Spectre Science

I shall not commit the fashionable stupidity of regarding everything I cannot explain as a fraud – Carl G. Jung, in an address to the Society for Psychical Research in England. 

The Maritimes and its folklore

What is our fascination with ghosts, those things that go bump in the night? What is it about a great ghost story that intrigues, spellbinds, and sends chills down the spine? 

Quite possibly, it’s the belief in the narrative’s truthfulness, a compelling aspect that both excites and captivates. This is especially true in Atlantic Canada. Our sustained cultural heritage of British, French, and Irish, among others, with their strong beliefs in the afterlife make us leaders in ghostly phenomenon. The Maritimes is the oldest part of Canada and its folklore still survives. It’s part of our history and culture. 

Parapsychology

Whatever we choose to call the subjects of the stories – apparitions, spectres, or ghosts – the question still remains. Are they real or not? The days of the seance and the Ouija board are long gone, for the most part. Today, we want logical, rational, and science-based (empirical) evidence. Parapsychology may provide some answers.

Parapsychology, briefly explained, entails the study of clairvoyance (predicting the future), telekinesis (using one’s mind to move objects), telepathy (mind-to-mind communication), extra sensory perception (ESP), and the subject in question – ghosts.

Advances in technology and parapsychology

Technology has changed the manner in which paranormal investigators and parapsychologists conduct their research. Survival after one’s demise is one of the most contested areas of parapsychology. The vast array of haunting and ghost movies has brought into question the validity of legitimate psychical research that is being undertaken.     

Delving into the spirit world is not an easy venture. Evidence collected is never purely subjective where culture, personalities, and belief systems play a role.

Human psychology

This realization, triggered by quantum theory, states that the real world and all that’s perceived in it is a single whole with a connectedness at every level. Every theory entails a degree of subjectivity, a factor in scientific endeavours. Researchers must determine objectivity prior to studying subjective factors. Human psychology determines the understanding of the paranormal.

It’s been said that Thomas Edison foresaw the implementation of new technologies as a medium through which communication with the departed will be enabled. Such technologies as smart phones, camcorders, and infrared imaging, for example, have captured some of the unexplained. Just as any anomaly can be discovered by new technologies, this technology can be tampered with produced hoaxes. A discerning mind and trained eye should be capable of determining what is real from that which isn’t.

Scientific explanation

Virtually all those things that go bump in the night can be attributed to a scientific explanation, at least 95 percent borne of folklore or a misinterpretation of an event. How society perceives ghosts is ever-changing. Research is ongoing to determine if an anomalous episode is the result of a preconditioned mind that believes in ghosts or a hallucinatory moment. 

For now, whether science and technology with their empirical basis will ever disclose the secrets of ghosts exists in the realm of the unknown. Even though research and science will provide a broader picture of a ghost’s existence, we are not there yet. But someday our understanding of these phenomena will be possible.