Ghosts are always a subject that can instantly create controversy between skeptics and believers.

Almost 45 percent of all people in America believe in the possibility of ghosts and that the dead can communicate with the living in the right circumstances. Die-hard skeptics believe there is no such thing as a spirit world and that ghosts are figments of the imagination, citing lack of solid evidence.Believers argue that no evidence will ever be good enough to quash the skepticism of a "nonbeliever."Somehow there needs to be a way to balance the two extremes and develop a middle ground that fairly examines the landscape and determines what the truth is.The position of scientists seems to be that if it cannot be proven in a laboratory and reproduced in a laboratory setting, then it cannot be true.What is interesting is that if the area of the spirit is such a slam-dunk for skeptics, why is it they cannot be bothered to derive experiments that would settle the issue once and for all?The excuse is that you cannot prove a negative. If this is the case, then theorize the soul exists and adopt experiments to show this, and when you fail to do so, then you have indirectly proven you are right.The issue in the case of the spirit or ghosts is that scientists do not wish to even tackle the question. Instead they dismiss the idea as inane and refuse to discuss it. The question I have though is what is the harm? Why not prove those who believe in ghosts really are imagining things?It would not be the first time that scientists examined and refuted theories. One of the oldest crazy theories that scientists tackled was the theory of spontaneous generation. Spontaneous generation was advanced by Aristotle and was supported by many leading thinkers for thousands of years.The concept is life springs from inanimate objects when exposed to sunlight. This theory was advanced from the observations of maggots, which seem to suddenly appear on dead animals or barnacles that appear on the hulls of ships when exposed to the sun. This theory existed for millennia until the development of the scientific method.Science methodically proved through a series of experiments that maggots do not spontaneously appear but are the visible evidence of microorganisms that feed and grow on the carrion. It took a series of experiments to link this chain, but scientists eventually disproved "spontaneous generation."The blank slate theory is another example. In this case, the theory is that when we are born, we are completely free of any personality traits or dispositions, and it is only after we are born that these characteristics take shape based on our environment and nurturing. This theory was believed and advanced by philosophers such as Aristotle and John Locke.The basis of much of Sigmund Freud's work also adheres to the idea of a blank slate. Only after scientists and psychologists conducted behavioral studies and testing did they decide that this theory is not accurate.Today scientists believe we are born with certain characteristics that are nurtured by our environment. We do have predispositions that exist before birth thanks to our family's genes. Studies of twins and sociological studies comparing cultures throughout the world have provided strong evidence to discount the blank slate theory.Here are two theories that were supported for millennia before being disproven.If 45 percent of the world believes in the existence of ghosts or spirits, what is the harm that could come from science tackling the question definitively, and if they are correct, disproving it decisively. Skeptics argue that ghost hunters misuse and misinterpret technology, falsely claiming the readings they obtain on instrumentation to be "proof." Perhaps skeptics should set aside the sarcasm and dismissive attitude and work together with believers to either jointly prove or disprove ghosts.While it is easy to just dismiss everything as a believer's imagination, skeptics still fail to satisfactorily explain every instance of paranormal occurrences.There are plenty of anecdotal cases where the person who has the paranormal experience is given information they could not obtain on their own. Many of our own families can relate at least one story in which this is the case.For example, my great-aunt knew her son Bill was lost at sea weeks before she was notified. How did she know this? Because the night it happened, she was visited by her son, who appeared at her bedside and said "Goodbye, Mother," before fading away into the night.This story was told to my great-grandmother and my great-aunt the day it happened. It made a striking memory for them that was borne out by the truth, which arrived by telegram several weeks later. This is just one example.I'm curious to know what you all think. Drop me a note at

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