Lately I have been reading a lot of different opinions on paranormal research. Many groups believe orbs are dust. Just as many groups believe orbs are spirits. Same theory applies to EMF meters and even EVP’s. Why are there some many different opinions on these items which paranormal investigators base their "scientific research" on?
Simply put, we don’t know the answers yet. That is why we do what we do. But we need to do things better. Aside from going out and investigating the places we do, we also need to sit down and experiment with what we do and how we do it. We are not all scientist and I believe many do not even know how to formulate a scientific hypothesis that can be verified. This has to happen in order for anyone in the paranormal community to say they have the answer. Right now none of us do.
The scientific side of what we do really needs some refinement, why, because not many if any at all are doing scientific research properly. The basics of this research are as follows:
What is the answer you are looking for? – Now be realistic here, don’t say I want to find out if there is an afterlife right out of the blocks, I suggest you start with a much smaller goal and eventually lead up to that.
Research all you can on your topic and develop you own hypothesis as to what you believe the proper answer to be. Don’t be fooled, you can change your mind as your research continues.
Test your hypothesis thoroughly. A true testing procedure will only change one variable at a time; this way as you are working you can keep track of what that one variable did to your test. As you go further into this you must remember that you need to run your test over and over to see if you obtain the same outcome. Also your testing must be able to be replicated by others
Once you have done this it is time to draw your final conclusion. Make sure you answer these questions while doing so:
Do you need to do more research to come to a proper conclusion?
Does your testing truly support what you are trying to accomplish (your hypothesis)?
Can this be replicated?
Be honest on your findings
Remember a quote from Thomas Edison: "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work". This is telling you to keep trying to get to your answer.
If we follow a procedure similar to this, then we may have a place to start. A place where these ideas have factual scientific evidence to support them.
Most members of our ever growing community do not understand the basics and immediately begin to have their opinions which they believe are truth. Others read what they post on a blog or website and they continue to carry on that mantra. We need to develop our own opinions based on our own research.
The most important thing we all need to understand is this: We don’t know anything yet. Everything out there is speculation without sound science to back it up. With that being said both sides of every coin are in play, orbs, EMF and EVP all may have a place in our research or may have no place in it at all. Until we know for sure we cannot discount both sides.
Comments
The hypothesis I have been testing is that some discarnate entities I encounter are not "dead people" but are "living people" out side of the “moment in time’ we call the “present.” We “living” in our “moment in time” are communicating with them “living” in their “moment in time” their “present.” To us they are the discarnate entities as we are the discarnate entities them. Food for thought
First of all paranormal investigation is not new. As a formal scientific discipline its been around for over a hundred years. Beyond that the Catholic church and other have been documenting hauntings and related phenomenon for thousands of years. So there's a substantial base to draw upon. Take EVPs for example. They've been getting them since audio recorders were first invented so no its not a new phenomenon its just become more popular (study world itc and Rahdive for examples of substannial scientific research on the subject). As for orbs could they be spirits? Sure but the evidence rarely supports that conclusion. Orbs can be reproduced by purely mundane phenomenon and that's a simple fact of photography. Do legitimate examples exist? yes I believe they do but on the whole waving pictures of orbs around as "proof" of the paranormal just makes ghost hunters look naive.
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