Do you really believe in paranormal stuff because i hate to say this but people who believe are labelled as?

Question

Crackpots or weirdo's.

No offence meant.

Peter D: I don't tip toe through the daisy patch if i wanted to call someone a crackpot or a weirdo i wouldn't think twice about it, also for the record i just happen to believe in ghosts and other elements of the spirit world and i have been called those things in the past myself, so i'm not just someone who asks these questions for the hell off it.

Answer 1

Someone can be labeled a crackpot, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the label applies. Sometimes a person distinguishes himself by a different way of thinking that turns out to be right after all, and it was everybody else that was wrong. But usually the label of crackpot is reserved for someone who not only goes against current mainstream understanding, but who positions himself as an authority while not having the credentials to back it up.

Personally, no, I don't believe in paranormal claims and this is because of the overwhelming lack of evidence for them, in general. People who do believe in the paranormal aren't crackpots or weirdos, but frauds like Sylvia Browne and John Edward sure qualify as crackpots.

Answer 2

Everyone is intitled to their opinion...so if I am a crackpot or weirdo...ok. So was Columbus, the Wright Brothers and Edison to name a few. By no means would I compare my intellect to the few named above. I only use them as examples to say that people have thought that people like those aforementioned were crazy, crackpots and weirdos. And look what they accomplished...As a paranormal investigator, I might not be alive to see it, but there will come a time when it will be even more widely accepted than it is today.

Answer 3

Yes I do, because I've lived in a house that had paranormal activity. My whole family, plus a few friends and relatives, had experiences there we couldn't explain. It ranged from footsteps going through the house (nothing visible causing them) to scratching/tapping/pounding noises on the walls, hearing muffled voices, watching objects move by themselves, lights turning on and off, doors violently slamming shut, a light fixture that somehow unscrewed itself and shattered on the floor, a cloud of "something" like smoke or mist that would pass through closed doors, etc.. There was more, but that should give you some idea of what it was like.

This was 35-40 years ago before there was much interest in (or info published about) paranormal events. Other than hollywood movies, we didn't really have any preconceived ideas of what a "haunting" was supposed to be like. When I got internet access in 1994, I was relieved and scared at the same time to see that other people had witnessed the same kind of things.

There's nothing neat or fun about living in that type of environment. It was scary as hell and very stressful, especially for a young kid. I don't think I had a good night's sleep for over 11 years until the day we moved out of that house. You're right about many non-believers automatically hanging labels, which are just insults. A lot of them won't even try to discuss the topic rationally and seem to prefer being self righteous, know-it-all a**holes confident in their own ignorance.

I think about 95% of the supposed paranormal media on the internet is either fake, or nothing special, which doesn't help matters any. Somebody captures lens flare or flash-illuminated dust and bada-bing - you got orbs! (We took dozens of photos in our house, not an "orb" in any of them.) Flying insects who's wing beat doesn't match the video frame rate become "rods". Garbled, processed brown noise becomes EVP's.

I don't worry much about the nay sayers. Some day, with the proper instrumentation, science will figure out what paranormal activity is. For now it's in the same category that microorganisms were a few hundred years ago; if science cannot detect it, it must not exist.

EDIT: I forgot to add something. A few years ago I found out that the owner of the house we rented had died in there. We didn't know that when we moved in. Many times, the activity seemed centered around the closet in the bedroom us kids shared. That's where the man passed away, in the closet. Our landlady (his widow) never told us. My mom found out from the former next door neighbor.

Answer 4

That all depends on who is doing the labeling. There are always going to be those who are not comfortable with ideas that make them uncomfortable. Some people don't like their little world's shaken up so to speak.There are those who while not believing, are open to the possibility that there might be something we cannot explain yet. And then there are those who just flat out do not want there to be anything because it would change everything they have based their belief systems on. If the belief is not harmful to anyone, then what's the problem? If all one can do is sit back and place label's on someone, or call down someone's belief's, then that make's them a much smaller person overall, don't you think? At last check, I cannot think of one person who was harmed by believing in ghost's. I can think of 100's of millions of reason's for someone being harmed in believing in something such as Communism or Socialism.

Answer 5

I think the worst case of labelling of crackpots and weirdo's was in Salem Mass in the 1600's, by people who were afraid of the paranormal (witches) these trials were conducted by supposedly normal people against modestly successful people. I think it was a way to get rid of the competition.

So I guess people that believe in paranormal are witches, warlocks, and commune with the spirits. But if there is no such thing as the paranormal, then I guess there is no such thing as a witch, or warlock. We're safe as far as I can tell.

Answer 6

I believe in spirits. I also believe in the Father the Son and, the Holy Spirit . I also believe that no matter his name there is but 1 God .. just several different ways man choose to label him and worship him. So.. call me a weirdo.. crackpot or whatever.. just don't forget to call me when dinner is ready.

Answer 7

No I don't believe in it.I don't think all people who do, are labeled crackpots and weirdos.Although, seeing things and hearing voices are symptoms of mental illness.That's probably where the confusion comes from.I know plenty of crackpots and weirdos who think ghosts and psychics are silly notions.From time to time I've been called a bit of a weirdo myself.A true weirdo wears their eccentricity like a badge of honor.As they should.

Answer 8

Labelled such by who, exactly? It's far more "normal" than you believe. Actually, there are are a growing number who think people that are unable or unwilling to see what's in front of them as weird or a crackpot. The times, they are a changin'. Actually, they're just catchin' up. What may be considered "paranormal" to you is perfectly normal to me, always has been.
I take no offense. Reminds me of the original Kung Fu movie where Grasshopper says to his Master Po, after he's asked if he sees and hears the grasshopper at his feet. Master, you are blind, how is it you see these things? And Master Po calmly replies, How is it you do not?

Answer 9

Yes I do. All people who believe in forward thinking ideas (superstring theory, quantum mechanics, placebo effect, experimenter effect, earth revolving around the sun, and of course many paranormal phenomena (ESP, PK, etc.) have been called a variety of names.
Some like Copernicus and Galileo met with violent opposition. Others like Edison were simply labeled as you suggest by the conventional thinkers of the day. For instance the day Edison lit up Menlo Park no scientist attended and an article by an expert metallurgist appeared in Scientific American explaining why a long burning light bulb was impossible and how lacking in understanding of the basics of metal properties that Edison must be.
Today opposition is launched by debunks like James Randi (with no education or training in science) against scientist that dare to study such things as ESP.

If you believe that all believers are crackpots take a look at the link below to the Para psychological Association, an elected affiliate of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (link below) since 1969.
Most PA members hold PhD (or other doctoral level degrees) in mainstream fields of science.

This is not to say that that there aren't believers that have some strange ideas. Also even educated scientist could be labeled as weird for being brave (or stupid?) enough to be willing to work to work in a field that has such opposition from more conventional scientist.

Also, paranormal is huge umbrella term that covers everything from Aliens, Monsters (Big Foot), Ghosts, ESP (in many forms), Psychokinesis (in many forms) and I'm sure hundreds of specific examples so it's difficult to say that a person believes in the paranormal. Some may believe in something paranormal but not something else.

Yes, I really believe it based on evidence and possibilities.

Answer 10

I once thought people who believed in ghosts were crazy crackpots until I had one try to get me to leave the house he loved. Now I know ghosts are real and just people without bodies.
BB