2 Questions on the paranormal...?

Question

1 if such things exist can something paranormal kill?

2 if yes to 1: how often do things like that happen?

Answer 1

1. Of course.  2 All the freakin time.

Answer 2

No.  the paranormal cannot directly kill.  The shock or reaction to experiencing something paranormal can.  It doesn't even have to be particularly scary.  If you are stepping into the street to cross and you see something weird, you might be distracted long enough to get run over.  That wouldnt exactly get doc'ed as a paranormal cause of injury. "oh, you bumped your head good!"  

does black magic count as paranormal?

Answer 3

yes they can..

its quite rare

Answer 4

They don't exist so they can't kill.

You would hear about it if it happened.Just the victims piling up around Ouija boards.That would make the news.Don't ya think?

Answer 5

I personally don't believe they can. I keep hearing my guardian angels tell me that they can't. All they can do is scare you. You have to give them power over you by allowing them to make you afraid. But I'm still not convinced they can actually physically hurt you. mmm. Here again I hear that it's because they've been given the power to do so. I'm being told that you have only to believe that you're safe, that they can't hurt you, in order for it to be true.

2) how often? You do hear the occassional story where someone was shoved, or scratched, or like someone on here recently, she was yanked by her feet. But it's very very rare. It's so rare, it's not something to even worry about.

But can they physically hurt you, like reach into your chest and stop yourt heart? No, that I know they cannot do, and I'm hearing it as well.

Answer 6

1.- Yes they can possess a body and kill you, but not in thier spiritual shape cause they are not material.

2.- Many people says they were possessed when they killed, could it be truth?

Answer 7

There are many type of paranormal things.. if you are asking if ghosts kill ..I would have to say no.. they may had scared someone to death but never has there been a killing proven to have been done by a spirit..

none that I have ever seen or heard of anyway..

Answer 8

Paranormal is an umbrella term for a variety of anomalous phenomena. In parapsychology, it is used to describe the ostensibly psychic phenomena of telepathy, extra-sensory perception, psychokinesis, ghosts, and hauntings. The term is also applied to UFOs, some creatures that fall under the scope of cryptozoology, purported phenomena surrounding the Bermuda Triangle, and other non-psychical subjects.[1] Paranormal is often used to denote unusual experiences that lack an obvious scientific explanation.[2] Stories relating to paranormal phenomena are widespread in popular culture and folklore, but the United States National Science Foundation has stated that mainstream science does not support paranormal beliefs

Approaching paranormal phenomena from a research perspective is often difficult because even when the phenomena are seen as real they may be difficult to explain using existing rules or theory. By definition, paranormal phenomena exist outside of conventional norms. Skeptics contend that they don't exist at all. Despite this challenge, studies on the paranormal are periodically conducted by researchers from various disciplines. Some researchers study just the beliefs in paranormal phenomena regardless of whether the phenomena actually exist.

This section deals with various approaches to the paranormal including those scientific, pseudoscientific, and unscientific. Skeptics feel that supposed scientific approaches are actually pseudoscientific for several reasons which are explored below.[4]

[edit] Anecdotal approach



Charles Fort, 1920. Fort is perhaps the most widely known collector of paranormal stories.An anecdotal approach to the paranormal involves the collection of anecdotal evidence consisting of informal accounts. Anecdotal evidence, lacking the rigour of empirical evidence, is not amenable to scientific investigation. The anecdotal approach is not a scientific approach to the paranormal because it leaves verification dependent on the credibility of the party presenting the evidence. It is also subject to such logical fallacies as cognitive bias, inductive reasoning, lack of falsifiability, and other fallacies that may prevent the anecdote from having meaningful information to impart. Nevertheless, it is a common approach to paranormal phenomena.

Charles Fort (1874 – 1932) is perhaps the best known collector of paranormal anecdotes. Fort is said to have compiled as many as 40,000 notes on unexplained phenomena, though there were no doubt many more than these. These notes came from what he called "the orthodox conventionality of Science", which were odd events originally reported in magazines and newspapers such as The Times and scientific journals such as Scientific American, Nature and Science. From this research Fort wrote seven books, though only four survive. These are: The Book of the Damned (1919), New Lands (1923), Lo! (1931) and Wild Talents (1932); one book was written between New Lands and Lo! but it was abandoned and absorbed into Lo!.

Reported events that he collected include teleportation (a term Fort is generally credited with coining); poltergeist events, falls of frogs, fishes, inorganic materials of an amazing range; crop circles; unaccountable noises and explosions; spontaneous fires; levitation; ball lightning (a term explicitly used by Fort); unidentified flying objects; mysterious appearances and disappearances; giant wheels of light in the oceans; and animals found outside their normal ranges (see phantom cat). He offered many reports of OOPArts, abbreviation for "out of place" artifacts: strange items found in unlikely locations. He also is perhaps the first person to explain strange human appearances and disappearances by the hypothesis of alien abduction, and was an early proponent of the extraterrestrial hypothesis.

Fort is considered by many as the father of modern paranormalism, which is the study of paranormal phenomena.

The magazine Fortean Times continues Charles Forte's approach, regularly reporting anecdotal accounts of anomalous phenomena.

[edit] Experimental approach



Participant of a Ganzfeld Experiment which proponents say may show evidence of telepathy.Main article: Parapsychology

Experimental investigation of the paranormal is largely conducted in the multidisciplinary field of parapsychology. Although parapsychology has its roots in earlier research, it began using the experimental approach in the 1930s under the direction of J. B. Rhine (1895 – 1980).[5] Rhine popularized the now famous methodology of using card-guessing and dice-rolling experiments in a laboratory in the hopes of finding a statistical validation of extra-sensory perception.[5]

In 1957, the Parapsychological Association was formed as the preeminent society for parapsychologists. In 1969, they became affiliated with the American Association for the Advancement of Science. That affiliation, along with a general openness to psychic and occult phenomena in the 1970s, led to a decade of increased parapsychological research.[5] During this time, other notable organizations were also formed, including the Academy of Parapsychology and Medicine (1970), the Institute of Parascience (1971), the Academy of Religion and Psychical Research, the Institute for Noetic Sciences (1973), and the International Kirlian Research Association (1975). Each of these groups performed experiments on paranormal subjects to varying degrees. Parapsychological work was also conducted at the Stanford Research Institute during this time.[5]

With the increase in parapsychological investigation, there came an increase in opposition to both the findings of parapsychologists and the granting of any formal recognition of the field. Criticisms of the field were focused in the founding of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (1976), now called the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, and its periodical, Skeptical Inquirer.[5]

As astronomer Carl Sagan put it, "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence"[6], and experimental research into the paranormal continues today, though it has waned considerably since the 1970s.[7] One such experiment is called the Ganzfeld Experiment. The purpose of the Ganzfeld Experiment, like other parapsychological experiments, is to test for statistical anomalies that might suggest the existence of psi, a process indicating psychic phenomena.[8] In the Ganzfeld Experiment, a subject (receiver) is asked to access through psychic means some target. The target is typically a picture or video clip selected randomly from a large pool, which is then viewed in a remote location by another subject (sender). Ganzfeld experiments use audio and visual sensory deprivation to remove any kind of external stimulus that may interfere with the testing or corrupt the test by providing cues to correct targets. A 'hit' refers to a correctly identified target. The expected hit ratio of such a trial is 1 in 4, or 25%.[8] Deviations from this expected ratio might be seen as evidence for psi, although such conclusions are often disputed.[9] To date there have been no experimental results that have gained wide acceptance in the scientific community as valid evidence of paranormal phenomena. [7]

[edit] Participant-observer approach



Ghost hunters taking an EMF reading which proponents say may show evidence of ghosts.While parapsychologists look for quantitative evidence of the paranormal in laboratories, a great number of people immerse themselves in qualitative research through participant-observer approaches to the paranormal. Participant-observer methodologies have overlaps with other essentially qualitative approaches as well, including phenomenological research that seeks largely to describe subjects as they are experienced, rather than to explain them.[10]

Participant-observation suggests that by immersing oneself in the subject being studied, a researcher is presumed to gain understanding of the subject. In paranormal research, a participant-observer study might consist of a researcher visiting a place where alleged paranormal activity is said to occur and recording observations while there. Participation levels may vary. In studying a supposedly haunted location, for example, the researcher may conduct a séance or participate in other activities said to cause paranormal activity.

Criticisms of participant-observation as a data-gathering technique are similar to criticisms of other approaches to the paranormal, but also include an increased threat to the objectivity of the researcher, unsystematic gathering of data, reliance on subjective measurement, and possible observer effects (observation may distort the observed behavior).[11] Specific data gathering methods, such as recording EMF readings at haunted locations have their own criticisms beyond those attributed to the participant-observation approach itself.

The participant-observer approach to the paranormal has gained increased visibility and popularity through reality-based television shows like Ghost Hunters, and the formation of independent ghost hunting groups which advocate immersive research at alleged paranormal locations. One popular website for ghost hunting enthusiasts lists over 300 of these organizations throughout the United States and the United Kingdom.[12]

[edit] Debunking approach



James Randi is a well-known debunker of paranormal claims.Main article: Debunking

The debunking approach is a response to claims of paranormal phenomena, and consists of finding a "normal" explanation instead of a paranormal one to account for the claims. The basis for this approach is Occam's razor, which suggests that the simplest solution is the best one.[13] Since standard scientific models generally predict what can be expected in the natural world, the debunking approach presumes that what ap

Answer 9

1) i don't think a ghost itself can kill you, but "paranormal" isn't limited to ghosts, but more so things not explained by science. Demons, and other things are also under paranormal. i believe they can kill you maybe not a physical killing, but more of slowly lowering your will until you die or something to than nature.

Answer 10

Wow I'm after a Cut and Paster

Yes I believe paranormal can kill....

If an alien is considered paranormal and does exist why not.

If Bigfoot, moth-man and such are real then why not.

As for ghosts, yes, I have seen the physical touch of one and if they gave that slap or touch while at the top of a staircase you could very well fall to your death. An evil spirit could possess and cause you to kill. Even distract you just at the right time resulting in your death.

Will we attribute these types of deaths to spirits... no

But they could very well happen and happen purposefully

if an intelligent spirit was maniacal enough.

Answer 11

1:yes they can kill, but they can not kill with their spirit hands, they will throw something at you.

2:It does not happen often because there is not that many hoses that are like right next to a grave yard.

Answer 12

1) yes, if paranormal things existed they could kill.

2) It depends who you talk to. Supposedly the bunny man of fairfax county virginia has killed, but he could have been alive. Chubacabra has killed livestock. Mothman was the inspiration for the Jeepers Creepers movies.

Who knows how many people could have been scared by a ghost and had a heart attack, because all anyone would know is heart failure. (they did this in an episode of Matlock)

Answer 13

1- yes they can, some spirits are aggresive

2- you know , it depends on the spirit

Answer 14

1-Many reports on the paranormal trying to kill other people had been happening but I can not remember any of such prof on them actually killing somebody.....

2-Attempts happen all the time it could happen right now you never know..

Answer 15

there have never been any documented cases where someone was killed by the paranormal.

No, I don't believe they can kill, just scare.