Paranatural/Supernormal

While watching supernatural videos on youtube, I realized that the existence of ghosts will never be categorically proven. We’re entering an always-on era, where even the most mundane events will be recorded for posterity. Security cameras are on every corner, and people carry smartphones and camera phones around in their pockets with them wherever they go. Eventually, if not already, someone will record irrefutable proof of a ghost, if they exist.

Consider this video with the caption, “Real or Fake?”

That’s always going to be the case. No one will ever be able to produce a video without the public outcry of, “Fake!” being tagged on to it. Witness accounts are useless as evidence, and all videos and photos will be dissected as fake. There’s even television shows dedicated to debunking these videos. If anyone on the planet is capable of recreating the images in the video, no matter how likely or costly their methods might be, the video will be rejected.

How else could you prove that ghosts exist, save for taking an individual and having them witness the ghost firsthand? Even then, the subject could claim they were merely hallucinating, or that they were tricked. You would have to be able to recreate the experience for every sceptic 100% of the time. Even if a ghost were to become President of the United States, there would still be disbelievers.

Ghosts, by their very nature, however, are not subject to the scientific method. There’s no set structure of rules governing their manifestations, only legends and rumours.

The study of ghosts, however, is as ancient as any intellectual strain in the human consciousness. While there may be no ghosts, ghost hunters are very real, very tangible people, and a legitimate profession. Ghost hunters are not a modern phenomenon, either. The belief in ghosts likely predates human history, with some of the earliest references coming from the dawn of Chinese civilization over 10,000 years ago.

So in 10,000 years or more, no one has officially captured a ghost. Those statistics are kind of downer, but as I said, we’re closer than ever, even, ironically, if they don’t exist.