Because of my discipline, I have been contacted by many "interesting" individuals over the years. Oftentimes these individuals are convinced that they have made some sort of breakthrough about the nature of consciousness, found reliable "cures" for various sorts of brain damage, or developed a new experimental paradigm that will reveal the nature of the soul or solve the mind/body problem. In a few cases these individuals are delusional. One fellow had found the secret of life hidden in beautiful graphics he had designed around the seven seals. He spent many thousands of dollars to have his artwork reproduced and bound in book form to send out to those scientists that he believed would be amazed by his "discoveries."
Interactions with the lunatic fringe are one of the perqs of being a professional in my business. Everyone in my department gets called by these people. Usually they call the department contact number, and whoever handles the call forwards them on to whoever seems to be the most appropriate faculty member. Since I began teaching the Critical Thinking course, which is known around here as the ESP and Aliens course, I have been the recipient of all these calls. While sometimes these calls are disturbing, for the most part I greatly enjoy them.
A few weeks ago I got a call from someone. I couldn't tell if the person was male or female, because his or her vocal tract had been so irritated by years and years of heavy smoking that he or she sounded like she was using a voice cloak. But I think he or she was a she. She was very interested in my Critical Thinking course. Believing she was a student, I told her all about it: the topics we covered, the reading assignments, the films we watched, grading criteria, everything.
But she wasn't a student, oh no. She was (apparently) interviewing me for a job and she wanted to know my qualifications. The job she had in mind for me was ridding her house of a ghost! Reluctantly I explained that in my class I tried to get my students to reject mystical ideas like this in favor of scientific explanations of mysterious phenomena. She was disappointed in me. "You know," she gargled, "The reason you can't see the evidence for ghosts is because you don't believe in them. If you had an open mind, like a child or a dog, you would see them."
Well, I couldn't bring myself to tell her how grateful I was that my mind didn't operate like that of a child or a dog, so I told her sorry, and that perhaps she'd be able to find some help looking in the yellow pages (maybe under "pest control"). Angry Baker was terribly disappointed that I didn't even agree to check her place out. He went rummaging through our kitchen and came up with a bewildering array of meat thermometers, digital probes, balances and wands that he proposed we could use to "measure" the presence of spirits.
I still think about how I will handle the next call I get like this. I know that nothing I might say over the phone (or even in person) could sway a true believer, but I do feel that it is my responsibility as an educator to present the believer with the facts -- politely. But I must confess that I really want to be a ghostbuster! From a purely professional standpoint, I really want to know what kinds of events a person would interpret as ghostly, and I really want to spend a few hours talking with (i.e., studying) the person who interprets such events as ghostly. Can I say, next time, that I'll be right over with my digital camera? Would I still be able to maintain an ethical posture, even though my idea of ghostbusting and my "client's" idea of ghostbusting are very different things?
Thursday, May 12, 2005
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
I know someone, and this someone showed me an internet video that supposedly shows a ghost in the corner of a dark room. the camera man screamed. it was all very amusing. until I gathered that this someone seemed to think it might be genuine.
sure there was a ghostly shape in the corner of the dark room, sure there was the scream, and sure it came from the internet, which is the only reliable source of info in the world...
come to think of it, I bet it was real.
but seriously, this someone is an aspiring film maker too, you'd think they'd be the first to understand a poorly done fake.
but alas, such is life I supose.
Just be glad that you aren't a physicist; they get the worst cranks (i.e. unsolicited "theories of everything," people trying to prove Einstein wrong, etc.).
Anyway, I am a member of a local skeptics group and we hosted a Paranormal Investigations Workshop that featured Joe Nickell and Benjamin Radford in the past year and a half. From what I remember, if you really wanted to investigate the woman's "ghost", you'd probably have to talk to get more specifics about what she was claiming about the "ghost," probably visiting her home and talking to her in person. You might have to spend some time at the local public library, townhall or historical society checking to see if any of what she claims to know about the "ghost's" history actually exists (a lot of times they are pure inventions or loosely based on local folk lore). Fancy "ghostbusting" equipment isn't really necessary. All you really need is yourself, some basic equipment (tape recorder, a decent camera, note pad, pencil) and a little knowledge (this book is also helpful).
I know that this can seem like a lot of time and effort, especially if you have little free time, but sometimes an investigation can pay off. At the workshop, Ben Radford described a call he took from a local Catholic family in the Buffalo area that thought that there house was under the influence of Satan. He visited their house and looked at the evidence that led them to believe that Satan was trying to drive them from their house (at the time, they were temporarily living at one of their parents house and were considering selling it). He was able to convince them that there wasn't really even remotely paranormal involved and they moved back into their house.
Hope this helps for future callers.
I'm with Angry Baker... go "measure" things and in the meantime, make your own observations. Its a win-win. ;)
Yes, yes, accept the next offer. (rubbing hands together).. the Dark Side is powerful indeed...
It could take many years to gather enough evidence, but the possibility of an anecdotal book about experiences as a ghost-buster could be quite interesting. And think of the number of people you could educate about 'supernatural' events with such a book.
Also, once you've come to the house of the individual, paid attention to them, and poked around with flashy instruments, you could let them down easily: "I'm sorry, ma'am, but your particular house just doesn't seem to be haunted. Try these references to try to find what every day phenomenon could be causing your problems." They'd be more likely to listen once you'd earned their trust.
I can't help myself
http://www.xkcd.com/459/
Post a Comment