One article I found, cited a study that asked people to agree or disagree with certain statements taken either from ER or The X-Files (Whittle). The results indicated that it is possible for people to learn factual data from entertainment television. However, they also assumed truth in statements that were generated by the writers of The X-Files. Based on his research, Christopher Whittle constructed two diagrams explaining how paranormal beliefs come to be. The first shows “…the interrelationship between the natural environment, human culture, and the individual.” Whittle has also developed a linear model describing how paranormal beliefs come to be at an individual level.
I find both of these graphic models to be very descriptive and useful when it comes to understanding the how and why of the paranormal beliefs we have throughout society. One main point of Whittle's is the “Need for control, order, and meaning.” If an event has no immediate logical explanation, we must assign it one. As a society, we are unsatisfied with not knowing the answers. If no one can give us an answer, we create one to satisfy our needs.
Another aspect I'm interested in is how as the technology we use to communicate changes, the way “spirits” seem to communicate changes to use this technology as well. After its invention, the telegraph (an electromagnetic device) was soon being used by spirits to communicate with the living. The birth of the camera led to ghost photographs, cleverly created by using a double exposure. Ghost trains would roar past unsuspecting witnesses. Something I found to be interesting was that there were ghost-celebrities of sorts back in the nineteenth century. Maggie and Kate Fox used a system of tapping to "communicate" with spirits in their home. Their claims spurred a huge paranormal frenzy throughout the United States, and they accumulated a large number of spiritual followers (http://history1800s.about.com/od/entertainmentsport/ss/supernatural-19th-century_3.htm).
However, before all of that technology, when there was much less technology, people communicated with spirits in other manners. Two such ways are divining or dowsing rods and pendulums. Divining rods may have originated in Germany around the 16th century, and early on were considered to be sacrilegious and occult. Their intended purpose was to search for ground water or buried minerals or metals. Pendulums were also used in this way. Their accuracy has obviously been disputed, but people still use them today as a means to ask yes or no questions in hope of other-worldly answers.
Another device many people are somewhat familiar with is the Ouija board. Descriptions of the something resembling a Ouija board date back as far as 1500 B.C. in ancient China. I found the Google Timeline (http://www.google.com/search?q=history+of+ouija+board&hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&tbs=tl:1&tbo=u&ei=FRKXS-yBI9OplAeez7GdDQ&sa=X&oi=timeline_result&ct=title&resnum=11&ved=0CDkQ5wIwCg) to be very interesting. However, other website and sources say the Ouija Board arose in the 1800's as a parlor game.
The biggest problem with all of these methods is they are prone to human error. Which is probably why modern day ghost hunters don't give them much thought. However, are the digital recorders, EMF detectors, infrared cameras, etc. that much more credible? Isn't the technology we use, no matter how advanced or primitive, only as good as the person using it? So why do we give so much credibility to these newer methods? With video and audio files, people feel as though they have tangible evidence. But with increasing technology comes increasing methods of manipulating technology. Despite it's questionable credibility, Part of this change is due to how the way we communicate with living people has changed. It only makes sense that we would change the way we communicate with dead people.
It's my goal to explore these changes in the way paranormal phenomenon have been investigated. In order to do this, I plan to continue to communicate with and shadow the Wichita Paranormal Research Society, figure out why they use the equipment they use, what motivates their explorations, how they fund them, etc. I have also been considering posting a video to ask people to contribute their thoughts, opinions, experiences, etc. concerning the supernatural and the methods used to investigate it. Now, after Danielle has had such success with this technique, I hope to get a video posted in the next day or so to see if I get any responses. I'll also continue to read the forums and view the videos and websites all over YouTube and the web in order to better understand the community that is so fascinated with supernatural culture. I also hope to learn more from the potential response I get from my proposed video plea.
I know my review of the literature isn't very literary; I'm finding most of my information from personal websites and forums. I hope that I can eventually stumble across some more scholarly information, but it seems that most opinions generated about the paranormal stem from mass media and folklore. Obviously I have a lot more room for additional research, so if someone is able to point me in any sort of direction, it would be greatly appreciated. I'll try to post more to blog about the things I stumble across, and hopefully I'll be able to add more to my "research" as time goes on.
So, my goal for the next few weeks is:
*Create a vlog (thanks, Danielle, for the inspiration!) in an attempt to get people to share their thoughts and ideas about the way supernatural phenomena are investigated. I want to know what "big" questions they have, and why they have them.
*Over spring break, I'd like to start working on a script of sorts, in order to lay out what I want my video to look like.
*I am without internet throughout the bulk of spring break, so when I return from that I hope to go through the video responses I'll hopefully be getting (feel free to respond yourselves, our class is fairly diverse and surely has various opinions!) and plan on sharing any new information I've gathered.
*Once I get back from spring break, I want to upload the video I do have from my first trip and sort through it to find what is usable, and what audio might be usable with other video I hope to gather from youtube. Hopefully I'll have enough to start working on at least the beginning of my video, and the history of paranormal research (I'd like to include the methods used before the advent of today's technology).
*While working on what video I can, I plan on continue gathering material and information from the web. Maybe connect with some more people who have dedicated a large portion of their lives to exploring the unexplored.
*On April 24th, I'll be going out with the WPRS again, hopefully to gather the final B-roll and information I need to pull my video together.
*After that, it's edit edit edit in a way that will hopefully capture what I feel my "big" idea is in the best way.
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