I see, so really there probably wasn’t any academic interest in ghost hunting in the first place?

 Manchu wrote:
I see, so really there probably wasn’t any academic interest in ghost hunting in the first place?

I don't think so, i think it was about grabbing a rich site before the competition got it. The work we did is probably sitting unread in a cupboard in the department someplace.

What a shame. But perhaps a good example of how there is little will to look into such things on the part of non-entertainers.

 Manchu wrote:
What a shame. But perhaps a good example of how there is little will to look into such things on the part of non-entertainers.

You know, the most haunted place I've ever heard of has never showed up on any of these ghost hunting shows? Back in the 1970s the original Gettysburg living history center absolutely jumped with this stuff. About ten years ago we took a guy over to it, said he didn't believe in this stuff. Place was locked, but windows were all open. No one there. In the time it took up to walk around this building from the outside, ever door in the hallway opened and closed on it's own.

 Manchu wrote:
What a shame. But perhaps a good example of how there is little will to look into such things on the part of non-entertainers.

There is likely plenty of will - but you've zero chance of getting significant funding and it would extremely labour-intensive.

Yes, sadly the only thing in paranormal investigation right now that attracts anything like notable investment is tv.

Issue with that being that anything they produce, no matter how compelling, will always be subject to the fact that their motives must be, by definition, suspect.

Yup.

Take psychics for example. Any possibility that they might exist is constantly overshadowed by outright confidence tricksters. Those with flashy shows and tours that use pretty simple reading techniques to fleece and fool the gullible.

Such obvious charlatans muddy the waters somewhat, and that's just another reason to utterly despise them.

Me? My take it on it is that if psychic people do exist, it cannot be much fun. Imagine having the thoughts of others constantly being broadcast into your bonce. Surely you'd want to live as isolated a life as possible - and certainly not draw attention to yourself? I'm also mindful it may well come with a full complement of mental health issues. Literally hearing voices, seeming paranoia when you can hear every unpleasant thought around you.

And it's that last comment which I find most intriguing. If being psychic does drive you barking mad, how would we ever be able to study that in any useful, measurable way?

well, psychics of any sort are probably the easiest paranormal phenomenon to test. A person that claims to have powers can be tested much easier than a phenomenon which occurs randomly.

I doubt it would dirve you mad. All of our physical senses have the ability to, if not be shut off, at least move a lot to the background. You don't listen to every noise, or really see every color. Even if you could read minds, it doesn't makes sense that you would just hear chorus of voices constantly. If so, that would really suck, but even if that were the case, at least some of those psychics have sought out mental health treatment. It's easy to say that a person who claims to be able to read minds is psychotic, but at least some shrinks would notice that the patient is, in fact, correctly reading their minds.

Science is willing to investigate tons of stuff. More than that, science is willing to really overturn our overall understanding of reality. It's happened plenty of times, especially in physics. Maybe some day we'll find a way to detect the paranormal, but right now, there's just no evidence.

Psychics have been investigated a lot since they are easy to test and cheap. No psychic was ever found neither a mechanism through which they would be able to work. All of the best "psychics" were found to either be cheaters or just very good at cold reading, good manipulators.

Anyone who claims to be psychic, especially if they are monetizing that claim, is fake. End of story.

I had an aunt who made a fortune from tarot card reading, and I've taken more psychic gaks than her. But nevertheless she would work from 9am each day into the evening, performing at least one reading an hour most days at about £35 a pop (30 years ago.) At age 10 she predicted I'd become a vicar or some other religious figure. Here I am 41 and atheist, but I guess there's still time..

The other is a friend of mine's mother. I don't know where to even start with her, psychic "dinner parties," ghost hunting tours, the whole shebang. Have never seen anything to suggest any talent whatsoever, outside of the standard "you know, I knew that was going to happen/had a funny feeling" bollocks after the event.

If there are true "psychics" I've yet to be convinced. However I do think we're sensitive on a level we aren't necessarily conscious of, I'm sure everyone has felt eyes on them from across the room or looked up in a crowded space for no reason only to find they're looking directly at someone they know, and I expect there are individuals that are more sensitive than others.

But talking to the dead? I've seen it close up and it's bs.

The tricks of psychics have been well documented and exposed over a long period of time. If you were to actually tally up a success rate for psychic predictions it would be within the margin of error for pure chance, and many, many psychics have been exposed doing preliminary research on their subjects or simply using "cold reading" to fish for a reaction. Likewise, people who claim things like telekinetic powers have been shown to use easily reproducible magic tricks which they can not repeat in controlled environments.

I do agree that nearly everyone has experiences where they suddenly "know" things they ostensibly should not, or get a "sense" for something that is happening, such as Azreal describes. I also agree that this is probably just information penetrating the cloak of ignorance our conscious mind protects itself with, as there is undoubtedly so much going on around us that the mind must filter out everything but that which is relevant to our survival. So perhaps these are things you are already unconsciously aware of, which are suddenly revealed to the conscious mind as they are deemed to stand out from the background noise.

Yeah, I think 'psychics' are pretty verifiably bullcrap. Too easily tested, and too easily disproved. I always found the original accounts of card testing by Karl Zener to be a fun read; but they've long since been disproved.

I think if there're any "true" psychics they're living by themselves in a cabin in the middle of nowhere, saying nothing and keeping themselves as far away from the rest of humanity as they can.

Not prancing around on stage getting the word...nonce for money.

I doubt they're out there, but if they are, that where I think they'll be.

 Azreal13 wrote:
I think if there're any "true" psychics they're living by themselves in a cabin in the middle of nowhere, saying nothing and keeping themselves as far away from the rest of humanity as they can.

Not prancing around on stage getting the word...nonce for money.

I doubt they're out there, but if they are, that where I think they'll be.

Just like the true unicorns. Unlike fake unicorns which are just horses with a horn taped or photoshopped to their head, real unicorns are invisible and stay deep in the forest hidden away from most humans. Because if humans found them, they would want to ride them. And unicorns don't want to be ridden. We'd probably also want to steal their magic, which would be bad because being human, we'd abuse such power. And unicorns don't want that either. Unicorns are responsible creatures.

I'm not sure if you're making a point that doesn't need making or failing hard at trying to be funny?

Probably best to move on.

You know, people make fun of it but one of the most interesting experiments in ESP was done by the CIA.

Some subjects had an inordinate number of right guesses, but I'm not sure if we'd simply call it unusual statistical fluke, or something more serious. When they discovered it wasn't useful for espionage, they supposedly lost interest.