People Said to Believe in Aliens and Ghosts More Than God

Robert Roy Britt, Editorial Director, LiveScience.com

More people believe in aliens and ghosts than in God, a

new survey finds, according to a British newspaper.

The survey, however, was done by a marketing firm in

conjunction with the release of an X-Files DVD, and

details of how the poll was conducted were not reported in

the Daily Mail. Survey questions, depending on how they

are written, can greatly skew results, along with how

subjects are sampled.

That said, the poll of 3,000 people found that 58 percent 

believe in the supernatural, including paranormal

encounters, while 54 percent believe God exists. Women 

were more likely than men to believe in the supernatural 

and were also more likely to visit a medium.

Indeed, humans are prone to believing in things they can

neither see nor find logical evidence for.

A survey of U.S. college students done in 2006 found 23

percent of freshmen had a general belief in paranormal

concepts - from astrology to communicating with the

dead. Interestingly, the number jumped to 31 percent 

among seniors and 34 percent among graduate students.

Researchers who have compared various human belief

systems say our tendency to believe is deeply rooted.

"While it is difficult to know for certain, the tendency to

believe in the paranormal appears to be there from the

beginning," said Christopher Bader, a Baylor University

sociologist. "What changes is the content of the

paranormal. For example, very few people believe in

faeries and elves these days. But as belief in faeries

faded, other beliefs, such as belief in UFOs, emerged to

take their place."

Religion and belief in the paranormal are not linked as one

might imagine. A handful of surveys show just the

opposite, in fact.

"Paranormal beliefs are very strongly negatively related

to religious belief," said Rod Stark, another Baylor

researcher. Some scientists think this is so because

religions tend to discourage paranormal beliefs, and

indeed most devout practitioners of a religion have been

shown to be the least likely to believe in Bigfoot, ghosts

or aliens.

·           Top 10 Alien Encounters Debunked 

·           All About Cults, Religion and the Paranormal 

·           Top 10 Crazy Cults 

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