Maybe this is a case of honestly different intuitions. My intuition is that if we control for everything except for one building having a reputation for being haunted and the other not, I would still be more scared in the haunted building.
I think if we ensured the complete “natural” (as opposed to supernatural) safety of the house, the fear would be equal.
So if the house had been checked out to ensure it was physically sound, it had been checked for hidden serial killers etc and was surrounded by an army cordon to ensure nothing dangerous could get in then I don’t think the haunted nature of the house would make a difference to a skeptic.
In this totally controlled case, I think the levels of fear would be the same. Your intuition may differ in which case I suppose it’s hard to come to a sense of the truth.
Maybe this is a case of honestly different intuitions. My intuition is that if we control for everything except for one building having a reputation for being haunted and the other not, I would still be more scared in the haunted building.
I think if we ensured the complete “natural” (as opposed to supernatural) safety of the house, the fear would be equal.
So if the house had been checked out to ensure it was physically sound, it had been checked for hidden serial killers etc and was surrounded by an army cordon to ensure nothing dangerous could get in then I don’t think the haunted nature of the house would make a difference to a skeptic.
In this totally controlled case, I think the levels of fear would be the same. Your intuition may differ in which case I suppose it’s hard to come to a sense of the truth.