leave. Later, they tell their story to a friend. Of course, the presence of the small fan is omitted, and their friend has no way of checking to see if it was there and no reason to think it would be, because they, too, believe in ghosts thus see no need to consider other causes. Maybe they relate the story to you, and embellish slightly to make it more interesting, saying that the entire lamp was swaying back and forth a little. You now have even less reason to believe it was caused by something else because making a lamp sway would take considerable force. And suddenly, you have another piece of 'evidence' for the existence of ghosts. Also, how about things that can't be explained by humans? Things that seem to have more than rational reasoning behind it?If you gave me an example of one of the unexplainable things you have in mind, I could answer this question better. There are things that genuinely unexplainable, and things that are 'unexplainable' only in the sense that superstitious people and believers refuse to accept or comprehend the scientific explanation that has been provided, preferring instead to rely on magic or supernatural forces. Ghosts are an excellent example of this.However, there are, of course, things that humans do not know. We may yet decipher some of the more difficult workings of the world, but in the meantime, there is no reason to fill in gaps in knowledge with supernatural phenomenon. It is better to admit a lack of knowledge and strive to acquire it.