Dave’s Write Away
By Dave Scott, Host, Spaced Out Radio
Para-Karens Everywhere!
It’s been a while since I’ve written a blog on the paranormal. That’s mainly because there’s been so much happening in the world of ufology that has needed to be addressed. So much so that the paranormal has almost become an after thought for me. Why? It’s because we could be on the cusp of some worldly and life changing news when it comes to UFOs and Extraterrestrial life. This is literally something that will affect every person on this planet. How they live. The God they worship. Everything!
But we can’t forget about our ghost hunting friends who are out there on the weekends, searching for the unknown. Since the inception of Spaced Out Radio, I can admit I have fallen out of love with the paranormal-ghost hunting field. There are numerous reasons for this, and unfortunately things aren’t changing. But now, we are starting to really see the true colours of the ‘Karens’ who are trying to run amok in this this line of research. It’s disheartening to say the least, because there are some great people doing great work to try and advance the study of the phenomenon. I think of Ross Allison, David Weatherly, Nicole Strickland, Dustin Pari, the Hellier Team, David Spinks, and some other great, brilliant and talented individuals who are looking beyond the scopes of the weekend warrior thrill seekers.
The Para-Karens of this world are not doing the field any favours. I hate to tell you this, but the drama and ego are ridiculous at times. Everything from false claims of conducting ‘scientific research’ to trying to hoard locations so other investigators or teams can’t have some fun in the same locations. Are they doing this for the sake of bettering the field? No, to put it bluntly. They’re doing it because they want to try and dominate their town, region state or province for bragging rights. Bragging rights in what? Oooooooh, you caught an EVP! Big deal! Do you really know how nonsensical this action really is?
For the majority of ‘ghost hunters’ or researchers out there, they have no clue what they’re actually trying to solve. Most head out on a weekend adventure to look for ghosts. Frankly there’s nothing wrong with this. I’ve done it. It’s quite a rush and a lot of fun. However, when I see or hear of teams trying to lock down locations that can only be exclusively investigated by them, it’s ridiculous. Trying to bully other teams or investigators because their techniques or beliefs are different. Or using excuses that they don’t want ‘their’ sites to be tainted by others. Come on! Are you really listening to yourself, Para-Karen? Most investigators don’t even know what they are looking for. They have ZERO clue what they are doing with their evidence. Ask them what mystery they are trying to solve at the end, the answer usually is, ‘What do you mean?’ or ‘I don’t know’. But hey, you go on conducting your non-scientific, scientific analysis of whatever it is you’re trying to solve.
The incredulous attitude, I feel, can be attributed to a few things. People seeking fame in television or media. Hoping to become the next Zach Bagans or Amy Bruni. Seeking out that 15-minutes of fame to get that one photo, video or piece of evidence that launches their name into the paranormal stratosphere. Guess what? There are tens of thousands of people like that. If you want to be on television, do you know how to edit? Do you know how to create high quality video? Do you know how to speak on camera? Do you know how to dress? Do you have the right look that television is looking for? This doesn’t even include, yet, the egotistical name droppers that blow up because a blue checkmarked personality on Twitter or Facebook gave their comment a ‘like’, that you’re now best friends! Or they decided in order to stand out from the pack, they needed to create a title of sorts, like demonologist, or paranormal skeptic.
Speaking of the term skeptic, why does every team out there have to have their resident ‘skeptic’? What is the purpose of this? Is this to try and make your research more credible if you have someone who is questioning the ‘reality’ of all situations? If you yourself cannot decipher what is real or what is memorex, then you’re probably in the wrong field. If you have to have a team member whose only job is to try and ‘debunk’ (I hate that word) any strange happenstance, because you need it for your team’s ‘credibility’, then you are a joke. There’s no reason to take your work seriously. If you cannot be your own worst skeptic, then there’s no reason to take you or your team seriously. Why? It’s simple. The evidence should speak for itself. You were there. You should know the difference between a foundation settling and someone or something tapping on walls or walking on hardwood floors.
Back to science. This is a friendly reminder to anyone in the paranormal field. You are NOT conducting scientific research going from location to location to location. There is nothing ‘scientific’ about what you are doing on your weekend trips to the local cemetery, or Joe’s Bar & Grill. Nothing. Please get the word out of your vocabulary. Now some of you may be offended by that, but it’s true. Talk to any top researcher in this field. Talk to any actual scientist and they will tell you point blank that in order to conduct any scientific experimentation you must try to repeat the actions to solve what is going on. In the paranormal world, getting a ghost to say your name in a controlled environment, which is what you need in order to conduct proper scientific research and data, is next to impossible. Closer to impossible than the International Space Station crashing down on your house. Look it’s real simple. In order to conduct a scientific experiment, you need a controlled location so there is little to no possibility of outside contamination. You need to pose a testable question. You need to be able to hypothetically answer the purpose to the experiment. Explain the experiment you are conducting and for what purpose. Perform the experiment. Collect the data then draw your conclusions from the data. How many are actually doing this? Guaranteed it’s very few. Understand that the technology and the gear you use to collect your data does not conclusively prove anything scientific. It’s a guideline to help you investigate. That is all.
Hey Para-Karen, let’s talk about locking down locations again. The only reason to have buildings or museums sign a ‘contract’ allowing you and only you and/or your team to have exclusive rights to a location is purely out of ego. Plain and simple, you’re being an asshole. You are taking advantage of people who likely do not know how the paranormal works or the people involved. For you to ‘lockdown’ a location, then threaten other teams or even the building’s owners for allowing others to conduct investigations shows how little class you have as well as shows the lack of respect you have for the paranormal field you love so much. You may be the best, or the worst investigator on the planet, but when you try to take away from others having an experience, potentially of a lifetime, then you are selfish and do not deserve to be taking advantage of locations this way. Locking down a location for personal gain just shows your lack of integrity and how blind the paranormal world can be when it comes to trying to further advance the fields of research. I mean, do you really believe that if you lock down a haunted bar or hotel that they are going to hold your contract if say a big named television show comes in and wants to do a shoot at that location? Do you really believe you have that much pull? May be time to pull your head out of your Para-Karen butt and come back to reality.
To me, actions on social media say a lot. If you are a bully or a know it all running your Facebook group or Discord chat, because you want to be the boss, well, let me tell you something, Para-Karen. This is what you really look like! You look like a person who joins a strata council or home owner’s association and abuses that power because for the first time in your life, you have power. To most of the ‘big named’ investigators out there that you dream to be like, they don’t dox people. They don’t care about how many social media followers they have. They don’t care how many people are in their group. They don’t talk down to people who have differing opinions on what the phenomenon is or how to conduct investigations. Real investigators never close a door until the door closes on its own. This is why the top investigators out there don’t rule out psychics, mediums, portals, dimensions, or other door ways to the unknown. In order to conduct proper research, you cannot conduct ‘opinion’. Para-Karen, your opinion means NOTHING, especially if you state it as fact, then chastise others for coming to other possible conclusions. Also remember on your Facebook group, less than seven percent of your members actually see updates in your group, unless they are active members. Which means that you may have a group of 10,000 members, but less than 700 are actually seeing what you’re posting and reacting to it. That’s the algorithms for you. Sorry to burst your popularity bubble.
So Para-Karen……We don’t need you to speak to your paranormal manager. We need you to be human again and think. If you want popularity, that’s fine. It’s allowed. Don’t make it at the expense of others though. Be fair, not cruel. Be smart, not egotistical. There’s a reason the big boys and girls in this field rarely associate with paranormal teams and other investigators. It’s because the Para-Karens of the paranormal world have proven they can’t be trusted for knowledge or respect. If you want change, start with yourself. You’ll be better off. When you do this, more opportunities arrive. Like being a guest on Spaced Out Radio. In the mean time, while I’m waiting, I’ll be hanging out with the UFO crowd. They may be crazy and just as off the charts, but at least they’re close to solving a paranormal mystery.
Para-Karens Everywhere!
Gail Hodson Shirk
The incredulous attitude, I feel, can be attributed to a few things. People seeking fame in television or media. Hoping to become the next Zach Bagans or Amy Bruni. Seeking out that 15-minutes of fame to get that one photo, video or piece of evidence that launches their name into the paranormal stratosphere. Guess what? There are tens of thousands of people like that. If you want to be on television, do you know how to edit? Do you know how to create high quality video? Do you know how to speak on camera? Do you know how to dress? Do you have the right look that television is looking for? This doesn’t even include, yet, the egotistical name droppers that blow up because a blue checkmarked personality on Twitter or Facebook gave their comment a ‘like’, that you’re now best friends! Or they decided in order to stand out from the pack, they needed to create a title of sorts, like demonologist, or paranormal skeptic.
Speaking of the term skeptic, why does every team out there have to have their resident ‘skeptic’? What is the purpose of this? Is this to try and make your research more credible if you have someone who is questioning the ‘reality’ of all situations? If you yourself cannot decipher what is real or what is memorex, then you’re probably in the wrong field. If you have to have a team member whose only job is to try and ‘debunk’ (I hate that word) any strange happenstance, because you need it for your team’s ‘credibility’, then you are a joke. There’s no reason to take your work seriously. If you cannot be your own worst skeptic, then there’s no reason to take you or your team seriously. Why? It’s simple. The evidence should speak for itself. You were there. You should know the difference between a foundation settling and someone or something tapping on walls or walking on hardwood floors.
Hey Para-Karen, let’s talk about locking down locations again. The only reason to have buildings or museums sign a ‘contract’ allowing you and only you and/or your team to have exclusive rights to a location is purely out of ego. Plain and simple, you’re being an asshole. You are taking advantage of people who likely do not know how the paranormal works or the people involved. For you to ‘lockdown’ a location, then threaten other teams or even the building’s owners for allowing others to conduct investigations shows how little class you have as well as shows the lack of respect you have for the paranormal field you love so much. You may be the best, or the worst investigator on the planet, but when you try to take away from others having an experience, potentially of a lifetime, then you are selfish and do not deserve to be taking advantage of locations this way. Locking down a location for personal gain just shows your lack of integrity and how blind the paranormal world can be when it comes to trying to further advance the fields of research. I mean, do you really believe that if you lock down a haunted bar or hotel that they are going to hold your contract if say a big named television show comes in and wants to do a shoot at that location? Do you really believe you have that much pull? May be time to pull your head out of your Para-Karen butt and come back to reality.
So Para-Karen……We don’t need you to speak to your paranormal manager. We need you to be human again and think. If you want popularity, that’s fine. It’s allowed. Don’t make it at the expense of others though. Be fair, not cruel. Be smart, not egotistical. There’s a reason the big boys and girls in this field rarely associate with paranormal teams and other investigators. It’s because the Para-Karens of the paranormal world have proven they can’t be trusted for knowledge or respect. If you want change, start with yourself. You’ll be better off. When you do this, more opportunities arrive. Like being a guest on Spaced Out Radio. In the mean time, while I’m waiting, I’ll be hanging out with the UFO crowd. They may be crazy and just as off the charts, but at least they’re close to solving a paranormal mystery.