Are There Possible Scientific Reasons for Ghosts?
Ghosts and paranormal phenomena have long been a popular theme in horror films and have captivated the interest of many people. Despite the efforts of psychologists and scientists to provide explanations through testing and experimentation, the phenomenon remains shrouded in mystery. So, is there a scientific explanation for ghosts? Let's explore this topic further together.
You know that ghosts and metaphysical beings are known as the main theme of most horror movies.
Although some people describe ghosts as energetic beings, some people believe that ghosts are real beings.
So, what does science say about ghosts?
In many western mythologies and cultures, a ghost or spirit is a dead person who interacts with the world.
According to the belief, ghosts whisper and make noises. Usually, they are depicted in the form of a shadow or as a transparent figure.
In a survey conducted in the United States in 2018, 58% of people agreed with the idea that houses can be taken over by ghosts or spirits.
Although we think that ghosts in movies can be recorded with a camera or with a lot of equipment, this is not enough evidence. Although people tell what they feel and try to prove such cases, many studies have shown that we should not always trust our sense organs.
Can the condition of dreaming with the eyes open, colloquially known as a nightmare, be associated with ghosts?
Science calls this condition sleep paralysis. This condition makes someone feel paralyzed and frozen even though they are awake. Also, at that time, a person can see a creature or a silhouette that is not in the environment. These are purely hallucinations.
Even people who have seen nightmares report that they have even seen these creatures walking towards them and sitting on them.
Sleep paralysis occurs when the brain confuses the process of falling asleep and waking up. Although we usually only start dreaming after we have completely slept, the body can also dream when the eyes are open because it does not fully wake up. Doctors describe this condition as 'dreaming with your eyes open'.
Have you ever heard voices that you don't understand where they came from?
You don't have to sleep to see what you see during sleep paralysis. Have you ever experienced your phone shaking for no reason, but there is no notification? Did you hear someone say your name when no one was there?
Such misperceptions are considered hallucinations.
Information from the world bombards you with a mixed signal. The eyes perceive colors, the ears perceive sounds. The brain works to make sense of this complex process. For this reason, we try to find meaning even in some things that are considered meaningless.
For example, when you look at this photo, you can see three faces.
When you look at the clouds, you can see rabbits, ships and faces. This is because the brain carefully selects and interprets the incoming signals. If our brain received all the signals directly, we would probably be quite worn out!
To further explain, the face you see there doesn't actually exist in real life.
In fact, what you see there is a picture in which the brain likens the things it sees to the nearest object or object. In addition, even if you misheard the lyrics of any song you know, your brain will correct these lyrics on its own.
Sometimes our brain can play tricks on us. For example, we can see something that is not in the environment with our eyes, or we can miss something that is there.
For example, while watching this video, try to count how many times players in white shirts have sent balls to each other. -youtube
Have you seen the gorilla that appears in the middle of the video while you're counting? Many of the people watching the video don't even see that gorilla!
According to psychologist Christopher French, memory is not like a video recording. We only remember the things we pay attention to. For this reason, some people see what they want to see and perceive what they want to perceive. For this reason, many of the events considered paranormally may actually be 'selective perception'.
In addition to selective perception, everyone can experience sleep paralysis, hallucinations and selective perception.
In recent years, psychologist Philip Tyson has contracted 687 students to conduct research on their paranormal beliefs. They were asked questions about paranormal activites.
The purpose of the experiment was to find out whether analytical intelligence has anything to do with paranormal phenomena.
Therefore, these students were presented with the arguments 'it is possible to communicate with the dead', 'your mind or soul can leave your body and travel'. During this process, the exam grades of these students were also taken into account.
It was found that students with low exam grades had a higher tendency to believe in paranormal events.
Paranormal beliefs continue even among scientists. Psychologists also think that this is a really big problem. Psychologist Tyson says that if you can't tell if a spooky ghost story is real or made up, you may also be fooled by ads or fake news in the future.
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