Do you ever feel a chill run down your spine in an empty room? Or sense a presence in the corner of your eye, only to find nothing there? You're not alone. Many people around the world believe in ghosts, and there are fascinating reasons why.
Ghosts and hauntings are a mainstream area of belief
Recent studies by YouGov in the UK and the USA show that between 30% and 50% of the population says they believe in ghosts.
- Belief in ghosts also appears to be global, with most (if not all) cultures around the world having some widely accepted kind of ghosts.
Blithe (and vengeful) spirits
The desire for justice and the belief in some form of supernatural protection address basic human needs
- Ghosts have long been thought of as vehicles for justice
- They can also be friends and protectors
- Halloween TV schedules are full of films where a group of volunteers spends a night in a haunted house
Body and soul
Humans are naïve dualists, naturally believing that our physical being is separate from our consciousness
- When we believe in a phenomenon, we are more likely to experience it
- Sleep paralysis is a form of this
- It is often accompanied by a hallucination of a figure in the room that could be interpreted as a supernatural being
- Believing a statement requires less effort than disbelieving it
