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Science and the Klass Kurse
Two articles taken from our August 2002 Newsletter and re-published here as they were the ones we've had the most response via e-mail about...
Science is the ENEMY!
Okay, I know that the GHRS in general is NOT a "scientific" organization nor has it ever billed itself as such even though we do 'dabble' in it occasionally but still... it's scary that lately I've heard from many sources that "Science is Bad, mmmkay?" because groups like CSICOP and whatnot (read: sceptdebunkers) cover themselves in the
moniker of 'science' and the 'scientific' and they feel empowered because someone of the like of Dr. Stephen Hawking hasn't devoted his life to ghosts and hauntings.
Well, there's a reason for that and it's not what you think.
Basically, all "real scientists" get their funding from getting assignments from upstanding academic or research institutes. They get the positions from these places via "peer review". This means, other scientists write glowing comments on their work to date on 'x' thing and that the scientist in question is really, really super and deserve to work on 'x'.
Now, considering academia factors in greatly, you deal a bit with what I call the "committee mentality". One thing I've learned doing this research is that if a request of mine to go into a certain place or spot must be okayed by a committee of over five people, I can forget about getting the permission I need.
Why?
Simple. Basically, if one of those five people says "Ghost research? Isn't that Satanism?" or "What if their findings or reports lead to teenagers breaking in for a cheap thrill?" or the most popular one, "Isn't that getting people interested in the site/history for the WRONG reason?" With this one dissenter, considering I really can't bring a whack of cash to the table, I am guaranteed to be voted (by the committee) out.
Well, imagine this, the board of this institution who is debating hiring on this scientist who want's to look into something that a certain segment of the population looks at as 'hoaxes and frauds' and this is mentioned to the board, that's it for the chance of serious study.
Science is not the paranormal world's enemy. The committee attitude and to a lesser degree, "real science peer review" is.
One question I like to ask scientists, amateur scientists and non-scientists alike is how would one prove the existence of ghosts?
If I was able to (and I'm not saying I am, I can, I have done so or want to) cage and capture a ghost for "experiment" in a lab, would I not be told by many that this thing I've caught could not possibly be a ghost due to whatever reason stemming from why it didn't "float through the bars of the cage" or it is not a "purely psychical entity"? Ghosts seem to be whatever the witness experiences and not a cut-and-dry sort of thing making quantifiable evidence difficult if not impossible to achieve.
So, now I want the real scientist to look into something we can't prove exists using scientific methods. Dead issue. Impossible. Case closed, right?
Wrong.
Ask a physicist exactly what is the force of gravity and what proof does she/he have for this to be the case and the answer should be "We don't know".
Yup, real science does not know what gravity truly is in a definite answer... it's all speculation and theory.
So, what separates the scientific acceptance of something we all know exists (gravity) from something that is at best a "fringe" belief? Simple, HOPEFULLY everyone has experienced gravity in some sort of way.
Hence, most believers in ghostly phenomena (myself included) usually have experienced something ghostly in one way or another. It might have been first hand or a trusted second hand account but nevertheless, it's okay to us.
The problem here is that's great but how do I present this to the world and get "real science" to say "Wow! That be a ghosty and YES! It's real!" so that when the scientist in question says "I want to study ghosts" she/he won't get smacked upside the financial head by peer review?
Answer, I have none.
What we do have to accept though is that "real science" has provided excellent 'natural' explanations for some experienced ghostly phenomena. Standing sound waves do cause items to move without physical help, sleep paralysis and the hypnopompic/hypnogogic state does explain some of the reports of ghosts that wake people and terrify them by constricting their movement and breathing patterns. These are all useful as heck to the real researcher not to use as a debunking tool but to keep us from spinning our wheels on a case of something truly "natural" in desperate search for something we hope is "supernatural".
So, although you may see "real science" as the enemy, it isn't and scientists are not all sceptdebunkers, non-believers or ignorant of the paranormal. They just know which side their bread is buttered on.
Don't shun "real science" but learn from it and embrace it. It is very helpful.
One last thing before I leave this topic... I find it interesting that when a "so-called-sceptic" (read: Non-believer or Sceptdebunker) troll appears on our board, "we" expect them to make educated arguments. I think it's only proper that "we" too are educated and aware of what 'science' has to say about our particular area of love in the paranormal. Just a thought...
Now, about historians and ghosts and that comment about people getting interested in history for "the wrong reasons"... Wait, that's next months rant!
Please read the following editorials online for more information and opinion...
The Klass Kurse
Since my significant other is another paranormal researcher (but mainly a UFOlogist) I read (or at least pretend to read) many of her books and one caught my attention for title alone. Shockingly Close to the Truth - Confessions of a Grave-Robbing Ufologist by a gent named James W. Moseley and Karl T. Pflock. Mr. Moseley is one of the VERY few of us 'serious' researchers who take the phenomena seriously and the people involved with the research, not-so-seriously.
"Irreverent" would be a good word to describe him.
Not often would I STRONGLY recommend an up and coming Ghost Researcher to read a UFO book but THIS is an exception. Mr. Moseley does not trot out case after case trying to proclaim them either as a "hoax" or "absolute truth" like most books do, he trots out the researchers, scientists and 'sceptics' for you to watch their antics and boy is it worth it.
The real reason I bring this up is NOT to say "Guess what everybody? The 'Ghost Guy' is going UFO on ya!" (far from it!) but because this book says "It's a HOBBY guys! ENJOY it! Don't be so SERIOUS all the time!" Like I say, take the witness and the phenomena seriously, NEVER take yourself too seriously!
The other reason is he mention's the "Klass Kurse". Philip Klass is a scion of CSICOP and a true 'so-called-sceptic' (read: debunker, first class) who, being quite elderly (and although ancient, still with us today,) sent an "open letter cum last will and testament" to Moseley's Saucer Smear newsletter which, sadly, although definitely 'curmudgeonly' is VERY accurate and something everyone should read and think about.
I'm reproducing it here hoping that Mr. Moseley won't mind...
THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF PHILIP J. KLASS:
To ufologists who publicly criticize me,... or who even think unkind thoughts about me in private, I do hereby leave an bequeath:
THE UFO CURSE:
No matter how long you live you will never know any more about UFOs than you know today. You will never know any more about what UFOs really are, or where they come from. You will never know any more about what the U.S. Government really knows about UFOs than you know today. As you lie on your own death-bed, you will be as mystified about UFOs as you are today. And you will remember this curse.
Substitute UFOs for "ghosts" and remove the U.S. Government bit and it does, in many ways, apply.
Sue was asking me if I thought that this "Klass Kurse" was accurate and true and all paranormal investigators (UFOlogists like herself and ghost researchers like me) are just forever spinning their wheels.
My answer (which, in many ways does not apply to myself or the GHRS as a whole) was "Of course".
In my eyes, every answer about the paranormal we THINK we come up with usually leads to more questions. The answers for those questions usually lead to even more questions. Basically, depending how you see it, a never ending circle of hypothesis and ideas... and that ain't a bad thing.
Granted, in the ghost field, if you were ONLY looking for answers to the various 'life after death' models, we all will have first hand experience at some point but so far, no one has come back and written the definitive book... yet. (...and no, I'm not intending to write this book myself in the VERY distant, far off future! When I'm gone, I have NO intention of producing any freshly written posthumous tomes!)
I have to admit, I'm VERY happy with my pursuit of ghostly history, stories, legends and yes, even the more 'scientific' things we do here at the GHRS but yes, the "Klass Kurse" applies to us all. The way to beat the 'kurse' if you ask me is to ensure that you learn as much as you can and enjoy the ride! Those folks, and I don't count myself among this group, that are in search of absolute proof of ghosts should realise that the old advertisement for cruising is very correct... "Half the fun is getting there." and if you never get there, make sure you have much more than half your fun on the journey.
Before parting this note, another GOOD reason to read Moseley's book is that HONESTLY, some stories he tells in it are SO funny, I literally found it hard to breath for laughing out loud while reading. The "Sex With Bigfoot" report is DEFINITELY worth the price of the book alone!
Us whacky paranormal researchers... We ALL (myself included) need to learn NOT to take ourselves so seriously!
©1997-2003 - GHRS - Ontario 100632991
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