Proof Of Survival: Ed. Andrew Honigman
Jul. 29th, 2013 09:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poliphiloTwo reasons for believing people when they say they've had ghostly encounters:
1. Ghosts IRL are not very much like ghosts in fiction. If people were making things up you'd expect them to import fictional tropes: you know, sheeted spectres, blood-curdling laughter, all that Scooby stuff- and they don't.
2. There's a consistency about the reports. Ghosts have limited energy; they don't persist, they're accompanied by a drop in temperature, they can affect the physical environment- but not very much, they have an affinity with children, they can hack the telephone. There are things ghosts can do and things they can't. The evidence is anecdotal but it feels like a real phenomenon is being described.
And here's a third reason, of sorts: ghosts are common. When you deny their existence you're saying you think a very large proportion of your fellow humans- the people who say they've had ghostly encounters- are lying, delusional or stupid- and I'm just not that much of a cynic.
I've never seen a ghost but I've frequently brushed up against the odd. I don't have any difficulty believing the "reality" we inhabit is permeable.
1. Ghosts IRL are not very much like ghosts in fiction. If people were making things up you'd expect them to import fictional tropes: you know, sheeted spectres, blood-curdling laughter, all that Scooby stuff- and they don't.
2. There's a consistency about the reports. Ghosts have limited energy; they don't persist, they're accompanied by a drop in temperature, they can affect the physical environment- but not very much, they have an affinity with children, they can hack the telephone. There are things ghosts can do and things they can't. The evidence is anecdotal but it feels like a real phenomenon is being described.
And here's a third reason, of sorts: ghosts are common. When you deny their existence you're saying you think a very large proportion of your fellow humans- the people who say they've had ghostly encounters- are lying, delusional or stupid- and I'm just not that much of a cynic.
I've never seen a ghost but I've frequently brushed up against the odd. I don't have any difficulty believing the "reality" we inhabit is permeable.
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no subject
Date: 2013-07-29 05:24 pm (UTC)I have collected ghost stories all my life, and I've visited many reputedly haunted places, and until a few years ago I would have written "But have experienced nothing." I listened to others' tales and thought of other explanations.
That changed when I stood next to an enthusiastic ghost-hunter who was staring at a (reputedly-haunted) staircase as though she saw something. I saw nothing. Looking down at her digital camera, though, I saw the wavery outline of a white misty something, with a clearly-formed skeleton hand holding onto the bannister. She pressed the button, snapped the picture, and there it was. I can attest that no trickery took place, and I watched her upload it to a computer, with no photoshoppery possible. That's the first thing I've seen for which I have no explanation.
no subject
Date: 2013-07-29 06:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-07-29 06:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-07-30 09:26 pm (UTC)