My intentions being involved in the paranormal field? By John

During the course of my many travels throughout this great country of ours, I oftentimes get into conversations with people concerning my endeavors in paranormal research. Believe it or not, about 90% of the folks you talk with have actually had paranormal experiences of their own, or have first hand knowledge of supposedly haunted locations! And the majority of these good people admire the work being done by investigators in the field, if only for the fact that its "Scary Stuff!"

Taking the "Wow" factor off the table for a minute, why do so many investigators and researchers get involved in the paranormal field? Outside of the obvious reason, the greatest fear known to Man is the inevitability of death, what mass appeal does forays into paranormal studies have for most of us? It is cool, exciting, fun, interesting, a rush, and at times scary, but there has to be more...doesn't there?

There are two distinct, yet not foreign to one another, schools of thought on the matter. The paranormal by it's natural (or "unnatural") design is a "new frontier," a field of loose study which lacks a number of defined boundaries to facilitate a true science. The biggest hurdle facing the paranormal field is credibility and everyone getting on the same page as far as acceptable principles and theories (the real science part of the matter at hand). Are you in this for personal exploration or are you in this for science?

I can see so many problems with the paranormal becoming an accepted field of scientific study, most notably, the individual's perception of what paranormal subjects actually are? For example, what is a ghost? Ask ten different people and you'll likely get at least six different answers, and a few being polar opposites!
I myself adhere to the mindset that living things being made up of energy (this may be extremely basal, but then again, this is only my opinion and not a college level class on chemistry or physics), pass on and they leave behind an energy signature, and depending on the individuals' personality, this can sometimes be a fair representation of their living persona! Matters not if it's a human or a non-human we are referring too...of course, this my opinion as stated earlier, and how can such things be proven definitively after all?

Science. Oh, how I do love science. I am a biologist after all, and spent many a day back in college engaging in all sorts of experiments and discussions of "plausible" theory. In some cases, the stuff made sense, other times, it was merely "chalk board science," theory if you will, and still needed to be proven at some point, for better or for worse. The biggest problem folks in the paranormal have when dealing with science is the fact that they think science is going to be their greatest ally in proving the existence of Bigfoot, Casper, or even E.T.! That is the wrong approach from jump street. Science is thy enemy is this regard. The idea needs to be that Science is there to stand in your way, it is what our beliefs and ideas are tested against...hence the idea of experiments and hypotheses. Science by its virtue is there to disprove. Interesting notion, and I love the stuff to this day.

As for me personally, I enjoy many different facets of paranormal research, most notably, the fact that we have so few answers as opposed to questions. And that for me is the hook. I can search for the rest of my life and never capture the concrete "evidence" needed to silence the critics. Who cares? You are never going to sell the masses 100% on what you "know" is an apparition or an evp of George Washington saying "I hate cherry trees!" The idea of this pursuit should NOT be, at least for most of us, I need to convert others to my way of thinking or I will show those people what I can do...this only speaks of ego and selfishness. Of course, like everything else written herein, merely my humble opinion. I look to investigate places for me, looking to find answers for myself and my teammates. Every group out there does things right, and every group out there does things wrong...we are all human. To each there own. The paranormal has enough room for everyone wishing to be involved.

In closing, my intentions being involved in the paranormal field have nothing to do with being a fan of paranormal t.v., which I am, trying to capture evidence of ghosts and UFO's to show my family and friends, which I do, or trying to discredit any others in the field, which is sad, I am in this for me and my team. I am looking for answers to questions for me and those around me, and if others enjoy my efforts, let them hear me speak, and if they do not, let those individuals have a blessed and prosperous life as well. And the sole reason I am writing this is to publicly express why I ghost hunt, it is NOT to cause controversy or point the finger at any individual or teams out there doing work in the paranormal. Trust me, that's the last thing on my mind, it's 2010, a new start to a new year! My next post is coming in Feb., wonder what I'll talk about then????

P.S. "Paranormal Unity" is not the fact that everyone needs to believe the same things, or stand around hugging one another (we can always agree to disagree), it's more from the stand that you can criticize the work others do, but without being nasty and viscous. This stuff goes on all over the World and needlessly. It's about "constructive criticism," not cheap shots...this is another reason the paranormal field is having a hard time gaining a foot hold as an acceptable field of scientific study.