I'm trying to stay out of this thread for reasons that should be obvious to anyone who knows my various areas of speciality, but I just can't let that comment pass.

Sorry, dude, but the above statement is utterly, categorically false. Every culture has had at least one creature that we Westerners would categorize as a "vampire", and most of them were considered to be really, REALLY nasty. Then again, where you come from perhaps undead corpses routinely drag themselves from their graves in order to sour the milk and spoil the crops while systematically dessicating their entire family and then everyone else in a reasonable radius . . . so maybe that would be merely "annoying". To everyone else who believed in such things, "annoying" meant something closer to "mortal fucking terror".

~Nachtzehrer, who is trying VERY HARD not to guffaw that we are actually discussing the difference between "vampires" and "vampyres"~

Go ahead and laugh, Nachty, but what are you going to do when your best friend comes to you in the middle of the night and claims to be an undead energy drinker, and wants you to prove it to the world using potted plants and ATP tests? You're going to hit the "print this topic" link, that's what. ;P

~Lady A, whose tolerance for abstract, pretentious bullshit knows no bounds

Attempted scientific explanations for paranormal activity tend to be dry, but not necessarily boring. The effect of magnetic fields on the temporal lobes for example raises more questions about the nature of consciousness than it claims to answer about UFOs and poltergeists. Ergot poisoning and mass hysteria are no less fascinating subjects than witchcraft, in my opinion.

Some of us got a bit carried away with our fantasy of a real energy vampire... I guess we're just more romantically inclined than you callous realists. (Although, come to think of it, what's so romantic about "mortal fucking terror"?) This does, at any rate, go to show that the scientific method may be applied to even impossible situations, even if you do make yourself look stupid doing so.

Lady A, I think a talented artist such as you might turn this concept into a cracking story. Perhaps you could have our vampire "friend" pay certain cynics a visit for a little "discussion" about its existence? :b

That's an idea, Morningstar. That's an idea. (cue evil laugh)

~Lady A, who doesn't need the scientific method to make herself look stupid

Back to ATP.
This, for those whom don't understand, is a chemical reaction. It to my knowledge isn't anywhere close to Chi or the type of energy being discussed. It cannot simply be sucked form the body. And even if someone could use someone elses ATP, it never leaves the body.
Morningstar I think you have to remember that not everyone is scientifically inclined.

Apologies, I merely wanted to put the abstract idea of encountering a chi vampire into the context of a "real" encounter.

To reiterate: you are quite entitled to disregard the scientific process for any explanation, but in doing so you reduce your argument to one of opinion alone. If we stubbornly refuse to associate chi with the reality of biochemistry that propels living creatures then how do you propose to validate such a claim if it is made? And how do you distinguish it on a fundamental level from a dickhead who claims to be Lennon reincarnate? For Scarlett & Nachty, the answer may be that they are both delusion at all times, but that rather cuts off the "what if" pretentious bullshit flight of fancy before it hatches from the egg...

Wow... That was SO enjoyable. It's been a good while since I've seen a good conversation. And now that you have finished, I can chime in without fear of interupting said conversation. I'm going to say what I say about many subjects. Don't you think we may be over-analysing it?

I mean, I have no objection to the idea of anything supernatural, but I do prefer a simple, logical approach first. Psi Vamps. Most claim to feel unwell, drained and lackluster untill they have a nearby subject from which to draw psychic energy. May I suggest an alternate cause, instead of vampirism? How 'bout boredom and lonliness? The symptoms seem to fit. And Sang Vamps? Perhaps they have anemia? anemic people often have strange cravings... Anything from coal, through to blood and makeup. And those aren't life threatening or even highly severe cases. Just iron defficiencies. We automatically assume severe psychological symptoms, or analys the hell out things without looking at the most obvious things first.

Now as for the Tony situation. What if Tony's girl had had her drink spiked by some undesirable? And it was merely the couple of drinks that disinhibited him, so he thought with his crotch? He looks pale because he has mortified himself with his slip of lust? He avoids you because he feels disgusted with himself? And the cat... hmm. Let's see. Aren't animals used to 'feeling' feelings of others. They have no language, so learn to translate expressions and mannerisms into information. So Tony's sending a weird, freaked out vibe. That might make the cat get a little freaked itself...

Just thought I'd point out that this seems a little more likely to me. As for him beleiving himself a vampire? Well I think he's either having fun with the idea, developed it as a mechanism to cope with guilt, or is merely having delusions of grandeur.

Still, if all of these were disproved, then I would seriously lend an ear to a supernatural bent. Because in secret, I love the idea of all things supernatural. Unfortunately, so much of it today is just people playing "Silly Buggers"

I was under the (clearly mistaken) impression that we were talking about the idea that bio-sensitive people were just that - i.e. that the more rational explainations were to be excluded?

That a human can power (or mess up) a watch through their electric field alone suggests that we exude some sort of quantifiable electro-magnetic energy.

One of my problems so far has been the suggestion that this measurable energy is not comparable to chi. Without anything "real" to measure in our hypothetical situation, I maintain that we are stuck in the realms of magic, and thus at the mercy of the kill-all realist approach of "it's not real, it could not happen" (which has been employed, very effectively, in this thread...)

Well if you agree that their aproach was realist, then you agree with them in that this is all mumbo jumbo. So you basically just complained that they agreed with you. You were a difficult child, weren't you?

Very difficult; realist approaches to the fundamental nature of matter throw up endless paradoxes, their's is not the only way to describe reality...

No, but it is the most logical. It seems to have the most proof too. Oh, and that elctric watch thing? That's called a bio-electric field. We all have one. Gives off about as much power as a couple of AA batteries. Rarely causes interference, but there have been a few occasions. It can cause magnetic fields you see, if you have concentrations of iron or copper in your body. You become a mini electromagnet. It's not supernatural in any way.

Thank you for reiterating the existence of the bio-electric field, the sharks of the world will rejoice that they can indeed "see" beyond sight.

Logic is a human invention; it may correspond to the manner in which our peculiar brain processes information. To claim an argument is "more logical" may just be to argue that it is "more human". If we are considering the supernatural, perhaps the less human we set our thinking, the more likely we are to encounter the mind of our subject?

But in this case, the subject has a human mind. So human logic is what we must work with. Just as these apparent Vamps must.

Vampires are not human. *)

Really? Then why is it that they hang around humans, associate with humans, have human friends, like human poetry and art, have human desires, share identical DNA and tend to fit pretty much every requirement of being human? They certainly sound human to me.