Agnostic.com

15 3

We know our dogs have extraordinary senses…but can they sense the presence of a ghost? The answer depends, first, on whether you believe in ghosts.

“There is plenty of documentation that could support the notion that dogs can sense paranormal activity,” according to Jesus Aramendi, DVM, a senior veterinarian for Chewy, but it’s only meaningful to the extent you actually believe that paranormal activity exists and is capable of being sensed by the living. After all, there aren’t any scientific studies that prove the existence of the paranormal or dogs’ relation to it. That said, while science loves to spoil ghost stories, a good 45 percent of Americans believe in ghosts. In other words, for slightly under half of Americans, the question “Can dogs see ghosts?” isn’t about whether ghosts exist but simply whether dogs are capable of seeing them.

[rd.com]

Ryo1 8 Sep 30
Share

Enjoy being online again!

Welcome to the community of good people who base their values on evidence and appreciate civil discourse - the social network you will enjoy.

Create your free account

15 comments

Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.

1

The source is Reader's Digest. But if the apparition is stinky, well then ....[pbs.org]

It is a well-documented fact.

1

The answer doesn't depend on whether or not you believe in ghosts, it depends on whether or not dogs believe in ghosts.

I disagree. Dogs are intelligent in their own right but not intelligent enough to form any belief which is an abstract idea. .

@Ryo1 It was a joke.

Oops, my bad!

1

This is not Proof or evidence for Ghosts. Keep trying.

The article is not about attempting to prove the existence of ghosts. (Have you read the article?)

@Ryo1 Reading an article is not necessarily evidence. Perhaps you could pick out actual evidence for me. A completely detailed source actually helps too.

Sigh! Hope you are not being awkward deliberately... The article is NOT about whether or not ghosts exist. I say no more unless you actually read the article.

@Ryo1 I admit that I am commenting without reading which is perhaps a crime. I read enough to know that dogs are special. Perhaps they use dogs in "Ghost hunting" but the detector alternatives and some ghost hunters are giving up trying to prove ghosts. Only when we give up these and other queer happenings will we begin to get rid of religion properly. No offence I hope.

3

Dogs are sentient beings and can sense more than we can. It is only Humans that can make up a theory like a ghost.

3

Dogs have better senses than us. So they can sense things we can't, (having been around dogs, I have observed that first hand ). But that just means there may be something there I can't sense, it is a god of the gaps argument to just drop "ghosts" into the hole. It is just an unknown.

Hi there. Yes, it is well documented that dogs have an acute sense of hearing and smell. My Border Collie can always hear thunder well before I can and starts barking, while my Shiba Inu doesn't react to sounds as readily as the Collie - it's probably a breed difference. Dogs are also sensitive to changes in the atmosphere, so I'm sure they can sense something that make such changes (I often say "There must be something in the air." when my Collie reacts to something and starts barking while I can't see or sense anything.), but I doubt that that "something" is a ghost. Meanwhile, dogs' sense of taste is rather undeveloped as they have much fewer taste buds than we do. I very much doubt that they can ever have debate on "Which cut of beef is more flavoursome, top side of brisket?"

@Ryo1 My memory of it is. Have you ever had the freeze and stare fixatedly into the distance, sometimes for quite a long time, effect. Often more than one dog will do it at the same time, quite silent and still. Yet as a human you get nothing ?

2

What a load! How did they "test" for ghosts? Where is the "study". Did they have a control group? No. Just no,

And did anyone get the ghosts' opinions as to this horrendous intrusion into their privacy?
[]
I don't believe in ghosts, fairies, crystals, past life regression, dinosaurs in Scottish lakes, 400lb upright primates in NW United States forests or any other woo that might be popular at the moment.

2

Dogs can hear things far out of the range of our senses.
Could we call that extra sensory perception?
Then there is their sense of smell.

I don't believe in ghosts. I also don't believe in the ground being "sour" in a place where something horrible happened. I think if someone knew nothing of Gettysburg, for example. They would not feel terrible sadness and foreboding. They would see a pleasant field with some interesting limestone rock formations.

7

Ghost/s, I only believe in one malevolent little beastie, the one that sneaks around the house stealing ONLY one sock from each pair.
If I ever catch the little sod, he/she/it will be wearing garlic for the rest of time....LOL

2

I can only say that I have experienced things that I cannot explain to this day, on two occasions it was in a double blind context with other people experiencing the same phenomena but independently of me so not a mass hallucination situation. Do things exist that are outside of our understanding and our ability to measure in a scientific manner? Of course, there is so much more for us to learn and we need to remain open to new possibilities while at the same time holding theories about these events up to rigorous scrutiny, the way a proper scientist would.

There are things on which we don't have to come to a conclusion, and I'm fine with that conclusion.

@Ryo1 There are plenty of things that we still do not understand but it is worthwhile to set aside arrogance and keep an inquisitive mind about, that's how we learn new things and overcome old paradigms. That's exactly what sciences is supposed to be about, keeping an open and inquisitive mind but humans love rules and hate change for the most part and that includes scientists as well. Fortunately, there are brave individuals that continue to step up and seek truth, sometimes they are acknowledged for their hard work and sometimes not but the seeking of knowledge continues.

2

I do not believe in ghosts. Once when I was religious I did believe but now the subject is ridiculous to me. This does not mean that there are things we do not see or sense and that dogs do see and sense. Anyone who has been around dogs know they sense things in a different way than we do, and are aware of things we are not. Is this paranormal activity? That might just be words that we use. Animals do see and hear things we do not and this might get into why dogs have always been our best friends.

3

I know scientists who are open to the paranormal...my husband was. A Magna Cum Lauda physicist whose contributions to space were astronomical. (Pardon the pun) Where the paranormal is concerned it is not necessary for anyone to believe it. According to "Seth," an entity who dictated books through the medium, Jane Roberts, we all chose those areas of reality that serve our needs. So just focusing on the tangible here and now, is what some people choose and need. Whatever is out there, doesn't care or need for anyone to believe. Those who do accept this as real have had "evidence" that is meaningful to them and there is not need to share it or to prove it.

All this has nothing to do with today's or yesterday's religions.

In all, the quest for wisdom is something we all have to carry out in out own way. Again, Seth says there are many paths.

So we can all be friends and not impose our "way" on others. Because we respect that each of us makes these choices according to our needs.

What I find on this site, is freedom: freedom to be me, freedom from religion, and freedom from the narrow minded who deign to judge me or to dictate how I should be or think. Although I find a little of that from some atheists who really haven't fully recovered from religion, yet.

I am an agnostic who treasures the phrase, "I don't know."

0

It’s a really weird question to ask this group, don’t you think?

I mean, agnostics and atheists are not typically the kind of people who will just believe in anything or accept stories based on hearsay. Normally, one does not “believe in” something; rather they either believe or disbelieve, based on the facts of the matter. Otherwise they accept a story on faith, which is a position that lies well beyond the parameters of this discussion.

How can one believe in ghosts? Either one believes ghosts are a fact or they do not. I for one have not seen enough evidence to accept any assertion that ghosts exist. If there were ghosts they would necessarily be a natural, physical phenomenon… something we could observe and measure with predictable repeatability. Ghosts, if they existed, would require a locus, a source of energy and a physical description.

Hi there. Have you read the article? The article actually does not debate on whether ghosts exist or not. My interpretation of the article is that science indicates that there are no ghosts, and therefore, there is no way dogs can see ghosts. However, like many people ever so often anthropomorphise their dogs, if they (nearly half of Americans apparently) believe that ghosts exist and they hope to see one, they would like to believe that their dogs can see them.

2

There is plenty of documentation that could support the notion that dogs can sense paranormal activity eh?
Where is this documentation that supports paranormal activity???

Garf Level 7 Sep 30, 2021

The key word is "notion" meaning a "belief" about something. Replace "notion" with "belief" in the sentence you quoted. In other words, documentation that supports a notion/belief cannot be convincing to the scientific-minded.

@Ryo1why won't you answer the question? Or is this "documentation" a bunch of bullshit
I'll ask again....where is this documentation?

1

What evidence do we have that ghost exist?

Movies.

2

As a good agnostic, I don't know if ghosts exist, just like I don't know if 'god' exists! I'm certainly not ruling it out.

I will rule it out until some evidence is produced to verify the claim, as I do for any other claim made without evidence.

@jlynn37 , @Storm1752 It's kinda cool to think that dogs can see ghosts, though. 😛

@Ryo1 Eh, if my dog started seeing things that weren't there, then it'd be time for a new dog...

Cause that old motherfuckin' dog be schizophrenic.

@jlynn37 No, you can NOT without evidence rule out the existence of ghosts. In fact there ARE some inconclusive visuals of images which MAY be ghosts. But nothing which could definitely prove there's no such thing.
Therefore, all you can say is, "I don't know."
Your OPINION is another thing entirely.
I PERSONALLY think there is SOMETHING there SOME people call ghosts, but whatever it may or may not be, it is as of now unknown, and I could very well be wrong.
But neither you or I can rule it out.

@Storm1752 Your opinion is noted as is mine. You do you, I do me and let's strive to do or cause no harm.

@jlynn37 Sure. Why not?
It hardly matters anyway.

Write Comment
You can include a link to this post in your posts and comments by including the text q:625547
Agnostic does not evaluate or guarantee the accuracy of any content. Read full disclaimer.