What is a parapsychologist exactly?

Question

Most ghost hunters claim to be one are they really?

I ask because the people I know who claim to be a parapsyhologist have only a high school education and day jobs.

Forgive my ignorance.

Answer 1

i'd say its someone who researches the paranormal so everything that cant be explained scientifically...

but sind i doubt you can actually make an education in that field (i'm ignorant myself, so that statement could be complete bs) ... i guess anyone could call themselves parapsychologist ...

Answer 2

It's another term for a snake oil salesman (who actually believes that his nonsense works).

Answer 3

A parapsychologist is a person who studies parapsychology.

Like many fields of studies (for example astronomy) there are amateurs and professionals.

Those who conduct scientific research in the science of parapsychology (definition below) and are scientist or scholars (usually holding a PhD in a conventional science) are usually thought of as professional parapsychologist. Others who investigate various aspects of parapsychology like Raymond Moody, M.D. and biologist Rupert Sheldrake refer to themselves by their earned degrees (medical doctor and biologist) rather than as parapsychologist.

Many who actively engage in this research are also members of the Parapsychological Association (the professional association for those engaged in parapsychology).

"What is parapsychology?

Parapsychology is the scientific and scholarly study of three kinds of unusual events (ESP, mind-matter interaction, and survival), which are associated with human experience. The existence of these phenomena suggest that the strict subjective/objective dichotomy proposed by the old paradigm (see below) may not be quite so clear-cut as once thought. Instead, these phenomena may be part of a spectrum of what is possible, with some events and experiences occasionally falling between purely subjective and purely objective. We call such phenomena "anomalous" because they are difficult to explain within current scientific models.

Parapsychology only studies those anomalies that fall into one of three general categories: ESP (terms are defined below), mind-matter interaction (previously known as psychokinesis), and phenomena suggestive of survival after bodily death, including near-death experiences, apparitions, and reincarnation. Most parapsychologists today expect that further research will eventually explain these anomalies in scientific terms, although it is not clear whether they can be fully understood without significant (some might say revolutionary) expansions of the current state of scientific knowledge. Other researchers take the stance that existing scientific models of perception and memory are adequate to explain some or all parapsychological phenomena."

(link below)

Psiexploration

Answer 4

Would you call someone who collected rocks a geologist, even if he had no training or degree in geology, and pumped gas for a living?  I would guess not.  Then why would you call the same person sitting in a "haunted" house with a emf reader a parapsychologist?  It is a made up term to make dopes and con artists seem credible.

Answer 5

someone with mental health problems