How the Ghosts Stole Christmas
Human beings are a product of their evolution. “This observation is particularly important for understanding the functional organization of the human brain.” (cf. ‘What is the EEA and why it is important’)
It’s a dark night. A small group of people are laying down for a well-earned sleep after a long day of hunting and gathering. The fire burns low. The shadows creep ever closer. The guards are on full alert, but they cannot see in the dark. There are noises, sounds of beasts crawling through the undergrowth. Tension mounts, weapons are grasped tightly, breath is held. Waiting.
The dogs that follow the camp from site to site are lying relaxed after a feast of left-over bones. There is no barking, no hackles raised, no whimpering at the advance of danger. The guard relaxes. Just another spooky noise in the night.
This scenario explains two things: first, why dogs are the best friends of human beings; second, why we still react to noises in the night.
Human beings have evolved to be hyper-alert to danger because the evolutionary environment of adaptiveness in which we developed was a hostile place. It’s almost enough to explain paranoia.
Certainly, it explains our belief in ghosts!
The human brain doesn’t just process information, it interprets it:
This image, from research conducted at Radboud University, Nijmegen, shows how the brain fills in the gaps. Rather than just seeing three fortuitously placed Pac-Man images, it interprets the existence of a triangle lying on top of three circles.
Out on the plains of Africa, our earliest ancestors would interpret the noises of the night as encroaching wild life, hungry, seeking to take advantage of our relative defenselessness.
In a house, however remote, safe from the predations of the local fauna, it is natural that unexpected noises in the dark be interpreted as human in nature, even if they be occupants who died many years before.
Our emergence in an environment inimical to our continued well-being, a brain that interprets rather than processes, and an imagination lively with ideas of maulings, myth and murder amounts to fertile ground for spirits who seek to spoil our happiness. Little wonder that we see ghouls at the end of the bed, vengeful spirits defending what once was theirs, ghosts lingering long after their time.
And God Bless the Victorians who, among many other things, popularized the Christmas ghost story. Nothing quite so inducing of the spirit of togetherness and a need for salvation than a spooky story the night before Christ was born. However scared on the Eve the morrow brings joy and true life everlasting.
‘How the Ghosts Stole Christmas’ is a classic ghost story in the grand tradition of Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Elizabeth Gaskell and MR James.
Chris Carter tended towards the overly verbose but, on occasion (cf. ‘The Post-Modern Prometheus’ and ‘Triangle’) he could produce a script that showed his ability to produce top-quality television. ‘How the Ghosts Stole Christmas’ is chock full of traditional tropes that would make it a story recognizable to Dickens himself. A classic tale told with the skill of a master.
It’s a dark night. A small group of people are laying down for a well-earned sleep after a long day of hunting and gathering. The fire burns low. The shadows creep ever closer. The guards are on full alert, but they cannot see in the dark. There are noises, sounds of beasts crawling through the undergrowth. Tension mounts, weapons are grasped tightly, breath is held. Waiting.
The dogs that follow the camp from site to site are lying relaxed after a feast of left-over bones. There is no barking, no hackles raised, no whimpering at the advance of danger. The guard relaxes. Just another spooky noise in the night.
This scenario explains two things: first, why dogs are the best friends of human beings; second, why we still react to noises in the night.
Human beings have evolved to be hyper-alert to danger because the evolutionary environment of adaptiveness in which we developed was a hostile place. It’s almost enough to explain paranoia.
Certainly, it explains our belief in ghosts!
The human brain doesn’t just process information, it interprets it:
This image, from research conducted at Radboud University, Nijmegen, shows how the brain fills in the gaps. Rather than just seeing three fortuitously placed Pac-Man images, it interprets the existence of a triangle lying on top of three circles.
Out on the plains of Africa, our earliest ancestors would interpret the noises of the night as encroaching wild life, hungry, seeking to take advantage of our relative defenselessness.
In a house, however remote, safe from the predations of the local fauna, it is natural that unexpected noises in the dark be interpreted as human in nature, even if they be occupants who died many years before.
Our emergence in an environment inimical to our continued well-being, a brain that interprets rather than processes, and an imagination lively with ideas of maulings, myth and murder amounts to fertile ground for spirits who seek to spoil our happiness. Little wonder that we see ghouls at the end of the bed, vengeful spirits defending what once was theirs, ghosts lingering long after their time.
And God Bless the Victorians who, among many other things, popularized the Christmas ghost story. Nothing quite so inducing of the spirit of togetherness and a need for salvation than a spooky story the night before Christ was born. However scared on the Eve the morrow brings joy and true life everlasting.
‘How the Ghosts Stole Christmas’ is a classic ghost story in the grand tradition of Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Elizabeth Gaskell and MR James.
Chris Carter tended towards the overly verbose but, on occasion (cf. ‘The Post-Modern Prometheus’ and ‘Triangle’) he could produce a script that showed his ability to produce top-quality television. ‘How the Ghosts Stole Christmas’ is chock full of traditional tropes that would make it a story recognizable to Dickens himself. A classic tale told with the skill of a master.
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