19 November 2012

Hallucinations...Nah I think it's Ghosts



            Frances Klemperer argues that ghosts do not exist. Rather hearing and seeing ghosts can be attributed to “perceptual mistakes” (1518). Although she gives evidence supporting her argument, is there still a possibility that ghosts may exist?  Klemperer talks about people who have just recently been in accidents, and may have stress disorders that can lead to them seeing and hearing things that aren’t really there (1518). But there are people who haven’t suffered any accidents, or don’t suffer from any psychological disorders who still claim to see ghosts. If sane people claim to see ghosts, who is to say they don’t exist. It is important for people to understand that ghosts could be real; it may open gateways into other supernatural sciences.
            Ghosts have been a popular topic in society for years. Ranging from scary fictional movies and books, to claimed real life encounters. So the main question is do ghosts really exist. Many experts would say that they don’t exist, that most supernatural experiences can be solved scientifically. Most is the keyword here; most can be solved scientifically, but what about that small percent that can’t be solved using science? If they can’t be solved scientifically, maybe it could be something paranormal (The Spirit Book, 162).

            A ghost according to Hilary Evans is, “a person, formally alive, now dead, who returned to Earth” (Evans, page 42). One of Klemperer’s arguments is that ghosts are simply hallucinations; hallucinations of loved ones that have passed on (Klemperer, page 1518). What about all of the people who have seen ghosts of someone they have no relation to? Many people claim to see ghosts, or as Evans puts it “Haunters” who have no acquaintance to them what so ever (43). In the example of the Whiteman’s Haunted Bed, a couple and their one year old son moved into a new home, they had no furniture and decided to sleep on an old bed they found in the attic of the house. After they took the bed out they started to experience ghostly events; they would hear footsteps, the cups would always fall over, and one night they actually saw the husbands’ slippers float in mid- air. After the family called in a medium to look at the house, they found out that an old woman who used to live in the house died in the bed they were sleeping in (Cahill, page 371). These people had no personal relation to the woman who died in the home. Also, they never once actually saw the apparition, just experienced strange things that the apparition was doing. 
            It is hard to believe that someone could hallucinate slippers floating in mid- air. With four witnesses to what had happened that night, is it really possible that all four of them were experiencing the exact same hallucination, or was what they were witnessing the work of a ghost? Klemperer argues that hallucinations can be brought on by stress, that a person under a lot of stress can hallucinate and see things that aren’t really there (Klemperer, page 1518). Now stress is a possible explination, moving and having a young son can put stress on people, but that theory is thrown out the window due to the fact that four people experienced this event. Also many instances with ghosts can be witnessed on tape for, showing clear evidence of what has occurred.

            Klemperer argues that hallucinations can happen in the stage of clouded consciousness when one is waking up or falling asleep (Klemperer, 1518). Take for example the case of the lady in black at the St. Anne’s house in England. She has been seen by not only family members and servants in the house, but by neighbors and strangers as well, and most importantly she has been seen in the middle of the day (Evans, page 43). The people who have seen this ghost have seen her in broad daylight; they were wide awake, so there consciousness was not clouded by just waking up. It is too far-fetched to think that all of these people are simply misinterpreting objects all throughout the house for a woman.

            Although Klemperer’s argument makes some good points, it doesn’t definitively prove that ghosts do not exist. True many people may be suffering from hallucinations when they see the ghosts of loved ones, or hear their names being called. Also people can be simply misinterpreting real objects for something they are not at night. But her argument doesn’t acknowledge all the other forms of ghostly encounters. It doesn’t discuss situations like the Whiteman’s bed story, or the lady in black.  If there are so many cases of people seeing ghosts that goes against Klemperer’s argument, who is to say they aren’t real? What if ghosts aren’t simple hallucinations but something everyone can see, and hear if they are subjected to it. Ghosts might very well be a real thing in our world.



Works Cited
"Alone With Ghosts." Alone With Ghosts. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2012.                                                  <http://alonewithghosts.wordpress.com/ghost-caught-on-camera/>.
Associated Press. “Courthouse Camera Captures Ghost.” Writing Without Formulas. Ed. William H. Thelin. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2008. 371- 373. Print.

Associated Press. “Courthouse Ghost Identified as Insect.” Writing Without Formulas. Ed.          William H. Thelin. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2008. 371- 373. Print.

"Brown Lady of Raynham Hall." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Dec. 2012. Web. 19        Nov. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_Lady_of_Raynham_Hall>.

Davis, Owen. The Haunted A Social History of Ghosts. New York: Palgrave Macmillion, 2007.
            Print.

BMJ: British Medical Journal, Vol. 305, No. 6868 (Dec. 19 - 26, 1992), pp. 1518-1519
Buckland, Raymond. The Spirit Book: The Encyclopedia of Clairvoyance, Channeling, and          Spirit Communication. Canton, MI: Visible Ink, 2006. Ebook.

Cahill, Robert. “Whiteman’s Haunted Bed.” Writing Without Formulas. Ed. William H. Thelin.                Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2008. 371- 373. Print.

Evans, Hilary. “The Ghost Experience in a Wider Context.” Hauntings and Poltergeists     Multidisciplinary Perspectives. Ed. James Houran, Rense Lange. Jefferson: McFarland          and Company, 2001. 41- 49. Print.

"REAL Ghost Girl Caught on Video Tape 2 (The Haunting)." YouTube. YouTube, 10 Sept.         2010. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcCLiMAxE9o>.


3 comments:

  1. Ghosts… Nah, I think its hallucinations. I have to admit, this phenomenon has interested me for a long time. However, you fail to prove your sources are legitimate, let alone prove that ghosts exist. Who the heck is Hilary Evans and why should we believe her? Evans, who a states that people apparently see figures who aren’t acquainted to them, is a questionable source, as you fail to introduce her and her position in the scientific community. I see several reasons why one might question your “Whitman’s Haunted Bed” example as well. Where does this story even come from? Why should we believe it when it could just be a work of fiction? It seems like a bunch of nonsense simply drawn from nowhere. Same deal with your lady in black case. Your accounts are most likely just a ghost stories intended to creep people out. Nice try.
    As this “Frances Klemperer” person states, hallucinations are one possible explanation for ghost sightings. This seems to be the only legitimate thing you bring up, although you strongly disagree. Hypnopompic hallucinations are visual and auditory hallucinations that are seen in the hypnopompic state, which is the conscious state leading out of sleep. In this state, a person is just waking and trying to make sense of the world. “Sleep inertia” is also associated with this state and may cause slowed reaction time and short-term memory. Ghost sightings are most likely caused by these hallucinations and can be indistinguishable from reality. But here are many other legitimate explanations for ghost sightings as well, and not every ghost sighting can attribute to this cause. For example, people could mistake objects or people they see in the dark for ghosts, or could be victims of other people’s cruel pranks. Ghosts are so imbedded in our pop culture so sometimes it’s difficult to determine what is fantasy and what is reality. However, anyone who believes anything they hear is obviously gullible. You need to realize that ghost are just a myth.

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  2. Ghosts, in general, are a fascinating subject for me. I can never really seem to understand why people are so interested in proving that they exist. Sometimes the proof seems legitimate, and sometimes just utterly ridiculous. I'm more opposed to the theory of ghosts, and quite can't see any reason to assume that someone would come back from the dead. Once a person is dead, they stay dead.
    Unfortunately, this post didn't persuade me in the slightest. Even if there is gathered evidence, it isn't anything reliable. I have no idea who these people are and what their connection is to ghosts. How do they contribute anything to the subject matter? They were just introduced with a purpose, but without an explanation for their purpose. How should I believe them if I don't know anything about them?
    The whole concept of hallucinations is also a bit controversial. I do agree that it is something that impossible to prove that ghosts are a part of hallucinations. Meaning that nobody can prove something that only one person can "see." It may seem real, but it could be just conjured up in your mind. How can you prove something that you only experience for yourself, and therefore cannot share it with others?
    Bottom line, there isn't enough sufficient evidence to make me believe that ghosts are real. Anything I've come across, including this post, show me that is possible, but not how it is possible. I have yet to come across something that will prove me otherwise.

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  3. This paper makes a pretty poor argument for supernatural phenomenon, leaving the reader more doubtful than anything. Wasn't the assignment to try to convince us that ghosts or whatever is real?

    Moreover, you fail to take into account the biggest possibility: the people could be lying. It happens. All we really have to go on here is faith that the accounts you provide are reliable. And again, you dismiss the possibility of hallucinations, but you don't even acknowledge other things--mishearings and misseeings.

    The footage and pictures are very unconvincing--the pictures could easily be produced with photoshop filters, and the video doesn't depict a ghost, only a reaction to it.

    Overall, I can't say you sold me. Sorry.

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