Common sense and the Paranormal

Bebi · Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2006 3:40 pm Post subject: Common sense and the Paranormal

I decided to create this thread because I speak to many people on the various forums I frequent who are convinced that whatever they’ve experienced has to be paranormal, and will not listen to possible logical explanations.

Firstly, when experiencing something out of the ordinary it is important to try to remain calm. You cannot objectively view situations when panicking. There are a lot of horror stories about, and I know that the last thing on your mind would be to stay calm when confronted with something that might scare you badly. Remember that it’s fear of the unknown which is your worst enemy in these situations. Your mind will try to come up with hundreds of scenarios, and 99% of them are likely to be worse than reality. Also, if you are under the influence of alcohol or drugs (even some prescribed drugs) remember that this can have an effect on what you witness, and your credibility to others.

As soon as you can, write down what you experienced. Memory can play tricks after extended periods of time. Try not to embellish anything, the facts are what you’re after at the end of the day, and it’s easy to give in to that part of yourself that wants it to be something more than it might be.

The main tool here to use is logic. Go over events slowly and try to allocate as many logical explanations to each step as possible.

Here are a few sample questions you can ask yourself. These are not exhaustive, just a guide. I’m sure you will be able to think up more for your own situation. These mainly relate to multiple experiences, but the same reasoning can be applied to a single experience.

When did it start?
How often does it happen?
Does the frequency change?
Are there any common factors? (certain people/times/sequences of events seem to be common triggers)
Was anyone a witness? (their thoughts?)
Can you recreate the experience?

Now you can rule the logical explanations out one by one. Once you’ve ruled each and every one out then now’s the time to start investigating further. If you still have at least one logical explanation that you can’t rule out, then surely that explanation could be possible, however unlikely? There’s an old saying; “truth is stranger than fiction” which basically relates as the logical explanation could be even stranger than the paranormal.

It’s also a good idea to ask the people in the household (or possible witnesses if it’s not in a household) if they’ve experienced anything. An easy way to rule out them just agreeing with you is to word it as an open question, something like “have you noticed anything odd around here lately?” They may have differing views and this way you get their objective answers without letting them be swayed by yours. Also, by this time you’ll have your version of events written down, so if there’s any question of anyone saying you made it up if your stories tally, you have proof that you experienced it too. It’s also a good idea to write down their stories and keep them all together; this helps you to compare notes easily.

At the end of the day, a post on a forum is more likely to attract serious intellectual discussion if the poster shows that they’ve acted calmly and rationally and at least attempted to find a logical explanation before crying “ghost”.

_________________
It is those who are perfectly sane who are driven the maddest by an insane world...

There is method behind my madness