Scientifically speaking, how do spirits produce EVPs?

Question

I ask this because there are some who are under the opinion that EVPs are scientifically credible. There is a host of reasons why they are not, pareidolia and apophenia being chief among them. But I would like to offer the opportunity to "scientific" investigators of the paranormal to try to rescue EVPs from the dustbin of pseudoscience by coming up with an explanation for how ghosts make these sounds.

Please be scientific. That is, your explanation has to be firmly grounded in established science, not conjecture. Here's some things to get you thinking:

If a ghost creates a sound, how does it mechanically create the pressure wave if the ghost doesn't have mass?

If you posit energy of some kind, define it, tell me where it comes from using mathematical equations or appeals to established science.

If a ghost doesn't have vocal cords, how does it make a sound just like a human voice?

Thanks and good luck!

hey you guys, ssshhhhhh!

I greatly appreciate the input from skeptics (I am one myself), though I do want to emphasize to the paranormal researchers involved in EVP that I'm hoping for input from them. Thanks!

LOL, Wushu -- seems to me that you want a Dustbuster, not a Ghostbuster!

Hi KBW3, thanks for your response. I do think though that Wushu was offering a humorous response, which is the way I took it. I think he realizes that "ghost physics" is a very problematic notion. :)

Thanks Sweety for your response. I appreciate your ideas, but unfortunately they fall in the realm of conjecture (they are not directly predicted by established scientific knowledge). Conjecture certainly plays a role in generating new ideas, but here I'm looking specifically for rigorous scientific development. Thanks.

Zachary -- thanks for pointing that out. Yes, I'm trying to generate legitimate scientific discussion in what many paranormal enthusiasts insist is sound science. It would be an excellent opportunity to show why Paranormal belongs in Science & Math. I'm disappointed by the near zero turnout so far.

Nuff, I think you missed the point. All those things you've mentioned have a very well known scientific basis for producing sound. But ghosts don't, so how do they do it? By the way, all those things you listed make sounds by mechanical means. If a ghost doesn't make human-like language sounds by vocal chords, are you proposing that they have voice synthesizers or some other kind of device?

Malachi, that was a lot to type! I appreciate all your ideas. You said that I have to accept the existence of ghosts first to get what you're saying, which is probably true, but that means that I'm basing any conclusions on faith in ghosts, which makes it unscientific. In other words, the explanations rest on a pillar of conjecture instead of established science.

Answer 1

This is a paradox because you have used two mutually exclusive terms Science and Ghost.
Superstitious mumbo-jumbo is not science.

Answer 2

You must choose a question or problem that can be formulated in terms of hypothesis that can be tested.
Failure in investigative procedure needs to be addressed before any hypothesis may be formed.


Systematic errors arise from a flaw in the measurement scheme which is repeated each time a measurement is made. If you do the same thing wrong each time you make the measurement, your measurement will differ systematically from the correct result.
Some sources of systematic error are:


Bias of the experimenter.

Incorrect measuring technique.

A single recorder is incorrect procedure.

2 digital
2 tape
2 battery powered
2 AC powered.

Tape should be opened and listened to right out of the wrap prior to use.
Do not assume since it is in plastic wrap that there is nothing on it. These plastic shrinkwrap machines http://www.laminationplus.com/shrink1.shtml
are readily available for cd’s and tapes such as these.
The first listening and actually the whole procedure has to be done by multiple scientists, not a single paranormal investigator. Shrink wrap machines are also used by magicians to produce an unopened deck of cards, also producing a false assumption that they must be untouched by human hands.
Since there is so much pressure upon investigators to produce some form of proof, and most of it comes in EVP form, I highly find it highly suspect and must be done in a true scientific manner.

Answer 3

This is very simple actually. Ghosts have mass and thus can cause vibrations in the air.
They don't have much mass, however they have enough to show up visually in a photograph if you use the flash and they happen to be very close to the lens. (aka orbs)
I would say they have about as much mass as a large particle of dust. This is why they can't be heard by human ears. Something that size cant produce a lot of sound, but they can get into the microphone and make enough sound to be picked up.
I estimate 2% of household dust is actually dead ghost corpses.


edit: Duh KBW3, of course I am making it up, thats what makes it psuedo-science.

However, you offer no answer to the question, only a critique of my answer. However, to my knowledge my answer is the only logical possibility with currently known physics.

edit again: I will give you credit TR for attempting to get an intelligent discussion going in this section.

edit once again: ok, sorry i got a little b--chy yesterday, but my wife is 9 month preggo and sleep around here is scarce.
Consider the needle of a record player. Its tiny, but by vibrating in certain patterns it produces human speech. Even without the speakers, you can hear the sound if you listen closely. In the same way, a dust sized ghost could vibrate near a microphone and get its message through.

However, to do this, it would have to have mass.

Answer 4

From the Scientific POV---We can say that what we call "Ghosts" might be persons from or in a parallel universe to our own. While not dwelling on the Physics or mechanics involved in parallel universe systems, We can assume that there may be some weak interactions between parallel universes, even though they might lack relative "SOLIDITY", some forms of energy such as ELECTROMAGNETIC might be shared. These electromagnetic energies might be modulated at vocal frequencies---Thus devices, like magnetic tape recorders, and other electronic devices relying on picking up EM waves or influences, could be used to communicate between beings in parallel universes.----In this case EVP.

In other situations, it appears that "Ghosts" can MINIPULATE existing sounds either by filtering or variable resonance to produce "voice-Like" communications. To be successful, the sound source should be frequency rich having many frequencies , like "white noise" This noise may be deliberately electronically generated on the part of the researcher, or be NATURAL, like the sound of wind in the trees, a waterfall, running water, etc. Apparently the desired frequencies are picked out and the undesired frequencies suppressed. You can do this, yourself, illustrating THE PRINCIPLE, by holding up, for example, an electric razor to your mouth and "Mouthing" words.---You can HEAR the words in the "buzz".

In this case we must wonder if the "Ghost" is partly "Materialized" enough to form a resonating chamber or otherwise able to filter select frequencies from random available noises.--Some "Ghost box" devices exploit this principle.

Who ARE the "Ghosts"? Scientifically we may assume they are beings that live on a parallel universe and try to interact with us. There is also evidence that they might be from another TIME also. Either the past---where we might see a person in period clothing via some transient natural "wormhole" or from the FUTURE which may be a technological attempt to communicate with the past.
We really have no evidence that what we call "Ghosts" are actual "Spirits of the dead"--that is just an ancient speculation to explain them. More likely, they are living beings from a parallel universe, or THIS universe from another TIME.

Answer 5

I think it is done like we do that sort of thing.
people can not determine if something can happen with the mind, but to some degree we can control when.

an example is radioactive decay, lets say you have a block of something decaying and a meeter that tells you when each partial decays. if you set up everything so that your average rate of decay if one decay a second. then you compare that output to a timer that counts off once a second. if the decay comes in before the timer, you count one up, if after the timer, you count one down. the output should bounce up and down, but it should stay around 0. if you concentrate on it to go up or down, it will. I think that ghosts are doing the same sort of thing.
the quantum noise in a transistor is the same sort of random effect that you can influence with your mind.
so, I think that this is what the ghosts are doing to make the sounds that show up on your recorder.

an easy way to test this is to use a white noise generator made from a transistor gate biased backward instead of a microphone,

I can think of a few more ways that they could do it and the test to run to check if it is correct, but I cant type anymore, email me if you want more on my answer.

Answer 6

I think paranormal investigators have the wrong idea here.They feel questions like these somehow ridicule them.What you're trying to do,in my opinion is open up a discussion.Something different then the usual ghost tales and telekinesis lessons.Honestly, I'd love to hear some serious answers.Paranormal investigators the ball is in your court.

Answer 7

A ghost makes sound just by vibrating the energy of the universe. All it has to do is to think a word and it will simply come to pass. Ghosts use more than the 10% of their brains like humans do. If humans used more than 10% of their brain then they would be able to communicate without talking and move things around without touching them. You just have to keep an open mind and realize that anything in the universe is possible if you want it to be bad enough.

I am curious to know why EVPs are only found in the language of the person who's looking for them. Are ghosts, like airline pilots, required to speak in English only?

Answer 8

Amansscientiae, I admire your enthusiasm, and you are most likely totally right in everything you say, except for the fact that there are no real paranormal investigators and no real reason for them. As long as people believe this stuff, we need them. There have been several good ones like James Randi. Houdini was one of the first critical investigators, debunking spiritualist mediums. Even Carl Sagan criticized paranormal beliefs in at least two of his books. But he also pointed out the need to rationally challenge and investigate claims, even if they seem absurd. I have done a couple of investigations, myself. And yeah, they're absurd. The skeptic/scientist must pursue the battle with good rational arguments and solid observational data. I hate to put it this way, but we have to be the adults here.

Nuff said, you need a *mechanism*. All the things you mentioned are well understood and the physics is in *this* world. Just listing these things and claiming ghosts are like that, is silly. (Okay TR, I hacked out about half of my post.)

Answer 9

i have seen a ghost before an at the same time 3 other people seen the same thing that sent us all running out of a house. it was clear as day. how can it be in 3 diffrent peoples head at the same time. this "ghost" was obvious an real an it wasnt a flash of light or something stupid. it seems 3 dimensional an we witnessed it for about 5 seconds before we scattered , it wasnt a reflection off the wall it was dead center of the room

Answer 10

There are no "scientific investigators" of the paranormal because there is no paranormal. If you can see ghosts, they are only in your head. Other people can't see them. Instruments can't measure them and there are no good scientific reasons why they should exist in the first place.

And please keep in mind that there are no good religious reasons why ghosts should exist, either. No mainstream theologist will ever talk about ghosts in the sense you do in this post.

So science does not support ghosts, religion does not support ghosts. So why do you believe in them? That is the only relevant question.

Answer 11

I'm curious what kind of answers you're seriously expecting here. If the top "professionals" in this field can't give us a shred of a scientific explanation, why would someone on Y-Answers be able to?
Or are you just looking for the most whacked out response?