Paranormal Mania

For whatever reason, television has become obsessed with the paranormal: Ghosthunters, Most Haunted, A Haunting, Ghost Adventures, Paranormal State, Extreme Paranormal and Ghost Lab to name a few. Now, I love a good ghost story as good as anyone. I've even been known to spin one or two myself. I'm also a firm believer that there are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio. My issue with these shows, even Ghosthunters now, sadly, is that people are too quick to label something paranormal. Also, if you go looking for ghosts, when you think you've found one, don't run.

Nothing makes me crazier than to be watching one of these "ghost hunting" shows and see someone say "I think we've found something" and then run the other direction. If you think you've got something, stay there until all possibilities have been exhausted. Additionally, if you say you are using scientific methods, use scientific methods. On one recent episode, investigators used a "biocam" to detect physiological symptoms/signs of mood or stress level. A baseline reading was done in one room, and then these people were taken to another room where they had been told two axe murders had taken place and were asked to sit in that very spot. Now, I have to be perfectly honest, paranormal or not, if I were sitting in the same exact spot where two people had been murdered with an axe, I'm pretty sure my stress level would result in observable physiological changes. A random, double blind sample is not difficult. If you want to measure this accurately, tell people they are sitting in "the spot" when really they are not and see if you get similar results. Additionally, to determine if it is the location and not the knowledge that these individuals possess that is producing these effects, then have people who do not know the history participate in this study. Tell them you're measuring temperature fluctuations or some such. Either way, don't call this evidence. When you can't fully establish a causal relationship between things, don't claim that one exists.

As someone who believes in ghosts, and as someone who believes in science, it is possible to bring those two things together in a way that will be equally satisfying.