The Science Behind Why People See Ghosts and Demons

[Peter1469]

Is parapsychology legit? Or can neuroscience explain why some people see strange things?


The Science Behind Why People See Ghosts and Demons

[COLOR=rgba(2, 20, 31, 0.85)]Does it take a specific type of brain to experience paranormal anomalies. Some scientists think so—but that can go two ways.

[/COLOR][COLOR=rgba(2, 20, 31, 0.85)]On the one hand, researchers specialized in parapsychology—the psychological study of the paranormal—have spent decades studying whether and how these anomalies exist in nature, outside of the human body, and how some people might be more prone to experiencingthem. More specifically, they want to know if some people have unique “abilities” that allow them to, say, see ghosts, spirits, and any other entities that might exist outside of the person experiencing it (i.e. not in their mind).

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[COLOR=rgba(2, 20, 31, 0.85)]On the other hand, skeptical scholars from the field of neuroscience and cognitive psychology have been trying to show that it’s more about how some people process reality, subjectively, in their brain. Some people might just be wired to [/COLOR]produce[COLOR=rgba(2, 20, 31, 0.85)] these experiences in their mind, even though they may not be real.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=rgba(2, 20, 31, 0.85)]While you might assume that parapsychology revolves around ghostbusters, spoon bending, and levitating magicians, that’s not exactly the case. Parapsychology, also called “psi,” is an academic branch of psychology studied in [/COLOR]universities[COLOR=rgba(2, 20, 31, 0.85)] and [/COLOR]research facilities[COLOR=rgba(2, 20, 31, 0.85)] across the globe. Scientists from this field believe more academic, experimental, theoretical, and analytical research will show that what science knows about the nature of the universe is largely incomplete.

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[COLOR=rgba(2, 20, 31, 0.85)]“There is more than enough data and research at this point to make a reliable claim that oddities to mainstream science do, in fact, occur,” Brian Laythe, director of the Institute for the Study of Religious and Anomalous Experience and member of the Parapsychological Association, told The Daily Beast. In fact, there’s more than a century’s worth of peer-reviewed research on these topics. Laythe said that it’s statistically unlikely that the hundreds of PhDs producing said research are all fraudulent or incompetent. “Where people fight over is the meaning and interpretation of those findings, which in bulk are theology and philosophy driven, as opposed to issues of analytical science.”

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[COLOR=rgba(2, 20, 31, 0.85)]Yet, critics argue that parapsychology procedures and methods aren’t in line with rigorous scientific standards, the results are just too flimsy, and crucially, that many of these experiments aren’t replicable, which cuts at the core of how science is validated.

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[COLOR=rgba(2, 20, 31, 0.85)]And there’s one big issue that persists: There are no valid theories to support most of the findings. Some theories are more based in physics, others are focused on consciousness—but parapsychologists are having a hard time finalizing which ones explain it all. Of course, this often happens across all scientific disciplines, Laythe notes, but skeptics disagree.

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[COLOR=rgba(2, 20, 31, 0.85)]“We need parapsychology because if there were telepathy, clairvoyant, psychokinesis, precognition, ghosts, any of these things, then science has to be radically overthrown,” [/COLOR]Susan Blackmore[COLOR=rgba(2, 20, 31, 0.85)], a visiting psychology professor at the University of Plymouth and parapsychologist-turned-skeptic told The Daily Beast. [/COLOR]

[RMNIXON]

Perhaps Joe is dead already and most people can't see him?

[Section31]

Quantum Physics seems to suggest more dimensions than just our three + time. Perhaps angels/demons exist outside our realm.