0:00:09.334,0:00:13.863
Eight years ago, I was haunted[br]by an evil spirit.

0:00:16.856,0:00:19.056
I was 25 at the time,f

0:00:19.080,0:00:23.518
and I was living in a tiny house[br]behind someone else's house

0:00:23.542,0:00:24.837
in Los Angeles.

0:00:24.861,0:00:28.513
It was this guest house,[br]it had kind of been dilapidated,

0:00:28.537,0:00:31.216
not taken care of for a long time.

0:00:31.240,0:00:34.691
And one night, I was sitting there

0:00:34.715,0:00:39.217
and I got this really spooky feeling,

0:00:39.241,0:00:42.259
kind of the feeling[br]like you're being watched.

0:00:42.283,0:00:45.302
But no one was there except my two dogs,

0:00:45.326,0:00:47.204
and they were just chewing their feet.

0:00:47.878,0:00:51.711
And I looked around. No one was there.

0:00:51.735,0:00:55.956
And I thought, OK,[br]it's just my imagination.

0:00:55.980,0:00:58.591
But the feeling just kept getting worse,

0:00:58.615,0:01:03.907
and I started to feel[br]this pressure in my chest,

0:01:03.931,0:01:07.023
sort of like the feeling[br]when you get bad news.

0:01:07.047,0:01:10.358
But it started to sink lower and lower

0:01:10.382,0:01:11.775
and almost hurt.

0:01:12.620,0:01:16.354
And over the course of that week,[br]this feeling got worse and worse,

0:01:16.378,0:01:21.874
and I started to become convinced[br]that something was there

0:01:21.898,0:01:25.062
in my little guest house, haunting me.

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And I started to hear these sounds,

0:01:29.732,0:01:35.670
this "whoosh," kind of whisper,[br]like something passing through me.

0:01:37.055,0:01:41.331
I called my best friend, Claire, and said,

0:01:42.148,0:01:45.307
"I know this is going to sound crazy,

0:01:45.331,0:01:47.395
but, um ...

0:01:47.419,0:01:52.398
I think there's a ghost in my house,[br]and I need to get rid of it."

0:01:52.422,0:01:56.770
And she said -- she's very[br]open-minded -- and she said,

0:01:56.794,0:01:58.299
"I don't think you're crazy.

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I think you just need[br]to do a cleansing ritual."

0:02:03.143,0:02:05.547
(Laughter)

0:02:05.571,0:02:09.391
"So get some sage and burn it,

0:02:09.415,0:02:11.913
and tell it to go away."

0:02:11.937,0:02:15.599
So I said, "OK,"[br]and I went and I bought sage.

0:02:15.623,0:02:19.684
I had never done this before,[br]so I set the sage on fire,

0:02:19.708,0:02:26.351
waved it about, and said, "Go away![br]This is my house! I live here.

0:02:26.375,0:02:28.009
You don't live here!"

0:02:29.103,0:02:32.384
But the feeling stayed.[br]Nothing got better.

0:02:32.408,0:02:34.604
And then I started to think,

0:02:34.628,0:02:37.400
OK, well now this thing is probably[br]just laughing at me,

0:02:37.424,0:02:39.852
because it hasn't left,

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and I probably just look like[br]this impotent, powerless thing

0:02:43.125,0:02:45.188
that couldn't get it to go away.

0:02:45.212,0:02:49.309
So every day I'd come home

0:02:49.333,0:02:54.687
and you guys, this feeling got so bad[br]that -- I mean, I'm laughing at it now --

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but I would sit there in bed[br]and cry every night.

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And the feeling on my chest[br]got worse and worse.

0:03:04.873,0:03:07.034
It was physically painful.

0:03:07.889,0:03:11.311
And I even went to a psychiatrist

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and tried to get her[br]to prescribe me medicine,

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and she wouldn't just because[br]I don't have schizophrenia, OK.

0:03:18.913,0:03:22.174
(Laughter)

0:03:22.334,0:03:28.611
So finally I got on the internet,[br]and I Googled "hauntings."

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And I came upon this forum[br]of ghost hunters.

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But these were a special[br]kind of ghost hunters --

0:03:34.737,0:03:36.281
they were skeptics.

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They believed that every case of ghosts[br]that they had investigated so far

0:03:41.899,0:03:44.074
had been explained away by science.

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And I was like, "OK, smart guys,[br]this is what's happening to me,

0:03:48.066,0:03:52.141
and if you have an explanation for me,[br]I would love to hear it."

0:03:52.165,0:03:55.375
And one of them said, "OK.

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Um, have you heard[br]of carbon monoxide poisoning?"

0:04:01.387,0:04:05.849
And I said, "Yeah.

0:04:05.873,0:04:08.578
Like, gas poisoning?"

0:04:09.244,0:04:12.223
Carbon monoxide poisoning[br]is when you have a gas leak

0:04:12.247,0:04:13.690
leaking into your home.

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I looked it up, and the symptoms[br]of carbon monoxide poisoning

0:04:19.566,0:04:21.847
include a pressure on your chest ...

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(Laughter)

0:04:23.870,0:04:27.118
auditory hallucinations -- whoosh --

0:04:27.142,0:04:30.920
and an unexplained feeling of dread.

0:04:32.341,0:04:34.743
So that night, I called the gas company.

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I said, "I have an emergency.[br]I need you to come out.

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I don't want to get into the story now,[br]but I need you to come out."

0:04:41.890,0:04:43.083
(Laughter)

0:04:43.107,0:04:45.894
They came out. I said,[br]"I suspect a gas leak."

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They brought their carbon[br]monoxide detector,

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and the man said,

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"It's a really good thing[br]that you called us tonight,

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because you could have been[br]dead very soon."

0:04:58.717,0:05:02.986
Thirty-seven percent of Americans[br]believe in haunted houses,

0:05:04.108,0:05:08.698
and I wonder how many of them[br]have been in one

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and how many of them have been in danger.

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So that haunting story[br]has led me to my job.

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I'm an investigator,[br]and I'm an investigator in two senses:

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I'm an investigative journalist,

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and I'm also an investigator[br]of the claims of the paranormal

0:05:26.314,0:05:28.310
and claims of the spiritual.

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And that means a few things.

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Sometimes that means that I'm pretending[br]to need an exorcism

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so I can get -- yes, that's right! --[br]so I can go to an exorcist

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and see if he's using gimmicks[br]or psychological tricks

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to try to convince someone[br]that they're possessed.

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Sometimes that means[br]I'm going undercover in a fringe group

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which I report on[br]for a podcast that I co-host.

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And I've done over 70 investigations[br]like this with my co-host, Ross.

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And I would love to tell you[br]that nine times out of 10, science wins,

0:06:01.793,0:06:04.289
saves the day, it's all explained.

0:06:04.313,0:06:05.482
That's not true.

0:06:05.506,0:06:11.722
The truth is, 10 times out of 10,[br]science wins, it saves the day.

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(Laughter)

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(Applause)

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(Applause ends)

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And that doesn't mean[br]there's no such thing as a mystery.

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Of course there are mysteries,[br]but a mystery is a mystery.

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It is not a ghost.

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Now, I believe there are[br]two kinds of truth,

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and it's taken me a while to get[br]to this place, but I think this is right,

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so hear me out.

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I think there is outer truth[br]and there's inner truth.

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So if you say to me,

0:06:49.242,0:06:51.915
"There was a man named Jesus[br]and he once existed,"

0:06:51.939,0:06:53.636
that's outer truth, right?

0:06:53.660,0:06:56.010
And we can go and look[br]at the historical record.

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We can determine[br]whether that seems to be true.

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And I would argue,[br]it does seem to be true.

0:07:01.032,0:07:06.703
If you say, "Jesus rose[br]from the dead," -- ooh, trickier.

0:07:06.727,0:07:08.958
(Laughter)

0:07:08.982,0:07:15.921
I would say that's an outer-truth claim,

0:07:16.454,0:07:18.492
because he physically rose or he didn't.

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I'm not going to get into[br]whether he rose or he didn't,

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but I would say[br]that's an outer-truth claim.

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It happened or it didn't happen.

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But if you say, "I don't care[br]whether he rose from the dead.

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It's symbolically important to me,

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and that metaphor is so meaningful,[br]so purposeful to me,

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and I'm not going to try[br]to persuade you of it,"

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now you've moved it[br]from outer truth to inner truth,

0:07:39.604,0:07:41.126
from science to art.

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And I think we have a tendency[br]to not be clear about this,

0:07:44.338,0:07:47.750
to try to move our inner truths[br]to outer truths,

0:07:47.774,0:07:50.677
or to not be fair about it to each other,

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and when people are telling us[br]their inner truths,

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to try to make them defend them[br]by outer-truth standards.

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So I'm talking here about outer truth,[br]about objective things.

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And there was an objective reality[br]in my haunted house, right?

0:08:05.974,0:08:08.023
Now that I've told you about the gas leak,

0:08:08.047,0:08:10.067
I doubt a single person here[br]would be like,

0:08:10.091,0:08:11.966
"I still think there was a ghost, too."

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(Laughter)

0:08:13.051,0:08:15.900
Because as soon as we have[br]these scientific explanations,

0:08:15.924,0:08:17.586
we know to give up the ghost.

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We use these things as stopgaps[br]for things that we can't explain.

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We don't believe them because of evidence;

0:08:23.669,0:08:26.431
we believe them because[br]of a lack of evidence.

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So there is a group in Los Angeles

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called the Independent[br]Investigations Group, or the IIG,

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and they do great work.

0:08:35.556,0:08:38.259
They'll give a $10,000 prize

0:08:38.283,0:08:42.810
to anyone who can show,[br]under scientific conditions,

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that they have a paranormal ability.

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No one's done it yet,

0:08:46.943,0:08:52.001
but they've had a couple people[br]who claim that they were clairaudients,

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which means that they can hear voices[br]either from the great beyond

0:08:56.105,0:08:58.003
or they can read minds.

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And they had one person[br]who was very sincere,

0:09:00.811,0:09:03.738
who believed that he could read minds.

0:09:03.762,0:09:09.749
So they set up a test with him,[br]and this is the way it always works.

0:09:09.773,0:09:12.304
The group says, "OK, we have a protocol,

0:09:12.328,0:09:14.358
we have a way to scientifically test this.

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Do you agree with it?"

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The person says yes. Then they test it.

0:09:17.479,0:09:19.484
It's very important that both sides agree.

0:09:19.508,0:09:21.623
They did that, they tested him.

0:09:21.647,0:09:24.201
They said, "OK, you know what?

0:09:24.225,0:09:28.067
You weren't able to predict[br]what Lisa was thinking.

0:09:28.091,0:09:30.120
It matched up about the same as chance.

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Looks like you don't have the power."

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And that gave them the opportunity

0:09:34.654,0:09:39.983
to compassionately sit down with him[br]and have a very difficult discussion,

0:09:40.007,0:09:41.976
which basically amounted to,

0:09:42.000,0:09:46.563
"Hey, we know you're sincere,[br]and what that means is,

0:09:46.587,0:09:48.866
you do hear something in your head."

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And that guy got to make[br]the very difficult decision,

0:09:55.389,0:10:01.679
but really the life-changing decision[br]about whether to go get help.

0:10:02.045,0:10:05.288
We're actually helping people[br]to make these connections

0:10:05.312,0:10:10.622
that maybe before seemed like[br]otherworldly explanations,

0:10:10.646,0:10:15.706
help draw us into reality[br]and maybe change our lives for the better.

0:10:17.343,0:10:23.135
Now, on the other hand,[br]maybe one time it'll turn out to be true.

0:10:23.758,0:10:25.781
Maybe we'll find out there are ghosts,

0:10:25.805,0:10:27.978
and holy shit, it will be the best thing!

0:10:28.002,0:10:30.726
And every time I do[br]one of these investigations,

0:10:30.750,0:10:32.556
I still get so excited,

0:10:32.580,0:10:34.643
and I'm like 75 into them,

0:10:34.667,0:10:38.744
and still I swear on number 76,[br]I'm going to be like, "This is the one!"

0:10:38.768,0:10:39.973
(Laughter)

0:10:39.997,0:10:44.853
Maybe I'm just eternally optimistic,[br]but I hope I never lose this hope,

0:10:44.877,0:10:48.652
and I invite you to take[br]this same attitude

0:10:48.676,0:10:51.119
when people share[br]their outer beliefs with you.

0:10:51.143,0:10:53.610
When talking about testable claims,

0:10:53.634,0:10:57.313
respect them enough to ask[br]these good questions.

0:10:57.337,0:11:00.199
Challenge and see[br]how you can examine them together,

0:11:00.223,0:11:04.392
because there's this idea[br]that you can't respect a belief

0:11:04.416,0:11:06.966
and still challenge it,[br]but that's not true.

0:11:06.990,0:11:09.737
When we jiggle the lock,[br]when we test the claim,

0:11:09.761,0:11:13.733
we're saying, OK, I respect you,[br]I'm listening to what you're saying,

0:11:13.757,0:11:15.749
I'm going to test it out with you.

0:11:15.773,0:11:19.128
We've all had that experience[br]where you're telling someone something,

0:11:19.152,0:11:21.883
and they're like, "Oh,[br]that's really interesting, yeah,"

0:11:21.907,0:11:24.030
you know you're being had.

0:11:24.054,0:11:27.344
But when someone says, "Really? Huh.

0:11:28.463,0:11:30.853
Sounds a little sketchy to me,[br]but I'm listening,"

0:11:30.877,0:11:33.534
you at least know[br]you're being engaged and respected.

0:11:33.558,0:11:36.674
And that's the kind of attitude[br]we should have with these claims.

0:11:36.698,0:11:39.405
That's showing someone[br]that you care what they're saying.

0:11:39.429,0:11:42.365
That's respect.

0:11:45.080,0:11:49.779
Now, yes, most of these searches[br]will come up empty,

0:11:49.803,0:11:51.636
but that's how all of science works.

0:11:52.133,0:11:56.234
Every cure for cancer so far[br]has not panned out,

0:11:56.258,0:11:58.590
but we don't stop looking,

0:11:58.614,0:12:00.144
for two reasons.

0:12:00.168,0:12:02.646
Because number one, the answer matters.

0:12:02.670,0:12:06.692
Whether it's looking at the afterlife[br]or the paranormal or the cure for cancer,

0:12:06.716,0:12:09.049
it all amounts to the same question:

0:12:09.073,0:12:11.752
How long will we be here?

0:12:12.855,0:12:16.639
And two, because looking for the truth,

0:12:16.663,0:12:17.972
being open-minded,

0:12:17.996,0:12:22.365
and being willing to be wrong[br]and to change your whole worldview

0:12:22.389,0:12:24.437
is awe-inspiring.

0:12:25.208,0:12:29.021
I still get excited at ghost stories[br]every single time.

0:12:29.045,0:12:32.129
I still consider that every group[br]I join might be right,

0:12:32.153,0:12:34.150
and I hope I never lose that hope.

0:12:34.174,0:12:35.978
Let's all never lose that hope,

0:12:36.002,0:12:38.857
because searching for what's out there

0:12:38.881,0:12:40.795
helps us understand what's in here.

0:12:41.577,0:12:48.032
And also, please have[br]a carbon monoxide detector in your home.

0:12:48.056,0:12:49.078
(Laughter)

0:12:49.102,0:12:50.381
Thank you.

0:12:50.405,0:12:56.286
(Applause)