Not much is discussed about the very nature of ghosts themselves. It is taken on faith by professed eyewitness accounts that ghosts somehow appear and usually take a recognizable anthropomorphic form. The hypothesis is never accompanied by a deeper explanation that advances toward a testable theory. Let's entertain taking this a step further concerning the "form" of a ghost.
Can our intellect possibly comprehend things beyond our own mode of existence? This "form" is presupposed by our concept of reality. It portends something outside of our mode of existence to be hypothetically assumed, possible yet incomprehensible.
Being considered an immaterial form also means they are incorporeal, because a spirit and a corporeal entity should not have the same matter. Could a spirit exist in the absence of matter? By scientific definition, matter is something that has mass and occupies space. Our physical forms bear distinction by matter and not the other way around. As we are limited to our own very nature in as far as existence is concerned, would the nature of a spirit then be limited by its own nature? But what would that nature consist of? What would the interface be between our corporeal world and the spirit world and what would that consist of the "portal" as it is commonly referred to. Wouldn't it have to consist of matter at least on the corporeal side of the doorway, yet allowing and maintaining a connection to the non-material world? Wouldn't that make the corporeal side of the doorway detectable by some means? The widely claimed, hypothetical "cold spots" are a good example of this. Cold spots violate the rules of thermodynamics, especially when talking about entropy and the assumption of an isolated system. The air in a room (if that is the specific environment), unless experimentally controlled (not found on a typical ghost hunt), would not be considered an isolated system (one in which passage of energy is not allowed). Perpetuated from said transfer of heat from the human, what is the adiabatic boundary involved to contain the heat for the spirit? So many questions, so few answers.
Spirit communication is another perplexing topic.
Ghost boxes are a popularly used device for communication. Communication is proposed to come through a radio band. Does anyone ever talk about the different methods of radio wave conversion, modulation and demodulation (AM & FM) required for producing what you are hearing? Basically, we are left with the presumption that spirits can magically change sounds, forming speech in an effort to communicate. What is the distance of the spirits from the device? Are they in close enough proximity so as not to violate the inverse square rule of sound? Do their "voices" initiate from the spirit world, crossing into our world before manifesting through the radio?
EVP are hypothesized to be spirit voices. Two problems immediately come to mind. The previous mentioned barrier is one. The other is in how a physical voice is formed. Is the whisper voice you've recorded due to bitrate compression of your recording device? How is a recorded vocal sound possible from a spirit lacking the human anatomical apparatus required to produce a voice and its accompanying articulation? Is there an accent? Do you have acoustical evidence of vocal tone that has been put through spectral analysis in search of human vocal formants and gender and age-related pitch? If spirits are manipulating sound waves to produce audible speech, what mechanism do they possess to hear us in return? Does the barrier between worlds affect the pressure wave as far as frequency and volume is concerned, and if matter is not involved to produce the wavefront from the spirit side, then what is? Sound also requires a medium to travel through. What is that medium on the spirit side before sound gets to us? How do the spirits control their pitch? Has anyone ever recorded infrasonic or ultrasonic voice pitch from the spirit world?
Some talk about energy when it comes to ghosts as if it is something floating around in the air, i.e., "ghosts use our energy." Energy, per simple definition, is the capacity to perform work. If a person knocks on something, moves something, etc., by definition, this is caused by the potential energy stored in our cells being converted to kinetic energy in order to perform a mechanical movement. Where is the potential energy stored in a spirit to perform the same things? Or are we to believe without proof in the idea of free-roaming electromagnetic energy forms?
After all of this, and much more not mentioned in this article, we are left to rationalize an explanation for "form" by substituting "substance" in its place. Whether it be demons, angels, ghosts, etc., accepting or acknowledging a "form" that by simple definition, "is," connotates that the existence itself defines its "substance" to a certain extent. Additionally, by acknowledging substance of an indescribable form, would we also acknowledge the potentiality to act or do something?
The above opinions are my own and not meant to criticize a differing opinion nor solicit heated argument for validity. Of course, you don't have to dive into the deep end like this. I remain skeptical yet open minded regarding the alleged paranormal. Perhaps in summation I can propose the following in an objective frame of mind:
We humans have no direct access to our own physical world except through our senses. The question then is: Are these perceptions accurately presenting the actual physical experience or simply unable to present the whole corporeal vs non-corporeal experience?
- Moonjoey