Growing tired of being inundated with event invites through MySpace and other social networking sites, I decided to create and build a website that allowed paranormal groups and organizations alike to be able to list their events and market directly to the people in the paranormal field without resorting to spam tactics and unwanted emails or messages. The site, ParaEventList.com is the first event listing website dedicated solely to the entire paranormal field and its events. Best of all, it is 100% FREE to list your event, which is another great benefit to the paranormal. Any organizer of events in the paranormal, whether it be paranormal research conferences, psychic fairs, or even public ghost hunting events can and will be listed on the site, free of charge.

The biggest reason for creating this website was to not just help the paranormal field from using bad marketing tactics, but also to allow one location where the entire field can go to see what is going on around them. Currently, the site is open to nationwide conferences, but the focus will most likely start off with US and Canadian events before outside countries really start catching on. I sincerely hope that the paranormal community appreciates as well as utilizes the website. It is free advertising and marketing that targets the entire paranormal field without spamming.

Visit www.ParaEventList.com today and post your upcoming paranormal related public events.

Sometime in 2012, the Paranormal Study and Investigative Research Organization (PSIRO) has plans to host an entirely free paranormal research conference dedicated to the education and study of the paranormal. Even better, the planning and production which is years in the making is dependent on the paranormal community and its feedback and desires within a conference. The focus is not meeting and mingling with "para-celebs" but rather focusing more on education, recognition of other organizations and their dedication to research, networking with other groups, teams, and organizations across the country, and expanding the paranormal field and its research through peer review and study.

Below is a link to our feedback form that we are asking everyone in the paranormal field to fill out to help us better create an educational conference featuring people that deserve to be seen and recognized for their work in the field, not because they were featured on television. We would appreciate any and all feedback from the paranormal community.

http://www.psiro.com/index.php/parascience-conference/ParaScience-Feedback.html

 

 

 

Whether you choose to agree with my assessment or not, the paranormal research field is chaotic, unorganized and lacks structure as a whole. There are some groups who are very good at what they do, but unfortunately, the majority rule appears in the opposite light. Paranormal organizations throughout the country use the idea of science in their work, but lack the understanding to truly work within the scientific method. A simple Google search and basic understanding of what the scientific method is does not make one a scientist. Unfortunately, trying to tell this to the majority of the paranormal community as it stands today, is like trying to tell an infant that it is an infant. The infant is not aware of itself or what it actually is. It is only concerned with the now and not so much the past or the future. It only desires are to sleep and feed. That infant will grow and eventually know what it was. It will never be an infant again, but it will eventually be aware of what it used to be. The paranormal field is often said to still be in its infancy. The irony is uncanny.

 The scientific research enterprise, like other human activities, is built on a foundation of trust. Scientists trust that the results reported by others are valid. Society trusts that the results of research reflect an honest attempt by scientists to describe the world accurately and without bias. The level of trust that has characterized science and its relationship with society has contributed to a period of unparalleled scientific productivity. But this trust will endure only if the scientific devotes itself to exemplifying and transmitting the values associated with ethical scientific conduct. (On Being a Scientist, Second Edition 1995)

Can we truly trust paranormal research being conducted by organizations that continuously pop up overnight? Can we trust the results and data being presented by organizations and groups that continuously fail to show any understanding of ethical scientific conduct? The sad fact is that as researchers, we are sometimes blind to the realities of our work and overlook the ramifications of not dealing with and creating a standardized structure for scientific paranormal research. It is understood that many groups are nothing more than hobbyists looking for a thrill and to adhere to their self desires of wanting to see or "experience" something paranormal, however, more and more groups are claiming to be scientific in their research, yet few have been able to justify this statement in their research.

Underlying all science is, first, a hard-headed curiosity, a passion to explore and understand without misleading or being misled (Psychology, Myers 2004). Bringing a scientific method into practice requires not only skepticism but also humility, because we may have to reject our own ideas for the sake of our own research. Therein lies one of the first issues. It appears to me that most people are not willing to let go of their beliefs or theories to justify their findings.

A while ago I asked a "paranormal investigator" to present their evidence for review by peers. I was told that they would not as they "do not need to prove anything to me". I kindly explained that if they are claiming to have proof of the paranormal that they must present the evidence for peer review and they certainly do have something to prove to me and everyone else. Unfortunately, this argument resulted in this person getting angry for questioning them, leaving, and never contacting me again. This group still works and claims to gather evidence of the paranormal yet are not willing to have their work scrutinized or reviewed.  They are so certain on their own beliefs that the evidence they claim to have is genuine that they refuse to have any outside source possibly break down that belief. This is a continuing problem that exists in this field by many organizations.

So what is considered responsible and acceptable methodology in the paranormal research field? Honestly, it feels that most things are accepted and implored as possibilities, no matter how the data is collected. The argument that there is no right or wrong way to conduct an investigation is one that I do not agree with. I feel that depending on the nature of your investigation goals, there are most definitely right and wrong ways to conduct your investigation and research. To completely disregard an ethical and structured methodological protocol during an investigation feels negligent and pointless in terms of the investigation itself. What is the point of conducting an investigation if there is not going to be structure to it?

I believe that the paranormal research field cannot and will not conclusively prove any aspect of the paranormal with complete and 100% accuracy. the same that scientists can never prove such about the natural and physical world. All research is susceptible to error and must be treated as such. Errors can occur no matter how responsible a person is. Human fallibility can and does occur in science. The paranormal research field tends to be so concerned with their own beliefs that errors seem implausible, but the truth is, it is plausible and is rather abundant.  The responsible thing to do when an error is reported is to acknowledge that error and work to fix that error in your research. This is not always the case.

In another instance, a member of another organization came to a public forum asking questions about a  paranormal experience they had. They described their experiences but there was a lack of details about the surroundings. While debunking is not science, controlling and knowing your surroundings is essential as a researcher as it helps reduce outside variables. I pointed this out that it was near impossible to really help and offer any insight to what might have happened as there was a lack of data about the surroundings. This was an error on their research, not mine. However, I was quickly retaliated upon and told that I clearly do not believe in the possibility of the paranormal and I am close-minded and should believe that their experiences were paranormal, because they believed it to be so.

The paranormal research field needs to begin to look at itself and bring their standards of research to a whole new level...or six. This field will never be taken seriously or looked upon as legitimate if we continue to follow the same open investigation tactics and loose structure. Most of all, we will never be able to provide the possible answers of the very things we are trying to research.

With the constant barrage of paranormal media and new television series I thought I would post my viewpoints and opinions on two new shows, Extreme Paranormal & Ghost Lab.

First, Extreme Paranormal is by far one of the worst shows that I have ever laid eyes on. It is so bad that you really just want to watch it again to see what kind of ridiculous nonsense that they come up with. Kind of like the sick fascination people have with disturbing videos. You don't really want to watch it, but for some reason are baffled and intrigued by what is actually going on. The show is a joke and the investigators that are featured on it are as well. If this show never came back onto the air, I think the entire viewer population would be better off. This small team of misfits make claims and perform actions that simply defy logic and reasoning, not to mention that most promote unethical and even dangerous behavior.

My review of this show would not be any better written than the article written by Who Forted's, Greg Newkirk, so I simply let them say what it is that I feel about this show. Who Forted is a blog run by Ghost Hunters Inc. and others that associate with them on topics from paranormal media, strange news across the globe, and often picking fun at the para-celebrities. While I have not agreed with many of their earlier tirades and misinformation, I found myself completely agreeing with this particular one. You can read the article here at http://whofortedblog.com/?p=828

Recently, I have noticed a petition going around to cancel this show. It is ridiculous and absurd to throw around a petition. The networks are less concerned about the well-being of the paranormal field and more about ratings and money or shows like Extreme Paranormal, Paranormal State, Ghost Adventures, etc would have been canceled a long time ago. If you want the show to be canceled, all you have to do is one thing, get everybody to watch something else at that time. No ratings equals a shit-canned show.

Now I did watch a few episodes of Ghost Lab and while I was expecting something far more dramatic and hair pulling, I have to admit that the show is better than some of the others being promoted. I like the use of multiple and hands free data loggers to track and monitor information being collected and the fact that they have a headquarters that is mobile and able to track and monitor data OUTSIDE of the location is brilliant. While I don't agree with some of their statements that their theories were proven based on arbitrary evidence, I must also understand that this is media. Who knows what was cut out in the editing room.

While they claim to use science alongside their investigations, I don't necessarily agree with that, based off what I have seen. Most of the issues that I have with some of the theories that are being presented is that most are based off unproven statements and accepted beliefs in the paranormal field that have yet to be determined factual. I was also a little discouraged when there was no extended research done on instances that would seem rather vital to the investigation, as was the case with the speaker that "supposedly" went off on its own. Perhaps it is just me, but when something like that should occur and it is made known that there is no power going to the speaker, I am sure as hell going to verify that the information presented is indeed correct. Than again, this could have been the wonders of editing taking place.

Overall, it is hard to make a final decision on Ghost Lab and I feel that I will probably watch a few more episodes before making the determination of whether or not this show is both entertaining as well as presenting paranormal research in a newer and more credible light.

Please participate in and spread around the word regarding a precognition experiment QP has developed. Don't worry whether or not you might do well. We are simply interested in obtaining thousands of trials, so please, do as many as you can. You may participate from any computer, using any of the major web browsers. All you need is the following link:

http://www.quantumparanormal.com/ExperimentTrial.aspx?msg=Thank+you+for+participating.+However%2c+this+experiment+is+no+longer+active%2c+as+we+have+already+obtained+a+sufficient+number+of+trials+for+this+experiment.

All you have to do is click on whatever image you "feel" will appear in the future, from a randomly selected one. Simple!

Please spread this link around. We need as many trials as possible!