BY
The Science of Ghosts
and the Essence of the Human Soul Ghosts and the sense of an afterlife have
enthralled our imagination, media, and religions for centuries. In a recent
poll, it was found that 45% of all Americans believe ghosts to be real
(Gayomali). In a separate poll, 22% reported sensing a ghostly presence or
experiencing an apparition (McDonald). As a young teenager, I remember going
out on late night ghost-hunting trips with the latest teenage-ghost-hunting
equipment: a camera phone to record what we saw. Most of the time we never saw
anything at the reportedly haunted locations we visited, but there were also
the rare occasions where unexplained shadows, movements or, even, figures
occurred. With so much reported phenomena, can the existence of poltergeists be
supported or proven scientifically or is it merely an illusion born of
religious faith? Religion contributes significantly to the belief in the human
soul and ghosts. For those of Christian-based faiths, a common belief is that
eternal life will be awarded to the faithful. With such views, death is seen,
not as a termination, but as a transformation from their corporal selves to an
eternal being that will then go to Heaven and return to God or their Creator.
This conviction of the essence of a human soul is essential to support the
tantalizing idea of everlasting life after death (Handley). Religious beliefs
in the afterlife have prompted the scientific investigation to determine
whether we, as humans, possess a soul and if the soul continues to live after
our mortal death. A study was conducted by Robert Schoch, the Associate
Professor of Natural Science at Boston University, on the near-death
experiences and the correlation between geomagnetic waves on brain waves. The
study resulted in the theory of crisis apparitions, which occur when an
individual sees the ghost of a faraway relative moments before the individual
dies. In regards to the study, Schoch explained, “Some people will dismiss this
as coincidence, but there have been, in my assessment, very good statistical
studies of such things that take it out of the realm of coincidence”
(McDonald). Further studies regarding the existence of a human soul have been conducted.
One such experiment done by Dr. Duncan MacDougall in 1907 studied the weight
fluctuations during the death process. Six terminally ill patients were
observed before, during, and after the death process. They were placed on a bed
that would record the patients’ weight, sensitive to two tenths of an ounce. In
detailed, written accounts of his study, MacDougall explained that, with every
patient, the rate of weight-loss, due to perspiration, evaporation of moisture
and moisture of respiration, during the death-process was calculated. At the
exact moment of death for each patient, there was a sudden loss of weight of
approximately 21 ounces. Further investigation of this sudden weight loss found
that the bowels did not move, no urination occurred and the loss of air in the
lungs did not affect the patients’ weight. MacDougall concluded that the loss
of weight was not a product of physiological attributes, rather from spiritual.
He theorized that the loss of weight is a result of the human soul leaving the
body (MacDougall). Another experiment investigating the correlation of the human soul and near death experiences (NDEs) was conducted by Kumar Pranab Bhattacharya in 2013. According to Bhattacharya, an NDE refers to a broad range of experiences of people associated with impending death. However, somehow these people managed to be revived back to life. Cases of NDEs are often reported after people have been pronounced clinically dead or close to death. These reported experiences include a review of one's life, an out-of-body experience or astral projection, visions of themselves passing through a dark tunnel, seeing a bright light, seeing and talking to God, seeing foreign lands, seeing dead relatives, or seeing the future. To further support these reports, most people who underwent a NDE, even people who are non-religious, reported substantially decreased fear of death and an increased acceptance of an afterlife and reincarnation (by Bhattacharya). Many skeptics challenged the results found by Bhattacharya pranab kumar. The major controversy occurred when other chemical factors were found that produced experiences similar to that of NDE. Chemicals such as Ketamine, Phencyclidine, LSD, pilocarpine, andmescaline( Bhattacharya Pranab kumar) induce experiences that consist of unconsciousness, out-of-body experiences, and occurrence of a bright light. Nonetheless, these experiences are not identical to NDE in that they are characterized by fragmented and random memories rather than a recollection of one’s entire life. They also lack the decreased fear of death that individuals who experienced an NDE obtained (Bhattacharya pranab kumar ). The presence of near death experiences and the faith in a human
soul evokes the mystery of life after death. Like Christians, Hindus,
Buddhists, and Jews believe in spirits. However, Hindus, Buddhists, and Jews
believe that the spirits of the dead can attach themselves to places, people,
possessions or pleasures that cause the individual to be in spiritual limbo.
These spirits are seen as suffering people that need help moving on to the
afterlife. Buddhism teaches methods on how to free ghosts from earthly bondage
by directing them toward the golden light. These religions also believe that
spirits of deceased individuals can attach and possess the bodies of the living
in order to influence the host. As a result, Judaism teaches rituals of ghost
exorcism that both heals the ghost and the host. Although the West is highly
influenced by the Christian belief, the idea of ghosts walking among
us, haunting a location, or possessing the living endures throughout the
generations and has both frightened and fascinated us (Handley). Ghost stories
have endured throughout the centuries. The first reported poltergeist
experience dates back to Pliny the Younger in the first century A.D. in Athens,
Greece. He described his poltergeist experience in a letter to Licinius Sura:
There was at Athens a large and roomy house, which had a bad name, so that no
one could live there. In the dead of the night a noise, resembling the clashing
of iron, was frequently heard, which, if you listened more attentively, sounded
like the rattling of chains, distant at first, but approaching nearer by
degrees: immediately afterwards a spectre appeared in the form of an old man,
of extremely emaciated and squalid appearance, with a long beard and
disheveled, hair, rattling the chains on his feet and hands (Younger). The
existence of earthbound spirits, or ghosts, has been questioned and studied
upon multiple accounts. In an interview with ghost expert, Michael Lopez Sr.,
he explained that the human body is composed of energy. As humans, we all give
off different types of energy, or auras. The energy within us can be measured
on a spectrum of high to low. Bad spirits and demons give off low energy
levels, while good spirits give off high energy that the living can physically
feel. Some people, including himself, are more sensitive to energy and can
sense or even see and converse with spirits. He gave detailed experiences
where, as a child, he would ask spirits for a ride on his sister’s bed. In
response, the bed would begin to shake and move around the room. He theorized
that the spirits were able to accomplish this action because they were composed
of energy and had the ability to manipulate the energy around them (Lopez). Most theories involving ghosts as beings of energy claim that the
transition between the mortal and spiritual worlds are in relevance to
Einstein’s Law of Conservation of Energy. The Law of Conservation of Energy
states that the total amount of energy in an isolated system remains constant
over time. For an isolated system, this law means that energy can change its
location within the system and change its form within the system, but that
energy can be neither created nor destroyed. The human body generates enough
electricity to sustain a small flashlight. If energy cannot be destroyed,
rather it can be transformed, then what happens to the electricity in the human
body after death? Ghost researcher and notable author, John Kachuba, wrote: Einstein
proved that all the energy of the universe is constant and that it can neither
be created nor destroyed. ... So what happens to that energy when we die? If it
cannot be destroyed, it must then, according to Dr. Einstein, be transformed
into another form of energy. What is that new energy? ... Could we call that
new creation a ghost (Kachuba)? Skeptics dismiss John Kachuba’s theory of the
Law of Conservation of Energy as a false explanation of ghosts, claiming that
after death the energy of the body passes through an ecosystem via
photosynthesis and the consumption of organisms. When the human body is
deceased, it begins to decompose and the energy stored within the body is lost
to heat or is consumed by microorganisms and other organisms. Though Kachuba uses
the language of science to support his theories, he lacks the understanding of
energy processes, scientific experimentation, and data to support his ideas. In
a sense, Kachuba is attempting to use science to explain phenomenon that exist
beyond the realm of normal science. While Kachuba tried to use science to
justify his spiritual beliefs, real scientists have used new technology to
discredit many reports of haunting and poltergeist experiences. In a careful case study, William Holland Wilmer examined the past documentation of a
haunting witnessed by the “H” family after they moved into an old, large and
gloomy house that was presumable haunted in 1912. Mrs. H kept a journal of the
odd happenings within the house. She described pots and pans that crashed
seemingly on their own, strange voices calling out the names of Mrs. H and her
children, and footsteps that could be heard throughout the hallways. She also
described feeling presences and seeing dark figures. She wrote, “On one
occasion, in the middle of the morning, as I passed from the drawing room into
the dining room, I was surprised to see at the further end of the dining room,
coming towards me, a strange woman, dark haired and dressed in black.” In
another account, she wrote, "It had always been Mr. H’s habit at night
before going to bed to sit in the dining room and eat some fruit. In this house
when seated at night at the table with his back to the hall, he invariably felt
as if someone was behind him, watching him. He therefore turned his chair, to
be able to watch what was going on in the hall.” Over time, the inhabitants of
the household grew extremely tired, depressed, and sluggish. They all developed
colds and headaches that couldn’t be relieved. After a while, all the plants
within the house withered and died (Wilmer). After investigating the house,
Wilmer found an odd culprit behind the presumed haunting; it was carbon
monoxide poisoning. He found that the furnace was leaking the odorless gas
through the chimney, thus causing oxygen deprivation. The deprivation of oxygen
was causing the illnesses and hallucinations witnessed by the “H” family
(Wilmer). Other surprising factors have also led to the perception of
paranormal activity. Stimulation of the Angular gyrus within the brain creates
similar experiences that are often reported as paranormal. Excessively
stimulating the Angular gyrus results in the perception and hallucination of
shadowy figures. In a study done by Michael Persinger Spain, he utilized a helmet that emitted electrodes into the brain to directly stimulate the
Angular gyrus in order to induce the presence of angels and demons. Eighty
percent of all the participants reported seeing a shadowy figure standing
beside them in the experimentation room. Furthermore, the location and presence
of the figure could be directly controlled by the currents of the electrodes
emitted from the helmet and the location at which they stimulated the Angular
gyrus (Green). How the brain reacts to energy waves and electrical impulses
plays a key role in reported hauntings. In a published encounter, Vic Tandy,
from the School of International Studies and at Law Coventry University, was
working in his classroom medical lab in 1998. Ghostly encounters began to be
reported from both the staff and students. A custodial lady even resigned after
witnessing a paranormal apparition. Many of the students, and Tandy himself,
reported seeing a dark figure out of the corner of their eye watching them.
However, whenever someone turned to face the figure, it had vanished. One day,
Tandy brought a fencing sword into the laboratory. As he entered, he noticed
that the free end of the blade was frantically vibrating up and down. The
vibrations were varying in intensity at a rate equal to the resonant frequency
of the blade, which is a characteristic identical to that of energy emitted by
sound waves at a low frequency, otherwise known as infra sound waves (Tandy and
Lawrence). Infra sound waves usually can’t be perceived by human ears because
they vibrate 1 to 20 vibrations per second, which is too low for the human
range of hearing. However, humans can sense the presence of infra sound waves.
Encountering infra sound waves can cause nausea, anxiety, and chills. It can
also trigger the brain to slightly vibrate the eyeballs, which can make the
victim experience hallucinations, such as shadowy figures (Tandy and Lawrence).
Further investigation into the source of the infra sound waves established that
the vibrations got bigger as the blade was moved towards the middle of the room
and the amplitude of the vibrations greatly reduced or stopped
altogether as the sword got closer to the walls of the room. The culprit behind
the infra sound waves was a newly-installed fan, with a frequency of 18.98
hertz. The sound waves originating from the fan resonated around the room and
bounced off the walls which caused it to collide with itself, creating a strong
standing wave in the middle of the laboratory (Tandy and Lawrence). Other
researchers used Tandy’s scientific findings to discredit other reported
hauntings. However, these researchers have not succeeded in tracing all
reported encounters with the supernatural back to psychological mis perceptions.
Tandy’s discovery of environmental factors contributing to poltergeist events
prompted Richard Wiseman to investigate, through multiple experiments, other
environmental factors resulting in the perception of a presence or paranormal
encounter. One such experiment conducted by Wiseman involved South Bridge in
Edinburgh, Scotland. South Bridge was constructed in the late eighteen century.
For a public service, a series of rooms and corridors were built under the
bridge to house the poor and homeless. Due to overpopulation, these vaults
became disease-ridden and abandoned in the late nineteenth century. In 1997,
the vaults were reopened and became an attraction for public tours. Not long
after the reopening of the faults, tourist began to report feeling presences,
unusual footsteps, and the appearance of spirits in some of the rooms. Wiseman
designed an experiment to see if people who were not familiar with the
reputations of each of the rooms would sense anything unusual with them (R.
Wiseman, C. Watt and P. Stevens). In a four day trial, volunteers toured the
vaults and recorded any unusual experiences of phenomenon they experienced.
Architecture, lighting levels, air movement, temperature, and magnetic field
levels were also prerecorded. When the final data was examined, the volunteers
were consistent with rating certain rooms as more haunted than others. This
data also correlated with past records of haunting reports kept by the
tour company. However, when the environmental factors of all the rooms deemed
as haunted were taken into account, the volunteers were more likely to have
reported unusual experiences in rooms with high ceilings, high levels of
exterior lighting directly outside the vault, and high magnetic field levels.
Wiseman concluded that people report more haunted experiences because they feel
more vulnerable in a room with a high ceiling and when they walk from a
well-lighted area to a darker room. Furthermore, the strong magnetic waves
found in all the reportedly haunted rooms stimulates the Angular gyrus,
creating a feeling of anxiety and fear (R. Wiseman, C. Watt and P. Stevens). In
another experiment conducted by Richard Wiseman, he investigated the
correlation between reported hauntings and the belief in ghosts. His experiment
took place in Hampton Court Palace, one of the most reportedly haunted places in
England. His experiment was meant to discover the extent that belief in ghosts,
suggestion, and magnetic fields accounted for the alleged hauntings. Over 600
participants took part of the experiment, and each participant was given a
questionnaire that measured their belief in ghosts, past unusual experiences
and whether they believed ghosts were the underlying reason behind the unusual
experience. After reporting all the occurrences of unusual happenings while in
Hampton Court, Wiseman concluded that participants who had previous beliefs of
the paranormal reported experiencing more frequent anomalous activities and
were more likely to attribute them to a spiritual presence (R. Wiseman, C. Watt
and E. Greening). In the second portion of the experiment, half of the
participants were told prior to entering Hampton Court that it was historically
associated with hauntings and other paranormal activity. The second half of the
study group wasn’t told anything about the area’s history before entering. The relationship between suggestion and the reported results of
paranormal activity was significant. Also, results supported the association
between reported poltergeist and magnetic waves (R. Wiseman, C. Watt and E.
Greening). Psychological advancement and understanding has explained many
physiological effects that correspond with a spiritual encounter. Oftentimes,
the encounter with a threatening spirit is reportedly characterized by a sense
of awaking from a sleep with bodily paralysis. Imagine trying to move or scream
but, regardless the struggle, the body won’t respond. In addition, many
reported experiences described feeling crushed by an invisible presence. During
these experiences, many reports of unnerving blurry figures, whispers, and
footsteps occurred. This phenomenon is commonly referred to as “ghost press” in
the Chinese culture. However, further investigation behind the psychological
aspects of ghost press presented a new understanding of this spooky occurrence.
Rather than a poltergeist experience, ghost press is simply sleep paralysis.
Dr. Priyanka Yadav of the Somerset Medical Sleep for Life Center in New Jersey
explains that the phenomenon occurs when there's a disconnect between the mind
and body as people enter or exit REM sleep. In a sense, it is equivalent to
dreaming while awake. "It seems like you're paralyzed, which naturally
occurs when you're sleeping, but this somehow happens while you're awake. It
can last from a few seconds to a minute or two and is often associated with
hypnagogic hallucinations, things you might see when trying to fall asleep or
hypnopompic hallucinations, things you see when you're trying to wake up."
To further support this theory, 79% of ghost press occurrences were reported
between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m., the most common time-frame that the human brain
causes hallucinations (Gayomali). In conclusion, both believers and skeptics
approach the human soul and the existence of an afterlife, whether on Earth as
a ghost or in some other realm, as a metaphysical idea that is difficult to verify with concrete scientific evidence. Believers regard the
soul as the essence of our consciousness; skeptics regard it as an illusion.
Scientists have yet to prove or disprove its existence. Scientists have
explained some supposed spiritual encounters as illusions caused by biochemical
disruptions. Still, they have not yet fully explained other reports,
particularly those of near death experiences. Skeptics still discredit those
reports saying they are from individuals drawing on hope and religion, not
science. But when will science disprove hope or religion? When exploring the
realm of the metaphysical, we find the door to faith is always open.
by
Works Cited
2] Gayomali, Chris. "4 possible scientific
explanations for ghosts." The Week 25 October 2013. Web. Green, Laci. Do
Ghosts Exist? Exploring the Paranormal 2013. Web.
3] Handley, Sasha. Visions of an
Unseen World: Ghost Beliefs and Ghost Stories in Eighteenth‐Century England.
London: Brookfield, 2007. Print.
4] Kachuba, John. Ghosthunters: On the Trail of
Mediums, Dowsers, Spirit Seekers, and Other Investigators of America's
Paranormal World. New Page Books, 2007. Print.
5 Lopez, Michael I. Interview.
Payton Yerke. 18 October 2014.
6] MacDougall, Duncan. "Hypothesis Concerning
Soul Substance." American Medicine 2 (1907): 395‐397. Web. McDonald,
Glenn. "Ghost Stories: The Science Behind Sightings." 29 October
2013. Web.
7] Tandy, Vic and Tony R. Lawrence. "The Ghost in the
Machine." Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 62.851 (1998). Web.
1 November 2014. Wilmer, William Holland. American Journal of Ophthalmology
17.6 (1934): 522–523. Web. 29 October 2014.
8] Wiseman, R, et al. "An
investigation into the alleged haunting of Hampton Court Palace : Psychological
variables and magnetic fields." Journal of Parapsychology 66.4 (2002):
387‐408. Web.Yerke 13
9] Wiseman, Richard, et al. "An investigation into
aleged ‘hauntings’." British Journal of Psychology 94 (2003): 195–211. 30
October 2014.
10] Younger, Pliny the. Pliny the Younger (A.D. 62?–c.A.D. 113). Letters.
27 March 2013. Web. 21 October 2014.
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