Your Opinions on the Paranormal?

Yes Spiralx! And sooo interestingly, in one of the places we are researching now, one of the "most haunted" rooms has..you guessed it..and organ in it! I think I squealed in my seat when I read that. It is why I want to find a cheap way to test for infrasound!

However, things such as this still do not explain everything that occurs, but it is head start in some places to be certain!

It certainly doesn't explain everything, but it's certainly a good start and shows that scientific explainations are possible for paranormal phenomena

All paranormal is, is things that happen beyond the norm. I sat last night and looked up craploads of definitions in a standard webster's dictionary and I found that what most people concider definitions of things, are not what they really mean at all (oooohhhh, what a non-suprise that is!).

The actual definition of paranormal is "of or pertaining to events or perceptions occurring without scientific explaination."

So, it does not solely apply to ghosties and such, but also to many illnesses and psychological disorders.
How about why Lisa Marie ever married Michael Jackson? That is definately creepier than chasing a ghost!

Back to my other question. How do you think/feel media has shaped the social p.o.v. of the "paranormal"?

Thanks!

Well, I’ve come into this conversation a little late, and now it seems that the questions are starting to rack up.
So I’ll use this post to answer the question of what I believe in. I’ll come back to the other questions in a while, to stop this post from ending up pages long.

I used to be a complete non-believer in anything paranormal (but strangely, at the same time had a fear of ghosts).

That’s changed now. Mainly because of one of the places I lived and worked at. So many things happened to lots of the staff there, that it turned my thoughts on the matter right round.

In my own head, I’ve tried to explain occurrences by the (pretty basic) use of science- the light shining in a certain way, a crack in the window where the wind might have got in, etc.
I’ve found that some things can be explained this way. In some instances this is indeed the correct answer. In others, I think it’s just an excuse to make me feel better.
But there have been more and more things since I worked there that are completely unexplainable by any scientific measures that I know.

I’m pretty settled in my own mind about the existence of ghosts, because of many first hand experiences, but I don’t know how broad a spectrum of existence they take up.
For instance, the difference (if any) between a ghost and a spirit. What defines a poltergeist, other than their ability to move objects- and why they seem to have that ability. Or the phenomenon of orbs- something I hadn’t thought too much about until my mum started asking me about them.

I think possession is entirely possible- just as humans have very different levels of intellect and power (of many different varieties) I believe ghosts do too. After all, they were human at some time or another.
But to be dead certain (no pun intended) I think I’d need more proof than I’ve seen- which I admit isn’t a lot (and is always hard to get).

Things such as werewolves and vampires (the blood sucking, feeding and living forever kind) are myths and legends that have grown up through the years. I believe that they have spawned the people who claim to be vampires today- people who do indeed drink each others blood (in small quantities), either through an act of sex or some form of ritual- but I don’t think they’re linked in any way to the paranormal.


UFO’s- the possibility for them is most certainly there. There’s so much we don’t know anything about outside of our solar system, that the miracle of life could indeed have also started somewhere else.
Alien abduction though… No. Sorry, I don’t buy that. As Pele said… do I believe they are kidnapping our toothless hoards and sticking probes up their butts and noses? Not at all.


I’m interested in the question of how the media has affected people’s views of the paranormal. I think they have a huge influence.
But let me come back to that one in a while…

well pele, i havent given the idea of the media and related influence of ppls perception/belief of the paranormal, but heres the first thing that came to my mind..

i dont know when this happened, but there are some famous "photos" (could be doctored, who knows) of ufo sightings in mexico city.. in these pics the shape of the ufo is surprisingly similar to the shape everyone would imagine when talking about ufo's: a disc shaped craft with a bulge on the top.. now these were probly (also) released by the media, and in that sense it is possible that that helped shape our ideas on the shape of them..
pls correct me if im completely wrong with these facts.. youd probly know them better than me..
as for other forms of paranormal events and behavior, well, let me sleep on it.. however the media always has an enormous influence on most things the masses believe, so why not on the paranormal?

The media, especially in the U.S., has always been a devil's advocate, looking for new diseases, scandals or controversy.

I think they are just beginning to make the paranormal more socially acceptable, even popular. Many current television shows, including lame reality phenomenon, touch on the unknown. In years past, paranormal topics were always looked at as semi-silly and often reported with tongue firmly in cheek.

The sci-fi channel has one show I really like, called Proof Positive, where they objectively take three specific cases relating to UFO's, ghosts, ESP, legendary monsters, etc. and pits it against true scientific investigation. They take what evidence exists and literally puts it under the microscope.

What shows like this do is expand people's curiosities, and the paranormal is now being approached in a more sincere manner.

I'm not sure whether the media is to blame as much as it seems to be part of a wider movement which is rejecting science and logic and returning to mysticism and faith. This climate makes it easier for things to be taken uncritically, and so genuine mysteries which could foster further understanding of the world get lost in a sea of pseudo-science and fakery.

Just look at all the people who don't even understand what science is about before dismissing it as a "modern myth" or "anti-human" or "opposing spirituality". Blugh.

Very true Prom. Yet in that vain we also are plagued with shows like Ghosthunters, which is lame attempt at filming a paranormal investigation team who attempts to film paranormal with little science to support them. It is pretty crazy catch 22 and watching these idiots run around screaming and fighting might make for good tv but I truly feel it does two things...

It gives people the idea that paranormal investigators are cheap crack-pots who really don't know what they are doing and it gives them the impression that there really is no science involved.

Then there are all the movies, the tv shows, the fiction books (my favorite are the people who believe in the White Wolf /Vampire roleplaying books) which for some reason the brainwashed masses. Now, somehow, people expect to see something that resembles tv or somehow dump every unexplained occurrance in their lives as some source of Amityville evil. It is rather annoying.

I also think that because of media, and the current tech availability, people automatically assume everything is an elaborately set up hoax, even when they can not prove it. Something which I find incredibly annoying. I could set up a hoax, but it is a waste of my time and my money. I would rather take science and apply it to something "real".

Now, I am going to go back to Mand.
I also wondered the difference between the ghost, spirits, poltergeist, etc. stuff. It seems there are a million words out there which people use interchangably, and if you actually start to research them you will find that they are not interchangeable at all. I think that media had a large part to do with this as well. (for example: on Charmed they used the terms "Witch" and "Wicca" interchangably, which they absolutely are not).

The answer to the wonderings you had about this goes something like this...

-A poltergeist is a spirit who manifests its presence by use of noises.

-A spirit is the incorporeal part of humans, and so in
the "paranormal" it is an incorporeal being which has character (not just a hovering one).

-A specter is a spirit of a terrifying nature, with intent to cause fear.

-A ghost is a disembodied spirit, often of a vague evanescent form, among the living.

-A phantasm is the image or representation of a real object.

-A phantom is an appearance without material substance.

-An apparition is something making a remarkable appearance.

However, popular useage would have you believe these are all the same, and some of them are not used at all in common vernacular.
Obviously, some things people believe the experience can fall under many of these but part of what I do as an investigator is rule out what science can explain then plug in the symptoms and theorize which of these would be closest to the victims experiences. I research the history of the place, the geology, look at the home schematics, etc. Then I look into history and see if I can pinpoint what is being dealt with (as there is an enormous native american population here, we deal with some interesting beliefs). I have to be open minded enough to believe and skeptical enough to rule everything else out first. That is how those "classifications" come into play.
Did that make sense?

Thanks!

I beleive anythings possible, but i beleive the media has hyped it up, making it seem more unbeleivable.
The more something is hyped, the more it is questioned and dissected and starts becoming detached.
Ive had a few experiences, ive had a few between me and my twin, ie. him knowing id been hurt even though no-one had told him. etc. So i beleive in phsycic links etc.
Ive also had experiences that are only known to me as they are very personal.
BUT programs like buffy and x-files as good programs as they may be can overhype things and distort them.
Newspapers distort things dramatically, and the experiences that people may have had, end up resembling nothing near the truth and people start to be more disbelieving.
Im open minded to all things, and most ill beleive in until they are disproved. The world is an amazing place, anything can happen, and has lol

speaking of the world being an amazing place, what are the thoughts on things like the bermuda triangle?

Just that its bloomin weird!

Well, i would assume that anyone that was to investigate paranormal activity, could technically call themselves a paranormal investigator, wether it is an official organisation or not. Or is this not true??

I took Paranormal Psychology at Genesee College with Professor Tim Tomscak.

He is the one who told those who passed the class that we could be called that.

But yeah, anyone could I suppose. But then, anyone can put on a suit and call themselves a professional as well.

Anyone can pick up a set of poi, flail them about and call themselves a fire dancer, or worse, a performer.

Intergrity is what keeps people honest. And I am. If Patrick, who is an instigator, opts to question that about me...again, so be it. Many people have been foiled in these types of attempts. It is up to the people getting into the groups to investigate the group they are getting into and if at least some of what the group does works for them.

And, it is a crapload of fun.

Coming back to the Bermuda Triangle in a bit...I saw a fascinating science show on it a little bit ago!!!

But I have to teach dance now

Discussing ghosts and the like... we had a conversation the other day about auras and how traces of aura vibration could remain locked within physical objects and redisperse at random.. and be interpreted by human minds as the presence of the person who left them... but this is just an idea we had whilst trying to freak each other out.

Has anyone heard of Old Hag Syndrome (perhaps not the actual name)? Where people wake with sleep paralysis and see an old, hideous woman in the room who walks over to them, kneels on their chest and tried to strangle them whilst they can't move? People get this whilst awake. I was talking to my sister-in-law about it before, she's had it several times.. once the figure was just composed of darkness, and she saw it coming towards her and tried to cry out to her boyfriend, but she couldn't make a noise.

I can see how these mental processes affect superstition, but they're so flippin weird it's hardly suprising.

I just believe that there is a lot of internal processes we don't have a full understanding of, and there are energy emissions from our bodies (through heat, light and sound if nothing else, call them what you will but they maintain the principles of an aura in various ways) and until we have a fuller understanding of how these affect the universe that surrounds us, and our objective interpretations of that experience, we won't be able to comer to a proper conclusion. But I'd like it to be true that these things aren't just mental phenomena, and they have a grounding in something other than glitches in perception.

*hopes this isn't too much like a story as he's trying to contribute something to the discussion*

It's a phenomenon closely related to waking dreams. During REM sleep, your brain becomes very active, but if you begin to wake, and you're still in that dreaming state, it can produce both a visual hallucination (the 'old hag') and a sense of immobility or paralysis. Add to that that your bed is a 'safe haven' since childhood, and being attacked in it, helpless, makes for a very terrifying experience.
I've experienced sleep paralysis, but I never saw an old hag, just felt a prescence. which to me is probably worse than seeing something specific. My mind is too creative in the dark...