Why paranormal investigators aren't taken seriously

Started by Jake, January 24, 2012, 07:10:33 AM

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Article by Erin Bond at Dark River Press about the stigma of the "paranormal investigator":

Quote[T]he main reason the paranormal isn't taken seriously is because of some of the people involved in the paranormal community themselves. There are some people that just need to tone it down a bit. We have seen some of those that carry a sense of entitlement because they're like "Oooh, I'm a psychic/medium," etc. If you're going to make such claims then be ready to back them up.  Anyone can claim anything, so either put up or shut up. Then there are the people who are too accepting which are just as bad. Those who remarkably have a 100% success rate finding paranormal evidence. The people who think everything is evidence, that everywhere is haunted. They capture orbs and EVP's without considering the innumerable rational or natural explanations of where they could have originated. They interpret everything with a paranormal bias. And what's even worse is that with the accessibility to so much software, evidence is so easily forged and hoaxes are created. How are we ever to gain credibility? This only makes it even harder for us to gather cases and investigation invitations.

I don't disagree with any of that. I think that a real distance needs to be placed between those who want to be taken seriously as investigators, and those who just want to impress others. While some would argue that the abundance of paranormal/supernatural shows has publicised and generated interest in the field, I would say that it has led to a huge dumbing down and a massive influx of hoaxers/fairweather friends.