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GP ESSAY
2) Can a belief in the supernatural be sustained in our modern world?
Ghost, goblins, fairies, vampires- Since the dawn of Man, human beings have always been
interested in finding the answers to the mysteries of the world around us. Our ancestors sought
the explanations for everything that occurred. It seems inherently human, to ask the
fundamental question, “Why?” When we are unable to come up with an answer, we have,
historically, credited these occurrences that are beyond our explanation and understanding, to
“supernatural forces”. Skeptics guffaw at and rubbish the claims of paranormal occurrences,
while fervent believers vehemently insist on attributing these mysterious to the occult, creating
a schism between the two groups. The more important question we must ponder is the
relevancy of these beliefs and whether they can be sustained in our modern world.
Before we can consider the relevance of the supernatural in our society, we must look into why
human beings choose to believe in them in the first place. Our forefathers governed their lives
religiously and perhaps fanatically, centering their whole existence around the occult. The gods
of the Sun of the Incas were responsible for the cycle of day and night, and frequent human
sacrifices needed to be made to appease these same deities. The Egyptians believed in an
afterlife where your sins translated into torture in the netherworld. These beliefs in gods and
devils have precipitated through society for millennia, and have been around much longer than
science. However, why people choose to believe in ghosts and demons is perhaps due to the
fact that escapism is innately human. When our loved ones have passed away, we choose to
uphold and glorify their existence by creating a dimension in which they still exist. This is
perhaps why we visit spirit mediums and perform rituals for the dead in order to communicate
with our loved ones. We seek to escape from the reality that our loved ones have left this world,
and perhaps try to hold on to whatever means we can have of hoping they are still around. We
want to escape from the fear of abandonment and isolation, so we believe that we have
guardian angels looking out for us and guiding us away from danger. Escapism allows people to
be free from the confines of reality, and live vicariously through the beliefs in the supernatural.
Yet, with science unraveling the mysteries of life, do we still think the supernatural is relevant?
Some might disagree, saying that in a 21st century world with science reaching the peak of its
time, where the advent of technology and research has consistently helped to debunk myths
and legends, the ‘supernatural’ is gradually losing its relevance. For example, In the 50s,
paranormal occurrences of people who randomly and shockingly caught fire for no plausible
reason, have been proven to simply be extremely rare cases of spontaneous combustion, a
result of a bad mix of high dosages of alcohol and cigarettes. The mystery of ghoulish balls of
lightning-like fire that drift about houses have been linked to rare meteorological phenomenons
that result from static and other environmental conditions. Tears from sacred busts or
sculptures of holy figures have been found to be due to the aging plaster leaking moisture.
Science has not only come up with explanations for such occurrences, it has even solved the
answers to the origins of human reproduction, to weather phenomenon, among others. In
addition, science has also played an elemental role in sifting out and exposing hoaxes.
Technology has allowed us to scan the legitimacy of photographs of UFOs, to scan videos of Big
Foot to see if they have been tampered, and simply succeeded in identifying hoaxes and
fraudulence. This has also been credited as a reason why there is a decline in people who are
believers, and an increase in the number of skeptics.
Yet, despite the evidence, despite the facts, some people still choose to cling to the beliefs in
the supernatural. This might stem from cultural influences, as well as the attitude that it is
better to believe than not believe at all. However, surely it is much more than sentiment or
ignorance that binds people so closely to the paranormal. Anthropologists research into the
culture of man, and a particular area of concentration in the field of cultural anthropology, is the
superstitions, mythology and religion of cultures. Supposing people choose to agree with
scientific explanations for the “occult”, then would that not renders many millennia of culture
and tradition, which is significantly hinged on old wives tales, superstition and the paranormal,
irrelevant? In this case, perhaps debunking beliefs and practices is equivalent to deeming
significant portions of culture as “irrelevant”, and a significant part of humanity would have
believed for naught. It is rather difficult to change a person’s mindset, and to change a whole
culture’s perception after several millennia of deeply-rooted beliefs, may be even harder. This is
essentially why some would liken science and superstition to oil and water: They simply do not
mix.
In addition, beliefs in the supernatural could perhaps be seen as sustainable in our modern
world on a practical level. In fact, believing in the supernatural has even spun a whole industry
of its own. The popular culture influence of the supernatural can possibly be attributed to the
fact that the media has found a way to tap into the thrill and excitement of believing in the
supernatural. The movie industry makes billions of dollars each year, churning out films in the
genre of horror, fantasy and science- fiction. Films like The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock, Poltergeist,
The Exorcist, Twilight, Paranormal Activity and many others; all play into the simple traditional
ideas of the supernatural. Television shows like Grimm, Supernatural and Buffy the Vampire
Slayer, tend to propagate beliefs in the supernatural, depicting supernatural beings co-existing
with humans. From merchandise to products, the belief in the supernatural has woven an
industry that still continues to thrive, playing on the very aspects of human nature: fear, and the
need to fulfill a sense of excitement. Believing in the supernatural has been reinforced by the
industry. We are enthralled by the mystic and danger of falling in love with a vampire, and the
more fanatical ones among us spend thousands of dollars buying safety gear for an apocalypse.
The entertainment industry has succeeded in sustaining, and will continue to sustain, beliefs in
the supernatural in a modern society.
Be it to escape the constraints of reality, or to pacify our inner desire to feel that the world is
not so simple and that there are beings apart from ourselves, perhaps the reason for these
beliefs in the supernatural is not simply due to cultural factors alone. The pre-fixes of “super
natural” and “paranormal” seem to connote that these occurrences defy science and defy the
limits of reality. Perhaps, the reason why people think it is better to hold on to these beliefs, is
because we cannot accept that we may be the only ones in this world, and because belief is
what makes us essentially human.