At what point will someone draw a line regarding fantasy and scientific reality? Historical records that span hundreds to even thousands of years have explanations or accounts of supposed supernatural phenomena. Some people believe certain occurrences are of a supernatural nature or have supernatural prefaces, and throughout history knowledge and ideas have been adapted and modernized to fit the periods’ factual or religious beliefs. In recent years, science has been held accountable for disproving the supernatural, consequently, there are still considerable amounts of the supernatural that have been proven to be false. This leads many to question whether or not science can prove or disprove the entirety of what is commonly regarded as truth.
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Christianity and Islam are two major religious practices in the world and both have several sects, which practice in different ways from the same basic teachings. Within Christianity, the belief in the existence of many supernatural beings has been withdrawn under the pretense of fairy tales and ghost stories. Ghosts or the spirits of the dead have existed within the beliefs of many cultures as well as the premise of an afterlife. Some believe that ghosts exist in the human psyche as a way of giving people peace when a loved one passes away (Radford 1). When or where the belief of ghosts originated is unknown, but the first notable written accounts of ghosts are from the first century A.D. (History Staff 1). There are many scientific hypotheses about ghosts being psychosomatic meaning “a physical disorder that is caused by or notably influenced by emotional factors” (“World’s Favorite Dictionary”), electromagnetic fields, and hallucinations caused by toxic substances (Dagnall & Drinkwater …show more content…
One of the most common infections accredited with their existence is Tuberculosis. The symptoms of Tuberculosis are most befitting to the myths of vampires, such as the aversion to bright lights, like the sun, coughing up blood, paleness and the fact that it is highly contagious. (Huber 2). In addition to vampires, tuberculosis is associated with werewolves, due to excess hair growth, and zombies because of the groaning noise that occurs after death as a result of escaping gases. Commonly, porphyria is another condition associated with vampirism, as the sufferers experienced blisters and burns from sunlight, and that they urinate blood, which, motivates the idea that the “vampire” had to drink blood. The third medical diagnosis for vampirism is catalepsy, which manifests as a decreased sensitivity to pain, and a slowed heart and breathing rate because it is a disease of the central nervous system (Wolters Kluwer
Christianity and Islam are two major religious practices in the world and both have several sects, which practice in different ways from the same basic teachings. Within Christianity, the belief in the existence of many supernatural beings has been withdrawn under the pretense of fairy tales and ghost stories. Ghosts or the spirits of the dead have existed within the beliefs of many cultures as well as the premise of an afterlife. Some believe that ghosts exist in the human psyche as a way of giving people peace when a loved one passes away (Radford 1). When or where the belief of ghosts originated is unknown, but the first notable written accounts of ghosts are from the first century A.D. (History Staff 1). There are many scientific hypotheses about ghosts being psychosomatic meaning “a physical disorder that is caused by or notably influenced by emotional factors” (“World’s Favorite Dictionary”), electromagnetic fields, and hallucinations caused by toxic substances (Dagnall & Drinkwater …show more content…
One of the most common infections accredited with their existence is Tuberculosis. The symptoms of Tuberculosis are most befitting to the myths of vampires, such as the aversion to bright lights, like the sun, coughing up blood, paleness and the fact that it is highly contagious. (Huber 2). In addition to vampires, tuberculosis is associated with werewolves, due to excess hair growth, and zombies because of the groaning noise that occurs after death as a result of escaping gases. Commonly, porphyria is another condition associated with vampirism, as the sufferers experienced blisters and burns from sunlight, and that they urinate blood, which, motivates the idea that the “vampire” had to drink blood. The third medical diagnosis for vampirism is catalepsy, which manifests as a decreased sensitivity to pain, and a slowed heart and breathing rate because it is a disease of the central nervous system (Wolters Kluwer