Free Imagine Blogs

Here we go! My first real topic.

This is the deal, my roommate tivos a large portion of so-called reality programming centered around the paranormal, mostly from Discovery and The History Channel. Shows like Ghost Hunters and MonsterHunters. Now I'm a confirmed skeptic, there's nothing I'm gonna see on TV that'll convince me that any of this is real, but I can't say for certainty that ghosts and the like don't exist, I've just never seen any compelling evidence to prove that they do.

I don't believe most of the witnesses and investigators on these shows are outright lying, rather, what they're doing is the very thing that's kept religion alive long after it ceased to be a viable means of understanding the universe. That is, they're jumping to conclusions. The individuals on these shows talk about phenomenon which cannot be readily explained: phantom voices or other sounds, objects moving, inexplicable feelings of fear or dread, sudden drops in temperature, and so forth. I do not claim that all of these phenomenon have perfectly reasonable, simple explanations(though no doubt some of them do), I just can't accept the leap from "I don't understand this" to "A ghost did it".

We're limited beings. There will always be more that we don't know about reality, nature, the universe, and what have you than what we do know. All we ever really learn is how much more we have to learn, and how little, in the face of infinity, we've learned so far. What I'm getting at is when an event takes place that has been judged to be beyond the scope of human understanding, the presence or action of ghosts is merely one out of literally infinite possibilities,and there is no logical reason to accept said possibility as fact.

So, if one can't logically accept ghosts, why do these shows exist, why do millions of people believe wholeheartedly that they have seen, contacted, or in some way interacted with spirits of the dead? Well, as usual, where logic fails, emotion is there to pick up the slack. Most people believe in ghosts for very much the same reasons they believe in God. They want a universe that makes sense to them. A universe without looming unknowns. Better to live in a world where Uncle Frank's pissed-off ghost is making all the racket in the attic and "sinful" acts might get you sent to burn in a lake of fire until the end of time, than a world where who-knows-what is making all that noise and it's-anyone's-guess what happens to you after you die. As they say, better the Devil you know.

As for the investigators, the men and women of "science" who make a career out of studying the paranormal, well, the dabblers are one thing--they can afford to be skeptical, but the dedicated, hard-core researchers believe, they have to...even if it violates every other rational principle they hold. For to doubt would be essentially to admit that they have wasted their lives chasing a fantasy. So the witnesses' need for a universe they can grasp, combined with the investigators' need to believe their work is worthwhile, result in a kind of rorschach test effect where evidence is interpreted in ways favorable to a desired outcome and simple, meaningless white noise becomes the voice of a departed loved one.


Keep in mind that this is all just my opinion. I'm no expert, just a geek with a computer and too much time on my hands. Is my description of the investigators too simplistic? My comparison of belief in the paranormal with faith in God offensive? By all means, hop on board and show me the error of my ways. LET SLIP THE DOGS OF WAR!

(and if you agree with me completely, you rock and you know it. You're obviously smarter, cooler, and better-looking than the rest of those subnormals, and one glorious day you shall rise and inherit the Earth, doesn't that sound like fun?)