Scientists "see" Ghosts

[semillama]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/earth/2008/02/21/scighost121.xml

"The reason that apparitions, bogeymen and phantoms like to lurk in the shadows may have been revealed by scientists.

A team from University College London finds that when we gaze around in a poorly-lit context, it can fool our brains into seeing things that are not really there.

Although no one has done a systematic study of ghosts, neuroscientists are convinced they are "all in the mind" and, in the light of the new work, it does not seem so surprising that they seem most often glimpsed in "spooky" dimly-lit circumstances

In the journal PLoS Computational Biology, Prof Li Zhaoping and her colleagues say that the context surrounding what we see is all important - sometimes overriding the evidence gathered by our eyes and even causing us to imagine things.

They were surprised to find that a vague background context has more influence on what we see than one that is bright and well defined, and speculate that this might explain the power of some abstract art and why we can see vivid details in the vague brush strokes of impressionist paintings."

[jberryhill]

1. This is what they tried to tell Galileo

All o' them science types staring into dark empty space with their telescopes think that the earth moves and that it's not the center fo the universe.

Now we know that when you look into the dark, you see things that aren't there.

[cosmik debris]

2. I still wonder about the role of peripheral vision

All the really weird stuff always appears out of the corner of the eye and disappear when looked at directly.

Then again, maybe I'm just nuts?

[Warpy]

3. It also comes from that brain structure that is very active

in religious believers and nearly inert in atheists and skeptics. When they electrically stimulate that area, the person has the feeling of another presence in the room.

I think that's what's behind the ghoulies, ghosties, things that go "bump" in the night, and gods.

[cosmik debris]

4. And we can't forget the impact of

too many recreational drugs in my mis-spent youth.

[Warpy]

5. Aw hell, nurses all have colorful drug histories

I think it's all that early field research that helps us pass pharmacology.

If there be ghoulies and ghosties, they leave me alone. Too boring I guess. The things that go bump in the night are invariably knocked over by the cat. She's beautiful but she's a clod.