10 scientific explanations for paranormal phenomena – from demons to ghosts

We live in a rational world. In a world where there are no ghosts, angels and demons, and creaking floorboards at night result from poorly laid flooring, and not just another visit recently deceased grandmother. But if the ghosts and all the rest is not real, then why so many people are convinced that somehow he had witnessed something otherworldly? The answer to this question lies in the peculiarities of our brain. Science is able to find an answer to sometimes very strange questions, but when it comes to paranormal phenomena, scientific substantiation of these events are sometimes even more fantastic than the myths themselves.

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Ideomotor effect: how the Ouija Board

Gathered in the company of friends and decided to hold a séance using the Ouija Board, you may notice that a tiny plastic (or wooden) the pointer at some point starts to move by itself. Moreover, the people actually touching and moving it, be sure that they do not. Although, of course, will be. They're just not going to understand this. It's called "ideomotor effect", and to demonstrate there is a very interesting experiment that you can conduct at home.

Take a string, hang on it with a sinker. Grab the string with a suspended weight and hold. Now ask himself some question about myself and tell me that if the answer to this question will sound "Yes", then the weight will start to spin clockwise, and if the answer is "no", then counterclockwise. If you believe in magic, the weight really needs to change the direction of rotation depending on your response. Moreover, you can be sure that he does it himself, not your hand.

The reason is that our bodies create a subtle unconscious movements. When you ask yourself a question, your subconscious mind responds to it and is barely noticeable causes muscles to move without your conscious participation. Eventually your fingers will move by themselves, unwinding of the sinker and trying to answer the question. You will feel that the weight is spinning by itself.

Absolutely the same effect is happening with the Ouija Board. Your subconscious mind unnoticed by you begins to move a plastic pointer, and it seems that it moves by itself.

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Experiment with "Philip": even more stunning result

In 1972, a group of psychologists gathered eight people and told them the story of a man named Philip Aylesford, and then invited the gathered people to call his spirit through a seance. In the room dimmed the lights, sang songs and began to ask questions of Philippe. To the surprise of the people, began to happen strange things.

First started to move the table. At some point, one of its sides is bent, and he remained standing only on two legs. Then people started to think that the lighting in the room has acquired some flickering. After this the audience began to hear some tapping sounds and felt that in this way Philip answered their questions. And he answered correctly on each of the questions. In any other situation this would be direct evidence of the existence of supernatural spirit world and summon the Ghost of a dead man, if not for one thing: no Philip Aylesford never existed.

Personality Philip was completely fictional psychologists. Every detail of his elaborate biography was fiction scientists. However, the group of assembled people somehow managed to convince themselves that they really called him a Ghost.

The organizers of the experiment used several other psychological effects (tapping sounds and the lights flickering), but in General, all what happened can be called by the same ideomotor effect. People were moving the table at an unconscious level.

Psychologists have published the results of their research. Later the experiment was repeated several times with other participants and organizers. The effect observed is the same. Took part in the experiment, the volunteers were confident in what they called the spirit never existed.

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Experiment with a placebo of Henry IV: how does the exorcism

Being possessed by a demon is one of the most popular explanation for many things. For decades, people have explained schizophrenia, epilepsy and a bunch of other mental disorders that the man was possessed by demons. But if not, then how can we explain exorcism? If it was schizophrenia, that's why people were cured from strange spells in Latin?

The Answer lies in our minds. At the end of the 16th century, king Henry IV gathered a Council, which was to conduct an experiment over a woman who claimed that she was possessed by demons. The woman said that the congregation – priests, exorcists, and it worked.

First woman was given the Holy water from the Church. It poured in a regular Cup and said it was just water. Real Holy water had no effect. Then the woman was given regular water, but said it was Holy water, and the woman shook from the pain.

Then the woman put a piece of iron and said it was part of the true cross. The woman began to roll on the floor in agony. Also, tried to read a book in Latin, saying that it is the Bible. The woman again began to shake, while reading "the Aeneid" by Virgil.

And it was not a sham. This was the result of her imagination. And almost everyone can be convinced that it is something affected. Recently a group of psychologists undertook to convince some skeptics of the reality of demons. By the end of the experiment, 18 percent of the subjects not only believed in demons, but was still convinced of their own possession.

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Effect of forera: why do people believe in their horoscopes

One day someone Michael Gauquelin placed an ad, offering to all who wish to make free personalized analysis of their personality based solely on their astrological sign. All that was required is to send him your date of birth. On its basis the man was willing to give an exhaustive answer to the question of what kind of person you really are. Incredibly, 94 per cent of those people who went to it, said Gauquelin perfectly described them.

And this is strange because Gauquelin sent everyone the same analysis. In fact, his guessing of personal traits was not based on horoscopes. He simply used very vague wording, and everyone found what they wanted.

This is called "effect of forera". To describe it the attempt of the brain to bind the event not associated to the desired result. The phenomenon is named after Bertram R. forera and his experiment.

He gave a group of students identical descriptions of their personality, which said: "you Have a big need for other people loved you and admired you." 85 percent of his subjects were convinced that it is their description.

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Paradigm false fame: why do people believe in past lives

The Reason why some people are convinced that we are able to recall, as was Jeanne d’s Ark or the ancient Egyptian workers, it is very easy to explain: they have a very bad memory.

A team of researchers from the Maastricht University conducted a test called "Paradigm false fame". It was attended by several groups of people, are confident that they can remember their past lives. Participants were given a list of names. Then, the next day, they read out a list of names that have unfamiliar names were mixed up yesterday. People who believe that they remember past lives, insisted that yesterday's invented names were names of famous personalities.

In Other words, the memory of these participants was not very stable. When they could not remember where they heard some familiar name, their brain made up a story to explain who these fake people. It is believed that the same happens when people make up stories about past lives.

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an Experiment on the sense of presence: why do people feel the ominous presence

Here is another unusual experiment with even more unusual results. A group of scientists tying people's eyes and placed them between the two robots. The fingers of the people were attached to the robot in front of them. The machines were set up so that whenever people move hands, the robots behind imitated these movements on their backs.

At First it gave. People tapping my fingers and could feel the finger of the robot taps the same way on their back. But in fact, that they did not care.

The Strangeness began to occur when the researchers added a delay in the system. When the finger of the robot has to react with a delay of half a second, people began to feel that behind them, someone is. Some even felt that they are surrounded by several invisible people, others are so agitated that they asked to stop the experiment.

The Researchers believe that it happened because people lost a sense of control. When I added the delay, people no longer feel the immediate feedback on their movements. The inability to control the investigation of proper motions in the brain perceives as a sign of another's presence.

The Researchers think something similar happens with schizophrenics and exhausted people and those who survived ...