How does one account for the fact that even a dyed-in-the-wool atheist and skeptic still gets the creeps at a scary movie? I don't like those type of movies because they do creep me out so I don't watch them. My guess is that I don't believe in ghosts but I'm still afraid of them.
KelvinG
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I don't believe in ghosts, but when I'm watching a movie like "The Sixth Sense" I do believe. I suspend my disbelief because I realize I'm watching a work of fiction and if it's effective enough, I should be scared simply because it's scary. It has little to do with what I do or don't believe in.
I shudder at the thought of becoming such a militant skeptic that I'm unable to enjoy works of paranormal fiction.
I shudder at the thought of becoming such a militant skeptic that I'm unable to enjoy works of paranormal fiction.
EdipisReks
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while i have no problem suspending belief, i don't find scary movies to be very scary. sometimes creepy, but not scary.
Dr.Stefano
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When I am watching a movie I can believe in almost everything, except in James Bond...
wittgenst3in
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I don't think it has much to do with the suspension of disbelief, unless it's a unconscious one.jimmygun said:
Other night I woke up and had to go to the bathroom at about 3am. I was walking back to bed, when I suddenly got the heebie jeebies. This incredibly creepy feeling of being alone, with no-one else awake.
I found this absoloutly fascinating. I knew no-one could be inside my house, I knew I was perfectly safe. I don't even think it was fear of a possible person, but just a fear of something lurking.
Theres no way I would have felt this way in the daylight, or if one of my family was in the other room. It's just spontaneous creepyness for no apparent reason.
I'm an atheist, and I definitely disbelieve in paranormal things, but I'm still capable of being creeped out occasionally. The way I see it it's part of our inbuilt software, and we should aware that we can all be frightened for no good reason.
It's like luck. I wager most people, especially in primitive societies believe in some form of luck, be it something like a charm, or a prayer, or a chant, etc. I sometimes notice that I'll be doing something and say to myself 'wow, that sure was lucky' and try to repeat it. If I wasn't aware of it, I would probably develop a superstition about that particular thing.
I think our natures will lead us astray, unless we know learn exactly it is we're falliable. It'd be dangerous to expect humans to work any other way. A good example of this is memory; I had to go to court a year ago, and report on an incident that happened about half a year before that. There were four witnesses, and none of them recognised the man in question when they first saw him (luckily he was apprehended at the scene so that wasn't a problem). Peoples statements had small but definite inconsistencies, not through malice, but just because they remembered different things over time. Ask someone what a person where a person was standing and you get slightly different results from people, and they are all absoloutly positive that's what they saw.
So yep, I definetly get scared when watching horror movies. I would get anxious if I was at the top of a tall building even if I was wearing a harness and my safety was assured.
On a lighter note it's really really hard for me to be creeped out by a movie unless it's done well. Otherwise I just wonder how much they spent on the bad costumes.
http://maddox.xmission.com/signs.html
chrisberez
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Re: Re: Scary movies
You're right on with this one, I think. I mean, I'm a big Tolkien geek and love Lord Of The Rings. Doesn't mean I have to believe in Hobbits. Similarly, a movie isn't scary just because it has a ghost or a monster. The scare factor comes through in the direction and atmosphere and tension. I like scary movies because they're fun. Pure and simple.
Gr8wight said:
You're right on with this one, I think. I mean, I'm a big Tolkien geek and love Lord Of The Rings. Doesn't mean I have to believe in Hobbits. Similarly, a movie isn't scary just because it has a ghost or a monster. The scare factor comes through in the direction and atmosphere and tension. I like scary movies because they're fun. Pure and simple.
chrisberez
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Re: Re: Scary movies
Well, after all it wasn't so long ago when our ancestors were living in caves, and the thought of something lurking was a very real possibility. One moment you get up to take a piss, the next you're a late night snack for a saber tooth tiger. It seems to me that fear of this sort is part of a defense mechanism, instilled though the evolutionary process and left over from long ago. Only natural that it should kick in now and again.
wittgenst3in said:
Well, after all it wasn't so long ago when our ancestors were living in caves, and the thought of something lurking was a very real possibility. One moment you get up to take a piss, the next you're a late night snack for a saber tooth tiger. It seems to me that fear of this sort is part of a defense mechanism, instilled though the evolutionary process and left over from long ago. Only natural that it should kick in now and again.
Gr8wight
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Re: Re: Re: Scary movies
Thanks for the response. After two or three people posted essentially the same thing as I did without any reference to my post, I was beginning to think nobody could see my post. Post. Post. I believe I'll stop using that word now.
To wittgenst3in:
I remember very clearly an experience I had when I was a child. I don't recall how old I was. I suspect I was younger than 10, but I'm just guessing. I do remember the circumstances quite clearly.
I had gotten up in the middle of the night to visit the little boys' room. After concluding my business, I was heading out of the bathroom and back to my bed. I looked up and saw a figure standing in the hallway just outside the bathroom door. It scared me badly, and I yelled out. My mother was there in a heartbeat to comfort me. I can't recall any details of what this spectre looked like, but I know I described it to my mother as a witch. My mother suggested that I had seen my own reflection in the full length mirror on the inside of the bathroom door, but I insisted the door had not been closed, so I couldn't have seen it at all. First, at that age, I never closed the door when I got up to pee in the middle of the night. Second, the door had been open when my mother arrived on the scene, and I was frozen stiff with fright, so I certainly hadn't moved toward the apparition I saw to open the door. I never did come up with a reasonable explanation for what I saw. I can only assume that I had been almost sleepwalking, and was mixing elements of dreaming and waking visions. I have never had any other experience like that before or since, so I am not prone to that type of thing, and it left an indelible mark on me.
chrisberez said:
Thanks for the response. After two or three people posted essentially the same thing as I did without any reference to my post, I was beginning to think nobody could see my post. Post. Post. I believe I'll stop using that word now.
To wittgenst3in:
I remember very clearly an experience I had when I was a child. I don't recall how old I was. I suspect I was younger than 10, but I'm just guessing. I do remember the circumstances quite clearly.
I had gotten up in the middle of the night to visit the little boys' room. After concluding my business, I was heading out of the bathroom and back to my bed. I looked up and saw a figure standing in the hallway just outside the bathroom door. It scared me badly, and I yelled out. My mother was there in a heartbeat to comfort me. I can't recall any details of what this spectre looked like, but I know I described it to my mother as a witch. My mother suggested that I had seen my own reflection in the full length mirror on the inside of the bathroom door, but I insisted the door had not been closed, so I couldn't have seen it at all. First, at that age, I never closed the door when I got up to pee in the middle of the night. Second, the door had been open when my mother arrived on the scene, and I was frozen stiff with fright, so I certainly hadn't moved toward the apparition I saw to open the door. I never did come up with a reasonable explanation for what I saw. I can only assume that I had been almost sleepwalking, and was mixing elements of dreaming and waking visions. I have never had any other experience like that before or since, so I am not prone to that type of thing, and it left an indelible mark on me.
Re: Re: Scary movies
I'm starting to believe there's something special about 3 am in terms of human physiology, interaction between brain and body, and resulting susceptibility to creepy feelings. Personal sleep habits vary all over the map of course. Let's just say for the typical diurnal schedule, 3 am may be some kind of special physiological point that makes it especially ghostly.
If I'm reading online "real-life" ghost stories, something I have a weakness for (badly-written personal accounts, the amateur kind that are sincerely written and believed by their authors), then it is in the range 2-3 am where I will start to have a physical reaction to some of them. The hair on my neck will literally stand up. Non-scientific statement: I believe a large number of the "incidents" in the stories themselves happen around this time, though midnight is a much more popular magic time in literature.
Our younger daughter is insomniac and convinced our house is haunted. I suspect her worst experiences are from around that time of night.
I can't help noticing a lot of "I thinks" and "I believes" and "I suspects" in this posting. Sorry about that. Maybe this is a plea for more data. Anybody confirm/refute my hypothesis?
Is this also a prime time of night for sleep paralysis?
wittgenst3in said:
I'm starting to believe there's something special about 3 am in terms of human physiology, interaction between brain and body, and resulting susceptibility to creepy feelings. Personal sleep habits vary all over the map of course. Let's just say for the typical diurnal schedule, 3 am may be some kind of special physiological point that makes it especially ghostly.
If I'm reading online "real-life" ghost stories, something I have a weakness for (badly-written personal accounts, the amateur kind that are sincerely written and believed by their authors), then it is in the range 2-3 am where I will start to have a physical reaction to some of them. The hair on my neck will literally stand up. Non-scientific statement: I believe a large number of the "incidents" in the stories themselves happen around this time, though midnight is a much more popular magic time in literature.
Our younger daughter is insomniac and convinced our house is haunted. I suspect her worst experiences are from around that time of night.
I can't help noticing a lot of "I thinks" and "I believes" and "I suspects" in this posting. Sorry about that. Maybe this is a plea for more data. Anybody confirm/refute my hypothesis?
Is this also a prime time of night for sleep paralysis?