Maybe We All Are Ghosts?

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In Jeffery Kripal’s book, Author of the Impossible, he analyzes the supernatural and the sacred, and how they have a unique relationship, and how as humans, we have unique perspectives and attitudes to the supernatural. I found his point on the “Great Forgetting,” especially interesting as he speaks on how humans believe that thoughts and society are created through “social construction," and original thinking but he argues that our thoughts have already been laid out for a long while. I pondered on this for a while, because my first instinct is to rebel against this, as I want to believe all my thoughts are from me and my experiences and creativity, but when we look at any social movements, we usually see a pattern throughout history. Social movements, such as feminism, or abolition, or even just rebelling against governments have been seen for centuries, so maybe Kripal is right, maybe our thoughts aren't as original as we would like to think. I think this is an interesting phenomena to examine through dialogue around 6th sense and paranormal activity, as the sixth sense is one that is hard to define, and is this “programmed” thinking part of some sort of sense that connects us all as humans on this planet? That seems like a big question at first, but the  more I think about it, it doesn’t seem totally out there, as we are all connected, and aren't senses part of that? 

Furthermore, thinking of “social construction, “ or the “The Great Forgetting,” these have a lot to do about thoughts and attitudes surrounding paranormal activity as well as the sixth sense. I think stories of these experiences are thought of as folktales and not the truth due to people not seeing it firsthand, and then stories being repeated over and over, which might make people doubt the story as it inevitably changes though retellings. However, I think the 6th sense and paranormal experiences are deeply connected as that is how we feel presences, otherworldly, or not. I worked in the stacks of the library this summer, and the amount of experiences I had with “Mary,” our resident spirit in the library, was hard to believe. Mary would make herself known by slamming down books when I shelved, or turning on and off lights, or her favorite was just to make it 20 degrees colder within a minute and then make some fun noises. All of her tactics of being known were through the senses, whether it be touch, noise, sight, it was felt. I really am looking forward to discussing how the sixth sense can be viewed. Is it strictly to do with paranormal experiences or is simply connecting spirit to spirit, and sharing our human experiences together?



Comments

  1. Amanda WellsMay 6, 2022 at 6:29 PM

    I think another good example, other than social movements and history, is stories. If you examine plotlines for stories, we really only have about nine or so "unique" plotlines that stories fall into and their uniqueness usually comes from the differing details that make up the setting and everything going on around the plot. It really makes you think about just how humanity thinks and how, in a way, we're drawn towards the familiar.

    I also definitely agree with you on the ideals of the supernatural; while I'm sure many stories and folktales were to explain the unexplainable, or to explain things humans didn't quite know, or to warn people away from dangerous places but didn't know why those places were exactly dangerous, people just kept dying around there, I'm sure there are a lot of folklore stories that did have some level of truth to them. I really wonder how much science killed the supermnatural in the world and just how much exists. In any case, I'll definitely keep my senses open for Mary during finals week!

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