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Haunted Houses: What Keeps the Legends Alive?


Claire.

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Haunted Houses: What Keeps the Legends Alive?

I have written about how the architecture of haunted houses creeps us out in a previous Psychology Today blog post.  However, I am also interested in exploring how easily people can be duped into believing that a place is really haunted. It seems as if everyone likes a good haunted house story, and a belief in the veracity of stories about haunted houses persists long after the facts of the case reveal them to be little more than a legend. In other words, accounts of paranormal events are able to withstand an assault from actual facts quite well.

Read more: Psychology Today

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Haunted Houses: What Keeps the Legends Alive?

My opinion is that In many cases it is because they actually are haunted (or were) with entities and energies. That gets the legend started. I don't think true ghostly phenomena is all that rare.

 

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3 minutes ago, papageorge1 said:

My opinion is that In many cases it is because they actually are haunted (or were) with entities and energies. That gets the legend started. I don't think true ghostly phenomena is all that rare.

Actually, the opposite is true. There is little out there in the way of true ghostly phenomena. Many high profile hauntings have been debunked, and only a very few had incidents that were difficult to explain (in most cases because many of those incidents were anecdotal and not witnessed by anyone). Yet in spite of evidence proving a haunting was a bit of a hoax, people still have a propensity to believe it wasn't. Unfortunately, the article doesn't go into any depth about why that happens, but I suspect that beliefs are so ingrained that some people refuse to consider any evidence to the contrary.

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Good article - and I think most of us like to feel spooked to some degree or other...whether it be haunted tales of old houses / castles (where someone either died by natural causes...or met their unfortunate demise of being murdered /slain ) hence, many believe that for some reason their ghosts / spirit are still 'hanging around' within the confines of the dwelling :huh:

Stories or sights of old graveyards can also set the imagination off by thinking.. 'Oooh! spooky place'.

When I was a child...we use to scare ourselves silly by playing in or near the local cemetery...(oh what fun scary memories they are) :lol:

For some reason, we humans, simply like the thrill of the scary and the mysterious...just as long as we don't really believe in it. 

I must admit tho...even as an adult...I still like tuning into the odd 'spooky' movie once and a while :P

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1 hour ago, Claire. said:

Actually, the opposite is true. There is little out there in the way of true ghostly phenomena.

The obvious follow-up to those statements is 'ACCORDING TO WHO?'. A CSICOP person was cited in the article but what about serious paranormal investigators who have no doubt from straight on encounters. What about the millions of average people who had very clear events including multiple observers, physical phenomena, converted skeptics and on and on.

1 hour ago, Claire. said:

 Many high profile hauntings have been debunked, and only a very few had incidents that were difficult to explain (in most cases because many of those incidents were anecdotal and not witnessed by anyone).

It is easy for me to believe some are hoaxes, but I think in many cases someone (like a CSICOP member) will claim to have fully debunked a case but did they really? Again 'ACCORDING TO WHO?'.

1 hour ago, Claire. said:

 Yet in spite of evidence proving a haunting was a bit of a hoax, people still have a propensity to believe it wasn't. Unfortunately, the article doesn't go into any depth about why that happens, but I suspect that beliefs are so ingrained that some people refuse to consider any evidence to the contrary.

I am skeptical of the skeptic's claims also. So I may choose to remain uncertain on an individual case, but in the overall the existence of real ghostly phenomena is to me now beyond reasonable doubt. And many haunted places do have genuine ghostly activity leading to their reputation.

I doubt many people would really believe in a haunted house if they believed it was 100% debunked..

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I recall an old slightly run-down house for sale in an upmarket suburb, at a seeming bargain price. I told a friend who was looking to move out of a high-crime suburb, he could have got into this one quite affordably. However, "something" happened when the wife went into a bedroom, when they inspected the home, she ran out of the house and refused to re-enter the dwelling. I never quite got to the bottom of what actually transpired in there, it supposedly was an unwelcome tactile experience, but she was adamant the place was haunted, and was not interested in living there. Maybe that is why the place was so cheap !

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51 minutes ago, papageorge1 said:

The obvious follow-up to those statements is 'ACCORDING TO WHO?'. A CSICOP person was cited in the article but what about serious paranormal investigators who have no doubt from straight on encounters. What about the millions of average people who had very clear events including multiple observers, physical phenomena, converted skeptics and on and on.

Serious paranormal investigators having straight on encounters? What do you mean by straight on? Not that it matters because not one paranormal investigator has presented definitive proof of the existence of spirits, or anything else for that matter. Dust orbs, mysterious shadows, and garbled EVPs just don't cut it. The vast majority of paranormal investigators don't even know what the real evidence would look like anyway.  No one does really. Furthermore, those 'millions' of people who have had supposedly clear events, haven't presented proof either. Anecdotal evidence isn't evidence. If all of these millions of cases contained any definitive proof whatsoever, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

1 hour ago, papageorge1 said:

And many haunted places do have genuine ghostly activity leading to their reputation.

No they do not. But if you have evidence of a genuinely haunted location, by all means present it.

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21 minutes ago, Claire. said:

Serious paranormal investigators having straight on encounters? What do you mean by straight on? Not that it matters because not one paranormal investigator has presented definitive proof of the existence of spirits, or anything else for that matter. Dust orbs, mysterious shadows, and garbled EVPs just don't cut it. The vast majority of paranormal investigators don't even know what the real evidence would look like anyway.  No one does really. Furthermore, those 'millions' of people who have had supposedly clear events, haven't presented proof either. Anecdotal evidence isn't evidence. If all of these millions of cases contained any definitive proof whatsoever, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

How can someone provide you "definitive proof', when you also say 'we don't know what real evidence looks like'. Sounds like one should not engage that effort.

Anecdotal evidence (neither blindly accepted nor blindly dismissed) is evidence for consideration in the court of my common sense. The word 'proof' is meaningless and all we have is our judgment on what is most likely, based on a fair consideration of the evidence and argumentation from all sides.  Personally my judgment is that genuine paranormal events occur beyond reasonable doubt from the quantity, quality and consistency of a huge body of evidence. I believe there are genuine haunted houses.

21 minutes ago, Claire. said:

 Anecdotal evidence isn't evidence.

Didn't you just contradict yourself?

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4 minutes ago, papageorge1 said:

Didn't you just contradict yourself?

No I did not contradict myself. Anecdotal evidence is evidence from an anecdote, which, unlike scientific evidence, has very little value, as it is (1) unreliable and (2) usually unverifiable.You are entitled to believe whatever it is you want to, but the fact of the matter remains that there is no huge body of evidence to prove beyond reasonable doubt that spirits exist, and that some haunt homes and other places. None whatsoever. There is, however, a huge body of scientific evidence that can and does explain why people think they have seen or sensed spirits. So, like it or not, there is a logical explanation for pretty much all of it.

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2 minutes ago, Claire. said:

No I did not contradict myself. Anecdotal evidence is evidence from an anecdote, which, unlike scientific evidence, has very little value, as it is (1) unreliable and (2) usually unverifiable.You are entitled to believe whatever it is you want to, but the fact of the matter remains that there is no huge body of evidence to prove beyond reasonable doubt that spirits exist, and that some haunt homes and other places. None whatsoever. There is, however, a huge body of scientific evidence that can and does explain why people think they have seen or sensed spirits. So, like it or not, there is a logical explanation for pretty much all of it.

I think science should remain agnostic on the question of haunted houses because it beyond its range to investigate at this time. Spontaneous and unpredictable events are not the type of things the scientific method can address well. I, not being a follower of scientism, considers everything in forming my view. I think science is great but has its limits. A convincing body of anecdotal data is something I consider in my understanding of this universe.

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Just now, papageorge1 said:

I think science should remain agnostic on the question of haunted houses because it beyond its range to investigate at this time. Spontaneous and unpredictable events are not the type of things the scientific method can address well. I, not being a follower of scientism, considers everything in forming my view. I think science is great but has its limits. A convincing body of anecdotal data is something I consider in my understanding of this universe.

What does being agnostic have to do with anything? And investigating the paranormal is beyond the range of scientists but not the so-called paranormal investigators, who, according to you, have already come up with definitive proof? There is no such thing as a convincing body of anecdotes by the way unless they are verifiable.

By all means reply to this post, but I have no intention of going back and forth on this and derailing the thread any more than we already have.

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Just now, Claire. said:

What does being agnostic have to do with anything? And investigating the paranormal is beyond the range of scientists but not the so-called paranormal investigators, who, according to you, have already come up with definitive proof?

'Definitive proof'?? Go back, when have I ever claimed anyone has 'definitive proof'. I have said the opposite.

2 minutes ago, Claire. said:

By all means reply to this post, but I have no intention of going back and forth on this and derailing the thread any more than we already have.

Derailing? I answered your question: Haunted Houses: What Keeps the Legends Alive?       

I suppose we are all just supposed to talk about people loving mysteries, media loving mysteries, how suggestive people are, how error prone people are, etc. etc..  Well, carry on then.

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1 minute ago, papageorge1 said:

'Definitive proof'?? Go back, when have I ever claimed anyone has 'definitive proof'. I have said the opposite.

No you have not, but on re-reading, I did take your words somewhat out of context by misreading what you wrote about the paranormal groups. So for that I apologize.  As for derailing the topic, I have no issue with most of what you've presented as it was on point. I just don't want to get into by a debate on whether or not spirits exist. Been there, done that.

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1 hour ago, papageorge1 said:

 Personally my judgment is that genuine paranormal events occur beyond reasonable doubt from the quantity, quality and consistency of a huge body of evidence.

And what pray tell - is this huge body of evidence that you speak of ?

1 hour ago, papageorge1 said:

I believe there are genuine haunted houses.

Wow.. :rolleyes:

download_4.png

 

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What's the most haunted house in Oz?

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I do believe that the mystery of the unknown and our inquisitive nature leads to us keeping the idea of haunting alive.

Any idea of supernatural for that matter, and I think it adds spice to life. 

Legends stay alive because we can't prove beyond reasonable doubt the truth (whether it supports or debunks something).  I have no proof of any kind of the following statement,  but I believe that being sceptic and thinking critically about something develops the brain more than just living each day within the norms and bounds of society.  So for me, keeping legends alive keeps the imagination alive which in turns keeps the brain in good health (due to thinking exercise) 

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Where's macqdor?  I'm sure this would resonate... oh wait, maybe not.

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4 hours ago, Astra. said:

Good article - and I think most of us like to feel spooked to some degree or other...whether it be haunted tales of old houses / castles (where someone either died by natural causes...or met their unfortunate demise of being murdered /slain ) hence, many believe that for some reason their ghosts / spirit are still 'hanging around' within the confines of the dwelling :huh:

Stories or sights of old graveyards can also set the imagination off by thinking.. 'Oooh! spooky place'.

When I was a child...we use to scare ourselves silly by playing in or near the local cemetery...(oh what fun scary memories they are) :lol:

For some reason, we humans, simply like the thrill of the scary and the mysterious...just as long as we don't really believe in it. 

I must admit tho...even as an adult...I still like tuning into the odd 'spooky' movie once and a while :P

I don't know how to qoute a little piece and respond so I am gonna respond a, b, c...

A) graveyards- we didn't stay close to one, but we had a deserted house close to the church. The stories that we generated about that place scared us silly. Also good memories, don't think any of the stories were true... 

B....scary stuff...Yes we do don't we!

C) I love scary movies, I remember my sister telling me that I can just put the sound off then.it isn't that scary...still do it today:P

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21 minutes ago, Hammerclaw said:

What's the most haunted house in Oz?

You mean alleged haunted house...

Well off the cuff I have no idea...as ghosts / haunting's is something that I haven't believed in since I was a child. (Oh..there is Boggo Road Jail) I'm not sure...but I think they still have ghost tours there.

I'm sure if I google tho....I'm bound to find more 'spooky' places.....

scared15.gif

:w00t:

    

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6 minutes ago, Astra. said:

You mean alleged haunted house...

Well off the cuff I have no idea...as ghosts / haunting's is something that I haven't believed in since I was a child. (Oh..there is Boggo Road Jail) I'm not sure...but I think they still have ghost tours there.

I'm sure if I google tho....I'm bound to find more 'spooky' places.....

scared15.gif

:w00t:

    

Yes, I'm a skeptic, too. Surely, 'though, there are reputed haunted houses In Australia that totally creep believers out! Boggo Road Jail? I'll look it up.

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39 minutes ago, Hammerclaw said:

What's the most haunted house in Oz?

I would have thought Monte Christo homestead would hold that title.

 

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13 minutes ago, Hammerclaw said:

Yes, I'm a skeptic, too. Surely, 'though, there are reputed haunted houses In Australia that totally creep believers out!

Oh I'm sure there are more places here that creep folk out. Kismit put in a good one.

What about in the States ?....are there any places that jump to mind ?

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26 minutes ago, Astra. said:

Oh I'm sure there are more places here that creep folk out. Kismit put in a good one.

What about in the States ?....are there any places that jump to mind ?

I wouldn't know where to start. Every county has at least one.

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Hauntings are a conceptual reality we all share and, sometimes, participate in, but that few really believe in. It's the primitive archetype  in all of us, that still fears a darkness without civilization's comforting light. It's from a time when thing's-that-go-bump-in-the-night could be threatening predators and terrifyingly real. So we huddled close to our reassuring fire, while eying the dancing shadows and the darkness beyond the circle of light. Imagination is what makes human beings unique; ironically, the foundation of our material world and this giant artifact called civilization in which we reside. We imagined both--things we made to be, and things that were never real or realized.

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