Rogan lightly making fun of the idea of paranormal activity and ghost hunter shows

[IamStryker]

I have some fairly strong opinions about ghosts and paranormal activity. When I was a kid I had a pretty strong religious upbringing so I grew up thinking that Ouija boards were gateways to demons and people could communicate with demons if they wanted to (these people are called mediums). As I grew up I eventually realized that this is all BS. I think that people in general are extremely gullible and can convince themselves of anything. I do not think ghosts or any of the usual paranormal experiences people cite are real. I think stupid people and con artists have perpetuated those ideas and now it's cemented in a lot of people's minds as being real.

Give your thoughts.

 

[Bubzeh]

As a dude that made a TV show dedicated to tracking Bigfoot he can't laugh at anyone for their paranormal beliefs imo.

 

[loisestrad]

As a dude that made a TV show dedicated to tracking Bigfoot he can't laugh at anyone for their paranormal beliefs imo.

Bigfoot isn't paranormal. He's an actual creature that may or not exist or have existed. Nothing paranormal about that.

 

[colby25]

I have some fairly strong opinions about ghosts and paranormal activity. When I was a kid I had a pretty strong religious upbringing so I grew up thinking that Ouija boards were gateways to demons and people could communicate with demons if they wanted to (these people are called mediums). As I grew up I eventually realized that this is all BS. I think that people in general are extremely gullible and can convince themselves of anything. I do not think ghosts or any of the usual paranormal experiences people cite are real. I think stupid people and con artists have perpetuated those ideas and now it's cemented in a lot of people's minds as being real.

Give your thoughts.

I've heard too many stories regarding séances and Ouija boards from people who aren't particularly religious. My sister is one of them and she's not your 'church goer' type and I remember she use to mess around with stuff like that as a teenager and she has stories about it to this day where she says she won't touch those things.

I remember she used to do weird stuff too like- getting together with friends sleep in cemeteries and do séances bunch weird crap I would never do. Also my ex use to tell me about séances she did as a teenager and how they asked for crap and each one got it but it was some weird morbid sick way. One person asked for money they got it through some death. She told me the story 10 years ago so I don't remember the exact details I think I was too busy shaking my head asking why in the world would you do a séance?

But I don't play around with any of that stuff and never will. Kind of like playing Russian rouellete- what do you have to win compared to what do you have to gain? Play stupid games win stupid prizes. I'll pass. But I do believe in paranormal stuff as well.

 

[OverCoronavirus Pressure]

It's all a bunch of hokum.
Nonsense.
I find it hard to believe adult men believe in shit that only women and children should.

But, here we are. Dude just sent himself up a ways with a rocket to test flat earth.

 

[IamStryker]

I've heard too many stories regarding séances and Ouija boards from people who aren't particularly religious. My sister is one of them and she's not your 'church goer' type and I remember she use to mess around with stuff like that as a teenager and she has stories about it to this day where she says she won't touch those things.

I remember she used to do weird stuff too like- getting together with friends sleep in cemeteries and do séances bunch weird crap I would never do. Also my ex use to tell me about séances she did as a teenager and how they asked for crap and each one got it but it was some weird morbid sick way. One person asked for money they got it through some death. She told me the story 10 years ago so I don't remember the exact details I think I was too busy shaking my head asking why in the world would you do a séance?

But I don't play around with any of that stuff and never will. Kind of like playing Russian rouellete- what do you have to win compared to what do you have to gain? Play stupid games win stupid prizes. I'll pass. But I do believe in paranormal stuff as well.

From my view those kinds of stories are examples of people fooling themselves. When you expect something to happen you look for things to attribute to it. For example there was a movie made awhile back about some kind of box and if you possessed the box all this bad stuff happened to you. But what's really happening is anything bad that happens to you people just attribute to the box. There is nothing paranormal about getting sick but when this person gets sick they think "Oh well the demon box had to of done it".

 

[IamStryker]

But, here we are. Dude just sent himself up a ways with a rocket to test flat earth.

Perfect example of how people will believe anything.

 

[drstrangelov]

Of course they're not "real" in the sense that spirits of the dead are interacting with the living. But, paranormal activity is a pretty successful movie franchise, that's a very real thing, and ghost hunters are shows about super serious people shitting themselves scared in the dark. These things have value in what they are, and don't rely on the supernatural to work, obviously, since none of that is ever actually featured.

 

[OverCoronavirus Pressure]

Perfect example of how people will believe anything.

Well, we're in the age of "fuck your facts and evidence".

I recall thinking, "This internet thing is going to practically wipe out ignorance. So many resources..."
But, of course it has always been so: a lie can go around the world seven times before the truth even gets its pants on.

I also think we've got a trend of people who think it's cool and edgy to reject the findings of science when it tells them things they don't like.

 

[IamStryker]

Of course they're not "real" in the sense that spirits of the dead are interacting with the living. But, paranormal activity is a pretty successful movie franchise, that's a very real thing, and ghost hunters are shows about super serious people shitting themselves scared in the dark. These things have value in what they are, and don't rely on the supernatural to work, obviously, since none of that is ever actually featured.

I think it's sad that nonsense is so popular and is perpetuated through entertainment.

 

[OverCoronavirus Pressure]

Of course they're not "real" in the sense that spirits of the dead are interacting with the living. But, paranormal activity is a pretty successful movie franchise, that's a very real thing, and ghost hunters are shows about super serious people shitting themselves scared in the dark. These things have value in what they are, and don't rely on the supernatural to work, obviously, since none of that is ever actually featured.

Charlatans fostering childish belief in bullshit isn't gonna help anyone.

 

[drstrangelov]

Charlatans fostering childish belief in bullshit isn't gonna help anyone.

It's television, or horror movies, the purpose isn't to help anyone. That's not a standard we apply to most entertainment, why apply it here?

 

[drstrangelov]

I think it's sad that nonsense is so popular and is perpetuated through entertainment.

I don't think it's any sadder than people getting super into sci-fi/fantasy or having personal connection to sitcom characters. It helps people escape a little.

 

[Lights Out 101]

Meh, people can believe what they want to believe. Some people swear high and low that they've experienced something paranornal, like my ex-boss who is the most intelligent and straight-edge man I've ever met in my life. Who the fuck am I to tell him that he's wrong?

 

[OverCoronavirus Pressure]

It's television, or horror movies, the purpose isn't to help anyone. That's not a standard we apply to most entertainment, why apply it here?

Fair point.
I just wish they would clearly label it fiction rather than trying to fool people into thinking it's real.

Science fact and science fiction are separate things. This shit tries to wear the cloak of respectability that science has earned, without any of the hard work.
By masquerading as a scientific investigation, they assume the mantle of authority where none is due.
Science has epistemological privilege over teevee shows.

Maybe. I'm not so sure anymore.

 

[IamStryker]

I don't think it's any sadder than people getting super into sci-fi/fantasy or having personal connection to sitcom characters. It helps people escape a little.

I have no problem with escapism. People doing what they want with their lives and their time to enjoy life is perfectly fine. What I don't like is perpetuating nonsense as being real which can have very large negative effects on people. For example people believing that someone can communicate with their dead relatives is a very bad thing. In this very podcast they talk a little about how Sylvia Brown once told a family with a missing kid that the child was dead. So the family grieved and stopped looking for him. Years later the kid was found very much alive and wondering why the family wasn't looking for him.

Edit: Wow I just googled it and the kid I was thinking of was Shawn Hornbeck. I then found that Sylvia had told Amanda Berry's parents that she was dead as well. She was recovered in the house of some sick freak who was keeping her prisoner as well as two other girls that he kidnapped as teenagers. Anyway Sylvia Brown is a piece of shit and people believing she can talk to the dead is the core of the problem here.

 

[drstrangelov]

Fair point.
I just wish they would clearly label it fiction rather than trying to fool people into thinking it's real.

Science fact and science fiction are separate things. This shit tries to wear the cloak of respectability that science has earned, without any of the hard work.
By masquerading as a scientific investigation, they assume the mantle of authority where none is due.
Science has epistemological privilege over teevee shows.

Maybe. I'm not so sure anymore.

I don't think they actually claim to do any real science on the show, they just use gadgets. The use of some trappings of legitimacy in building tension is standard for reality programming. The attempt is to put people in a head space where they can get scared of nothing, just like the guys on screen, and they're pretty good at it.

 

[OverCoronavirus Pressure]

I don't think they actually claim to do any real science on the show, they just use gadgets. The use of some trappings of legitimacy in building tension is standard for reality programming. The attempt is to put people in a head space where they can get scared of nothing, just like the guys on screen, and they're pretty good at it.

Meh.
I know someone who is intelligent, thinks of himself as a skeptic, but watches ghost hunter or whatever.
It's not the intelligent people who can discern bullshit to entertain from simpler bullshit that worry me.
The stupid is increasing on a frightening curve.
I don't think we're very far from a wave of straight up anti- intellectualism that could compare to the burning of the Library at Alexandria.

 

[drstrangelov]

I have no problem with escapism. People doing what they want with their lives and their time to enjoy life is perfectly fine. What I don't like is perpetuating nonsense as being real which can have very large negative effects on people. For example people believing that someone can communicate with their dead relatives is a very bad thing. In this very podcast they talk a little about how Sylvia Brown once told a family with a missing kid that the child was dead. So the family grieved and stopped looking for him. Years later the kid was found very much alive and wondering why the family wasn't looking for him.

I don't think that you can blame ghost hunter tv shows and movies for people believing in mediums and psychics. There's a deeper underlying psychological issue in play when people are attempting to communicate with lost loved ones. Hell, in most cases that's alright too though, it's just paying for a little comfort, at the risk of sounding like a moron when you tell other people what you've done. It's really cringe-y to hear people sincerely believe this shit, but dealing with loss is hard, I don't want to kick these folks while they're down.

 

[drstrangelov]

Meh.
I know someone who is intelligent, thinks of himself as a skeptic, but watches ghost hunter or whatever.
It's not the intelligent people who can discern bullshit to entertain from simpler bullshit that worry me.
The stupid is increasing on a frightening curve.
I don't think we're very far from a wave of straight up anti- intellectualism that could compare to the burning of the Library at Alexandria.

Even if you're 100% right, it's still a bit of a gradiose response to ghost hunters.