Paranormal Experts?

Originally posted on Dec. 30, 2008


It's often said that there are no "experts" in the field of paranormal research. I see this statement as an enabler for the bullshit artist. I also see it as somewhat of an untrue statement. Sure, no one has all the answers. If it was proven that life after death existed, many people would lose interest in the paranormal. At least according to many popular "reasons" that people state for belonging to this field in the first place. We're all "looking for answers", right? I believe that there are indeed experts in the paranormal field. No, these people don't have the answers, and no, they have not proven that ghosts exist. They do however know what they are doing as opposed to many who have entered the field in the past few years.

There are people who are well versed in the field of paranormal research and there are people who haven't a clue. There are people who know the difference between Gauss and EM frequency and others who don't. There are people who know who Raudive was, or Zener and Rhine, or Houdini's influence in the field, and there are people who don't. There are people unfamiliar with Harry Price and others who think Jason and Grant were the first ghost hunters. There are people who understand why a door can open by itself and people who only understand that a ghost did it. There are still people bothering with thermal imaging and IR thermometers, even though they don't work as expected by the researchers who first picked them up. And the K-II meters are still flying off the shelves... Are you still sure there are no experts in the field? The beginner is going to follow whatever is popular(or what they see on TV). That is all that they know. The experts, which I feel do exist, are going to use a bit more knowledge based logic. Why research something if common sense or other researchers have already done so and disproved the theory and/or recognized the red herring within? If you understand how an IR thermometer works and how it is not going to pick up a cold spot in the air, then why use one?

I have also met people who claimed to be "experts" when they were not. Or even worse, they are "audio experts" who don't have a clue what A/D conversion is or what it consists of.

When we say "there are no experts in the field", we enable bullshitters such as Chris Moon and the rest of the con men. To the con man, no experts equals plenty of saps. And while there are plenty of suckers in this field, we should not enable these charlatans. It makes us look bad on a whole, suddenly we all become con artist.

There is always something to learn in this field. It never stops. If it does, you have failed and should find a new hobby. There are experts in this field and they know the difference between you and them. There is no indication in the definition of expert that requires the answers:

expert
Noun
a person who has extensive skill or knowledge in a particular field
Adjective
1. skillful or knowledgeable
2. of, involving, or done by an expert [Latin expertus known by experience]

I do not consider myself an expert but I am no beginner either. There are people out there who blow me away with their knowledge. I am constantly learning and never plan to quit. This is the attitude you must possess in this field. If you stop at GH101, go hold hands and tip a table, Spiritualist.