Paranormal Activity: Read all about it

A look back at history reveals intense wars and fights that would make “Saving Private Ryan”… A look back at history reveals intense wars and fights that would make “Saving Private Ryan” look like an episode of “Teletubbies.” Nearly every minute of every day in history, people have been at war.

But according to Christopher Carter and his book, “Parapsychology and the Skeptics,” no war has contained more turn-arounds, surprises, victories and defeats than the struggle to legitimize the study of the paranormal.

“The book deals with the historical and experimental evidence for psychic phenomena, the arguments that attempt to debunk the subject, the scientific and philosophical issues and the dark history of the so-called skeptical movement,” said Carter.

“While a student in Oxford, I lived in an old farmhouse that was said to be haunted. The strange experiences we had there sparked my interest, and I began reading books in the field.”

From there, his curiosity in things that go bump in the night has butted heads against skeptics who refuse to believe in otherworldly phenomena such as ghosts, electronic voice phenomenon and psychic powers.

“The dogmatic skeptics have gone to the most extraordinary lengths to deny, distort and suppress the evidence, merely because the evidence cannot be accommodated by their world view,” said Carter.

“They think they are being very scientific, when their behavior is nothing of the sort. Their thinking is based on outmoded science and has become an ideology which they feel must be defended at all costs.”

Carter isn’t personally biased, though – he’s a scientist who believes in the scientific method. He doesn’t believe in going blindly into a fight with both barrels blazing gunpowder and little else. His artillery consists of data painstakingly collected over the years, turning his argument into a 21st-century ordinance that would make the unprepared opposing troops quake in their boots.

“An argument with a dogmatic skeptic made me realize the weakness of their position,” said Carter, “so I decided a book was needed to challenge these biased and prejudiced opinions.”

Parapsychology has been accepted into the American Association for the Advancement of Science since 1969 and has been studied by the government. Some universities even offer parapsychology courses and majors, with Carter’s book as supplemental material.

But Carter believes that one reason that parapsychology will continue to attract attention, whether for or against its study, is because of its popularity. People continue to be intrigued by what they don’t understand, even if they don’t believe it.

Thanks to films like “The Sixth Sense,” Carter believes that parapsychology will continue to ignite interest for quite some time.

“I enjoyed ‘The Sixth Sense.’ I thought the writers did their homework before writing the story. I think films like that are popular because of the public’s fascination with psychic phenomena.”

Television shows based on ghostly phenomena, such as “Paranormal State” and “Ghost Hunters,” are also examples of the popularity of the paranormal.

“Most scientists are curious and open-minded,” said Carter. “True skepticism involves the suspension of belief, not the refusal of belief, and so most of these critics are not really skeptics but dogmatists.”

And Carter’s response to the non-believers? “Simple,” he said, “look at the evidence.”