Skeptics and believers
Jun 13th, 2008 | By Fiona Broome | Category: Fiona's notes, Speculation and science
We can always tell when we’ve hit a nerve with one of our articles. There’s a dramatic spike in unfounded rants from skeptics. We’ve shaken their complacency.
That tells us to continue our research in that area. The more controversy, the fewer established facts or answers. There may be something useful for us to learn.
There’s a quote that applies to ghost hunting and most paranormal studies. Weirdly enough, it was penned by a man who was born about three miles from where I’m sitting as I write this:
“For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don’t believe, no proof is possible.” — Stuart Chase (1888 - 1985)
That said, I want to avoid the kinds of stereotypes mistakenly apply to ghost researchers.
I believe that — skeptics and believers alike — we’re all seekers. The difference is how we express it, how much time and thought we put into the search for answers, and how mutually supportive we are.
LOOKING FOR PROOF
Many ghost hunters enter this field suspecting that there is some genuine foundation to ghost stories. In many cases, the ghost hunter has had a personal experience that was impossible to explain in “normal” terms.
We’re looking for answers… proof of some kind.
At the same time, we suspect that there are no answers. We have ample evidence that something is going on, but what…? Our conclusions, as believers or skeptics, are deeply personal.
We use the words “ghosts” and “hauntings,” but we’re usually talking about the phenomena rather than the causes of them.
Last night, after a few of us conducted fresh research at Gilson Road Cemetery (Nashua, NH), we talked about our years in this field, and the answers we’re seeking.
THE NEED FOR SCIENCE
We discussed the consistent research results some haunted places such as Austin (TX), New Orleans (LA), and Gilson Road Cemetery. We talked about the range of phenomena and the possible answers, from parallel universes to residual energy to… well, ghosts.
We also talked about the need for long-term studies. One-time investigations may corroborate others’ experiences and conclusions, but they aren’t enough. Not even close.
One researcher (Iarwain) suggested this last night: Investigators could make tremendous discoveries if, in a profoundly haunted location, we ran a full battery of tests — with cameras, EMF detectors, thermometers, voice recorders, etc. — 24 hours a day for a full year.
But, even if we recorded hundreds of “ghostly” events during that year… would it prove anything except that something odd is going on, regularly? Would it help skeptics and believers find common ground, or could it drive us further apart?
AGREEMENTS AND DISAGREEMENTS
It’s difficult to make generalities about ghost hunters, but most of us can agree that something unexplained is going on in many “haunted” sites.
However, no two people (believers or skeptics) are likely to agree on all phenomena, whether they’re orbs, cold spots, EMF, shadowy figures, or something else unexplained.
It’s important to keep an open mind. We’ll benefit more from sharing ideas — including contradictory and controversial evidence — than trying to discredit each other.
If you are a ghost hunter who is being criticized by others, take it as a misguided compliment. As martial artist Bruce Lee said about his detractors, “They only tackle the one that’s got the ball.”
Nobody has all the answers. We present our best guesses and most intriguing evidence. We encourage you to post your comments — pro and con — at any article at this website.
As Sherlock Holmes said, “When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”
In ghost hunting, we’re trying to “eliminate the impossible” at apparently haunted places.
Some people may not like the improbable truths that remain; the rest of us continue studying them, hoping to find answers.
Years ago, a brilliant friend explained why she chose to be an accountant. She said that, for almost any set of numbers in her bookkeeping, there was just one correct answer. As long as she double-checked everything, her answers were always right and no one could claim otherwise.
Ghost hunting is the exact opposite. We have no formulas. We have no consistent proof. Things rarely add up the same way twice, and no two researchers agree on all points 100% of the time.
For every skeptic who says, “Prove that ghosts are real,” there is a believer who can counter — with equal credibility — “Prove that they aren’t.”
Ghost hunters come in all shades of grey, from skeptic to believer. Let’s share what we’re learning in our research, rather than disparaging each others’ credibility.
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Hi. I fall into the category of skeptic. But, to clarify, I do not doubt the experience, but the cause. If you were to look at our physical and psychic existence, you would easily see that what we perceive most of the time is not quantifiable. That is to say that we cannot and should not assume that we see, hear and feel everything that there is to be seen, heard or felt. Our minds take in sensory input from our five sense organs and WE assign meaning to it, based on our individual life experience. Everything we think is tinged with bias on some level and what we settle on as real is heavily based on what we expect in the situation. The more time we have to process the perception, the closer we will get to the reality of the situation, but when time is limited, the reality we lock on to is usually the first one we come across (with the situational bias). If you were expecting to hear a crying baby in a supposedly haunted building, and heard a soft, somewhat vague sound, your sensory pattern might just fill in the blanks and lock onto identifying the sound as that of a crying baby. Maybe what you really heard was a cat, but in the heat of the moment, your mind doesn’t go all the way to “Cat”, but stops at “Baby”. When presented with a vague image, our minds compare the sensory input against everything we have already experienced in an effort to assign meaning to it. Given more time and repeated exposure, maybe the Cat sound is more believable. I have heard evp recordings which stretch the imagination to the point of being rediculous. I have seen photos with “images” in them that could be anything. I have taken photos with a digital camera outside at night which show a clear image of a group of people in one picture followed by another with a bunch of orbs, only to be followed by another clear photo. The one with the orbs has a license plate in the field, which although 30 feet away, is clearly a source of bright reflected light. The IC chip receiving the image is less than 1/4 inch square and since I don’t know what happens electronically to the image once received, I dismiss the orbs as physical, not psychic. The human mind does a great job filling in the blanks in our perception. Did you hear ir see something? Yes, Whas it what you thought? Maybe. Here are a few real statistics to keep in mind. As you sit reading this, the combined velocity of the Earth moving through it’s 292 million mile orbit around the sun and it’s spin means that you are moving through space at roughly 66,ooo miles an hour. How many of you were even remotely aware of that? In 2006, astronomers identified an extremely dense star (a pulsar) that is 20 miles in diameter and is spinning at 716 times per second. Not once per day, like Earth, but 716 times per second. Are you dizzy yet>
Not dizzy, and not certain of your point.
We’re looking for solid, scientific evidence of hauntings. We haven’t found it yet, but we have sufficient anomalous evidence to keep looking, and thoroughly enjoy the search.
I believe that with all the evidence that I have collected on the way and experiences that my family had while living in a house that was haunted for 13 years, that there is another side to reality. I am also a sensitive and it runs in our family so I can see, feel, smell and hear ghost. I have also had dreams of them. What caused me to become even more interested in hauntings was when my children, brother and anyone who decided to come over to our house saw and heard things. I decided to start investigating and so now my sister and I look for scientific evidence. What really changed my mnd though was when I saw one start to form in our home! That really made a believer out of me and so now I am on a crusade for the truth!