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Paramount Pictures
The recently released movie "Paranormal Activity 3" focuses on the boundary between dreaming and waking - which psychologist Richard Wiseman says is prime territory for perfectly normal "paranormal" experiences.
Halloween is the peak time to dwell on ghosts, spooky noises, weird premonitions and other "paranormal activities" — but despite that label, such phenomena are totally normal. You can even create them yourself.
That's the message of Richard Wiseman's latest book, "Paranormality: Why We See What Isn't There." Wiseman, who began his career as a magician and is now an experimental psychologist at the University of Hertfordshire, reveals the tricks of the paranormal trade — including the methods used by on-air psychics to make themselves seem, well, psychic. (To try them out, download Wiseman's "Instant Superhero Kit.")
Wiseman wishes normal people had a better understanding of the psychology behind seemingly paranormal activities.
"There's an enormous problem," he told me today, "actually more in America than in Britain, because the level of belief in the States is huge. We're talking about more than three-quarters of the population believing in some sort of paranormal phenomena — even with the rise in technology and science over the past 20 years or so. It's really quite staggering."
There are so many stories about chilling premonitions of doom, or alien visitations, or high-tech studies of haunted houses. Surely there must be some reality behind all those scary tales. It turns out that there is, but Wiseman says you don't have to turn to supernatural explanations. Here are five examples:
1. Selective memory: Can dreams predict future events? Actually, psychologists have found that people tend to have far more dreams than they consciously remember. A significant event — say, a death or dramatic change of fortune — can trigger the memory of a past dream that may seem to relate to that event. Also, you're more likely to hear about the one seemingly prophetic dream than about the many other dreams that went nowhere. In this essay for The Guardian, Wiseman delves more deeply into the selective nature of dream recall.
The fact that we often hear only what we want to hear, or remember only what fits our expectations, also plays into psychic readings. Wiseman refers to this as "fishing and forking": The psychic throws out some generalities as a fishing expedition, watches to see which of those observations you pick up on, and then follows that fork in the road to build up the reading. The Skeptic's Dictionary outlines the process here.
2. Ideomotor action: Sometimes zombies really are in control of our brains — but those zombies are our own mental processes that buzz along beneath our consciousness. For example, experiments have shown that unconscious muscle movements can guide your hands to rock a table during a seance, or move a Ouija board pointer to spell out a message, or twist a dousing twig to point to an underground water source (or not). But it works only if your zombie brain can process the results of the motor movements. If you're blindfolded, the effect is spoiled. The Straight Dope provides further discussion of the Ouija connection.
3. Sleep paralysis: For thousands of years, tales have been told about strange beings who visit in the middle of the night and have their way with sleepers. In the old days, these were demons known as succubi and incubi. Nowadays, they're aliens or ghosts (like the ghosts in the "Paranormal Activity" movies). Such experiences are associated with a psychological phenomenon known as sleep paralysis, in which the brain hovers at the edge of consciousness but keeps the mind-body connection turned off (except for the connection to the genitalia, which may explain why those succubi were so sex-crazed). "The body paralyzes itself," Wiseman said.
Researchers recently reported that they were able to train volunteers to experience out-of-body experiences as well as alien encounters during their semi-waking states.
Richard Wiseman discusses "Paranormality" on "BBC Breakfast."
4. Cold spots and infrasound: Ghostbusters often report feeling "cold spots," or suddenly becoming anxious, or getting weird readings on high-tech sensors when a specter makes its presence known. Wiseman said such sudden changes are due to natural rather than supernatural causes. Ten years ago, he and his colleagues used an array of thermal cameras and air movement detectors to figure out what was behind a "haunting" at Hampton Court Palace, near London. It turned out that chilly drafts blowing through cracks in the palace's concealed doorways created the unsettling sounds and the plummeting temperatures.
Low-frequency sounds, created by changes in the weather or even appliances such as air conditioners, can also create a sense of uneasiness in listeners, even if they can't consciously sense the sound. Wiseman conducted an experiment on the effects of "infrasound" during a concert and found that 22 percent of the listeners felt chills or other unusual sensations when they listened to music that was laced with the low-frequency tones.
5. Hyper-vigilance: All these effects are accentuated when visitors think they're in a haunted house. "Basically, when we become afraid, we become very vigilant. ... It feeds on itself," Wiseman said. He and many other scientists believe that such hyper-vigilance came in handy when our ancestors were in the midst of a mammoth hunt or a host of unseen threats. The same hard-wired instinct may explains why we seek out an eek by visiting a haunted house or watching a scary movie. "It's the way we've evolved," Wiseman said.
Although Wiseman doesn't see anything supernatural in paranormal activities, he does see a lot of value in studying them. "Trying to understand why people have these experiences is very instructive," he said. In fact, research has shown that some concepts, such as mind-reading and out-of-body experiences, are rooted in solid neuroscience. Just as science fiction can give rise to real-life innovations, so can tales of the paranormal.
"Whenever science has done well, so has the paranormal. ... You get this interesting relationship," Wiseman said.
More Halloween tales from the Cosmic Log files:
- 2002: Ghostly mysteries solved
- 2003: Why we seek out an eek
- 2004: Sharing your scares
- 2005: Ghosts on the rise
- 2006: Bring me your ghost stories!
- 2007: The science of spooks
- 2008: Chasing phantoms on film
- 2008: The science of bloodsuckers
- 2009: Seven ghoulish discoveries
- 2010: Spooky stuff from NASA
- 2010: How your brain handles terror scares
Check out Wiseman's "Paranormality" website for more about the book, plus lots of spooky photos and videos.
Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter or adding me to your Google+ circle. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for other worlds.
Leave a Comment:
I'm seeing a pattern of terrible articles here as of late. This is yet another one. The article seems to indicate proof that all paranormal activites are natural. And likely many/most are (many ghost hunter groups will even tell you this). And while the items listed in the "article" are very true, they account for a fraction of a percentage of actual types of reported events - particuarily those legitimately caught on videa or audio recordings.
Any intellectually honest person will say that some things they experience could likely be explained away as natural. However, much to the chagrin of the author of this article, and I'm sure to the author this article is trying to promote, their "answers" are not valid for all claims.
This article may be 100% true but who doesn't like having the bejeusus scared outta them once in awhile. Besides, if someone can make a few bucks on the willingly stupid, why not?
Science forgets one thing, it is a faith. It has its own dogma, it celebrates the pursuit of intelligence rather than some unseen god. Of course science likes us to forget that it too believes in the unseen, Dark Matter & Dark Energy for example. Why? Because rather than revamping their error filled calculations, it is easier to thrown in the unseen as the culprit. A scientific version of the "Devil did it". Science loves to pat itself on its back about its vast knowledge, sadly it is that presumption of knowledge which hinders the pursuit of intelligence.
For those that disagree with what I just said, how long did it take for Thermodynamics to be accepted? The mountain gorilla? The panda? M Theory? Those are just 4 examples that questioned the collective scientific knowledge that took a vast amount of time be accepted as a challenge and ultimately truth.
Science is as much dogma as the Catholic Church, minus the stupid dresses, hats and child rape.
You sound like you're very confused. I think most everyone would agree with you that the world certainly can be very confusing. Don't allow this confusion, however, to sully your interest in pursuing knowledge. If you allow negative emotions aroused by this confusion to obstruct your vision, you will never be able to know where you are standing, let alone be able to see the forrest for the trees.
I experienced number 3 in the list recently. I was lying in bed facing away from my wife when through my barely open eyes I saw a large dark shadowy hand reach over the bed and pin me down. In my dream state I thought it was real and was completely paralyzed. I was breathing hard and fast enough to wake up my wife, but I didn't wake until I managed to eek out a scream like a little girl. Once I woke up I couldn't stop laughing, mainly because im 6'2" and 250 lbs and I was just screaming like a child in my sleep!
I know that the unseen spiritual world is real. I come from a extremely strong science background but none the less I have personally experienced this unseen realm. As the old folks say, "The proof is in the pudding", there is no one who could ever convince me otherwise. No, I'm not a psychic, witch, medium, or ghost buster. My experience comes from being a born-again Christian for 40 years and have found both by study and personal experience that every thing the Bible claims is rock solid truth! I know many of you feel that I am a brain washed individual but on the contrary Christianity has offered me more freedom of thought and expression than the sciences have. May all find the reality of the unseen world!
ok, so explain how a child who doesn't even know what a ghost is experiences phenomenon, and doesn't even have a name for it, and the child is fully awake when the phenomenon occurs.
Huh?
Children are human beings .... they have all the same experiences we do. Just because a young child has never had pain, suffering, or sadness cognitively "explained" to them ... doesn't mean they will not try to comfort and console their mother when they sense she is distressed.
while I agree that a large amount of experiences can be explained by logical and unsupernatural answers, the supernatural does exist, and anyone who does not believe that to me is the one who is delusional, not the other way around, and I also believe that those who have to convince themselves these things do not exist are doing so because they have dark secrets that they don't want to believe could ever be exposed.
How can you be serious?
Can you name one single shred of evidence for anything "supernatural"?
Anything?
One single thing?
The sad part is that the natural world is sooooooo much more mysterious and magical than anything our little imaginations of ghosts and goblins can dream up.
lmao, I don't think you want to ask believers for evidence of the supernatural. The more shreds of evidence for something you gather, the more firmly you place into the realm of the natural. You just gotta believe!
I ain't afraid of no paranormal phenomena
I dream about tornados every once in a while (that I can seem to remember), and one day when I had the dream it came true, just down the street. I think while sleeping I must have heard the din of the tornado, and I cognitively pieced it together in my unconscious REM state -this phenom is explained in the article rather well I think. Later that same day while watching the evening news, the tornado made the news, rather a funnel cloud, and it lightly damaged a few homes near mine. I got in my car and went down the street to see for myself, and lo & behold I did see some minor tornado damage to a few homes. Damn that was close! Too bad I wasn't really astral projecting myself over my house while dreaming, but if I could it would have been really fun! Did anyone see the movie Men who stare at Goats! I sure wish I had the psychic ability to fly around my house and leave my body for a time, what a rush that would be!
Americans are not taught how to think, and frankly most don't want to learn.
I can speak for Sleep Paralysis since I often experience this myself and say it's true. Everytime I know I'm about to have a bad dream (I'm already asleep and dreaming and I'm dreaming something's bad about to happen), I often try to wake up. Being tired, I'm only half-successful. I'm kinda aware of my surroundings (my bed, etc., know that I'm only dreaming), but I'm still having the bad dream.
So I'll just stand there, unable to move, and knowing this had happened countless times, I'll just blow out a sigh, roll my eyes, and say "F**kin ghost... Stupid Sleep Paralysis ARGH*... Then wake up completely after getting eating/posessed/whatever.
I used to own a Chevy C10 pickup truck (3 speed on the column). My father borrowed it one day and broke the window handle knob. He replaced it with the top of a lamp that he found in his garage. My friend and I made great fun of my Art Deco Chevy. About a year after my father died, my partner and I moved into a new home. I was out walking in the woods with my dog, wondering if I had done the right thing about buying the house. I happend to glance down and spotted a rusty top of a lamp sitting pretty among the dead rust colored leaves. I took it as a sign from my father that I had made the right move. I still have that top of a lamp and use it as a paper weight. Strange things happen to strange people. I'm proof.
Actually, I don't really see anything "strange" about this experience at all.
You found an old lamp-top in a field and made an immediate association with a personal experience you've had in your life. This happens all the time (even to skeptics like me). We are a pattern-seeking species. It's why we see faces on the moon and find hidden codes in biblical scriptures. We can damn near find pattern and meaning in anything ... which is a beautiful thing. If it helps you find comfort, peace, or even prolong a connection with the passing of your father, well that's even better!
But this experience, I can assure you, is wholly human. And nothing "paranormal" is needed to make it anymore extraordinary than it already is.
You didn't know my father.
I sure didn't, I'm sure he was a great man.
Not sure how that has any bearing on what I said ... or what you said?
Chad-1841583
I kinda think that finding a small (less than 3/4 inch) rusty piece of metal in a pile of similar colored leaves in a 350 acre forest (by a guy whose vision has been deteriorating since the first grade) after making comments about it in the eulogy I gave at his funeral is a pretty strange coincidence. Don't you? I mean, I wasn't looking for a top of a lamp when I started my walk. I wasn't even thinking about it.
Of course I think it's a coincidence, just not all that "strange".
As I said, this kind of stuff happens all the time, even to the most fervent skeptic, such as myself.
This is part of the human condition and the shared human experience we all have. Again, I'm not trying to offend you, or make light of the story. I find it rather beautiful as I've already stated. My point is merely in reference and context of the subject matter of this article ... the fact that many "paranormal" experiences perceived by the viewer as proof of the supernatural, can often be explained in very real terms.
Coincidences would fit perfectly into this phenomenon. I actually love reading about ultra-weird coincidences and the web is filled with really comprehensive lists of some great historical ones.
I think it's important to note that skeptics are not ridiculing or belittling believers. We understand that these experiences are very real to the observer. Real in every way ... emotionally and comprehensively. When I hear people talking about alien abduction for example, or even ghost stories ... I don't think these people are lying about their experience. I believe something very real did in fact happen to them, or more importantly that they truly believe something did in fact happen to them.
Is the internet real? We can't actually touch it or taste it. Well .... I mean ... ya could lick your screen but that would just be a little too weird!!! LMBO!