What Is It About The Paranormal That Attracts Or Repels?

We've seen it here in our little forum, and we see it pretty much everywhere the topics are discussed. Some people are attracted to the paranormal while others seem to resent the subject coming up.

To some extent or, at least, as it pertains to some people, intelligence might play into it. Quite frankly, some people are dumb or gullible enough to fall for anything. But, as much as some people might like this to be the answer, it isn't. While it might explain beliefs in the paranormal on the part of some specific people, who are lacking in working brain cells, it's probably fair to say that there are at least an equal number of people who aren't smart enough to even consider anything beyond the official word on a subject.

There are also some pretty smart people on both sides of the issue. If the percentage of intelligent people appears to favor those who would reject such beliefs, that could be accounted for by the fact that they might be smart enough to know that their careers could be hampered by expressing beliefs in bigfoot, djinn, ghosts, cryptoids, extraterrestrials, or time travelers.

Intelligent people who have rejected the paranormal are likely to assume that they don't believe in these things because they are too intelligent to fall for it. Of course, they are also likely to assume that those who do believe in these things are stupid. For them, disbelief in the paranormal is viewed as proof of their superiority, and it's always nice to have someone who you can be superior to.

So, I don't think that intelligence determines whether someone is likely to believe in the paranormal. Although that might be true on an individual basis, I don't think that works as an explanation. Conversely, intelligent people who accept that aspects of the paranormal could be real might view such people as unimaginative or close-minded.

Some people may delve into beliefs of the paranormal as a means of adding some spice to their lives, for many of the same reasons we might read fantasy books or watch movies about subjects outside of the norm.

One thing that I don't understand, and am hoping that someone can help me with, is why so many people are angered by paranormal topics. We've seen it here, and we've probably seen it in other places where paranormal topics come up, there will always be people who consider these topics to be an affront, and someone will try to shut it down.

I can understand a parent who wants to dissuade his child from believing in ghosts or Bigfoot, because parents could realistically fear that such beliefs will hold their child up to ridicule from others, and parents might want to ground their children in reality - their version of reality, anyhow. Similarly, atheistic parents might want to dissuade their children from believing in a god because they, rightfully or wrongfully, might consider these beliefs to be nonsense. I would have still loved him if he did, but I wouldn't have been pleased if my son were to have shaved his head, donned a robe, and started hawking copies of the Bhagavad Gita in airports so, although I am a Christian, I get that.

But why are people who don't have a stake in the lives of others offended by paranormal topics? Invariably, someone will get upset when a paranormal topic is introduced as if they are somehow harmed by the fact that someone else might believe in something they don't. There are plenty of other topics here, so it should be easy enough to simply ignore those that don't hold any interest to you.

I can only speak for myself. I have never considered myself to be unintelligent, and I haven't come across anything that would persuade me otherwise, although I recognize that I have limitations and have met plenty of people who are smarter than I am.

I would love to believe in ghosts, if only because that would give me a lot of things to think about. I have had a few experiences that suggested the presence of ghosts, and I can accept that I don't have to understand something in order for it to be real. After all, I'm a Christian, yet I can't say that I understand God or that I know what to expect after I die. If there's nothing to it after all, then I won't be conscious of the fact that I had been wrong, so that doesn't concern me. What is heaven like? I don't know. Streets of gold only appeal to me if I can dig them up and sell them for something that I really want. I suppose that if I'm going to spend eternity sitting on a cloud playing a harp, at some point I might actually learn how to do that, but it still doesn't appeal to me. I expect that heaven will hold an eternity of interest to me, but I don't have a clue as to what that might look like.

I don't understand God, and I don't know what the afterlife will be like, yet I believe in it. Given that, it's not completely out of the question that there are some aspects of the afterlife, or for some people, that could be interpreted as ghosts. I can accept that as a possibility, yet I don't sit around in graveyards or old buildings at night talking to them.

I enjoy and am sometimes creeped out by electronic voice phenomena (EVP) recordings like those that were sometimes played on Coast to Coast radio when Art Bell was there. I don't listen to the new guy, so I don't know what they're doing on Coast to Coast now. The few times I have tuned in, the show seemed like a long infomercial for food supplements or other things that I have no interest in, so I listen to reruns of Art Bell instead. However, I don't know if these recordings are made up by the ghost hunters who come up with them, or if they are some other phenomenon unrelated to the afterlife. I don't know, but they are intriguing, and when I play that stuff while in bed, it sometimes makes for interesting dreams.

However, ghost-hunting shows or videos that I have watched seem so obviously phony that I rarely watch the whole thing. Some have been more interesting, but I don't know whether this is because they are possibly real or because they were simply better productions.

I don't know, but it doesn't offend me that someone might believe in ghosts.

I'd love to believe that Bigfoot is out there in the wilderness but, with the availability of game cameras capable of producing excellent photos and video, it's hard for me to understand why Bigfoot is always so blurry. Perhaps Bigfoot is blurry? I wrote about that here.

If you've watched Bigfoot hunting shows, you've probably noticed that these people, who earn (or supplement) their living hunting for Bigfoot, will invariably get scared and run whenever they hear a noise in the woods that could possibly be Bigfoot. If you're going to run whenever you hear a noise in the woods, how the hell do you think you're going to ever find Bigfoot? Of course, these are the same people who can't think of any reasons why a tree could fall down in the forest that couldn't be attributed to Bigfoot.

I've been in the woods at night tons of times, but when I hear a noise, I think moose, deer, bear, fox, coyote, lynx, or raccoon - I don't automatically go to Bigfoot.

Trees fall down in the forest all the time. Do they make a noise if no one is there to hear them? I don't know, and that's another topic anyhow.

So, while I enjoy watching those few Bigfoot shows that are well-produced, I can't say that I believe in Bigfoot. Possibly, but I doubt it.

Are there sea serpents or monsters in the oceans that haven't yet been identified or classified? Yeah, it seems likely that there are, but that doesn't mean that the Loch Ness Monster is real, or that Lake Champlain has a similar sea monster named Champ. Could be, maybe, probably not, but I don't know.

But that doesn't mean that I'm offended by those who believe these things or even that I am uninterested in them. I own books on cryptozoology and on specific cryptoids.

I am attracted to most aspects of the paranormal, but I'm not sold on them.

If you hate seeing these topics, why does it bother you that others are talking about them? If you are attracted to the paranormal, why do you think that is, and does it necessarily mean that you believe in the paranormal?

 

People have an innate desire to make sense of information they are aware of, which is the source of conspiracy theories. Those with the most information are often able to come up with more credible theories than those who lack information. Of course, credibility isn't necessarily synonymous with actuality. The reason there are so many theories surrounding governmental and political actions is that, first of all, there are a lot of true governmental and political conspiracies, but these are also the areas in which facts are the most likely to be suppressed and/or falsely reported.

Similarly, when it comes to the paranormal, I think it's fair to presume that there are a lot of things that we don't yet know about the world around us, or within our own minds. When someone experiences something that they can't identify or don't understand, there is a desire to come up with a story that explains what they saw, heard, felt, or otherwise experienced. We don't generally just make these stories up, but we search for reports of similar experiences that others may have had, compare notes, and try to come up with explanations. Others come across these reports and associated theories, and, if they make sense to them or are otherwise appealing, they may adopt them.

Also entering the mix, I am sure, when it comes to conspiracies and the paranormal, are that others find ways to profit from advancing one or more of these theories, and they may use deliberate falsehoods in order to bolster whatever it is that they're promoting, and this will be seen as evidence by others who come across it.

 

True.

 

We know that there are sounds that we cannot hear, as well as light (visuals) that we cannot see. Even animals can hear and sense things that humans cannot detect.
This is as simple as those dog bark-repellents that make sound in a frequency we can’t hear; so it is also quite believable that there can be things happening that are in a frequency we can’t see. (I remember reading what those frequencies are, but don’t know how to find it again)

Years ago, my mother went to a Christian fellowship meeting where there were several speakers for the evening. As she watched, she said she saw the face of two of those speakers turn into something that she described as a deaths-head or skull kind of thing. She said that she was so shocked, that she hoped no one else could see the horrified look on her face, and then the faces turned back into what they were supposed to look like.
My mom was about as down to earth as a person could get, and not given to any strange kind of visions, and this really upset her. She never knew what it meant, but did know that she saw something that other people were not able to see for those few seconds.

I see paranormal as totally different than conspiracy theories; but since both are basically subjects that can not be definitively proved one way or the other, it makes sense to have them combined here on the forum.
People who like to delve into either rabbit hole have a place here where we can discuss these things, and people who are not interested do not have to see it in the “normal” threads.