by Chua Wei Ling
Ah…horror stories. Love it or hate it, believe it or not, no matter which school of beliefs you belong to, there’s bound to be something about them that draws us to want to know more about it. However, why does it seem that some people are more prone to ‘sightings’ compared to others?
Basing on psychology, this is a feeling known as sensed presence, which occurs when one experiences changes in the brain chemistry, triggered mostly due to situations such as stress, lack of oxygen, repetitive and monotonous stimulation or simply because of a buildup of hormones. These senses then trick people into feeling the “presence” of apparitions, visible or not. As such, if a person believes that they have seen something, the mind may confirm the thinking and cause the person to believe they truly have seen an otherworldly being.
On the other hand, going by the notion of religion, there’s also the believe that some people may be more prone to sightings simply because of their birth details (timing, date, day, alignment of the stars etc). Most commonly termed as the sixth sense or third eye, this is the group that would be able to have sightings much more easily than others, although while the curious may think “Wow, they get such luck in seeing the supernatural!”, the former would view of it as a hassle or a curse instead.
Lastly, there’s also another group of people who are prone to these sightings, termed “fibbers”. These are people who neither experienced any changes in their brain chemistry, and most possibly never had anything in their births or religions to ‘aid’ them in their ‘sight’ – rather, they claim they have seen something, probably just because they enjoy telling tale or two to whoever who may listen to them. Whatever the case may be, the above is an explanation of why some people may be able to ‘see’ supernatural beings much more than others.
So readers, stop asking us why you can’t see the ghosts at the haunted MRTs: Maybe you’re just not born with it, or maybe, the spirits just don’t want to show up.
