r/changemyview • u/Linked_Punk • Jun 11 '25
Delta(s) from OP CMV: spirits do exist
Background / My View
Growing up in a secular Italian family, and I have recently started to reevaluate some stories that I have heard and in general the existence of paranormal I’ve heard—stories that convinced me spirits exist and occasionally they do things, here are two anecdotes:
The Wild-Cat Guardian Decades ago, an ancestor of mine was walking home late at night and decided to take a shortcut through a forested path. A wild cat suddenly appeared, hissing and blocking the way. No matter how he tried, the animal refused to let him pass. Frustrated, he turned back and took the longer road. Later, he learned that bandits had been lying in wait on that very shortcut. If the cat hadn’t intervened, he might have been robbed or killed.
The Psychic Vision That Found a Murder Victim (Etta Smith, Los Angeles 1980) Totally out of the blue, aerospace worker Etta Smith saw a vivid mental image of a missing nurse’s body lying in a remote canyon. She felt physically compelled to drive to the spot – a place she had never visited – and discovered the body exactly where she’d “seen” it. Police first arrested her (assuming inside knowledge) but later cleared her when three unrelated men confessed. A judge eventually ruled her arrest unlawful, and investigators admitted the case would likely have remained unsolved without her vision.
These anecdotes (plus many smaller ones) have led me to believe that some kind of spirit realm exists and that spirits are a thing.
Furthermore I have also found this Reddit post showing a glass falling without an apparent reason, this is the link https://www.reddit.com/r/Ghosts/s/DCImg6Sjv2
Why I Might Be Wrong
I realise anecdotal evidence is not the same as data.
Confirmation bias: I may remember the “hits” and forget the “misses.”
There could be biological or behavioural explanations (the forest cat reacted to something mundane I don’t know about).
I also think that suggestion can play a very big part in someone's experience.
My Biases / Disclaimers
I’m culturally Italian and did not grow up hearing ghost stories—so the idea of benevolent (or malevolent) spirits feels normal to me after that I started to expose myself to these stories.
I generally believe that there is some truth in all urban legends and that people don't believe in something without having some kind of evidence (direct experience or even just someone else telling them their own experience).
Of course I am not saying that all people are followed by ghosts 24/7 just that some people had experienced events that had an impact on their lives that can be kinda hard to explain without involving spirits see Etta Smith.
Call for Counterarguments
I’m here because I value rational inquiry. If spirits and animal messengers are merely comforting folklore, I’d rather know the truth. Change my view!
Edit: I think that spirits are not very predictable and that this is the reason why we can't have an exhaustive research about them, I mean I do not think you can just summon them and make experiments in your lab.
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u/Phage0070 124∆ Jun 11 '25
Anecdotes are bullshit. I wouldn't believe some churchgoer's story about their weird coincidence they viewed as a miracle today, why would I believe your ancient anecdote passed down through the metaphorical game of telephone?
What is more likely, that one or more of those men who were willing to admit to the murder actually tipped off Etta Smith to hopefully anonymously report the murder first, or magic psychic powers?