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What is the evolutionary need for ghosts?

julia crawford

julia crawford

Took the red AND the blue pills
Member
Oct 27, 2017
35,597
We all know ghosts exist. For example, in the moon.

But why have we evolved to have ghosts? What's the benefit? I don't see any benefit to becoming a ghost from an evolutionary standpoint, and i think the science in this is clearly lacking. I don't think ghosts can procreate... or maybe ghosts can procreate with other ghosts? Do we have science on this?
 
Crashman

Crashman

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,151
Ghosts are waste product of the body. They eventually get dissolved by ghost microbes which in turn fuels their growth. Circle of un-life.
 
Finale Fireworker

Finale Fireworker

Love each other or die trying.
Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,717
United States
You're thinking about this all wrong. Metaphysically, the ghost (or soul, or spirit, whatever you prefer) is the natural state of humanity. The body is a temporary, transient phase that decays and dissipates and the ghost remains in its natural state as part of the collective unconscious lifeforce. We did not evolve to produce ghosts, ghosts evolved to produce bodies.

Source: Dark Souls, Final Fantasy VII
 
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julia crawford

julia crawford

Took the red AND the blue pills
Member
Oct 27, 2017
35,597
Finale Fireworker said:
You're thinking about this all wrong. Metaphysically, the ghost (or soul, or spirit, whatever you prefer) is the natural state of humanity. The body is a temporary, transient phase that decays and and dissipates and the ghost remains in its natural state as part of the collective unconscious lifeforce. We did not evolve to produce ghosts, ghosts evolved to produce bodies.

Source: Dark Souls, Final Fantasy VII
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Hmm, this is a good way to look at it but i'm not sure it's true given that we have an increasing number of humans living at the same time which would mean that ghosts are in increasing demand, and i don't think there would be a infinite number of ghosts 🤔 maybe sometimes people are born without ghosts? Is this why we have people that don't like FF7R?
 
Finale Fireworker

Finale Fireworker

Love each other or die trying.
Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,717
United States
John Kowalski said:
Hmm, this is a good way to look at it but i'm not sure it's true given that we have an increasing number of humans living at the same time which would mean that ghosts are in increasing demand, and i don't think there would be a infinite number of ghosts 🤔 maybe sometimes people are born without ghosts? Is this why we have people that don't like FF7R?
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Let us also remember the words of the scholar Aldia:

Once, the Lord of Light banished Dark, and all that stemmed from humanity.
And men assumed a fleeting form.
These are the roots of our world.
Men are props on the stage of life, and no matter how tender, how exquisite...
A lie will remain a lie.
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The Age of Fire is a lie and the lifestream is sick. No wonder the planet cries out in pain. 🙄
 
FinFunnels

FinFunnels

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
5,610
Seattle
They exist to haunt the scrooges of the world

But ghosts can't go to space, which is why Bezos and Musk are so intent on going there
 
kirby_fox

kirby_fox

Member
Oct 29, 2017
5,733
Midwest USA
Consciousness is a constant that embodies temporary experiences through alternate timelines and bodies at a specific point in time we call the present.

Ghosts are a byproduct of multiple things- consciousness being stuck between realities, time having issues with discerning the present, and overlapping realities.
 
Planx

Planx

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,749
Ghosts exist due to cultural evolution and not biological evolution. When youths don't listen to your wisdom, or you're tragically killed before you can pass on your wisdom, you become a ghost
 
Doctor_Xoa

Doctor_Xoa

Member
Dec 16, 2019
326
Families with protector ancestor spirits out-compete those that don't. Dinosaurs: no ghosts. Killed by asteroid. Humans: yes ghosts. Not killed by asteroid. It's just math.
 
hey it's that dog

hey it's that dog

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,122
As long as becoming a ghost doesn't make you any less likely to procreate it doesn't have to increase your reproductive fitness to persist as a trait. It would be a fitness neutral mutation and therefor could spread widely without any real adaptive value.
 
Soriku

Soriku

Member
Nov 12, 2017
6,934
Finale Fireworker said:
You're thinking about this all wrong. Metaphysically, the ghost (or soul, or spirit, whatever you prefer) is the natural state of humanity. The body is a temporary, transient phase that decays and and dissipates and the ghost remains in its natural state as part of the collective unconscious lifeforce. We did not evolve to produce ghosts, ghosts evolved to produce bodies.

Source: Dark Souls, Final Fantasy VII
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Hmm...what's the evolutionary need for bodies???
 
Lord Fanny

Lord Fanny

Member
Apr 25, 2020
26,023
When you have no time for Heaven and Hell and all you seek is vengeance and bubble gum, and baby, the world's gum supply is getting pretty damn low
 
Planx

Planx

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,749
John Kowalski said:
Ghosts are memes? 🤔
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Ghosts are meme carriers

e: Everyone knows that memes are self-sustaining, memes developed ghosts to get passed on despite the original carrier of the meme being dead. This will be proven by a sudden increase in reported ghost-dabbing incidents in the next 50 years.
 
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Finale Fireworker

Finale Fireworker

Love each other or die trying.
Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,717
United States
Soriku said:
Hmm...what's the evolutionary need for bodies???
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The matter found in bodies creates fuel for the universe, which is necessary for its perpetuation and longevity. This is why Gwyn, Lord of Cinder, spread the myth that our physical beings are our true form - so that we may reject our essence and serve his own. It is why we fear the dark and not embrace it. We deny our own nature!
 
Dennis8K

Dennis8K

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
20,161
All of us have a skeleton inside our body. An actual low-tier RPG monster inside our body.

Think about how spooky that is.
 
Guppeth

Guppeth

Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,924
Sheffield, UK
I find it impossible to cum unless I think a ghost is watching. I don't even believe in ghosts, except when I'm about to cum. I'm sure most people feel the same way. Without ghosts, there would be no procreation.
 
L Thammy

L Thammy

Spacenoid
Member
Oct 25, 2017
50,134
I think that up until fairly recently humans were more likely to find mates when they had bodies, so ghosts were more an unacceptable mutation. But as we settled into a more urban lifestyle, people who come ghosts have seemed more desirable and people with bodies seem less, which has led to ghosts being better suited for modern conditions.
 
Karamsoul

Karamsoul

Member
Oct 27, 2017
446
Finale Fireworker said:
You're thinking about this all wrong. Metaphysically, the ghost (or soul, or spirit, whatever you prefer) is the natural state of humanity. The body is a temporary, transient phase that decays and and dissipates and the ghost remains in its natural state as part of the collective unconscious lifeforce. We did not evolve to produce ghosts, ghosts evolved to produce bodies.

Source: Dark Souls, Final Fantasy VII
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Deep AF
 
jonamok

jonamok

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,191
Ghosts exist to encourage PAC-MAN's cardio and stop him growing to infinite size, which would destroy the world. So, when we die we become one of the four ghosts (based on our personality types) and are trapped in an '80s arcade machine for all eternity, or until Billy Mitchell comes along and gets the perfect score and we are freed by the game crashing and are released to heaven.
 
Video Kojima

Video Kojima

Banned
Apr 5, 2020
2,541
What is the evolutionary need to help certain animals? Or people who don't share genetics or beliefs with us?
Or to support people who have severe disabilities and are not related to us? Or to consciously choose to not have children?

The answer is, there is no answer. Human beings are complex and we don't know enough about ourselves.
 
Dyle

Dyle

One Winged Slayer
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
30,112
Ghosts exist to warn future generations about the risks of falling pianos, betrayed lovers, ax murderers, and other common causes of death.
 
Lobster Roll

Lobster Roll

signature-less, now and forever™
Member
Sep 24, 2019
34,576
I'm only scared of real things like serial killers and kidnappers. Not things that don't exist ... like ghosts or mummies.
 
Fatoy

Fatoy

Member
Mar 13, 2019
7,267
L Thammy said:
I think that up until fairly recently humans were more likely to find mates when they had bodies, so ghosts were more an unacceptable mutation. But as we settled into a more urban lifestyle, people who come ghosts have seemed more desirable and people with bodies seem less, which has led to ghosts being better suited for modern conditions.
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The metaverse is populated exclusively by ghosts.

EDIT: I'm mad at myself now, but I legitimately think I might write a modern update of A Christmas Carol where Zuckerberg is visited by the spirit of Eduardo Saverin, in VR.
 
Hilarious_Bearious

Hilarious_Bearious

Member
Nov 4, 2017
7,408
Dyle said:
Ghosts exist to warn future generations about the risks of falling pianos, betrayed lovers, ax murderers, and other common causes of death.
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It's clearly this. People with good ghost genes are more likely to become ghosts who can then warn their descendents about dangers, protecting their genetic legacy. It's basic 8th grade ghost science. You don't have to be a sexy Winchester to figure it out.
 
DirtyLarry

DirtyLarry

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,119
In art school one of my electives was "Modern Physics For The Artist" so as you can maybe take from the title, it was a hell of a class. The professor actually got fired after 2 years and rumor was it was because once a semester he would hold a class in Tompkins Square park and encourage everyone to smoke weed.

I set the scene as I think it is important to realize what we are dealing with here... The professor, although he never confirmed or denied the existence of ghosts, said that if they did indeed exist, he posited that ghosts were people who had etched or burned themselves into the time space continuum. He then had some examples, but the one that stuck with me was about some guy who took the LIRR (Long Island Rail Road) train at the same time every week day for over 30 years. And how so many people swore after he died they either saw him or still felt his presence. He had done the same thing over and over on the continuum, so he burned himself into it.

It was pretty much the most logical, albeit it still very metaphysical, explanation I had heard to explain ghosts.
 

Deleted member 9241

Oct 26, 2017
10,416
His name is Tobias Forge

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