Ghosts: An Atheist’s Experience

There are plenty of ghost stories which regale many of us. Talking about ghosts is sort of adventure for people. Some get fear of unknown even when they go to washroom. There are many victims who almost survive such incidents.

During childhood, I had my struggles, my challenges of growing up and also the same excitement and fear towards ghost stories. When I believed in the ‘supernatural ghosts’, I often encounter with one. At my paternal Aunt’s house, where I spent a major portion of my childhood, I could recall the stories of divine interventions and existence of ghosts. 

As I grew up, I started reading books of science and Richard Dawkin’s – “The God Delusion”. In chapter 10 of the book, he narrated the exact reason and I am convinced with that. Ghost stories come from the crowd. There are reasons for that experience.

There is a haunted road in Mumbai in Mud Island. This goes across BHATI Village to AKSA Beach. There are various versions of stories which run across the road. 

I actually walked around the road in night after 10 P.M and so my brother near about 2 A.M. . . However we have not encountered with anything there. Why? 

That is what I am going to explain. What triggers you to believe in ghost? – A story teller. Who survives with difficulty and miracle?  The haunted road is having a thick canopy of the trees around which causes a heavy concentration of CO2 during night time. Mind tends to get hallucinated with ease when it does not get oxygen.
That is why when the sun rises and trees start producing oxygen, the ghost encountering with human disappears often. This is not the power of light which makes the ghost run away. It is the power of photosynthesis which provides oxygen to the environment. 

Many ghost researchers have found this theory supportive enough. Second reason is solar flare and interaction between sun’s magnetic pulse and earth increase during night time. There are reasons for it, and I abstain from getting into the depth of the subject. 

Third reason to appear a location ghostly is an availability of a special type of fungi that is toxic for human brain. 

The last reason which recently was experimented is the brain’s creation. The brain has a zone, when it is triggered due to chemical combinations it makes one feel the presence of someone around you. A team of Swiss researchers have carried out this experiment of creating a ghost in lab by triggering that part of the mind. 

So ghost is all about the mind. When one hears about the existence of ghost, they subconsciously believe it.  To support my argument I give an example—

In western nations, the festival of Halloween is celebrated. People claim that they personally have seen witches flying in sky. You come to India; here witches were not seen flying. Here ghosts are according to their cultural theories. Can someone connect it? Yes, because here people imagine and get hallucinated the way they are raised. So they do not encounter with flying witches. While in other countries they do not see that a ghost running away from taking the name of special Hindu god.
The paranormal is more associated with sickness of mind, and it is not available everywhere as people claim. Though there can be certain reasons behind it. However it terrifies crowd with Stories.

-          Namrata

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