The question "Are there Real Ghosts?" is a legitimate one, though it is unfortunately unanswerable due to the wildly different understandings of ghosts that are experienced by scientists and believers in the beyond. If one is seeking any clarity, however, it is important to understand why it is that so many people see this question so differently.
A Ghostly Definition
The American Heritage Dictionary defines a ghost as "1. The spirit of a dead person, especially one believed to appear in bodily likeness to living persons or to haunt former habitats. 2. The center of spiritual life; the soul. 3. A demon or spirit." All three of these definitions are important, because they help explain why different people have different views as to whether or not there are real ghosts and what kind of evidence would qualify as "ghostly."
Ghosts and Spirits
The first definition of a ghost is as a kind of undead being. It is the ghost of ghost stories, of folklore, of legend. This is a ghost whose existence generally lies in stories that most people presume to be false. The second and third kinds of ghosts are of a spiritual and religious nature. They are not really undead beings, but rather a kind of spiritual presence in the mortal realm. Given that many people are religious or spiritual, the existence of these kind of spirits generally lies in stories or ideas that many people presume to be true. This is the quintessential difference between ghosts and spirits.
Evidence for Ghosts and Spirits
Spirits, being inherently religious and spiritual in nature, largely rely on personal experience, doctrine, and faith for their existence. Their existence does not rely on or need any evidence. Ghost believers, on the other hand, are often looking for evidence everywhere. Television shows are created to see what will come of ghost hunting expeditions, and pictures and videos of ghosts are often widely circulated on the internet. Yet, the vast majority of the time, the evidence is either so subjective or so circumstantial that is considered not valid by most scientists. The problem that ghosts and spirits face to becoming accepted as real by everyone is that those who believe in them either believe in them for reasons that do not have to do with evidence, or believe in them for reasons that rely on insufficient or subjective evidence that cannot be tested by science.
Are there Real Ghosts?
Similar to the question, "Are there real psychics?" the question "Are there real ghosts?" can't ever be completely answered because there are people who believe in undead apparitions for non-objective and non-scientific reasons, and scientists cannot disprove an idea for lack of evidence.
There is a difference between ghosts and spirits, and that difference helps point out why people believe in the existence of ghostly beings. However, neither belief relies on objective, scientific, testable evidence, so most scientists will continue to doubt their existence. These two irreconcilable, mutually exclusive ways of thinking will prevent the question "Are there real ghosts" from ever being definitively settled.
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