For Matt and Ian

[genericcow]

Regarding the show Ghost Hunters (and TAPS in general):

I'm bored at work like usual, so I figured I'd follow up on our conversation about Ghost Hunters, and try to consolidate a lot of the stuff that I've come across that kills most or all the credibility TAPS has

Comments

[behemoth]

The most entertaining show I saw that involved paranormal investigators was "Pen and Teller's Bullshit" on ghost hunters. Obviously not a show I would use to back a serious argument for or against the paranormal or ghost hunters specifically, but it does point out some things that make you feel silly about believing the investigators. There were some gems like one team going over a supposedly haunted house with an EMF gage and then they drew arrows indicating where all the house wiring existed that could generate *gasp* an EMF! The simple fact that most of these teams are comprised of "amateurs" should wave some warning flags. They just don't have a cool greek based name like the amateur cryptozoologists =)

[genericcow]

Dammit, I didn't even know Penn & Teller did a BS episode on ghost hunters. To think I spent my entire morning looking all this crap up! That was valuable time I could've spent reading DamnInteresting.com.

[mustang1701]

I'm pretty sure I have that Penn & teller episode on DVD bro. I've got seasons 1 and 2. I want the other seasons cause that was a damn good show

[wraithtdk]

That's the biggest reason why they cut the power during investigations. And they do know enough that anytime there is a spike, the first thing they look for is electrical equipment that could cause it.

Also, as for Penn & Teller, I love their work, but the fact that they declared war on religion (their actual words) kinda marks them as assholes in my book. I really believe that there are some people who want to DISBELIEVE much harder than believers want to believe, and that it has the same effect, ie they end up with the mindset that if there is another possible explanation for a supernatural occurrence, then it counts as absolute proof that it wasn't supernatural, which simply isn't the case. There are a LOT of mysteries out there (both in the cosmic sense, and in the ordinary "who murdered so and so) that have several POSSIBLE explanations. Just because person 2 COULD have been the killer, doesn't mean that person 1 definitely WASN'T.

[genericcow]

You have to realize that not all explanations for any given event are equal. "If I hit the ball with my bat, the force of the blow will put the ball into motion" and "If I hit the ball with my bat, a giant intergalactic otter will swoop down out of the sky and replace my baseball with a fast-moving baseball-like projectile" are both explanation for the same effect, but only one of them isn't immediately reductible.

I don't know if you're talking about Penn & Teller or the Ghost Hunters in your last paragraph, but the problem with the Ghost Hunters is that they start from the assumption that spirits exist. That's a huge assumption to make, given that there absolutely zero evidence throughout all of scientific history to base it on

[behemoth]

Doesn't matter if the power is off. The wires are acting as primitive antennas which soak up some of the ambient EMF. So a spike in EMF might only be a spike relative to all the lower zones caused by the building wiring.

By the way, nice ad hominem. Just because you don't like their stance on religion doesn't mean that their opinion on ghost hunters or paranormal investigation are any less valid. The show wasn't about whether ghosts or the paranormal exists it was about whether the investigators were actually doing anything that made sense.