On Ghosts And Superstition

I heard a most interesting phrase from a friend today. Someone asked her if she believed in ghosts. To which she responded "Of course I do. I'm Chinese." It was then that it occurred to me: it is possible for superstitions to form part of an ethnic identity. Of course, it should've occurred to me earlier given how certain ethnicities regard certain religions as an integral part of their shared experience and whatnot.

Regarding this sort of (if I may say so) Chinese take on the supernatural, I do still wonder if there is a common thread to the superstitions of the various peoples. The Chinese have a very specific world view, full of taboos and hostile spirits. In fact, anything supernatural seems to be viewed as invariably hostile by the Chinese (with the exception of deities, which are generally benevolent). It is something to be guarded against. In some American (and European) takes on the issue, a number of supernatural presences may be benevolent in addition to the usual pantheon of goody two shoes.

I am largely a skeptic when it comes to the supernatural, primarily because 99% of what people report can be relatively safely regarded as hooey since the phenomenon may be common and/or really easily explained. Take for example the way expansion and contraction of in-wall piping can contribute to the sound of marbles being dropped on the floor (often attributed to the actions of a playful child spirit). Yet, given the ubiquity of the belief in the supernatural, I'm always curious as to whether there's truly a kernel of truth to these beliefs and if so how it may be systematically controlled (or at least predicted). At this point, however, I am mostly of the belief that there may well be something out there, but it remains unproven at this point. I'll put up my I Want To Believe poster sometime. I promise.