Yesterday I enjoyed an interesting discussion with a friend who believes he experienced a short encounter with a real live ghost. Not one to take things for face value, especially anything involving the spirit world, you can imagine my skepticism. But my friend insisted, "I saw it, John, it was right in front of my face! How can you explain that?"
A ghost, as defined by wikipedia, is a "disembodied spirit or soul of a deceased person." Belief about the origins of such ghosts tend to range from spirits tortured by unfinished business during their mortal lives to protectors warning humans of impending danger to demons from hell trying to possess human bodies. No matter the narrative though, all ghosts share one thing in common: no one has ever presented any definite proof that they exist. More than likely this lack of evidence can be attributed to the fact that they don't exist at all, at least not in the real world. Ghosts dwell in the realm of the imaginary: in books, movies, and, as is the subject of this essay, the human mind. I could call my friend a liar or delusional for claiming to have made contact with the other side, but I fully expect that were I in his position that night in that haunted park, I might have seen a ghost as well. How then can I explain the experience my unsuspecting comrade endured?
I can't.
The experience was personal. Not only was I not an eye witness to the events, but I didn't see the events through his eyes; I didn't feel what he was feeling, know what he knew at the moment of the occurrence. I have no reason to doubt my friend's sincerity, and it would be beyond haughty for me to presume what caused the aberration he saw. Thus, I can only offer a theory which works from the fundamental principle that there is no such thing as ghosts.
If I were to manually remove from the final straight portion of my large intestine some kind of statistic, I might say that 90% of all paranormal experiences follow one simple, generic rule: the faithful always find their evidence. In this particular case, that translates approximately as those who work from the premise that ghosts are real are much more likely to believe they've seen one. Astrology presents a rather astute example of this principle: followers of the ancient superstition are notorious for tracing banal events in their daily lives back to something they read in their horoscopes. "My horoscope said I would have a new experience today, and wouldn't you know it, they were out of pastrami at the deli, so I ate roast beef for lunch!" In fact, it was the faith of the horoscope reader that prompted him to make the connection. Perhaps last week the same deli was out of his favorite drink so he got some tea from the vending machine instead; he thought nothing of it though because his horoscope that day talked about something else.
In an episode of the television show "Ghost Hunters" (yes, I watch "Ghost Hunters", how embarrassing), the overzealous paranormal "scientists" and psychics visit a haunted inn in South Jersey. As usual, the misleading opening segment sets the viewer up for beyond belief ghost encounters that all turn out to be about as eerily convincing as a haunted hay ride. One particular scene stuck out in my mind more than anything. There was a room on the second floor where guests had reported experiencing "a feeling as though someone was there." Some even claimed that on a dark, rainy night in late August, they saw a figure move from the closet to the door and out of the room. An initial investigation by two members of the team confirmed the odd sensation, however, the men soon noticed a barely audible humming sound in the room. As they vigorously checked the room for ghosts, they noticed the humming was coming from the broken ceiling fan; the motor still ran but was disconnected from the actual fan apparatus. Thus, there was a very subtle hum from the fan motor yet no movement from the fan itself. This factor, plus the reputation for the room being haunted, had created an uneasiness in the room, which led to the guests' experiencing eerie sensations, and even perhaps, being in a half-asleep state, believe for a fraction of a second they saw something move about the room. An experiment placing two guests in the room at separate times, one with the fan on and one with the fan off confirmed their theory.
The fact is that most "eye-witness" accounts of ghost sightings can be traced back to two contributing factors: atmosphere and expectation. I will explain these two factors in my next post.
A ghost, as defined by wikipedia, is a "disembodied spirit or soul of a deceased person." Belief about the origins of such ghosts tend to range from spirits tortured by unfinished business during their mortal lives to protectors warning humans of impending danger to demons from hell trying to possess human bodies. No matter the narrative though, all ghosts share one thing in common: no one has ever presented any definite proof that they exist. More than likely this lack of evidence can be attributed to the fact that they don't exist at all, at least not in the real world. Ghosts dwell in the realm of the imaginary: in books, movies, and, as is the subject of this essay, the human mind. I could call my friend a liar or delusional for claiming to have made contact with the other side, but I fully expect that were I in his position that night in that haunted park, I might have seen a ghost as well. How then can I explain the experience my unsuspecting comrade endured?
I can't.
The experience was personal. Not only was I not an eye witness to the events, but I didn't see the events through his eyes; I didn't feel what he was feeling, know what he knew at the moment of the occurrence. I have no reason to doubt my friend's sincerity, and it would be beyond haughty for me to presume what caused the aberration he saw. Thus, I can only offer a theory which works from the fundamental principle that there is no such thing as ghosts.
If I were to manually remove from the final straight portion of my large intestine some kind of statistic, I might say that 90% of all paranormal experiences follow one simple, generic rule: the faithful always find their evidence. In this particular case, that translates approximately as those who work from the premise that ghosts are real are much more likely to believe they've seen one. Astrology presents a rather astute example of this principle: followers of the ancient superstition are notorious for tracing banal events in their daily lives back to something they read in their horoscopes. "My horoscope said I would have a new experience today, and wouldn't you know it, they were out of pastrami at the deli, so I ate roast beef for lunch!" In fact, it was the faith of the horoscope reader that prompted him to make the connection. Perhaps last week the same deli was out of his favorite drink so he got some tea from the vending machine instead; he thought nothing of it though because his horoscope that day talked about something else.
In an episode of the television show "Ghost Hunters" (yes, I watch "Ghost Hunters", how embarrassing), the overzealous paranormal "scientists" and psychics visit a haunted inn in South Jersey. As usual, the misleading opening segment sets the viewer up for beyond belief ghost encounters that all turn out to be about as eerily convincing as a haunted hay ride. One particular scene stuck out in my mind more than anything. There was a room on the second floor where guests had reported experiencing "a feeling as though someone was there." Some even claimed that on a dark, rainy night in late August, they saw a figure move from the closet to the door and out of the room. An initial investigation by two members of the team confirmed the odd sensation, however, the men soon noticed a barely audible humming sound in the room. As they vigorously checked the room for ghosts, they noticed the humming was coming from the broken ceiling fan; the motor still ran but was disconnected from the actual fan apparatus. Thus, there was a very subtle hum from the fan motor yet no movement from the fan itself. This factor, plus the reputation for the room being haunted, had created an uneasiness in the room, which led to the guests' experiencing eerie sensations, and even perhaps, being in a half-asleep state, believe for a fraction of a second they saw something move about the room. An experiment placing two guests in the room at separate times, one with the fan on and one with the fan off confirmed their theory.
The fact is that most "eye-witness" accounts of ghost sightings can be traced back to two contributing factors: atmosphere and expectation. I will explain these two factors in my next post.
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