Why are we scared of ghosts?

Question

we have never seen ghost still we are scared...why we feel they will harm us...why we visualize them as something horrible looking creatures.

Answer 1

I don't know 'bout you, but I always thought that they were all out to kill me.

Answer 2

Loneliness is not helpful either, when accompanied one does not pay so much attention to imaginary scary details.

Answer 3

Ghosts are not something you can touch, but they can touch you. If you are afraid and show your fear then what you fear will get you.

fear of the unknown in that the ghost is coming from a world that we cannot see and have no knowledge of. Maybe also it is the association with death that scares us. Or do we feel that, because we are encountering an immortal being, it must automatically possess power over us, even when it did not do so in life?

Answer 4

It is the nature of the human being to fear what it does not understand at least currently anyway. Also people tend to fear what they cannot control, not knowing that they can control nothing they assume they have a limited control and therefore things that are beyond that control are to be feared. Personally ive not been scared of ghosts, most of my life ive actually longed to see a ghost, demon or some kind of apparition. So all people aren't scared of them although they haven't seen them. My non-fear doesn't mean I'm brave just interested in knowing what is beyond the beyond.

Answer 5

We visualize them as horrible looking creatures because of movies and those sort of things.

Answer 6

It is the fear of death. Death fear is father & mother of all other fears.

The religious people were also created the of ghosts fear to make people to follow their religions and which also become an hereditary imprints.

As such there is no ghost at all in the world.

I am not an atheist now and believe in God.  

Answer 7

We are arrogant in believing we are alone . So when something is around us that is not supposed to be around us we get an instant sense of fear . A ghost , a shadow an unexplained feeling of a different presents triggers survival instincts that is embedded in our DNA  

Answer 8

i don't scared of ghosts, i get scared only when see one of them, and of course that never happened.

thanks yahoo

Answer 9

because it is the unknown

Answer 10

We fear many things because we do not understand them. If people were more educated in these subjects then they would lose their sense of fear. I'm afraid that movies and other entertainment or news reports tend to instill the worst of fears, which only aggravates the situation and sheds no light on the matter at all. The subject of ghosts is a long one and we could spend half the night describing our experiences, but not on this thread here.

Ghosts are basically troubled souls who may have some unfinished business to be done in this earth realm; some are lost because they do not realize they have passed beyond the physical plane, and when they realize their situation they can then move forward. Again, it's the movies and similar entertainment categories which capitalize on 'horrible looking creatures'. And after all, it may just be your imagination working in overtime.

The subject of 'ghosts' deserves a separate category for reply. Hope we see that soon and continue our discussion.

;- )

Answer 11

...they are of another realm that we know very little about...

Answer 12

Don't know, after all Ghost were people too!

Answer 13

My aunt use to say it is the living and not the dead we should be scared of :)))))

Answer 14

I do not think I would be scared of ghosts, if was one of my grandparents or people I loved who passed away would love to see them again.  Think is more reason to be afraid of the living than the dead to be honest.  I do believe in spirits and does not frighten me, think people just afraid of the unknown maybe.  I don't visualize them like that but think the media, movies do.  Think they are just souls who are not at rest.

Answer 15

We have always been fascinated with death and the multitude of forms it can take. We fear dying in a pathetic manner or a painful way and hope desparately to be able to right a wrong after we die. It's very romantic and gives up a sense of hope. Yet we also fear that if we are able to come back from the grave that the person might haunt you for something you have done to them. Not everyone visualize these spirits as horrible looking creatures- some might but others revere them and even consider them friends. Some cultures believe that ghosts of their ancestors can help them, others believe that ghosts can possess a person and make them do "evil" deeds. It's all very subjective and contain may reasons behind why it is.

Answer 16

one of my professors in college once said that men's greatest fear is, as the other guy said, the unknown. men don't know what these ghosts look like or what they can do to us or whether they truly exist, that's what makes them so scary. plus the fact that anything outside our comprehension (or rather the limitations of our limited thinking) is frightening to us -- again, because we don't know what will happen to us.

Answer 17

Ghost is coming from the dead.  Death was always a scaring issue to humans since it is the absolute Unknown.  Therefore, a ghost, is an "entity" coming from nowhere, we know nothing about it -if it is good or bad- consequently we are afraid it might harm us.

Answer 18

That's a great question! I can't wait to see 'Best Answer' because I wanna know too!

But I should put why I think-- I personally think it's because of what we hear/see/read in books and movies. Hollywood tends to make spirits look scary. I think if society learned about real ghosts, they would seem more interesting than scary.

Answer 19

I agree, my grandmother used to say it's not the ones who are dead we need to worry about, but the ones who are alive that we should fear.