A broad definition of paranormal refers to experiences that cannot be logically explained by typical cause and effect activity or scientific research. The paranormal has long been popularized and exaggerated in novels, film, and television.
The paranormal may refer to ghosts, haunted houses, and psychic abilities, but it can also describe less dramatic experiences such as intuition. In fact, most people have either had paranormal experiences or know of someone who claims to have had them. But are paranormal experiences real?
Believers vs. Critics:
The answer depends on whom you ask. Critics of paranormal theories have science on their side because there are few valid studies on paranormal phenomena that prove their existence.
Skeptics say that paranormal activity can be easily explained away by:
- Desire to Believe - People who believe or want to believe in the paranormal are more likely to have these experiences.
- Lack of Scientific Knowledge - People who do not understand sciences such as physics or psychiatry are unlikely to recognize that experiences have scientifically verifiable causes.
- Intermittent Reinforcement of Ideas - Cultural beliefs, religion, and superstitions are occasionally reinforced by random experiences. The more frequently this intermittent reinforcement is shared among members of a group or culture and become more widely accepted as reality rather than recognized as the coincidence they really are.
- False Reporting - Paranormal experiences are created by people to carry on myths for fun or profit. Believers of the paranormal rebuff critics claims, often because they firmly believe based on their own experiences or their acceptance of accounts by others they view as trustworthy authorities. Believers reject scientific research because they believe the paranormal cannot be measured by scientific means. They believe that scientists cannot measure the paranormal adequately because of their closed mindedness.
Paranormal researchers have been attempting to gather scientific data to verify their theories. The science of paranormal is still in its infancy, and skeptics typically debunk these efforts as poorly designed, lacking in scientific rigor and the ability to recreate studies, and having insignificant results.
Are Paranormal Experiences Real?
So is the paranormal real? There can be no doubt that people of many cultures for thousands of years have maintained a belief in the paranormal and have long told tales and continued practices based in those beliefs. Both sides of the debate typically acknowledge that there are unusual experiences that cannot be readily explained using current scientific methods. The fact remains though, that the debate on the nature of these experiences will continue.
Readers may also enjoy Superstition, Folklore and Friday the 13th.
Sources:
- Debunking the Paranormal: We Should Teach Critical Thinking as a Necessity for Living, Not Just as a Tool for Science, Randy Moore (The American Biology Teacher, 54 (1) January 1992, pp. 4-9).
- Ghost Hunting in Kentucky and Beyond: Experience the Unexplained, Patti Starr, McClanahan Publishing House, 2002.
