Fads and the Paranormal

[PPI Karl]

Some aspects of ghost folklore and paranormal investigating come and go like fads, such as with ectoplasm, that goop left behind by ghosts with improper potty training.  It's largely the stuff of effects artists now, and rarely taken seriously in the trade of paranormal investigating.  What other aspects of the paranormal do you consider to be strictly fads and fancies, either in the past or those that are now part of contemporary popular ghost-hunting?  What won't we be bothering to do in ten or twenty years in our investigative techniques and why? 

(Please, relatively serious posts only; no smarmy answers.  )

[Brian Johnson]

Ya know, its really hard to say, but I don't think we will be messing around with orbs. I think they are going the way of the Ectoplasm.

[PPI Karl]

Ya know, its really hard to say, but I don't think we will be messing around with orbs. I think they are going the way of the Ectoplasm.

Good choice.  Why do you think they'll be abandoned as a fad eventually?

[Brian Johnson]

Because, more and more investigators are starting to throw out "orbs" due to the unreliability of capture methods. Meaning they simply aren't able to distinguish a dust orb from a real orb. 

[PPI Tim]

I would say Karl that EVP recordings on certain types of recorders will no longer be used as well as the K-II meters.
Newer tech will replace them both however I believe in ten years there will still be no equipment created for just paranormal investigating.

[PPI Jason]

I agree that orbs represent a "fad" that will rightfully wane in popularity (as they already seem to have decreased in popularity just in the last few years).

However, is it more correct to say they will go the way of the dinosaur and disappear completely, or would it be more correct to say they will go the way of the Phoenix? That is to say, will they wane in popularity but never quit disappear entirely or will they periodically resurrect and reassert their dominance among popular opinion. I think the Ouija Board represents this latter group well. The Ouija Board is an icon (whose basic concept is possibly thousands of years old) that while largely discredited (ala William Carpenter in the late 19th century) continues to remain as a popular image of the occult and of spiritual communication to this day. Orbs are also largely discredited (most of them at least) but I think that since some of them will remain unexplained, orbs have the potential to rise from the dust periodically.

Another "fad" I think that has the potential to die out is exclusive night-time ghost hunting. Now, I'm not saying that ghost hunting at night will die out. I'm saying that "ONLY" ghost hunting at night, to the complete exclusion of day-time ghost hunting, will possibly die out.

I know this one will stick around for a long time (since, unlike orbs, it remains very popular today) but I think that decades down the road it will lose its popularity. Currently, we conduct our investigations at night because, in theory, it's easier for ghosts to manifest themselves at night (the whole flashlight is easier to see at night than during the day thing). But this is just a theory, and a theory with no shred of evidence to support it.  No one has conducted studies to determine if ghosts are easier to dectect at night than they are during the day. And the only evidence that would seem to support it is the fact that at night we are more psychologically prepared, and inclined, to have a paranormal experience. But people that report having paranormal experiences report having them during the day and night. Some only claim to have experiences during the day. Yet we still only investigate these at night.

There are advantages to night time investigations. It's usually quieter, making it easier to catch EVPs or AVPs. Also, if you are investigating a business that's open during the day then the only time you would be able to investigate without the distractions of public interference would be at night. It's also more fun and more exciting at night.

But as paranormal investigation becomes more scientific, I think we'll find ourselves no longer doing things "just because that's how it's always been done." We'll start trying things people haven't done before, and I think we'll find some interesting things because of it.