Aliyah Baksh
Mr. Riddell
English EES83H
November 21, 2014
Is the Study of Paranormal Phenomena a Legitimate Science? “The new improved version of “science” now encompassed all the activities which collectively serve aim of the natural word and how it works.” (Hill, 1) This means that science is the study of the natural world and how it works. “Paranormal researchers” who use cool gadgets and use extremely scientific terms, think that they are conducting scientific experiments when researching the paranormal. However, the study of paranormal phenomena is NOT a legitimate science. Paranormal researchers cannot defend or prove their work, and studies have proven that brain activity does in fact, influence how people perceive the paranormal. Paranormal researchers cannot defend or prove their work. One of the steps in the scientific method- which is the method used in ALL scientific observations and experiments- is to observe your experiment with the proper materials. When observing their work, paranormal researchers often use “special” equipment to gather their information. Many who claim to use scientific equipment “use various subjective means of investigations: psychics, dowsing, pendulums, and even Ouija boards.” (Hill, 3) Paranormal researchers who use psychics fail to realize that psychics are not credible; they are not able to provide valid reasons for why they are able to “see ghosts” or “talk to the dead.” Paranormal researchers also use audio recording devices such as tape recorders to record EVP-electronic voice phenomena. Audio recorders are another non-reliable tool because they pick up sounds that can sound likes voices but are really not, and they can also pick up voices of people. Then, when the paranormal researchers listen to their recordings, they claim that it was an EVP when it could have been something else. Any research done in the name of science must be performed using THE scientific method. However, Shorn Hill had interviewed the host of a local show called Paranormal Science. She had asked them questions pertaining to science and they responded by saying “We by no means are using the scientific methods. Just various “as-science” methods or ways of trying to document activity.” (Hill, 3) How is it that they claim to research the SCIENCE of paranormal phenomena when they “by no means are using THE scientific methods?” Studies have proven that brain activity does in fact; influence how people perceive the “super natural.” 90% of Americans believe that they have experience the “super natural.” On the other hand, neuroscientists are now beginning to see that these super natural events are really tricks played on the gullible. “A study reported a few weeks ago in the journal “Science” found that people asked to recall a time when they felt a loss of control saw more patterns in random noises perceived more conspiracies in stories they read and imagined illusory correlations in financial markets than people who were not reminded that events are sometimes beyond their control. "In the absence of perceived control, people become susceptible to detecting patterns in an effort to regain some sense of organization," says psychology researcher Bruce Hood of the University of Bristol, whose upcoming book Supersense: Why We Believe in the Unbelievable explores the mental processes behind belief in the paranormal.” (Begley, 2) This means that when a person is having problems maintaining control in their lives, they are more likely to perceive the super natural because they yearn for a sense of control. People who do believe that paranormal phenomena are a legitimate science argue that