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In folklore, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or non-human animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes to realistic, lifelike forms. The deliberate attempt to contact the spirit of a deceased person is known as necromancy, or in spiritism as a séance. Other terms associated with it are apparition, haunt, haint, phantom, poltergeist, shade, specter, spirit, spook, wraith, demon, and ghoul.
The belief in the existence of an afterlife, as well as manifestations of the spirits of the dead, is widespread, dating back to animism or ancestor worship in pre-literate cultures. Certain religious practices—funeral rites, exorcisms, and some practices of spiritualism and ritual magic—are specifically designed to rest the spirits of the dead. Ghosts are generally described as solitary, human-like essences, though stories of ghostly armies and the ghosts of animals other than humans have also been recounted.[2][3] They are believed to haunt particular locations, objects, or people they were associated with in life. According to a 2009 study by the Pew Research Center, 18% of Americans say they have seen a ghost.[4]
The overwhelming consensus of science is that there is no proof that ghosts exist.[5] Their existence is impossible to falsify,[5] and ghost hunting has been classified as pseudoscience.[6][7][8] Despite centuries of investigation, there is no scientific evidence that any location is inhabited by the spirits of the dead.[6][9] Historically, certain toxic and psychoactive plants (such as datura and hyoscyamus niger), whose use has long been associated with necromancy and the underworld, have been shown to contain anticholinergic compounds that are pharmacologically linked to dementia (specifically DLB) as well as histological patterns of neurodegeneration.[10][11] Recent research has indicated that ghost sightings may be related to degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer's disease.[12] Common prescription medication and over-the-counter drugs (such as sleep aids) may also, in rare instances, cause ghost-like hallucinations, particularly zolpidem and diphenhydramine.[13] Older reports linked carbon monoxide poisoning to ghost-like hallucinations.[14]
In folklore studies, ghosts fall within the motif index designation E200–E599 ("Ghosts and other revenants").
- ^ Kirby, R.S. (1804). "The Hammersmith Ghosts". Kirby's Wonderful and Scientific Museum. pp. 65–79. Archived from the original on 2023-10-24. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
- ^ Hole, pp. 150–163
- ^ Cohen, Daniel (1984). The encyclopedia of ghosts. Dodd, Mead. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-396-08308-5. Archived from the original on 2023-08-14. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
- ^ Michael Lipka (2015-10-30). "18% of Americans say they've seen a ghost". Pew. Archived from the original on 2019-02-09. Retrieved 2019-02-07.
- ^ a b Bunge, Mario. Philosophy of Science: From Problem to Theory Archived 2023-08-14 at the Wayback Machine. Transaction Publishers; 1998. ISBN 978-1-4128-2423-1. p. 178–.
- ^ a b Regal, Brian (2009-10-15). Pseudoscience: A Critical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. pp. 75–77. ISBN 978-0-313-35508-0. Archived from the original on 2023-08-14. Retrieved 2017-07-09.
- ^ Raford, Benjamin (November 2010). "Ghost-Hunting Mistakes: Science and Pseudoscience in Ghost Investigations". Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Archived from the original on 2019-03-28. Retrieved 2017-07-08.
- ^ Levy, Rob; Levy, Stephanie (30 October 2015). "Hearing ghost voices relies on pseudoscience and fallibility of human perception". The Conversation. Archived from the original on 25 September 2018. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
- ^ Radford, Benjamin. "Are Ghosts Real?— Evidence Has Not Materialized". Live Science. Archived from the original on 8 May 2019. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
- ^ Raetsch, Ch. (2005). The encyclopedia of psychoactive plants: ethnopharmacology and its applications. US: Park Street Press. pp. 277–282.
- ^ "Study suggests link between long-term use of anticholinergics and dementia risk". Alzheimer's Society. 2015-01-26. Archived from the original on 2015-11-12. Retrieved 2015-02-17.
- ^ A case of progressive posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) with vivid hallucination: are some ghost tales vivid hallucinations in normal people? Furuya et al.
- ^ Mian, Razs (January 2019). "Visual Hallucinations from Zolpidem Use for the Treatment of Hospital Insomnia in a Septuagenarian". Cureus. 11 (1): e3848. doi:10.7759/cureus.3848. PMC 6411327. PMID 30891388.
- ^ Odd, The Body (30 October 2009). "See ghosts? There may be a medical reason". NBC News. Archived from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 7 October 2019.