0:00:00.764,0:00:05.293 Eight years ago, I was haunted[br]by an evil spirit. 0:00:08.286,0:00:10.486 I was 25 at the time, 0:00:10.510,0:00:14.948 and I was living in a tiny house[br]behind someone else's house 0:00:14.972,0:00:16.267 in Los Angeles. 0:00:16.291,0:00:19.943 It was this guest house,[br]it had kind of been dilapidated, 0:00:19.967,0:00:22.646 not taken care of for a long time. 0:00:22.670,0:00:26.121 And one night, I was sitting there 0:00:26.145,0:00:30.647 and I got this really spooky feeling, 0:00:30.671,0:00:33.689 kind of the feeling[br]like you're being watched. 0:00:33.713,0:00:36.732 But no one was there except my two dogs, 0:00:36.756,0:00:38.634 and they were just chewing their feet. 0:00:39.308,0:00:43.141 And I looked around. No one was there. 0:00:43.165,0:00:47.386 And I thought, OK,[br]it's just my imagination. 0:00:47.410,0:00:50.021 But the feeling just kept getting worse, 0:00:50.045,0:00:55.337 and I started to feel[br]this pressure in my chest, 0:00:55.361,0:00:58.453 sort of like the feeling[br]when you get bad news. 0:00:58.477,0:01:01.788 But it started to sink lower and lower 0:01:01.812,0:01:03.205 and almost hurt. 0:01:04.050,0:01:07.784 And over the course of that week,[br]this feeling got worse and worse, 0:01:07.808,0:01:13.304 and I started to become convinced[br]that something was there 0:01:13.328,0:01:16.492 in my little guest house, haunting me. 0:01:18.023,0:01:21.138 And I started to hear these sounds, 0:01:21.162,0:01:27.100 this "whoosh," kind of whisper,[br]like something passing through me. 0:01:28.485,0:01:32.761 I called my best friend, Claire, and said, 0:01:33.578,0:01:36.737 "I know this is going to sound crazy, 0:01:36.761,0:01:38.825 but, um ... 0:01:38.849,0:01:43.828 I think there's a ghost in my house[br]and I need to get rid of it." 0:01:43.852,0:01:48.200 And she said -- she's very[br]open-minded -- and she said, 0:01:48.224,0:01:49.729 "I don't think you're crazy. 0:01:49.753,0:01:53.627 I think you just need[br]to do a cleansing ritual." 0:01:53.651,0:01:55.432 (Laughter) 0:01:55.456,0:02:00.881 "So get some sage and burn it, 0:02:00.905,0:02:03.403 and tell it to go away." 0:02:03.427,0:02:07.089 So I said, "OK,"[br]and I went and I bought sage. 0:02:07.113,0:02:11.174 I had never done this before,[br]so I set the sage on fire, 0:02:11.198,0:02:17.898 waved it about, and said, "Go away![br]"This is my house! I live here. 0:02:17.922,0:02:19.556 You don't live here!" 0:02:20.593,0:02:23.874 But the feeling stayed.[br]Nothing got better. 0:02:23.898,0:02:26.094 And then I started to think, 0:02:26.118,0:02:28.890 OK, well now this thing is probably[br]just laughing at me, 0:02:28.914,0:02:31.342 because it hasn't left, 0:02:31.366,0:02:34.591 and I probably just look like[br]this impotent, powerless thing 0:02:34.615,0:02:36.850 that couldn't get it to go away. 0:02:36.874,0:02:40.799 So every day I'd come home 0:02:40.823,0:02:46.339 and you guys, this feeling got so bad[br]that -- I mean, I'm laughing at it now -- 0:02:46.363,0:02:50.440 but I would sit there in bed[br]and cry every night. 0:02:51.040,0:02:56.339 And the feeling on my chest[br]got worse and worse. 0:02:56.363,0:02:59.355 It was physically painful. 0:02:59.379,0:03:02.801 And I even went to a psychiatrist 0:03:02.825,0:03:06.253 and tried to get her[br]to prescribe me medicine, 0:03:06.277,0:03:10.379 and she wouldn't just because[br]I don't have schizophrenia, OK. 0:03:10.403,0:03:12.180 (Laughter) 0:03:13.937,0:03:20.737 So finally I got on the internet,[br]and I Googled "hauntings." 0:03:20.761,0:03:23.847 And I came upon this forum[br]of ghost hunters. 0:03:23.871,0:03:26.203 But these were a special[br]kind of ghost hunters -- 0:03:26.227,0:03:27.771 they were skeptics. 0:03:27.795,0:03:33.365 They believed that every case of ghosts[br]that they had investigated so far 0:03:33.389,0:03:35.564 had been explained away by science. 0:03:35.588,0:03:39.532 And I was like, "OK, smart guys,[br]this is what's happening to me, 0:03:39.556,0:03:43.631 and if you have an explanation for me,[br]I would love to hear it." 0:03:43.655,0:03:46.865 And one of them said, "OK. 0:03:46.889,0:03:50.975 Um, have you heard[br]of carbon monoxide poisoning?" 0:03:52.877,0:03:57.339 And I said, "Yeah. 0:03:57.363,0:04:00.710 Like, gas poisoning?" 0:04:00.734,0:04:03.713 Carbon monoxide poisoning[br]is when you have a gas leak 0:04:03.737,0:04:05.180 leaking into your home. 0:04:05.204,0:04:11.032 I looked it up, and the symptoms[br]of carbon monoxide poisoning 0:04:11.056,0:04:14.186 include a pressure on your chest, 0:04:14.210,0:04:18.608 auditory hallucinations -- whoosh -- 0:04:18.632,0:04:22.410 and an unexplained feeling of dread. 0:04:23.831,0:04:26.233 So that night, I called the gas company. 0:04:26.257,0:04:30.062 I said, "I have an emergency.[br]I need you to come out. 0:04:30.086,0:04:33.356 I don't want to get into the story now,[br]but I need you to come out." 0:04:33.380,0:04:34.573 (Laughter) 0:04:34.597,0:04:37.384 They came out. I said,[br]"I suspect a gas leak." 0:04:37.408,0:04:39.924 They brought their carbon[br]monoxide detector, 0:04:39.948,0:04:41.990 and the man said, 0:04:42.014,0:04:45.477 "It's a really good thing[br]that you called us tonight, 0:04:45.501,0:04:47.914 because you could have been[br]dead very soon." 0:04:49.667,0:04:55.034 Thirty-seven percent of Americans[br]believe in haunted houses, 0:04:55.058,0:04:59.648 and I wonder how many of them[br]have been in one 0:04:59.672,0:05:02.664 and how many of them have been in danger. 0:05:04.783,0:05:09.516 So that haunting story[br]has led me to my job. 0:05:09.540,0:05:12.438 I'm an investigator, and I'm[br]an investigator in two senses: 0:05:12.462,0:05:14.030 I'm an investigative journalist, 0:05:14.054,0:05:17.240 and I'm also an investigator[br]of the claims of the paranormal 0:05:17.264,0:05:19.260 and claims of the spiritual. 0:05:19.284,0:05:20.792 And that means a few things. 0:05:20.816,0:05:24.767 Sometimes that means that I'm pretending[br]to need an exorcism 0:05:24.791,0:05:29.356 so I can get -- yes, that's right! --[br]so I can go to an exorcist 0:05:29.380,0:05:32.986 and see if he's using gimmicks[br]or psychological tricks 0:05:33.010,0:05:35.898 to try to convince someone[br]that they're possessed. 0:05:35.922,0:05:39.244 Sometimes that means[br]I'm going undercover in a fringe group 0:05:39.268,0:05:42.641 which I report on[br]for a podcast that I co-host. 0:05:42.665,0:05:47.699 And I've done over 70 investigations[br]like this with my co-host, Ross. 0:05:47.723,0:05:52.719 I would love to tell you[br]that nine times out of 10, science wins, 0:05:52.743,0:05:55.239 saves the day, it's all explained. 0:05:55.263,0:05:56.432 That's not true. 0:05:56.456,0:06:02.672 The truth is, 10 times out of 10,[br]science wins, it saves the day. 0:06:02.696,0:06:06.464 (Applause) 0:06:15.027,0:06:17.708 And that doesn't mean[br]there's no such thing as a mystery. 0:06:17.732,0:06:21.658 Of course there are mysteries,[br]but a mystery is a mystery. 0:06:21.682,0:06:23.371 It is not a ghost. 0:06:24.466,0:06:28.087 Now, I believe there are[br]two kinds of truth, 0:06:28.111,0:06:32.462 and it's taken me a while to get[br]to this place, but I think this is right, 0:06:32.486,0:06:33.750 so here me out. 0:06:33.774,0:06:36.929 I think there is outer truth[br]and there's inner truth. 0:06:36.953,0:06:40.168 So if you say to me, 0:06:40.192,0:06:42.865 "There was a man named Jesus[br]and he once existed," 0:06:42.889,0:06:44.586 that's outer truth, right? 0:06:44.610,0:06:46.960 And we can go and look[br]at the historical record. 0:06:46.984,0:06:49.395 We can determine[br]whether that seems to be true. 0:06:49.419,0:06:51.958 And I would argue,[br]it does seem to be true. 0:06:51.982,0:06:57.653 If you say, "Jesus rose[br]from the dead" -- ooh, trickier. 0:06:57.677,0:06:59.904 (Laughter) 0:07:00.441,0:07:07.380 I would say that's an outer-truth claim, 0:07:07.404,0:07:09.442 because he physically rose or he didn't. 0:07:09.466,0:07:12.192 I'm not going to get into[br]whether he rose or he didn't, 0:07:12.216,0:07:14.294 but I would say[br]that's an outer-truth claim. 0:07:14.318,0:07:16.012 It happened or it didn't happen. 0:07:16.036,0:07:19.738 But if you say, "I don't care[br]whether he rose from the dead. 0:07:19.762,0:07:22.106 It's symbolically important to me, 0:07:22.130,0:07:25.624 and that metaphor is so meaningful,[br]so purposeful to me, 0:07:25.648,0:07:27.951 and I'm not going to try[br]to persuade you of it," 0:07:27.975,0:07:30.530 now you've moved it[br]from outer truth to inner truth, 0:07:30.554,0:07:32.076 from science to art. 0:07:32.100,0:07:35.264 And I think we have a tendency[br]to not be clear about this, 0:07:35.288,0:07:38.700 to try to move our inner truths[br]to outer truths, 0:07:38.724,0:07:41.627 or to not be fair about it to each other, 0:07:41.651,0:07:44.015 and when people are telling us[br]their inner truths, 0:07:44.039,0:07:47.650 to try to make them defend them[br]by outer-truth standards. 0:07:47.674,0:07:51.190 So I'm talking here about outer truth,[br]about objective things. 0:07:51.214,0:07:56.900 And there was an objective reality[br]in my haunted house, right? 0:07:56.924,0:07:58.973 Now that I've told you about the gas leak, 0:07:58.997,0:08:01.017 I doubt a single person here[br]would be like, 0:08:01.041,0:08:03.015 "I still think there was a ghost, too" -- 0:08:03.039,0:08:04.079 (Laughter) 0:08:04.103,0:08:06.850 because as soon as we have[br]these scientific explanations, 0:08:06.874,0:08:08.536 we know to give up the ghost. 0:08:08.560,0:08:12.570 We use these things as stopgaps[br]for things that we can't explain. 0:08:12.594,0:08:14.595 We don't believe them because of evidence; 0:08:14.619,0:08:17.381 we believe them because[br]of a lack of evidence. 0:08:18.382,0:08:20.746 So there was a group in Los Angeles 0:08:20.770,0:08:24.478 called the Independent[br]Investigations Group, or the IIG, 0:08:24.502,0:08:26.482 and they do great work. 0:08:26.506,0:08:29.209 They'll give a $10,000 prize 0:08:29.233,0:08:33.760 to anyone who can show,[br]under scientific conditions, 0:08:33.784,0:08:36.139 that they have a paranormal ability. 0:08:36.163,0:08:37.869 No one's done it yet, 0:08:37.893,0:08:42.951 but they've had a couple people[br]who claim that they were clairaudients, 0:08:42.975,0:08:47.031 which means that they can hear voices[br]either from the great beyond 0:08:47.055,0:08:48.953 or they can read minds. 0:08:48.977,0:08:51.737 And they had one person[br]who was very sincere, 0:08:51.761,0:08:54.652 who believed that he could read minds. 0:08:54.676,0:08:57.425 And a lot of these people -- 0:08:57.449,0:09:00.289 (Laughter) 0:09:00.313,0:09:03.326 That wasn't a laugh line, but OK. 0:09:03.350,0:09:08.062 A lot of these people really are sincere, 0:09:08.086,0:09:10.137 and I believe this guy was. 0:09:10.161,0:09:12.208 He really thought he had this power. 0:09:12.232,0:09:18.219 So they set up a test with him,[br]and this is the way it always works. 0:09:18.243,0:09:20.489 The group says, "OK, we have a protocol, 0:09:20.513,0:09:22.528 we have a way to scientifically test this. 0:09:22.552,0:09:23.705 Do you agree with it?" 0:09:23.729,0:09:25.625 The person says yes. Then they test it. 0:09:25.649,0:09:27.654 It's very important that both sides agree. 0:09:27.678,0:09:30.093 They did that, they tested him. 0:09:30.117,0:09:32.671 They said, "OK, you know what? 0:09:32.695,0:09:36.537 You weren't able to predict[br]what Lisa was thinking. 0:09:36.561,0:09:38.590 It matched up about the same as chance. 0:09:38.614,0:09:40.456 Looks like you don't have the power." 0:09:40.480,0:09:42.330 And that gave them the opportunity 0:09:42.354,0:09:47.623 to compassionately sit down with him[br]and have a very difficult discussion, 0:09:47.647,0:09:49.616 which basically amounted to, 0:09:49.640,0:09:54.203 "Hey, we know you're sincere,[br]and what that means is, 0:09:54.227,0:09:56.506 you do hear something in your head." 0:09:56.530,0:09:59.269 And that's a tough thing to face. 0:09:59.293,0:10:04.134 (Laughter) (Applause) 0:10:04.158,0:10:10.975 But that day, that guy got to make[br]the very difficult decision, 0:10:10.999,0:10:17.077 but really the life-changing decision[br]about whether to go get help. 0:10:17.101,0:10:19.101 (Laughter) 0:10:19.935,0:10:24.100 But that really could be[br]the first day of the rest of your life, 0:10:24.124,0:10:28.231 because when we challenge these beliefs, 0:10:28.255,0:10:33.298 we're actually helping people[br]to make these connections 0:10:33.322,0:10:38.632 that maybe before seemed like[br]otherworldly explanations, 0:10:38.656,0:10:43.716 help draw us into reality[br]and maybe change our lives for the better. 0:10:45.353,0:10:51.145 Now, on the other hand,[br]maybe one time it'll turn out to be true. 0:10:51.768,0:10:53.791 Maybe we'll find out there are ghosts, 0:10:53.815,0:10:55.988 and holy shit, it will be the best thing! 0:10:56.012,0:10:58.736 And every time I do[br]one of these investigations, 0:10:58.760,0:11:00.566 I still get so excited, 0:11:00.590,0:11:02.653 and I'm like 75 into them, 0:11:02.677,0:11:06.754 and still I swear on number 76,[br]I'm going to be like, "This is the one!" 0:11:06.778,0:11:07.983 (Laughter) 0:11:08.007,0:11:12.863 Maybe I'm just eternally optimistic,[br]but I hope I never lose this hope, 0:11:12.887,0:11:16.662 and I invite you to take[br]this same attitude 0:11:16.686,0:11:19.129 when people share[br]their outer beliefs with you. 0:11:19.153,0:11:21.620 When talking about testable claims, 0:11:21.644,0:11:25.323 respect them enough to ask[br]these good questions. 0:11:25.347,0:11:28.209 Challenge and see[br]how you can examine them together, 0:11:28.233,0:11:32.402 because there's this idea[br]that you can't respect a belief 0:11:32.426,0:11:34.976 and still challenge it,[br]but that's not true. 0:11:35.000,0:11:37.747 When we jiggle the lock,[br]when we test the claim, 0:11:37.771,0:11:41.743 we're saying, OK, I respect you,[br]I'm listening to what you're saying, 0:11:41.767,0:11:43.759 I'm going to test it out with you. 0:11:43.783,0:11:47.138 We've all had that experience[br]where you're telling someone something, 0:11:47.162,0:11:49.893 and they're like, "Oh,[br]that's really interesting, yeah," 0:11:49.917,0:11:52.040 you know you're being had. 0:11:52.064,0:11:55.354 But when someone says, "Really? Huh. 0:11:56.473,0:11:58.863 Sounds a little sketchy to me,[br]but I'm listening," 0:11:58.887,0:12:01.544 you at least know[br]you're being engaged and respected. 0:12:01.568,0:12:04.684 And that's the kind of attitude[br]we should have with these claims. 0:12:04.708,0:12:07.415 That's showing someone[br]that you care what they're saying. 0:12:07.439,0:12:10.375 That's respect. 0:12:13.090,0:12:17.789 Now, yes, most of these searches[br]will come up empty, 0:12:17.813,0:12:19.646 but that's how all of science works. 0:12:20.043,0:12:24.144 Every cure for cancer so far[br]has not panned out, 0:12:24.168,0:12:26.500 but we don't stop looking, 0:12:26.524,0:12:28.054 for two reasons. 0:12:28.078,0:12:30.556 Because number one, the answer matters. 0:12:30.580,0:12:34.602 Whether it's looking at the afterlife[br]or the paranormal or the cure for cancer, 0:12:34.626,0:12:36.959 it all amounts to the same question: 0:12:36.983,0:12:39.662 How long will we be here? 0:12:40.845,0:12:44.629 And two, because looking for the truth, 0:12:44.653,0:12:45.962 being open-minded, 0:12:45.986,0:12:50.355 and being willing to be wrong[br]and to change your whole worldview 0:12:50.379,0:12:52.427 is awe-inspiring. 0:12:53.198,0:12:57.011 I still get excited at ghost stories[br]every single time. 0:12:57.035,0:13:00.119 I still consider that every group[br]I join might be right, 0:13:00.143,0:13:02.140 and I hope I never lose that hope. 0:13:02.164,0:13:03.968 Let's all never lose that hope, 0:13:03.992,0:13:06.847 because searching for what's out there 0:13:06.871,0:13:08.785 helps us understand what's in here. 0:13:09.517,0:13:15.978 And also, please have[br]a carbon monoxide detector in your home. 0:13:17.042,0:13:18.321 Thank you. 0:13:18.345,0:13:20.109 (Applause)