Do paranormal skeptics REALLY believe that believers in the paranormal are studpid, mentally ill or liars...?

Question

...like that link 333 posted suggests?

Answer 1

In all fairness to the skeptics my opinion on this matter is that some probably believe it (some have posted comments saying as much right here on YA) while others do not believe it.

It seems to me that they believe that sane, honest, and intelligent people can suddenly become stupid when conducting any experiment or interpreting results of any paranormal experiments.

In all fairness to the possibility of this argument having any credibility (something that psuedoskeptics fail to grant to non psuedoskeptics) it has been suggested that Bayesian  Analysis (a statistical method) which would take into account the beliefs held by researchers be used in evaluating experiments in parapsychology to help control for any possible bias (favoring) results one way or the other.

"In fact, several statisticians believe that the traditional hypothesis testing methods used in the behavioral sciences should be abandoned in favor of Bayesian analyses, which take into account a person's a priori beliefs about the phenomenon under investigation (e.g., Bayarri &amph; Berger, 1991; Dawson, 1991)."

(link below)

Psi

Answer 2

Nah. I just think they are cute.

Answer 3

I would tend to view paranormal believers as illogical, but in most cases I wouldn't consider them "stupid, mentally ill, or liars".

Answer 4

Try Carl Sagan's Baloney Detection Kit and see how well paranomal claims stand up.

"It seems to me what is called for is an exquisite balance between two conflicting needs: the most skeptical scrutiny of all hypotheses that are served up to us and at the same time a great openness to new ideas.... If you are only skeptical, then no new ideas make it through to you.... On the other hand, if you are open to the point of gullibility and have not an ounce of skeptical sense in you, then you cannot distinguish the useful ideas from the worthless ones" - Carl Sagan, 1987.

Answer 5

I think there are alot of things we don't understand. I also think alot of people are uncomfortable with things they don't understand and try to make a joke of it or label it.

Answer 6

this is a topic that will be highly debated and challenged I like alot of what the skeptics have answered on this question but the good skeptics I have dealt with in this forum have a opened mind .xenon blacks answer is the typical answer of a closed minded individual who thinks that just because it is his belief it is the gospel truth now who is being naive just because you have not experienced does not mean it does not exist I do not come in here to try and convert anyone in the existence of the paranormal nor do the skeptics like peter d or Zach try to belittle you for your beliefs and they do not think less of the believers some people who come in here on both sides of the fence do not think their answers through and can be quite harsh anyone who is a legitimate investigator in the paranormal knows what they have experienced or not experienced and the only people we need explain ourselves to are the people we help and believe me when I say this nothing gives me more pleasure than to tell a client that their home is not haunted and there is a logical reason for the things they report.some people watch to much TV

Answer 7

I don't, although many mental illness's have been mistakenly thought to be paranormal.Hearing voices, having hallucinations.It wasn't so long ago a sneeze was considered paranormal.That's where god bless you comes from.I have to admit I read what I consider lies here all the time.Telekinesis is one.When someone claims they can do it.There's only two explanations.They're lying or deluded.For the most part I think most are honest.So am I when I say I think they're mistaken.

Answer 8

Most of the time , they are out to scientifically prove them wrong, And would take great delight in telling them so.

I tend to support a belief in so far as I can find a logical or similar event to explain such things. Just because it is unexplained does not make it (to me) impossible.

Most of our greatest inventors were clinically insane - or at least people believed they were - Tessla had his funding removed, and died poor because no-one believed his theories - just before he was to market free energy.........Decide that one for yourself.

Answer 9

No, not at all. That link is cry baby whining.

A large number of people believe in God and in other supernatural / paranormal concepts, and a lot of them have advanced degrees in science. There was a study done (I'll grab the link and put it below) which indicated that more paranormal belief was correlated with college level education vs. high school.

No, it's not a matter of intelligence or mental illness. It's simplistic and trivial to try to dismiss it like that. People tend to compartmentalize their beliefs. A scientist might apply the rigorous standards of scientific investigation to natural phenomena, but may take a faith approach instead to supernatural concepts such as God. My personal take on it is that people in general, of all intelligence and education levels, have some need or tendency to believe in transcendent things, perhaps because they give guidance or lend comfort, or for other reasons. Belief in God is one part of that, or belief in paranormal can be too.

It's no secret I really don't believe much in the way of paranormal claims. I haven't heard one that was credible. But even intelligent, educated people can be fooled, and they can fool themselves, too. The power of suggestion doesn't discriminate. I don't dismiss the possibility of lying or deception (especially since the history of paranormal is filled with cases of deception and fraud), but I don't assume this has to be the case, either.

Answer 10

No, just to naive of how the concept can exist. People are always looking to make things more 'hocus pocus' than it actually is. I guess the next one is that my toast pops up because there is a ghost inside pushing out.

Thanks for the thumbs down.... you are a true paranormal genius

Answer 11

No, just the ones who read and write "The Skeptical Enquirer."

Answer 12

Well, there are people locked up in mental institutions for seeing things that other people don't see and a greater number of them are on psyciatric drugs. It's not just paranormal stuff. Their are Christians being killed in other parts of the world because people think they're mental for believing that a man can come back from the dead.

Answer 13

I don't think it's as simple as that.  I haven't seen the link, but I suspect it may be a bit of a straw man.  As you are well aware, in my experience I have never come across something that I would call paranormal.  Inexplicably, many people who believe in the paranormal haven't either.  Why would this be?  One answer is wishful thinking.

Wishful thinking can also influence how people interpret normal events as paranormal.  For example, we've all seen those who believe in orbs.  Orbs are natural, but many see them as spirits.  They clearly aren't, but this doesn't matter to some who are all too willing to place the paranormal tag on something perfectly normal.

I've seen this so many times in Y!A.  A person comes on and says they heard the stairs creak and is wondering if it could be a ghost.  Without fail at least a couple of answers state that it is without a doubt a ghost.  Huh?!

I have also seen many instances on here where people are either lying or are delusional about what they are saying.  Zach brings up one good example.  Many have claimed PK is real, but none have demonstrated it.  If no one can do it then how can it be real?  If I say something is real does that make it so?  If I say something is real but I can provide neither example nor explanation supporting this claim, am I not either delusional or a liar?

I know a woman who will tell you right to your face she sees your aura.  Not only that, but she can see angels floating around you too.  I am positive (for a number of reasons) that she doesn't really see my aura or any angels.  That doesn't mean she doesn't *think* she sees them.  That is why I am usually so careful in saying I don't believe paranormal events exist independent of the person experiencing them.  I believe that, for whatever reason, many people *perceive* ghosts that aren't really there.  What causes this perception is what interests me in the paranormal.

EDIT: Denie,  it's wishful thinking for some, not all.  If you have experienced something paranormal you didn't enjoy, then perhaps it was a misunderstanding.  Maybe there's a rational explanation that you just aren't considering.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man

Answer 14

Unfortunately, yes they do, but they are skeptics, that is what they do. But my daughters who have seen many things of the paranormal nature and myself, I've seen a few, and quite a few others who might have been skeptics before, but aren't anymore, will always believe in you. Most people who haven't seen an apparition or experienced something paranormal either have an explination for it, what ever, or think people are crazy.  I work in a hospital for the mentally ill and I know that I have met a few people who were placed in there becuase they seen something that drove them crazy, but they weren't crazy just for seeing it.

Answer 15

I don't consider myself a skeptic, but each situation is different. I believe some people who claim to have "paranormal" experiences are mentally ill, or temporarily "stressed"out. I think some of the people are in desperate need of attention. Being the focal point of something unusual satisfies their need for attention.

Answer 16

not all of them, many just want cold, hard facts that eliminate any other logical possibility before they are willing to even entertain the sugegstion of a paranormal explanation, situation, etc.

I personally know many believers in the paranormal that want the paranormal to be common and everyday for everyone so bad that they often overlook very simple, logical possibilities ...  their attitude tends to make it harder for the skeptics to believe ...  and, well, you can see the cyclic snow-ball effect, here ...