“2. Do you believe in ghosts or evil spirits? Would you be willing to spend a night alone in a remote house that is supposedly haunted?”
from The Book of Questions by Gregory Stock, Ph.D.
Naturally, given my admittedly small understanding of neuroscience, I don’t believe in ghosts. The thing is that, as I’ve said before, software cannot work without hardware for it to run on. What we call our minds is merely the software that runs on the hardware of our brains. So, ghosts are impossible, even in theory, based on what we know at this point.
Of course, even though I know that, I still find it very easy to believe in evil spirits. Sometimes, it just seems as though there must be something making life difficult, and it’s easier to blame demons than to accept it might be my fault or is just blind chance.
All that said, I’m just superstitious enough, and/or just enough of a wuss, that I think it would totally freak me out to spend a night alone in a “haunted” house. I’d be completely willing to try for a big enough price, though – say, $100,000?
What about you?
The Complete History of the Universe: A Personal Journey 