A Ghost Too Far

Lately I've been watching a new show. I won't tell you what it is because I don't want to be sued. Ha. Ha. Actually, I know my 1st Amendment rights so I'm not concerned about that, it's just late and I don't have a lot of time and energy to put into this and don't feel it would be fair for me to go into this show without taking the time to go through the logical arguments. I'll just say that the show is about a team of paranormal investigators and I want to say a few things about that. Paranormal Investigator? The term itself would be useful but it's only applicable to maybe 5% of the people actually going out their and investigating the paranormal, the other 95% are...well, they're out there for a lot of different reasons, just not true, rigorous scientific inquiry. On this show there is definitely some scientific interest...but mostly it's a bunch of meddling. I propose two new terms and whichever one I want, the opposite one will catch on. I hope they'll be used to describe these kinds of folk but I think they'll just be used to describe people who believe in something different and make fun of them. Whatever. I propose instead of "Paranormal Investigator" non-serious types be called "Paranormal Instigators" or "Paranormal Perpetrators". A Paranormal Instigator is someone who goes into a situation and instigates something that wasn't there in the first place or who's presence makes it worse. For instance consider the situation where a child is seeing a monster and the mother believes it's some sort of bone-fide demon. The "Instigator" comes into the house. If the demon is real they meddle, pissing it off, instigating more eruptions of paranormal activity. If the demon is actually a psychological manifestation and reality made worse by the concerns of the parent (which is usually the case--sorry believers, Occam's razor sad but true!), then the Instigator, by coming in and making a big deal about it all with their equipment and "experts" and what not, reinforces the parent's anxiety and instead of teaching ways to calm the child makes things worse. A Paranormal Perpetrator comes into a place and comes off like an expert, but all they do is perpetrate another belief system. This is one of the most common things I see on these shows, they come into the house, they experience a cold spot in a room, and boom, it's a ghost. Isn't it possible that cold spots happen? Where's the evidence to connect this specific cold spot--if any at all--to ghosts? The perpetrator takes evidence that would otherwise be unconnected and attached a metaphysical explanation to it. The most common example of both is "dead time". This is when all the investigators stay overnight at some haunted place with their video cameras, night vision, infra red cameras, volt meters, electromagnetic readers, psychics, and magic chewawas. They jump to sounds and shadows that are and aren't there. The meaningless and trivial becomes a haunting. Question: After moving to a new house or apartment have you noticed how it takes you awhile to get used to the sounds at night? I have. I wake up all the time to this creek and that groan. Sometimes it even freaks me out but I remind myself, "New house, calm down, go back to sleep." Now consider this: these people are, like you and I, regular human beings. They're walking into homes they've never been in before and staying up all night. They're turning off the lights, hence their vision isn't very good and their perception is focused largely on sounds (which they wouldn't necessarily notice if the lights were on). Question: Who made the rule that ghosts necessarily just come out when the lights turn off? Anyway, I'm not a fan of Perpetrators or Instigators. Both may have valid beliefs, both may show elements of true scientific inquiry, but both are quacks and both can be dangerous to their clients. They're not "warriors" as some may claim. They're there for the purposes of thrill seeking, they're there to have fun, they're there to be on TV, to make advertise and make money, they're there for ego. Do you ever stop to consider if there's a soul there that they might want to be left alone? Have you ever considered that a spirit has every right to exist as we do, that they have a right to exist without being screwed with? How would you feel if someone took over your TV, your radios, and your computer, so whenever they wanted they could take them over and send you messages like, "Are you there? If you're there then respond. Click a key. Any key. Or send a file. Are you there? We want to talk with you. Don't be a coward! Take off your clothes and take a shot on your web cam! We want to know what you look like! In the name of Jesus you have no right to be here, get the fuck out!" Watch these shows and ask yourself out of 5 episodes, how many did they do this on? 1 of 5? Actually it's closer to 5 of 5 for any and all of these investigative shows and it's sorta sick--actually it's very sick--and I can't help but feel sad because those with psychological problems will usually go downhill (it takes a community with ongoing support to cast out psychological demons) and sad because those with real demons will also go downhill (telling a demon who feeds on fear to go fuck itself then taking off for the next show ain't going to protect a household--they're not stupid and know the visitors' intent). So I wish I could spend more time writing but I think my focus for this year (outside of writing at work, of course) is to more clearly articulate my thoughts as quickly as possible without going back and doing rewrites. I have spent most of my life rewriting and have lost the ability to get my thoughts out at all so I need to work on that now. Goodnight, .a