Of all ghostly phenomena, poltergeists are the most startling. Objects move, appear and disappear, and the poltergeist may even lash out at people violently. The popular notion of the poltergeist is reflected in the meaning of its name: "noisy spirit." There are some that believe that poltergeist activity may actually come from a living human being. How is that possible? Spontaneous recurrent psychokinesis (RSPK).
The trend in parapsychology in recent years has been to lean toward the RSPK explanation for poltergeist activity. This makes some sense as poltergeist activity is commonly focused on one person, the activity only present in their vicinity. This explanation proposes that some individuals, when under emotional distress, will release that tension through psychokinesis. These people are usually completely unaware that they are causing these strange events and many are terrified of what's happening. This leads to the belief in a noisy spirit haunting the person or place.
This implies that people are capable of amazing feats of psychokinesis when under stress, but they are not in conscious control of what happens. This explanation also requires no idea of an afterlife to explain poltergeist activity. Poltergeist activity, however, is only one small part of the greater realm of ghosts and hauntings.
Then again, maybe both the spirits-of-the-dead and the RSPK theories are accurate. If a deceased person is able to perform the seemingly impossible feats of a poltergeist then why wouldn't a living person be able to do the same? I have no preference, myself. I think that one is just as likely as the other and that they are not mutually exclusive. I am convinced of the human capacity for psychokinesis and I also find it likely that we continue on in some form after death. I hope that future research will shed light on both of these subjects.
If you would like to read more about ghosts, poltergeists, and the quest for answers then please see this article.
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