Throughout human history, in just about every culture, there have been myths. From Choctaw mythology of the Native American tribes to the Kamba myths of East Africa, the supernatural have always seemed to thrive, in literature at the least. It is important to bear in mind, however, that to look at the reality of nature we must ignore human interpretations and stick to the physical evidence. Human interpretation of natural events comes from a limited input of physical information from the five senses, nothing more. Perception must make sense of it all. Perception must also account for the many missing gaps in the overall picture being constructed of such an even or phenomenon. The human mind has many schemas about the world it constantly processes information from. These schemas are constructions of the mind itself and do not necessarily bear any factual information.
Looking up at the sky, we can certainly ponder all we want about how many stars there are or where the universe ends, but we have no logical reason to suppose we know. Certainly it would be quite a surprise to twentieth century astronomers if they had discovered that the stars were giant spot lights from the gods all around rather than giant hydrogen fueled balls millions of light years in distance. Without the telescope, we would have never known about such physical truths.
Human imagination is simply human imagination, nothing more. The persistence of ghost stories throughout all of human cultures tells more about human imagination than it does of real truths to nature. The sights and sounds of a schizophrenic can seem very real and can spark strong emotions. However, the fears and emotions as well as the sounds and sights of a schizophrenic exist only as neural impulses within the brain and have no relation whatsoever to external physical stimuli.
To put the argument to rest once and for all, there is absolutely no physical evidence that has ever existed which suggests something with the description of a “ghost” or “spirit” can exist. Furthermore, the very fact that a “ghost” or a “spirit” has never been theoretically defined in any physical manner leaves nothing to logically speculate or believe in the first place. We are left with the only conclusion being that ghosts and spirits are strictly products of the human mind and exist as nothing external. The fact that the nature of these ghosts and spirits has varied quite drastically at times in relation to culture and time periods leaves us to conclude even further.
A ghost has always been known to humans as a being with mysterious properties. These properties seem very mysterious because they don’t in fact exist in reality and therefore will always remain mysterious. Just about every “sign” of a ghost can be easily explained away with a rational explanation. And certainly if one wants to believe that ghosts exist, they can make things seem that way to themselves. Usually, after watching a horror movie, people still hold those feelings aroused by the movie and are quick to judge the rustling in the bushes as a monster when, in fact, there is no logical justification to believe so.
Schizophrenia is one of the most extreme conditions of mental disorder. It shows us just what the mind is capable of in the function of imagination and altered perception. One’s world can actually become a complete fantasy with these symptoms. But are such symptoms restricted only to schizophrenia? No, drugs and other mental disturbances can incite similar symptoms. However, one doesn’t necessarily need to hallucinate in order to believe in ghosts. As said before, emotions as well as predisposed schemas about the world can do a pretty good job. If we are standing in an old cellar and hear a creaking sound some people will be quick to judge it as a supernatural occurrence. Is this illogical? Yes, it is very illogical. Do people do it anyway? Yes, people do it quite frequently. It’s more of a matter of understanding our emotions, psychological flaws, as well as a good sense of logic that can enable us to face the world in a more intellectually mature and stable manner.
“Ghosts” simply do not exist. They will continue to not exist until they are theoretically explained as being a physical presence in nature and not passed off as having unknown properties. Unknown properties are nonexistent properties when it comes to science. Furthermore, no one will accept that they exist until there is physical evidence and a peer reviewed scientific paper published on them. Until then, ghosts remain a product of human neural impulses. The scientific evidence of this already exists and is stronger than anything contrary.
