| What do you do if you are trying to introduce | | | | my belief that there is no "bad luck" |
| your cat to your household - and your house | | | | associated with a black cat, but I do have to |
| is haunted? How do you introduce your new | | | | admit one thing. |
| cat to the ghosts who, well, may be part of | | | | |
| your family? | | | | My black cat acted very strangely on |
| | | | Halloween. |
| Yeah, I know, most people will probably lift | | | | |
| a disdainful nostril at this. I suspect that | | | | Granted, the Santanas (hot California winds) |
| the majority don't believe in the | | | | were blowing through the house, and there |
| Supernatural, and to tell you the truth I | | | | were a lot of strange noises and movements |
| shouldn't either. | | | | that came about because of the wind. |
| | | | |
| I've got a scientific background, having | | | | But still... |
| graduated in Chemistry and worked as an | | | | |
| Industrial Chemist for many years. As such, | | | | It was as if he was sensing something else |
| I'm fully aware that Science doesn't | | | | going on. Something that wasn't there. |
| recognize the Supernatural. | | | | |
| | | | Well, a lot of people think cats are psychic. |
| Now, I have to qualify that. In the 1970's | | | | Bill Murray encountered a psychic cat in |
| there was an ongoing movement on the part of | | | | "Broken Flowers", when he visited an ex-flame |
| the scientific community to investigate | | | | who was a "Cat Whisperer". Her cat sat and |
| supernatural phenomena, and an entire issue | | | | stared at him unblinkingly for the entire |
| of the magazine Science was devoted to it. | | | | duration of his visit. He asked his |
| After several years of investigation, the | | | | ex-girlfriend about the cat, and she replied, |
| community concluded that the Supernatural | | | | "He says you have a hidden agenda". |
| does not exist -- primarily because | | | | |
| supernatural phenomena are not reproducible. | | | | Cats seem to have some kind of special |
| | | | knowledge or perception of the world that we |
| For a fact to be established by the | | | | humans lack. Many cat owners testify to the |
| Scientific Method, it has to be reproducible | | | | experience of having their cat arch her back, |
| - identical results must be obtained under | | | | growl and spit at something that "isn't |
| identical conditions by all researchers | | | | there". |
| repeating the same experiment. Because of | | | | |
| this, Science concluded that the Supernatural | | | | So, if this is indeed the case, that at least |
| doesn't exist. Results of experimentation | | | | some cats are sensitive to the Supernatural, |
| were not repeatable. | | | | and by implication, sensitive to ghosts, |
| | | | perhaps ghost hunters like the TAPS people |
| It wasn't amenable to the Scientific Method. | | | | ("Ghost Hunters", the SciFi Channel), might |
| | | | consider identifying these cats and carrying |
| But the nagging question remains: if a | | | | them into the haunted places they |
| phenomenon isn't measurably reproducible, | | | | investigate. Sort of like miners carrying |
| does it mean that it's not there? | | | | caged Canaries down into mines as indicators |
| | | | of poison gas. |
| Modern Quantum Physics has reopened the | | | | |
| possibility of other realms we can neither | | | | Who knows? These "Feline Ghost Detectors" |
| measure nor perceive. Stephen Hawking has | | | | might be more reliable than some of the high |
| suggested that the reality we find ourselves | | | | tech Infrared devices and sound recording |
| in is merely a statistical summation of all | | | | systems TAPS uses to provide indications of |
| possible parallel realities - none of which | | | | wayward spirits. The latter instruments |
| can be directly measured -- which come about | | | | sometimes give false readings due to lazy |
| because of choices that, well, we have made. | | | | homeowners who fail to fix their |
| | | | malfunctioning transformers and fuse boxes. |
| Now, I'm not a Quantum Physicist, but to me | | | | |
| this would indicate that there are indeed | | | | Perhaps a black cat, who won't arch his back |
| other realms beside the one we live in that | | | | because of electromagnetism leaking from a |
| we cannot perceive. | | | | defective fuse box, might reliably "spit" at |
| | | | a real ghost. |
| But maybe your cat can. In particular, there | | | | |
| is a mystique surrounding the black cat, | | | | Who knows? |
| which I tried to debunk in my article "A | | | | |
| Black Cat is Only a Cat". I still stand by | | | | © 2006 John Young, All Rights Reserved. |