Page 60 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - Febrary/March 2020 Edition

60 Why Do People Believe in Ghosts?

Why Do People Believe in

Ghosts?

Continued from Page 59

A 2002 study found that believers in
ghosts were more likely than non-believers to
report unusual phenomena while touring a site in
Britain with a reputation for being haunted.
Visitors who were told that there was a recent
increase in unusual phenomena occurring at the
site also reported a higher number of unusual
experiences on the tour.
Another study demonstrated that hearing
or reading about paranormal narratives,
especially when the story came from a credible
source, was enough to increase paranormal
beliefs among participants. With the abundance
of ghost-hunting shows in the U.S. and the UK,
like Ghost Hunters, Ghost Adventures and Most
Haunted, which is returning to screens this fall,
it’s probably not surprising that studies have also
linked belief in ghosts with exposure to
paranormal-related TV shows. randomness). Together patternicity and agent - everything. Although previous research
“What we have is people trying to make icity form the cognitive basis of shamanism, supports an idea that pareidolia can play a part in
sense of something that, to them, seems paganism, animism, polytheism, monotheism, the identification of paranormal stimuli, and that
inexplicable,” says Christopher French, a and all modes of Old and New Age paranormal priming can play a part in the
professor of psychology and head of the spiritualisms.” perception of objects and sounds, not everything
Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at One example of this is our tendency to in this world can be explained. I share this
Goldsmiths, University of London, “So you get see faces in random images, a phenomenon research, not to discourage any beliefs, but to
the misinterpretation of noises or visual effects called pareidolia. In a study conducted at the expand the capabilities of the every-day human
that do have a normal explanation, but not one University of British Columbia, researchers brain. If you ever visit a reportedly haunted
that people can think of. People assume that if Aiyana Willard and Ara Norenzayan found that house or enjoy watching a reality TV
they cannot explain something in natural terms, participants with a higher tendency to paranormal investigation program, keep an open
then it must be something paranormal.” anthropomorphize—meaning those that are mind, but try not to forget that the brain can be a
According to French, hallucinations are more likely to assign human qualities to non- little trickster.
more common among the general population human things—were also more likely to have
than most people realize, and are sometimes paranormal beliefs.
wrongly interpreted as ghosts. He points to sleep “There is also the emotional motivation From the Mind of Executive Producer, Rob
paralysis—a phenomenon that occurs when for these beliefs,” French says. “The vast McConnell,
someone wakes up while still in the dream- majority of us don’t like the idea of our own
inducing REM stage of sleep, in which your mortality. Even though we find the idea of THE FACT*OID GAME
body is paralyzed— as one example. Studies ghosts and spirits scary, in a wider context, they
have shown that around 30 to 40 percent of provide evidence for the survival of the soul.”
people have experienced sleep paralysis at least With that in mind, I reached out to Apple • Only about 52 percent of the Sahara Desert
once in their lives, with about five percent of Inc. for a comment on the images at the start of is sandy; the rest is mostly gravel.
participants reporting visual and audio this article. A representative for the company • A baby rabbit is called a kitten.
hallucinations, including the presence of was kind enough to check out the images, but • Most popular singer in Kenya: Kenny
monstrous figures, and difficulty breathing. didn’t have a comment for the story. And though Rogers.
The experience has been interpreted as a few independent analysts had a good look at • According to Toyota, the plural of Prius is
paranormal in several cultures. In a study done the photos and suggested that Laura’s could be Prit.
in Hong Kong, for example, 37 percent of something related to high-dynamic range • King Tut’s parents were brother and sister.
students reported at least one instance of what photography, no one was able to come up with a • Only two actors to receive Oscar
they refer to as “ghost oppression.” In Thailand, definitive explanation for the man in my nominations in every decade from the 1960s
the term for sleep paralysis–phi um—translates apartment. through 2000s: Jack Nicholson and Michael
to “ghost covered.” In Newfoundland, Canada, Maybe more images like mine will Caine.
it is known as a visit from the “Old Hag.” The surface and someone will come up with a • Warthogs have no warts. The “warts” on
woman in Swiss artist Henry Fuseli’s famous technical explanation for these spectral iPhone their faces are fat-filled bumps that provide
18th century painting, “The Nightmare,” is said photos. padding during fights.
by French and other researchers to be suffering Or maybe, it’s just a ghost. • Samsung uses robotic butts to verify that
an episode of sleep paralysis. their phones are tough enough to be sat on.
Michael Shermer, author of The Paranormal Pareidolia • The French name for a French kiss is
Believing Brain, argues that we see causal, galocher. It means to “kiss with tongues.”
intentional relationships—even when they don’t and the Brain • In the 18 months after MTV’s 16 and
exist—because it is evolutionarily advantageous Pregnant debuted in 2009, teen pregnancy
to do so and because humans have the tendency rate dropped 5%.
Continued from Page 15
to look at patterns and see them as deliberate. In • The U.S. embassy in Iraq is about the same
a column for Scientific American, Shermer size as Vatican City.
writes, “We believe that these intentional agents
control the world, sometimes invisibly from the Just an Illusion? Keep Reading for More Fact*oids!
top down (as opposed to bottom-up causal
Full disclaimer: Pareidolia cannot explain