... like I'm 5 years old
When we talk about the science of ghosts, we're looking at ways to explain something that many people claim to have experienced, but that science has yet to definitively prove exists. Essentially, a ghost is thought to be the spirit or soul of a person who has died and is somehow still present in the world. People report seeing apparitions, feeling cold spots, or experiencing strange occurrences that they attribute to these spirits. However, science generally operates on evidence, and there's not much concrete evidence to support the existence of ghosts.
Imagine you're playing a game of hide and seek. You're certain someone is hiding in a room because you can hear rustling and see shadows, but when you go in, there's no one there. This is what it's like for scientists trying to study ghosts.
... like I'm in College
The science of ghosts gets a bit more complex when we start trying to explain these experiences. One theory is that what people perceive as ghosts are actually forms of energy. After all, the law of conservation of energy states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed from one form to another. Perhaps the energy of a person's life force somehow remains after death.
Some researchers use technology to try to capture evidence of this energy. Devices like Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) recorders and thermal cameras are used to detect sounds and temperature variations that are said to be indicators of ghostly presence. However, these methods are not universally accepted in the scientific community due to concerns about their reliability and validity.
If we were to try to explain the science of ghosts using Lego bricks, consider this: Imagine you've built a Lego figure representing a person. When the person dies, the Lego figure is dismantled. The energy of the person—the life force—is like the disassembled Lego bricks. The bricks (or energy) are still there, just in a different form.
Now imagine you're in a dimly lit room with Lego bricks scattered on the floor. You might step on a brick (an unexpected cold spot or a sound) or even think you see the outline of your original Lego figure in the scattered pieces (an apparition). This doesn't mean the Lego figure has reassembled itself—it's just your brain trying to make sense of the scattered bricks. In the same way, what we interpret as ghosts could be our brains trying to make sense of different forms of energy or random stimuli.
... like I'm an expert
From an expert perspective, the science of ghosts often delves into the realm of psychology and neuroscience. There are many natural explanations for the phenomena often attributed to ghosts. For instance, infrasound, or low-frequency sound waves, can create feelings of uneasiness or dread and can even cause visual distortions that might be mistaken for apparitions.
Similarly, a phenomenon called 'Pareidolia'—where the brain interprets random stimuli as significant, such as seeing faces in clouds—could explain why some people see apparitions. Our brains are hardwired to recognize patterns and familiar shapes, particularly faces, which could account for many ghostly sightings.