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Psychology: Truth About the Paranormal 53

Psychology: The truth

about the paranormal

By David Robson

In the 21st Century, why do so many
people still believe in the paranormal?
David Robson discovers that there’s good
reason we hold superstitions – and a few
surprising benefits.

Soon after World War II, Winston Churchill was
visiting the White House when he is said to have
had an uncanny experience. Having had a long
bath with a Scotch and cigar, he reportedly
walked into the adjoining bedroom – only to be
met by the ghost of Abraham Lincoln.
Unflappable, even while completely naked,
Churchill apparently announced: “Good
evening, Mr President. You seem to have me at
to single, isolated sightings, like that reported by welcome his research, since they genuinely can’t
a disadvantage.” The spirit smiled and vanished.
Churchill. But what about the experiences of understand why others don’t share their
people like Conan Doyle, who seemed to see worldview. “They say that ’I don’t see why other
His supposed contact with the supernatural puts
other-worldly actions on a day-to-day basis? people don’t feel what I feel, or believe what I
Churchill in illustrious company. Arthur Conan
believe’,” he says.
Doyle spoke to ghosts through mediums, while
Protective shield
Alan Turing believed in telepathy. Three men
who were all known for their razor-sharp Hidden faces
Psychologists studying religion have long
thinking, yet couldn’t stop themselves from
suspected that a belief in the paranormal can be Riekki recently asked sceptics and believers to
believing in the impossible. You may well join
a kind of shield from the even harsher truths of view simple animations of moving shapes, while
them. According to recent surveys, as many as
the world. The idea is that when something lying in a brain scanner. He found paranormal
three quarters of Americans believe in the
paranormal, in some form, while nearly one in unexpected happens – a death, natural disaster, believers were more likely to see some kind of
or job loss – the brain scrambles around for intention behind the movements – as if the
five claim to have actually seen a ghost.
answers, looking for meaning in the chaos. “It’s shapes were playing a game of “tag”, say – and
such an aversive state that if it can’t gain control this was reflected in greater brain activity in the
Intrigued by these persistent beliefs,
objectively, we will get it by perceiving more regions normally associated with “theory of
psychologists have started to look at why some
of us can’t shake off old superstitions and folk- structures around us, even if they don’t exist,” mind” and understanding others’ motives.
says Jennifer Whitson at the University of Riekki has also found that people who believe in
lore. Their findings may suggest some hidden
Texas, who studies pattern perception, and the supernatural are more likely to see hidden
virtues to believing in the paranormal. At the
judgment and decision making. Even simply faces in everyday photos – a finding confirmed
very least, it should cause you to question
asking people to remember a time when they felt by another team at the University of Amsterdam,
whether you hold more insidious beliefs about
the world. out of control, can make people see illusory who showed that paranormal believers are more
forces at work, she has found. That included likely to imagine that they had seen a walking
seeing patterns in the random movements of the figure in random light displays.
Some paranormal experiences are easily
stock market, for example, but it could also
explainable, based on faulty activity in the brain.
manifest itself by linking two unconnected Added to this, Riekki has found that believers
Reports of poltergeists invisibly moving objects
seem to be consistent with damage to certain events, such as the belief that “knocking on may have weaker cognitive “inhibition”,
wood” for good luck would improve your compared to sceptics. That’s the skill that allows
regions of the right hemisphere that are
chances in a job interview. you to quash unwanted thoughts, so perhaps we
responsible for visual processing; certain forms
are all spooked by strange coincidences and
of epilepsy, meanwhile, can cause the spooky
Anthropomorphism is another common way that patterns from time to time, but sceptics are better
feeling that a presence is stalking you close by –
perhaps underlying accounts of faceless we try to understand events, says Adam Waytz at at pushing them aside. Riekki gives the example
Northwestern University in Illinois. So we of someone who is thinking about their mother,
“shadow people” lurking in the surroundings.
might think that a spirit lies behind a storm or only for her to call two minutes later. “Is it just
that a demon is causing us to get ill – rather than that sceptics can laugh and say it is just
Out-of-body experiences, meanwhile, are now
acknowledging that we have no control over the coincidence, and then think of something else?”
accepted neurological phenomena, while certain
visual illusions could confound the healthy brain matter; and if a branch is tapping on your he wonders. Significantly, another paper
window, you might be more inclined to imagine reported that paranormal believers also tend to
and create mythical beings. For example, one
that it is a ghost sending you a message. “We have greater confidence in their decisions, even
young Italian psychologist looked in the mirror
create beliefs in ghosts, because we don’t like when they are based on ambiguous information.
one morning to find a grizzled old man staring
believing that the universe is random,” says So once they have latched onto the belief, you
back at him. His later experiments confirmed
that the illusion is surprisingly common when Waytz. Again, this seems to be more common might be less likely to let it go.
when we feel less control over our lives.
you look at your reflection in the half light,
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perhaps because the brain struggles to construct
Given these strange turns of the mind, might
the contours of your face, so it begins to try to
some people be naturally inclined to see hidden
fill in the missing information – even if that PLEASE... STAY SAFE, STAY
leads to the appearance of skulls, old hags or patterns and motives, and could this explain why HEALTHY, STAY HOME
they are more superstitious than others? It is a
hideous animals.
question that Tapani Riekki at the University of
Helsinki in Finland has tried to answer for the COMPLY WITH ALL GOVERNMENT
So any combination of exhaustion, drugs,
last few years. He says that believers often AND HEALTH INSTRUCTIONS.
alcohol, and tricks of the light could contribute