Is the Truth Out There?
As we approach Halloween, thoughts often turn to those things that go bump in the night. Well, maybe not you but I tend to think of such things and evidently so do many other people. Today there was an article in CIO online called Paranormal Investigations and Technology: Where Ghosts and Gadgets Meet. The reporter talked with Auerbach and Wilson who have been investigating strange phenomena for quite a while and they discuss the tools of the trade and some of their experiences. The most useful tools: coffee (for those late night stakeouts) and a Digital SLR to document. The article was interesting and handled without prejudiced.
In another article I read today, it was found in an AP poll and reported in CNN’s online living section that 1/3 of people polled believe in ghosts. On CNN’s main page there a poll asking if you believe in ghosts and there the figure is 46% believe in ghosts.
Do I believe? My SO says while he doesn’t believe, that’s not the same thing as not believing. He’s withholding opinion, but siding on the skeptical side for now. As for me, I really don’t know. I’ve had some really strange things happen to me in my life and whether they’re from a bit of undigested beef or actual paranormal occurrences — I really don’t know. Perhaps, I should say that when I was getting my degree in psychology I did a lot of reading in paranormal research and actually did a small research project of my own for a class paper. What I do know is that researchers into the paranormal don’t get a lot of respect from their colleagues. And in fact, even those investigators who think they are fair and just asking for such research to meet acceptable standards — tend not to notice that they are in actuality raising the bar for paranormal research. I’ve seen methodologies for clinical trials, that I think are totally unacceptable, be thought to be fine, while methodologies that are far stricter in requiring double blinds are thought to be way too loose to be acceptable. There seems to be a double standard; one for normal science and another stricter (and usually unreachable) standard for paranormal research.
Nevertheless, I’ll withhold judgment since I need to see more evidence than what passes for prime time coverage or Hollywood super FX thriller. I do believe that there’s more to it than simply wishful thinking but what that is and how it manifests as ghosts, ESP, or other phenomena — that I don’t know. What do you believe?