Editing Ghost (section)

{{Short description|Supernatural being originating in folklore}}
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{{Other uses|Ghost (disambiguation)|Ghostly (disambiguation)}}
{{redirect|Haint|the Warsaw Yiddish newspaper|Haynt}}
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[[File:Hammersmith Ghost.PNG|thumb|right|An engraving of the [[Hammersmith Ghost murder case|Hammersmith Ghost]] appears in Roger Kirby's ''Wonderful and Scientific Museum'', a magazine published in 1804. The "ghost" turned out to be an old local cobbler who used a white sheet to get back at his apprentice for scaring his children.<ref name=Kirby>{{Cite book |title=Kirby's Wonderful and Scientific Museum |chapter=The Hammersmith Ghosts |pages=65–79 |year=1804 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ggMhkDz-33EC&pg=PA65 |author=Kirby, R.S. |access-date=2016-03-14 |archive-date=2023-10-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231024084902/https://books.google.com/books?id=ggMhkDz-33EC&pg=PA65#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>]]

{{paranormal}}

In [[folklore]], a '''ghost''' is the [[soul]] or [[Spirit (supernatural entity)|spirit]] of a dead [[Human|person]] or non-human [[animal]] that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In [[ghostlore]], descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes to realistic, lifelike forms. The deliberate attempt to contact the spirit of a deceased person is known as [[necromancy]], or in [[Kardecist spiritism|spiritism]] as a ''[[séance]]''. Other terms associated with it are apparition, haunt, haint, phantom, [[poltergeist]], [[Shade (mythology)|shade]], specter, spirit, spook, wraith, [[demon]], and [[ghoul]].

The belief in the existence of an [[afterlife]], as well as manifestations of the spirits of the dead, is widespread, dating back to [[animism]] or [[ancestor worship]] in pre-literate cultures. Certain religious practices—funeral rites, [[exorcism]]s, and some practices of [[Spiritualism (beliefs)|spiritualism]] and [[ritual magic]]—are specifically designed to rest the spirits of the dead. Ghosts are generally described as solitary, human-like essences, though stories of ghostly armies and the ghosts of animals other than humans have also been recounted.<ref>Hole, pp. 150–163</ref><ref>{{cite book
|author=Cohen, Daniel
|title=The encyclopedia of ghosts
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5lcMRQryEQMC
|year=1984
|publisher=Dodd, Mead
|isbn=978-0-396-08308-5
|page=8
|access-date=2016-03-14
|archive-date=2023-08-14
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230814112355/https://books.google.com/books?id=5lcMRQryEQMC
|url-status=live
}}</ref> They are believed to haunt particular [[list of reportedly haunted locations|locations]], objects, or people they were associated with in life. According to a 2009 study by the Pew Research Center, 18% of Americans say they have seen a ghost.<ref>{{cite web |author=Michael Lipka |title=18% of Americans say they've seen a ghost |url=http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/10/30/18-of-americans-say-theyve-seen-a-ghost/ |date=2015-10-30 |publisher=Pew |access-date=2019-02-07 |archive-date=2019-02-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209124605/http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/10/30/18-of-americans-say-theyve-seen-a-ghost/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

The overwhelming consensus of science is that there is no proof that ghosts exist.<ref name="Bunge1998">[[Mario Bunge|Bunge, Mario]]. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=oX84XOf-T68C&pg=PA178 Philosophy of Science: From Problem to Theory] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230814112345/https://books.google.com/books?id=oX84XOf-T68C&pg=PA178 |date=2023-08-14 }}''. Transaction Publishers; 1998. {{ISBN|978-1-4128-2423-1}}. p. 178–.</ref> Their existence is [[falsifiability|impossible to falsify]],<ref name="Bunge1998"/> and [[ghost hunting]] has been classified as [[pseudoscience]].<ref name="Regal2009">{{cite book |author=Regal, Brian |title=Pseudoscience: A Critical Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c6PACQAAQBAJ&pg=PA75 |date=2009-10-15 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-0-313-35508-0 |pages=75–77 |author-link=Brian Regal |access-date=2017-07-09 |archive-date=2023-08-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230814122347/https://books.google.com/books?id=c6PACQAAQBAJ&pg=PA75|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Raford|first=Benjamin|author-link=Benjamin Radford|title=Ghost-Hunting Mistakes: Science and Pseudoscience in Ghost Investigations|url=http://www.csicop.org/si/show/ghost-hunting_mistakes_science_and_pseudoscience_in_ghost_investigations|publisher=[[Committee for Skeptical Inquiry]] |access-date=2017-07-08 |date=November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328142040/https://www.csicop.org/si/show/ghost-hunting_mistakes_science_and_pseudoscience_in_ghost_investigations |archive-date=2019-03-28 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Levy |first1=Rob |last2=Levy |first2=Stephanie |title=Hearing ghost voices relies on pseudoscience and fallibility of human&nbsp;perception |url=http://theconversation.com/hearing-ghost-voices-relies-on-pseudoscience-and-fallibility-of-human-perception-48160 |website=[[The Conversation (website)|The Conversation]] |date=30 October 2015 |access-date=8 July 2017 |archive-date=25 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180925105818/http://theconversation.com/hearing-ghost-voices-relies-on-pseudoscience-and-fallibility-of-human-perception-48160 |url-status=live}}</ref> Despite centuries of investigation, there is no [[scientific evidence]] that any location is inhabited by the spirits of the dead.<ref name="Regal2009"/><ref>{{cite web |last1=Radford |first1=Benjamin |author-link=Benjamin Radford |title=Are Ghosts Real?— Evidence Has Not Materialized |url=https://www.livescience.com/26697-are-ghosts-real.html |website=[[Live Science]] |access-date=8 July 2017 |archive-date=8 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190508041605/https://www.livescience.com/26697-are-ghosts-real.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Historically, certain toxic and [[psychoactive plant]]s (such as ''[[datura]]'' and ''[[hyoscyamus niger]]''), whose use has long been associated with necromancy and the [[underworld]], have been shown to contain [[anticholinergic]] compounds that are pharmacologically linked to [[dementia]] (specifically [[Dementia with Lewy bodies|DLB]]) as well as histological patterns of [[neurodegeneration]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=The encyclopedia of psychoactive plants: ethnopharmacology and its applications |last=Raetsch |first=Ch. |publisher=US: Park Street Press |year=2005 |pages=277–282}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/news_article.php?newsID=2300 |title = Study suggests link between long-term use of anticholinergics and dementia risk |publisher = [[Alzheimer's Society]] |date = 2015-01-26 |access-date = 2015-02-17 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151112115547/https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/news_article.php?newsID=2300 |archive-date = 2015-11-12 }}</ref> Recent research has indicated that ghost sightings may be related to degenerative brain diseases such as [[Alzheimer's disease]].<ref>A case of progressive posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) with vivid hallucination: are some ghost tales vivid hallucinations in normal people? Furuya et al.</ref> Common prescription medication and [[over-the-counter drugs]] (such as [[sleep aids]]) may also, in rare instances, cause ghost-like hallucinations, particularly [[zolpidem]] and [[diphenhydramine]].<ref name="Mian2019">{{cite journal |last1=Mian |first1=Razs |title=Visual Hallucinations from Zolpidem Use for the Treatment of Hospital Insomnia in a Septuagenarian |journal=Cureus |date=January 2019 |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=e3848 |doi=10.7759/cureus.3848 |doi-access=free |pmid=30891388 |pmc=6411327 | issn=2168-8184}}</ref> Older reports linked [[carbon monoxide]] poisoning to ghost-like hallucinations.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/health/body-odd/see-ghosts-there-may-be-medical-reason-f1C9926902|title=See ghosts? There may be a medical reason|first=The Body|last=Odd|date=30 October 2009|website=NBC News|access-date=7 October 2019|archive-date=4 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404203030/https://www.nbcnews.com/health/body-odd/see-ghosts-there-may-be-medical-reason-f1C9926902|url-status=live}}</ref>

In [[folklore studies]], ghosts fall within the [[Motif-Index of Folk-Literature|motif index]] designation E200–E599 ("Ghosts and other revenants").