by Adam Reyes 

On the one hand, we have academics accusing investigators of the paranormal and parapsychological of being pseudoscientific.  On the other hand, we have multitudes of those supposedly from within our own field criticizing us personally, at least, of being too scientific.  Add to this mix religious leaders, preachers and pastors who accuse and subsequently condemn us of being in league with whatever devils they believe to exist.

That is the plight of the Paranormal Expert.  The irony?

First, the Academics criticize the paranormal and its proponents because they do not understand what true-blue paranormal investigation is all about.  Take for instance Professor Richard Dawkin’s work: “What’s Wrong with the Paranormal?”  I am, first and foremost, an avid fan of his lectures, and I understand the point and position from which he comes.  I particularly love this article because it is – considering the arguments contained – logically and cogently flawless.  But its brilliance is found upon a fundamental misconception beyond the flawless argument form – a misunderstanding of what the paranormal is all about.  In his opening lines, and I quote, “It’s been defined as ‘things that science cannot explain.’ That means ‘Cannot explain and never will’.”  This claim indeed has been made by many – and I daresay by individuals who have not yet studied the philosophy of paranormal investigation.  What is paranormal today indeed may no longer be paranormal tomorrow, for science is constantly evolving.

Another issue often brought up against our field by many academics is how we supposedly use mediums to investigate the paranormal.  Any serious paranormal investigator (not to be confused with parapsychologists) will vehemently refuse the use of such “mediums” because it is nearly impossible to differentiate what comes from the medium’s own unconscious from what reportedly comes from, the “spirit,” “deity,” or whatever s/he claims to be using his / her body.  Such methods are highly open to bias and subjective interpretative issues on both the part of the medium and the part of the analyst.  The data and evidence must speak for itself.

The criticisms raised by academics against the field of Paranormal Research and Investigation are apparently and mostly directed against the claims of practitioners in the field who we in the serious study of the paranormal ourselves, consider to be fakes and charlatans.

Second – those who, supposedly claiming to be from within our field, dare accuse us of being “narrow-minded” and solely based on “scientific principles which are not equipped to understand their claims to truths or discoveries” brought about by whatever powers they have deluded themselves into having, when they DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT SCIENCE IS ALL ABOUT.  The first and most basic tell-tale sign is their assumption that science deals in absolute truths.  Bloody freaking hell – science deals in facts, and facts and truths are two very different things, let alone, “absolute truths.”  I could go into a lengthy discussion on what science is (or is not) from the articles familiar to anyone who has studied the Philosophy of Science and Phenomenology, but let it suffice to say the following:

1.  Those who I have heard made this claim usually have magnificently failing marks in their elementary and secondary science classes, and

2. Their claims, just as the claims of the academics, are plagued by misconceptions – of not just what the paranormal is, but ultimately – of what science is.

Lastly – religious preachers, pastors and their followers have time and again tried to accuse and condemn us with varying “teachings” from their scriptures.  Take a fan favorite for instance: Deuteronomy 18:10-12, from the Christian Bible.  If religions and their ministers would take time to understand what it is we actually do, then I daresay they would be rallying behind our cause.  The very existence of the afterlife, for instance – which the religious mostly take on the basis of faith – may be established one day not just in having faith, but in fact.

What we have here thus is a very... typically human issue.  People are afraid of what they do not understand, because what they do not understand, they fear, they cannot control, and what they cannot control, for many – appears to them to threaten their very survival.  It is out of this fear, I daresay, that people cling fervently to their beliefs, rejecting other belief systems that seem contrary to their own and backing up against the wall with that archaic “Us versus Them” stance in life.

This is the path of the Paranormal Expert.  People criticize what we do, even if they do not understand what it is that we actually do, most especially when what they claim we do are based on grave misconceptions of what it is we truly do.  I thus invite everyone reading these words to follow this page and to keep yourselves updated – to finally understand, what Paranormal Investigation is truly all about.  To the academics, to those who claim to be from within our own field, and to the religious – we understand where you come from, and we invite you with open arms to bear witness to Paranormal Investigation, Research, and Development in all its glory.

On a parting note, allow me this quote:

“The ultimate ignorance is the rejection of something you know nothing about and refuse to investigate.” – Dr. Wayne Dyer