Expert breaks down why so many of us believe in ghosts

Ghosts have long believed by many people across different cultures, and in fact according to a 2019 Ipsos poll, are one of the most widely believed paranormal phenomenon, with 46 per cent of Americans saying they truly believe in ghosts.

Belief that the dead return to us as spirits have long existed, appearing in everything from the Bible to Macbeth.

Not only that, but many have claimed to have spoken to or seen ghosts themselves. A 2015 Pew Research Study showed that 18 per cent of people believe they have seen a ghost.

But why do so many of us believe, or claim to have seen, ghosts?

Speaking to Live Science, clinical psychologist and professor at Southern Illinois University, Stephen Hupp, said this: "One common cause may be pareidolia, the tendency for our brains to find patterns (especially human faces and figures) amongst ambiguous stimuli. One common example is when we see faces or figures in the clouds and another is when random shapes and shadows in a dark house look like a ghost."

The belief also offers comfort, making us think that our loved ones are looking after us, or with us when we need them.

"There's still so much to this universe that we don't understand, and it's comforting to fill the void with explanations," Hupp said. "Supernatural explanations are often stated with confidence, even when there's no actual evidence, and this confidence provides a false sense of actual truth."

Even Albert Einstein supposedly suggested that the First Law of Thermodynamics could offer an explanation for ghosts. If energy cannot be created or destroyed, what happens to our body's energy when we die?

Unfortunately, this question quickly has a logical answer. After a person dies, the energy in their body goes where all organisms' energy goes after death: into the environment.

The energy is released in the form of heat, and the body is transferred into the animals that eat us (i.e., wild animals if we are left unburied, or worms and bacteria if we are interred), and the plants that absorb us.

So sorry to all ghostbusters out there but your efforts may be futile, but there's no harm in having fun in believing.

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