Why Our Brain is Translating Logical Objects Into Mythological Creatures and Eerie Shadows
With California State University’s Prof. of psychology, Matthew J. Sharps
Have you ever seen a dark shadow or silhouette at night while you cannot make out an attribute or features…just darkness. You might think it is your own shadow cast on the wall by a misplaced light. But as you stand still, the shadow…suddenly…moves.
Throughout the history many cultures and nations have documented their experiences regarding this phenomenon what has become know in modern parapsychology as…the shadow people.
Many theories ´have been written ever since about what these shadowy figures are. Are they ghosts? Spirits, demons, angles? Or are they something entirely else?
Psychologists studying religion have long suspected that a belief in the paranormal can be a kind of shield from the even harsher truths of the world. The idea is that when something unexpected happens – a death, natural disaster, or job loss – the brain scrambles around for answers, looking for a meaning in this chaos.
Cognitive psychology has some explanations for this behavior as well. It turns out that understanding the “messages” of unseen agents is directly related to how we comprehend the minds of other human beings. Have we all became hard-core solipsists?
I am your host Maria Anna van Driel… and you’re listening to “The Next Truth; Where Science and Myth Meet” and this week I am welcoming back California State University’s Professor of psychology, Matthew Sharps… and discuss with him the influences of modern and traditional religion have on the paranormal and why our brain is translating logical objects into mythological creatures and eerie shadows.