Bump in the Night or Bump in the Brain?

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Photo credit: Techa Tungateja, Getty Images

On Halloween, we celebrate things that go bump in the night (and candy).

Nonetheless, this macabre holiday evokes a longstanding debate in the world of psychology: Do things actually go bump in the night, or do they simply do so in our psyches? Are so-called paranormal phenomena like poltergeists, telepathy, clairvoyance, telekinesis and the like indications of real happenings occurring largely outside our scope of perception, or do they represent over-active imaginations, projected fears or outright delusions?

Mainstream psychological scientists scoff at the notion that these experiences have any basis in fact. They point out that, despite many efforts to do so, no reputable study has provided scientific evidence in support of paranormal occurrences. It’s a powerful argument. While psychology is far from an exact science, it increasingly utilizes evidence-based methods to establish what it considers true and false in the workings of the mind.

A counter-argument from proponents of the paranormal is that we currently lack the means to detect these mysterious happenings. After all, they assert, human history is replete with examples of how improved means of scientific inquiry upended our view of reality. For example, until 1895, the existence of X-rays, routinely used in healthcare today, was unknown. New technology (a cathode-ray tube) made detection possible. So, paranormal folks maintain that what we know is based on what is currently observable, and, as our means of detection improve, there is much more to be discovered “out there.” Their most popular adage in this regard is, “The absence of proof is not the proof of absence.” Fair enough, but it’s not the proof of presence, either.

Puzzles of Precognition

As a psychotherapist, I hear many accounts from clients of things going bump in their nights. Often, these occurrences, whatever their true nature, include “visitations” from spirits or lost loved ones, precognitive dreams, telepathic communication, hauntings and the like. While some of these accounts seem too self-serving and nebulous to warrant much validity, others are, at the least, puzzling.

A variety of surveys show most Americans believe they’ve experienced some form of paranormal phenomenon (70% in some instances). Most of those surveyed reported having premonitions that, they claim, later came true. Believing in psychics, spiritual healing, hauntings, demonic possession and ghosts was also common.

Now, I am cognizant of the mind’s capacity for self-deception. Many studies show we can trick ourselves into seeing, hearing and feeling things that are not, in fact, physically present, and that our memories of paranormal events (as well as normal ones) are subject to confabulation. How so? Well, when we recount an event from memory, we often modify or embellish the nature and sequence of what took place, and then, subsequently, we believe these modifications are the real deal.

I am also aware that we have a long, long way to go before closing the book on our understanding of the mind and consciousness, if ever that should prove possible. For example, we have yet to demonstrate exactly how consciousness arises in the brain. In terms of accurately discerning things in our external environment, we face a similar uphill climb. Astrophysicists tell us only about 7% of the matter and energy in the universe is detectable using current technology, meaning there is far more we don’t know than we do. Given that, I’d caution both sides of this debate, the “show me” empiricists and the woo-woo true believers, to keep an open mind.

In addition to its primary purposes, perhaps Halloween should remind us how little we understand about so-called reality. Maybe our costumes, decorations and paranormal claims, while depicting the surreal or outrageous, are simply ways to remember that, despite all we profess to know for certain, existence remains, at its essential core, a mystery.

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