- Peter Venkman - Parapsychologist

“How many times have you heard the terms, “Ghost Hunter”, “Paranormal Investigator” or “Parapsychologist”, and think they were all the same,” asks Jennifer Lauer for the Janesville Paranormal Research Examiner. “Most people would assume they are, but is there really a difference between them?”

According to Lauer, “The answer is, “ABSOLUTELY!” Lauer writes, “There are several aspects of each of these titles that express what these people do and how they look at the field.”

GHOST HUNTER
“These individuals are usually hobbiest and their investigations generally consist of walking around a cemetery late at night with a flashlight, a camera and possibly a single axis Electromagnetic Field Meter (EMF) and hoping to see something that will scare the bejebeeze out of them,” writes Lauer. She continues by telling us what she really thinks, “They are simply thrill seekers with little to no education in the field of ghost research and investigation. They usually watch all of the Ghost Hunting shows on TV and accept them as reality.”

Paranormal Daily News: That’s one way of describing a ghost hunter, I guess…  Did she say, “bejebeeze”???

PARANORMAL INVESTIGATOR
“The term “Paranormal Investigator” can include anyone interested in many areas of the paranormal such as Aliens or UFO’s, Cryptozoology and yes, even ghosts,” writes Lauer.

PARAPSYCHOLOGIST
“A Parapsychologist is an individual who has advanced graduate degrees in parapsychology, psychology or other related areas with an emphasis on a parapsychological topic,” writes Lauer.

Parapsychology is a controversial discipline that seeks to investigate the existence and causes of psychic abilities and life after death using the scientific method. Parapsychological experiments have included the use of random number generators to test for evidence of precognition and psychokinesis with both human and animal subjects, sensory-deprivation and Ganzfeld experiments to test for extrasensory perception. While the results of such experiments are regarded by some parapsychologists as having demonstrated the existence of some forms of psychic abilities, the consensus of the scientific community is that psychic abilities have not been demonstrated to exist. Critics argue that methodological flaws may explain any apparent experimental successes. The status of parapsychology as a science has also been disputed. Many scientists regard the discipline as pseudoscience because parapsychologists continue investigation although no one has demonstrated conclusive evidence of psychic abilities in more than a century of research. (Source)

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