Ghosts are not real and the belief in them comes from ancient animism and the desire to communicate with ancestors. There is no convincing evidence for ghosts and logical holes in the idea. Scientists propose explanations for why people believe in ghosts, but it is likely due to confirmation bias. Despite this, many people continue to believe in ghosts for fun. The burden of proof is on believers and eventually, the credibility of ghosts will vanish.
The evidence is overwhelming that ghosts, supposedly disembodied spirits of the dead, aren’t real. The notion of ghosts comes from ancient tendencies towards animism, the practice of anthropomorphizing non-human objects. It was also probably formulated as an effort to come to terms with death and to communicate with one’s ancestors. Once ghost legends were first imagined, confirmation bias – the inclination to see what we want to see – took over and perpetuated the phenomenon in human culture.
When viewed without wishful thinking, the idea of ghosts is riddled with logical holes. For example, why are reports of ghosts less numerous in cities inhabited for many thousands of years, such as many in the Near East, than in relatively recently established ones, such as less than 150 years ago? We would expect it to be the other way around. Why, despite the existence of millions of video cameras for at least a couple of decades, has no one ever captured a convincing video of poltergeist activity? Why is all the evidence for ghosts purely anecdotal?
Given an observed tendency to believe in ghosts even in the absence of any personal experience, and the lack of any videographic evidence that can be authenticated, it seems highly plausible that ghosts are not real. Scientists have proposed various explanations for why people believe in ghosts. Among these are sleep paralysis, the feeling you get when you wake up in the middle of the night, can’t move your body, and feel a presence nearby; infrasound, which is too quiet to be heard but can still be subtly felt with the body and can cause a feeling of dread; and the existence of “globes,” ghost-like videographic relics common to all forms of artificial imaging.
Because believing in ghosts is a fun thing to do, many will continue to believe them for quite some time, despite the uncertainty of the evidence. A 2005 Gallup poll found that 32% of American adults believe in ghosts. However, the exuberance of cheap video cameras seen in recent years, coupled with image analysis software, will continue to heap the burden of proof on believers in ghosts, until eventually all credibility in the notion of ghosts vanishes like a wraith in a mist. .
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