Belief in the Paranormal Remains Deep
The trailer for "Paranormal Activity 2" has already leaked online to create quite the stir. Rest assured that once it reaches the theatres, the movie will likely reignite the age-old question whether we're talking about fact or fiction.
When it comes to judging the legitimacy of the paranormal, the answer likely depends on whether you believe in phenomena beyond the explanation of conventional science or not. Apparently, a lot of Americans do - and it goes a lot beyond a taste for the occasional ghost story.
In fact, a 2005 Gallup poll found that roughly three in four Americans professed a belief in at least one paranormal category. Extra-sensory perception topped the list with 41%, just ahead of the 37% who said they believed in haunted houses. That wasn't the extent of it.
In its poll, Gallup also noted:
- 32% of Americans believe that the spirits of dead people can come back in certain places or situations
- 31% believe in telepathy
- 26% believed in the power of the mind to know the past and predict the future
- 25% believe that astrology affects peoples' lives
- 21% believe the living can communicate with the dead
- 21% believe in witches
- 20% believe in reincarnation
- 9% believe in out-of-body experiences.
The results were consistent with a 2001 survey that Gallup carried out in which 76% said they believed in at least one of the same 10 topics. (At the time, the pollsters only noted that the public's belief in devil possession had dropped since 1990.)
Does all this point to a growing desire for a connection to a sense of spirituality beyond the confines of traditional religion - or are our increasingly addled brains turning to mush faster than anyone expected?
Coincidence or not, it also happens that belief in paranormal activities has increased alongside falling confidence in public institutions - including a heightened distrust of science among some quarters of the public.
Harbinger or passing fad? Sound off in our poll and let us know.