Posted: Feb 28, 2013 3:11 am
Then let’s have a go at it!
If we apply the evolutionary model we can reasonably assume that whatever sense or sensory apparatus facilitates the ability to detect, “ghosts and hauntings” (for lack of a better term for now) must have afforded us a survival and/or reproductive advantage and that the occurrence of this particular trait within the population must have been secondary to, as yet, unidentified selection pressures. (Ghosts don’t kill you or keep you from reproducing!) This is the fundamental basis of evolution.
Although, I couldn’t think of any scenario where this ability, as presented, would have been evolutionarily relevant in the world as it currently exists, or the natural world of our Hunter-Gatherer ancestors.
However, death avoidance behavior, that is, not only avoid your own death, but also a place where predation of your species has occurred offers a very definite survival advantage! The ability and its associated behavior is a virtually ubiquitous characteristic of the many different species with which we share a common ancestor dating back 300 million years ago when the basic ability first appeared. From worms, to insects, reptiles, birds, mammals, etc… and even the mighty Great White shark will swim away like a, “ghost” is chasing it when it encounters these species specific markers!
I don’t think that correctly detecting and interpreting the places where human beings had been killed by a predator (say a leopard) would have been a problem for our Hunter-Gatherer ancestors. However, I do believe that the real confusion began when we left the natural world, where the ability was in context and essential for survival, and started building a different world with semi-permanent structures.
The combination of the lack of context for the psycho-physiological affects, and the suitability of the material with which we build to concentrate and store the markers long term is, I believe, how and why we created ghost mythologies in the first place. This is not to say that the subjective experience is impossible in the natural world, just that it would have been in context and comparatively short lived unless predation continued.
If we apply the evolutionary model we can reasonably assume that whatever sense or sensory apparatus facilitates the ability to detect, “ghosts and hauntings” (for lack of a better term for now) must have afforded us a survival and/or reproductive advantage and that the occurrence of this particular trait within the population must have been secondary to, as yet, unidentified selection pressures. (Ghosts don’t kill you or keep you from reproducing!) This is the fundamental basis of evolution.
Although, I couldn’t think of any scenario where this ability, as presented, would have been evolutionarily relevant in the world as it currently exists, or the natural world of our Hunter-Gatherer ancestors.
However, death avoidance behavior, that is, not only avoid your own death, but also a place where predation of your species has occurred offers a very definite survival advantage! The ability and its associated behavior is a virtually ubiquitous characteristic of the many different species with which we share a common ancestor dating back 300 million years ago when the basic ability first appeared. From worms, to insects, reptiles, birds, mammals, etc… and even the mighty Great White shark will swim away like a, “ghost” is chasing it when it encounters these species specific markers!
I don’t think that correctly detecting and interpreting the places where human beings had been killed by a predator (say a leopard) would have been a problem for our Hunter-Gatherer ancestors. However, I do believe that the real confusion began when we left the natural world, where the ability was in context and essential for survival, and started building a different world with semi-permanent structures.
The combination of the lack of context for the psycho-physiological affects, and the suitability of the material with which we build to concentrate and store the markers long term is, I believe, how and why we created ghost mythologies in the first place. This is not to say that the subjective experience is impossible in the natural world, just that it would have been in context and comparatively short lived unless predation continued.