An odd chill creeping down your spine, a phantom touch, the feeling of being watched… Many would attribute these odd occurrences to ghosts, but is this mere superstition?
Today we will be debating whether or not ghosts could exist, based on a variety of evidence both scientific and anecdotal. Arguing for the possibility of ghosts is Emma Drinkwine, and arguing against it is Leah Brown. Without further ado, let us begin the debate!
Emma:
The concept of ghosts or spirits goes back hundreds of years
and there was a time where ghosts were just accepted as a
fact of life for many people. Many different beliefs and
cultures have some sort of belief of the dead coming back
to life, like Día de los Muertos or Obón. Even Halloween was
originally meant to be a day to ward off evil spirits. If so
many different people from all around the world believe
in a similar thing, maybe there is some truth to it. In 2018, a survey
Conducted by the Pew Research Center in Washington states that 58%
of people agreed with the idea of the existence of paranormal and 1 in
5 people claim to have personally experienced something. This many
people saying the same thing deserves to at least be considered.
Leah:
Plenty of beliefs might go back centuries, but that doesn’t
automatically make them true. In the past, many people had strong
beliefs in theories that would later be disproven with more modern
science, such as geocentric theory or spontaneous generation. That’s
not to say that people are wrong for celebrating cultural beliefs in ghosts
or celebrations of the dead, but popular beliefs are not guaranteed to be
true.
Emma:
That is true but it deserves to be considered a
bit instead immediately being disregarded. There
is chance that ghosts aren’t real but a lot experiments
meant to detect ghosts are done with people who already
have a bias and they end the experiment by saying something
along the lines of “if you believe in ghosts you’re stupid”
People believe in many different things, a lot of which
don’t follow the rules of science, so why is ghosts
so crazy to consider?
Leah:
I wouldn’t say all ghost experiments are like that. After all, don’t a lot
of people who believe in ghosts also do similar experiments, and find
convenient results that prove their points? These people are also biased,
but in the opposite direction, taking whatever they can find as proof that
ghosts exist. If we could definitively prove either side of this argument,
chances are, this topic would be less contentious and we wouldn’t be
having this debate.
Emma:
A lot of the people who fake experiments to prove ghosts exist
are youtubers and influencers who are looking for clout.
Neither side of this argument can be easily written off as right or
wrong and it’s difficult to do “legitimate” research. You need
money for equipment, a place to search that has a spirit, and a
way to contact it. Even if you are able to do all that, you’re gonna
get written off as faking for 15 minutes of fame. Trying to document
ghosts in any way is immediately suspicious because those kinds
of videos get tons of views and debates. The people who experience
ghosts but don’t document, record, or publish it are most likely to
have an actual encounter than a 16 year old youtuber
doing a 3am challenge.
Leah:
But then, how are we to know if anyone does have this proof? If they
never document their experiences, we can never come to a true
conclusion, because there will be no proof they aren’t just making
up a story. In addition, I’d argue the burden of proof should be on
those trying to prove ghosts exist, rather than those trying to prove
they don’t. It’s difficult to prove a negative, and the concept of
ghosts is far more a cultural phenomena than a scientific one, so
scientists should not be pressured to find evidence for or against them.
Emma:
It’s difficult to prove something isn’t faked. In my basement
There is an old rotary phone and for some reason a few years ago, it
would start ringing. It was unplugged from the wall and inactive
ever since I moved into the house. It would ring for a few minutes and stop
starting up again the next day. This only stopped because my dad got rid of
the phone altogether. If I were to record this and post it, it would be
labeled as fake and understandably so. It would be incredibly easy to
place a speaker in the basement and pretend it’s the phone. A phone ringing
is one of the most cliche ghost tropes. Only the people who actively experienced
it know it wasn’t faked and it’s hard to prove that.
Leah:
You’re right—there’s no way to prove your experience without
casting doubt. But there’s also no way to entirely disprove your
point because most evidence for the possibility of ghosts comes
from similar anecdotes that can’t be truly confirmed, and most
evidence against comes from giving alternative explanations for
these sightings. It’s an eternal stalemate between the two sides, and
there is no true way to win.
Emma:
A large group of people who deeply believe something and
claim to have real experiences should be considered. In the appalachian
mountains, the people who live there often have a few rules they follow.
These include: Don’t look directly at the tree line, if you hear or see
something in the woods; no you didn’t, and never whistle in the woods.
Locals say that the woods are filled with spirits, entities, and demons, some
of which they’ve claimed to have seen themselves. Footsteps around the house
when home alone, screams coming from outside the door, even claiming to hear
voices of friends and family despite the person not being at the house. A few
people talking about this is one thing but it’s a bunch of people who treat
it like a common occurrence.
Leah:
Large groups of people sharing a belief could also be due to
cultural stories and traditions being passed down through
generations. If you were raised to believe that there were
monsters in the woods, wouldn’t you accept that into your
worldview? Isn’t that an easier way to keep your kids safe
inside the house than explaining that there are dangerous wild
animals who they might find “cute” or “cool” and seek out anyways?
Many of the rules of the Appalachian woods could also be in place
to keep people safe and far away from dangerous local wildlife,
like ignoring odd occurrences or not whistling.
Emma:
There are many different viewpoints and not
everyone is going to see eye to eye, but I think we can
all agree on one thing: the second grade girl’s bathroom
at Bradley was definitely haunted, right?
Leah:
Oh, absolutely. We all know that.
