Ghosts

[johnola]

Why would these senses be shielded from the forces of natural selection? Without the pressure from natural selection to keep such senses there's no reason to think they would have survived in a meaningful way. Mutations are relatively common on the timescales you're talking about, and most of them are harmful.

Brain development is fairly plastic and in need of sensible sensory input to take place, this is why people that are born with sensory deficits that are corrected as adults will almost without exception (as far as I know) have significant problems interpreting the sensory input when the deficit is later corrected by surgery. I see no reason why people would be able to detect the kind of sensory inputs you're talking about triggering visions of the supernatural.

If we had magnetic or electrochemical senses like you postulate that should very much be detectable by science, I have heard of no such evidence. If for example a magnetic sense like you postulate was present you would expect people would be able to detect magnetism with some accuracy higher than chance, I don't think that happens.

I don't see any way it could be accurately described as a "lifeforce" if it existed.

Meanwhile we have a ton of evidence for our cognitive shortcomings that are the suspected reasons for these so called paranormal phenomena. In line with current evolutionary thinking by the way. And not dependent on nondescript sensory leftovers.

Bangs head against wall. Sees stars, these are not sensory leftovers. These are not sensory leftovers.

Crrys salty tears, these are not oceanic leftovers these are not oceanic leftoverse

(you have athe option of having a **** instead of crying, same thing re origin).

Cannot detect electricity, puts **** in socket.

Cannot detect magnetism, stiffens resolve with iron supplement.

We are animals.

 

[braineclipse]

Bangs head against wall. Sees stars, these are not sensory leftovers. These are not sensory leftovers.

Crrys salty tears, these are not oceanic leftovers these are not oceanic leftoverse

(you have athe option of having a **** instead of crying, same thing re origin).

Cannot detect electricity, puts **** in socket.

Cannot detect magnetism, stiffens resolve with iron supplement.

We are animals.

What?

Your comparisons make no sense.

We are obviously animals, that's hardly being discussed. You're right, we cannot detect electricity in a wall socket.

 

[milo]

That is exactly what I am trying to explain. We are a billion years plus in the making, evolution has left us a writhing mass of nerves and spare parts. Sometimes our brain will come up with the wrong solution to the information it is passed. That is hardly controversial - look at the clues we have from Psychiatry etc.

For a large part of our ancestry we were ocean dwelling creatures. We could retain senses that detect changes in water pressure and salinity - my point poorly explained by the looks - is that our bodies likely still respond to such triggers but have long since lost the brain capacity to understand how we should respond to these nervous signals now we are advances land-lubbing beasts - we cannot very well ascend the water column to avert the danger implied.

There is no reason that these senses need to be lost over time if they are shielded from the forces of natural selection.

I postulate, that ghosts are poorly resolved images of humanity which are triggered when such weird un-processable signals received by ours brain can only be attenuated by the visual cortex or whatever.

I also believe that some houses or localities do trigger such senses and that we accidentally give the brain a helping hand in resolving what may be causing the signal. However it is actually likely such sensations are experienced across a population of individuals. So where there is a myth that a weird sensation is caused by Roman Legionnaries then that may just give the brain a helping hand to flash that image across the conscious mind when in fact what is being sensed by the body is a particularly frequency which struck a chord in an ancient animal ancestor The frequency arising by the wind being regulated by the structure of the building or a gate or whatever).

So they may not exist but nonetheless can be witnessed because the brain is indeed playing tricks at the same place across time - because the same un-processable signal arises in that location time and again.

Does that really sound ridiculous?

I don't wish to be rude but it sounds like a ludicrous theory to me and it contradicts several well established laws of physics.

By our brains playing tricks on us, I mean that we are hard wired to see things that aren't there and make patterns where there aren't any.