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A psychologist explains why we believe in the paranormal

#1
C C Offline
https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/gho...al-belief/

EXCERPT: A YouGov poll in 2019 found that 45 per cent of Americans believe in ghosts, whereas in 2016 another YouGov poll showed that British people are more likely to have faith in spooky spirits than the existence of God. With the release this month of nostalgic sequel Ghostbusters: Afterlife, there seems no better time to ask: why are we still haunted by our belief in ghosts?

“It tends to be driven by two things,” says Richard Wiseman, Professor of the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire. “One is personal experience – lots of people claim to have had a paranormal experience after the loss of a loved one.

“The other is popular media. Most experiences aren’t that difficult to rationalise away. With photographs, for example, there used to be many double exposures but not so many today. Those sorts of ghosts have gone away with the arrival of camera phones.”

According to Wiseman, both drivers take advantage of various psychological traits – some of which are universal, while others are specific to certain people. “Humans have open, imaginative minds,” he says. “And we want to imagine a world that doesn’t have pain or suffering, where our loved ones are still with us. We’re pattern-searching creatures. And the price we pay for seeing patterns that are there, is occasionally going into overdrive and seeing patterns that aren’t there.”

More specifically, Wiseman links a belief in ghosts to creativity. In 2013, for example, a study performed at the University of British Columbia concluded that people with a higher tendency to attribute human traits to non-human objects (anthropomorphising) were also more likely to believe in ghosts... (MORE - missing details)
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#2
Magical Realist Offline
Quote:“Humans have open, imaginative minds,” he says. “And we want to imagine a world that doesn’t have pain or suffering, where our loved ones are still with us.

Believing in ghosts doesn't bode well for those that want to believe in some blissful afterlife. Spirits contacted on the other side seem discontent and stranded at locations, or else annoyingly summoned to the latest seance. Afterlives on the other hand portray a realm of loved ones and friends surrounding oneself in some pleasurable paradise. Paranormal reality seems more like a wild west of lost entities in conflict with negative entities and longing for contact with the living world. I hope that's not the way it is. Maybe ghosts are merely souls stuck in limbo. I'd take nonexistence over that any day. Or even the crap shoot of reincarnation.
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#3
Leigha Offline
I don't believe ghosts are mentioned in the Bible, but demons are - which are evil spirits?

Not sure I agree with that MR, I know many Christians who also believe in ghosts, so ...they don't seem to struggle with believing in God, and also that ghosts could be a real thing.

I'm still not sure what ghosts actually are. (physically, I mean) lol They seem misty and vaporous. Maybe this is why science scoffs at claims of paranormal activity, because it's hard to measure something that has no material make up.
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#4
Magical Realist Offline
Quote:I don't believe ghosts are mentioned in the Bible

Spirits or ghosts are mentioned a few times in the Bible. When King Saul went to the witch of Endor she summoned the ghost of the prophet Samuel, who was really pissed about being disturbed. In the New Testament, the apostles are said to have believed Jesus walking on the water of the lake to be a ghost. And when Jesus appeared after his resurrection to them, he told Thomas to thrust his hand in his side to prove he wasn't a ghost. So while ghosts weren't part of the teachings of the Bible, there does appear to have been a widespread folklore belief in them at that time. Which is generally true worldwide in most all cultures.
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#5
Leigha Offline
(Nov 18, 2021 10:54 PM)Magical Realist Wrote:
Quote:I don't believe ghosts are mentioned in the Bible

Spirits or ghosts are mentioned a few times in the Bible. When King Saul went to the witch of Endor she summoned the ghost of the prophet Samuel, who was really pissed about being disturbed. In the New Testament, the apostles are said to have believed Jesus walking on the water of the lake to be a ghost. And when Jesus appeared after his resurrection to them, he told Thomas to thrust his hand in his side to prove he wasn't a ghost. So while ghosts weren't part of the teachings of the Bible, there does appear to have been a widespread folklore belief in them at that time. Which is generally true worldwide in most all cultures.

Ah, good points! God did make mention of warning against getting involved or listening to necromancers and mediums, so there must have been superstitious beliefs back then.
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#6
Magical Realist Offline
Quote:God did make mention of warning against getting involved or listening to necromancers and mediums, so there must have been superstitious beliefs back then.

True dat! When I was part of the SDA church in my teen years we were taught spirits summoned by mediums were really demons disguised as the ghosts of loved ones. So any involvement with the occult or new age teachings was a big no no. We even believed ufos were demons in disguise. Heck..maybe they are!
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