Although the time of death is approaching me, I am not afraid of dying and going
to Hell or (what would be considerably worse) going to the popularized version
of Heaven. I expect death to be nothingness and, for removing me from all
possible fears of death, I am thankful to atheism.--Isaac Asimov, "On
Religiosity," Free Inquiry ††
Why do people believe in ghosts? You'd think that if they'd existed all these thousands of years, someone somewhere would've been able to get positive proof. Yet all we've come up with so far are a million anecdotes and those "reality" ghost shows, which are basically just footage of a bunch of idiots running around in a dark house and asking one another, "Did you hear that? Did you see that?" Yet a lot of people still believe they exist. And not just ghosts, but manananggal, tiyanak, mangkukulam, and a host of other supernatural beings.
I'm sure many of you have heard about "Piltdown Man" and how "science can't answer everything" from creationists (Chick Tracts, anyone?)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/oct/21/fossil-ida-missing-link
Who's...