Let me preface this by saying I do not necessarily believe in ghosts, but in the phenomenon. But that is irrelevant.
Okay, now herein lies the paradox. Whenever someone sees or hears something that could be indicative of a ghost, a normal, rational person will (in my opinion), go over every single possible phenomenon that could possibly explain what occurred.
Sometimes, very rarely, something will defy our knowledge of how things are, and that is when skeptics start to believe.
That's not a paradox, now is it? But think, for a moment. If ghosts, or the phenomenon do exist, how often do we mistakenly attribute ghostly phenomenon for the mundane?
In my opinion, considering that ghostly phenomenon can and is often attributed to the rational until at some later point we learn that that explanation is irrational, how often does this sort of thing occur? How often is it not actually your house settling, but the moan of a ghost (or whatever phenomenon is responsible)?
I think, if the phenomenon occurs, that it truly does happen very, very often. I mean, if you thought you saw an object move without it being touched, how often would you attribute it to a ghost if you were in a new, modern house, or how often if you saw it in a house reputed to be haunted. My guess is that while yes, you may see things occasionally... How often did it actually move?
In many ways, the smarter you are and the less set in your ways you are, the much more likely you are to see a ghost or something unexplainable. Why? Because, firstly, you'll know what is and isn't possible, and what is or isn't likely at all, and have the deductive and logical reasoning capable to determine that, based on your current information set, that you cannot explain what just happened. That your subjective reality may not be as objective as you think, or have been taught. The second quality is obvious, in that if you are bound in your ways you're more likely to let your opinion dictate the truth, rather then the evidence dictating the truth, or lack thereof.
Of course, over imagination does play a part in this.
I guess my point is, if ghostly phenomenon does exist, then many "explainable things" we witness may not be explainable. Just because it can be explained by hallucination, a house settling, or what have you, doesn't necessarily mean that that is the cause.
This is also why, I think, the paranormal tends to polarize people into absolute skeptics or absolute believers. Once your view of reality is questioned, once something impossible happens and it cannot be explained, it calls into doubt everything you have experienced previously. This can cause three reactions. One, absolute denial. Two, absolute belief (in anything). Three, an open mind willing to consider the possibilities based on the evidence.
Now, why am I posting this? I've had many, many strange things occur in my life. For instance, three tornados have struck near where I live. All three times, the morning before or the day before, I remarked to someone "I think there will be a tornado". The first time happened at the age of 8. Now, of course, this could be explained by an intense curiosity or fear of tornados, and that any weather that might remotely spawn one, I will assume that it will. This is not the case. Guess how many times I've made a comment predicting a tornado, and you'd be right if you thought 3. Next, it could be assumed I had unconscious prior knowledge. Yet I did not. A tornado cannot be predicted 8 or 24 hours (in the one case of 24 hours, which was actually a bit more, I remarked, for some reason, there'd be a tornado tommorow) in advance, with 100% accuracy, over the course of more then a decade. It cannot be done. Next, of course, it could be believed that some part of me picked up on natural unconscious cues caused by specific conditions that would be associated with tornados. Yet how would I do this 24 hours in advance? Finally, there is the correct answer, "I don't know". And because I don't know, any answer is open for onsideration.
Or, a more material phenomenon. I woke up, had a breakfast of dried cereal (I hate it with milk). I spilled some cheerios, over the course of eating. I got up and put away the box and my bowl, and got my cigarettes and matches. I put my cigarette pack down, pulled out a cigarette, and lit it. I put the match in the ash tray. I was puffing contentedly, when I saw something. This is what I saw. I saw a cheerio flicked... It was still, and then moved quickly as if it were flicked, and it landed on my cigarette pack six inches away. It did not gradually slow down, but changed from moving quite fast to a complete halt, as if someone put there hand down on it to stop it. Yet of course, I saw nothing to explain this. I was stunned.
Now, I did not bump the table. I was sitting still puffing, one arm by my side and one holding the cigarette. I was looking down at some point quite near my cigarette pack, so I quite clearly saw what happened. Next there is the cheerio. After sitting for a minute, totally stunned, I hesitantly reached for it. I must have sat for 10 seconds with my finger an inch from it, afraid to touch it. Finally, expecting that some force, whatever had moved it, would keep it on the pack of cigarettes, I reached down and picked it up. It was a normal, every day cheerio. I had not imagined it. More, since I had spilled the cheerios before I had put the box away with my bowl, then gotten my pack of cigarettes and put it down, there was no way it could have been on the box of cigarettes beforehand, and I simply had imagined it moving. Only if, somehow, I moved it unconsciously, without being aware, could I have put it on the box. There was no wind, I went through every possible explanation from a small vortex of air caused by air current (either from a pressure differential or ventillation... my apartment was sealed and the ventilation off), to a small earthquake which I did not sense.
Nothing, nothing at all could explain that cheerio. I ate it, by the way, as a means to check on my own sanity. Yes, the flicked cheerio that I had picked up, touched, seen, did have a taste. Somehow this reassured me of my sanity far more then any other sense.
Can I explain what happened? No. THose are the two most material "fortean" phenomenon I have experienced (but by no means the most extreme or bazaar).
They caused me to question my belief system, a fortean agnostic bordering on atheist.
But the point is, if those two phenomenon, which if anyone can explain I'd be immensely happy, were caused by something unknown... How many merely "wierd", but explainable, or even mundane events could be caused by something else? I don't know. I do not go looking for trolls under bridges, nor spend my entire life trying to prove that there are in fact, no trolls under bridges, but nonetheless I am forced to admit that yes, somewhere, somehow, there may be a troll under a certain bridge.
And, more disturbingly, I am forced to ask myself, how often have I seen a rock, a shadow, a reflection, but wasn't. But was, rather, a troll. How do I know?
(No I have never seen a troll under a bridge, it was an analogy).
Thus is the paradox of ghosts, goblins, magick, the occult, etc., or "fortean" phenomenon. And, for better or for worse, the reasons for the attitudes that arise from it.
(BTW, if anyone is curious I have some interesting... stories... along a similar vein, but far more wierd [and no, no alien anal probings or poltergeists zipping about the room, or strange dog headed men who have a fetish for zippers])
Okay, now herein lies the paradox. Whenever someone sees or hears something that could be indicative of a ghost, a normal, rational person will (in my opinion), go over every single possible phenomenon that could possibly explain what occurred.
Sometimes, very rarely, something will defy our knowledge of how things are, and that is when skeptics start to believe.
That's not a paradox, now is it? But think, for a moment. If ghosts, or the phenomenon do exist, how often do we mistakenly attribute ghostly phenomenon for the mundane?
In my opinion, considering that ghostly phenomenon can and is often attributed to the rational until at some later point we learn that that explanation is irrational, how often does this sort of thing occur? How often is it not actually your house settling, but the moan of a ghost (or whatever phenomenon is responsible)?
I think, if the phenomenon occurs, that it truly does happen very, very often. I mean, if you thought you saw an object move without it being touched, how often would you attribute it to a ghost if you were in a new, modern house, or how often if you saw it in a house reputed to be haunted. My guess is that while yes, you may see things occasionally... How often did it actually move?
In many ways, the smarter you are and the less set in your ways you are, the much more likely you are to see a ghost or something unexplainable. Why? Because, firstly, you'll know what is and isn't possible, and what is or isn't likely at all, and have the deductive and logical reasoning capable to determine that, based on your current information set, that you cannot explain what just happened. That your subjective reality may not be as objective as you think, or have been taught. The second quality is obvious, in that if you are bound in your ways you're more likely to let your opinion dictate the truth, rather then the evidence dictating the truth, or lack thereof.
Of course, over imagination does play a part in this.
I guess my point is, if ghostly phenomenon does exist, then many "explainable things" we witness may not be explainable. Just because it can be explained by hallucination, a house settling, or what have you, doesn't necessarily mean that that is the cause.
This is also why, I think, the paranormal tends to polarize people into absolute skeptics or absolute believers. Once your view of reality is questioned, once something impossible happens and it cannot be explained, it calls into doubt everything you have experienced previously. This can cause three reactions. One, absolute denial. Two, absolute belief (in anything). Three, an open mind willing to consider the possibilities based on the evidence.
Now, why am I posting this? I've had many, many strange things occur in my life. For instance, three tornados have struck near where I live. All three times, the morning before or the day before, I remarked to someone "I think there will be a tornado". The first time happened at the age of 8. Now, of course, this could be explained by an intense curiosity or fear of tornados, and that any weather that might remotely spawn one, I will assume that it will. This is not the case. Guess how many times I've made a comment predicting a tornado, and you'd be right if you thought 3. Next, it could be assumed I had unconscious prior knowledge. Yet I did not. A tornado cannot be predicted 8 or 24 hours (in the one case of 24 hours, which was actually a bit more, I remarked, for some reason, there'd be a tornado tommorow) in advance, with 100% accuracy, over the course of more then a decade. It cannot be done. Next, of course, it could be believed that some part of me picked up on natural unconscious cues caused by specific conditions that would be associated with tornados. Yet how would I do this 24 hours in advance? Finally, there is the correct answer, "I don't know". And because I don't know, any answer is open for onsideration.
Or, a more material phenomenon. I woke up, had a breakfast of dried cereal (I hate it with milk). I spilled some cheerios, over the course of eating. I got up and put away the box and my bowl, and got my cigarettes and matches. I put my cigarette pack down, pulled out a cigarette, and lit it. I put the match in the ash tray. I was puffing contentedly, when I saw something. This is what I saw. I saw a cheerio flicked... It was still, and then moved quickly as if it were flicked, and it landed on my cigarette pack six inches away. It did not gradually slow down, but changed from moving quite fast to a complete halt, as if someone put there hand down on it to stop it. Yet of course, I saw nothing to explain this. I was stunned.
Now, I did not bump the table. I was sitting still puffing, one arm by my side and one holding the cigarette. I was looking down at some point quite near my cigarette pack, so I quite clearly saw what happened. Next there is the cheerio. After sitting for a minute, totally stunned, I hesitantly reached for it. I must have sat for 10 seconds with my finger an inch from it, afraid to touch it. Finally, expecting that some force, whatever had moved it, would keep it on the pack of cigarettes, I reached down and picked it up. It was a normal, every day cheerio. I had not imagined it. More, since I had spilled the cheerios before I had put the box away with my bowl, then gotten my pack of cigarettes and put it down, there was no way it could have been on the box of cigarettes beforehand, and I simply had imagined it moving. Only if, somehow, I moved it unconsciously, without being aware, could I have put it on the box. There was no wind, I went through every possible explanation from a small vortex of air caused by air current (either from a pressure differential or ventillation... my apartment was sealed and the ventilation off), to a small earthquake which I did not sense.
Nothing, nothing at all could explain that cheerio. I ate it, by the way, as a means to check on my own sanity. Yes, the flicked cheerio that I had picked up, touched, seen, did have a taste. Somehow this reassured me of my sanity far more then any other sense.
Can I explain what happened? No. THose are the two most material "fortean" phenomenon I have experienced (but by no means the most extreme or bazaar).
They caused me to question my belief system, a fortean agnostic bordering on atheist.
But the point is, if those two phenomenon, which if anyone can explain I'd be immensely happy, were caused by something unknown... How many merely "wierd", but explainable, or even mundane events could be caused by something else? I don't know. I do not go looking for trolls under bridges, nor spend my entire life trying to prove that there are in fact, no trolls under bridges, but nonetheless I am forced to admit that yes, somewhere, somehow, there may be a troll under a certain bridge.
And, more disturbingly, I am forced to ask myself, how often have I seen a rock, a shadow, a reflection, but wasn't. But was, rather, a troll. How do I know?
(No I have never seen a troll under a bridge, it was an analogy).
Thus is the paradox of ghosts, goblins, magick, the occult, etc., or "fortean" phenomenon. And, for better or for worse, the reasons for the attitudes that arise from it.
(BTW, if anyone is curious I have some interesting... stories... along a similar vein, but far more wierd [and no, no alien anal probings or poltergeists zipping about the room, or strange dog headed men who have a fetish for zippers])
