Witnessing the Paranormal by Using the Five Senses - Essay Example

of Lecturer 9 May, Witnessing the Paranormal by Using the Five Senses During the past several decades we have seen a powerful renewal of interest in the paranormal. At this time in history, you can turn on your television to any number of networks and there is a chance you will see some show about a paranormal team investigating a haunting. With this phenomena, we are also seeing a renewed interest in the demonic and Demonology The Paranormal Journal (5) Scholars are divided on issues that pertain to the paranormal. While some say that the paranormal is nothing but a figment of the imagination of some individuals, others who agree that there is indeed any area of study called the paranormal are of different viewpoints about some aspects. One of these aspects is whether the paranormal can be witnessed by using the five senses of sight, taste, touch, hearing and smell. By definition, the word “paranormal” refers to a variety of occurrences that are outside what is regarded as normal and cannot be given a natural or scientific explanation (Cambridge International Dictionary of English 900). The reason scholars assume opposing positions on the paranormal is primarily because things that are paranormal do not have any empirical methods of being understood. This is why the possibility of witnessing the paranormal by using five senses has proven to be such a big challenge. Since paranormal activities are activities that transcend the normal, it is only natural for people to believe that perceiving anything paranormal requires some other senses other than the normal five senses. Thus, some persons have said that there are senses other than the five which have already been established. Contrastively, it would not hurt if one gave a chance to the argument about the possibility of perceiving the paranormal just through the normal five senses. It is logical for one to think that all human beings are normal and no human is extraordinary. Thus, those that have the capacity to perceive the paranormal, only do so by using their five senses. The argument may also be put forth that all humans are capable of using their normal senses to perceive the paranormal but only a few have been able to do so because these few are the one that have been able to effectively use their senses in ways others have not dared to (Westrum & Marcello 69; Wescott 13). These extra capabilities of these few may be placed side by side with the capability of some individuals to, for instance, pass in class more than others in an examination. As living beings, we are able to partake in life by putting into proper use the five senses which are natural to us. We have heard stories of people who at some points were disconnected from the normal processes or activities of life. Some of these people were able to connect later on by understanding the possibility they have to attain to new level of activeness by tapping into avenues created by what is often regarded as paranormal. Jackson tells the true life story of Ian Waterman whose mind became disconnected from the body (2). At the same time that he was undergoing this unusual condition, he is unable to receive updates from his own body (his senses) about how he is faring. As a result of his terrible illness, he is unable to feel the parts of his body. He was able for, for example, tell where his legs and arms are. He is only able to know where they are if he look at them at their specific places. His condition was that terrible. However, over a number of months, by training his mind and by properly making use of his five senses – hearing, touch, taste, sight and smell – he trained himself to become as normal as every other person again. He was afterwards able to walk, stand, sit up, drive, but to mention a few. The story recounted above is a clear example of how the paranormal could be brought to bear by using the normal five senses. The healing of Waterman would probably have been seen by physicians as an impossibility. But Waterman through the paranormal is able to cause healing for himself. However, it must be stated that Waterman’s recovery should not only be attributed to the use of the five senses but also to his determination. It is almost unlikely that Waterman would have been healed if he was lacking in determination, if all he thought he could use to bring about his desired change were his five senses. There is a school of thought that opines that there are some other senses other than the five which are common to all and sundry. Some of them are thirst and hunger, and internal supervision of heartbeat (Jackson 3). According to Jackson, there are actually at least twenty one other senses. One may not find them true because almost all of these other twenty one senses can be sub-grouped under the five natural primary senses (3). Thus, one is able to automatically annul whatsoever arguments that anyone might want to put to forward, postulating that people that witness the paranormal are able to do because they have some senses which the typical person does not. There are some conditions into which one gets and one get feels disconnected from people that one used to be familiar with. One of such conditions is Capras syndrome. A sufferer of this syndrome is unable to feel any bond or emotional connection between him or her and their friends and family. Sufferers are unable to connect with their loved ones emotionally because they are unable to appropriate the faces whenever their loved one appear before them. This is quite similar to the condition of a person who is unable to remember anything about him or herself due a damage done to the brain. Unlike brain injury, however, sufferers from Capras syndrome feel emotionally connected to friend and family whenever they hear them speak, most times when the friends and family members are not where they can be seen. Even in such cases, one should never foreclose the chances of having healing for them. This is where the involvement of the paranormal might be needed. Even though medical practitioners may say that it is impossible to bring healing through the paranormal, one does not have to foreclose the possibility. Hence, even medicine should go further to investigate into the other ways of bringing about healing to sick individuals without necessarily having them take drugs or putting them through some needless therapy. The truth be told, some illness just need the injections and drugs. Human beings have the tendency to exaggerate at times. This is in the opinion of scholars (Radford 34). Radford is of the opinion that many of the things that people often refer to as paranormal are nothing more than the normal. It is just that some of these so called paranormal occurrences do not really happen frequently. (Perhaps that is why they indeed may be paranormal). So, because of their rarity, whenever people see them, they usually think that they are paranormal. Nonetheless, this does not remove the possibility that there is the paranormal level of existence. In addition, it doesn’t deny the possibility of witnessing the paranormal through the normal senses. The people that at some points mix up or interpret the normal as paranormal (and perchance, the paranormal as normal) should not be blamed. This is because some situations often demand that people are able to properly make certain differentiations, which many end up not being able to do. For instance, a person seated in a dark room who begins to see some white object moving may just think that it is a ghost that they are seeing. This person may then go ahead to say that they have perceived the paranormal through their normal five senses. In most cases, what has happened is that they have merely witnessed the paranormal by using the normal (Cohen 51). The supposed white object moving which was interpreted as a ghost may actually be one of the cloths in the room on a hanger moving up and down on the hanger. May be at that time, the sky is about to even make way for rain, and there is terrible breeze. This is the type of weather condition that some people often believe engenders the paranormal the most. On the converse, one must note that this has to be focused, and at a certain frequency in order to have this effect. It seems unlikely that environmental electromagnetic fields would be fine-tuned just enough to cause this effect... It’s an interesting idea, I just don’t think it’s terribly plausible... I’m not aware of any evidence to suggest it actually happens out there in the world Novella MonsterTalk podcast 2010 Nevertheless, many actions perceived as witnessing the paranormal by using the normal five senses are nothing outside the ordinary. One may even trace it to the minds of the interpreter. It may not be far from the truth if one says that many of those that assume this fallacious position have being brought up to believe that ghosts exist and that ghosts operate only under some situations. So, by the interpretation of these persons, anytime the stipulated situation comes to being, they automatically believe that they perceive the paranormal by using this normal. Meanwhile, what they are witnessing is most times not outside the normal. In the interim, one must state that there are still arguments going on as to whether ghosts really exist or not. Many of those that have said that ghosts indeed exist have not been able to place a definite shape and size for ghosts. They have not also been able to agree on whether ghosts have any import on human existence and whether they present good or bad omen. When do ghosts come into existence? It is possible to witness the paranormal by using the normal five senses because no certificate or training is needed to become an expert in ghost hunting, for example. This only means that everybody has the capability of knowing a ghost when they see one. But like many other things in life, to arrive at a stage of near perfection is witnessing the paranormal; one may need to be dedicated to the course of the paranormal. Certain studies suggest that even the best psychics are accurate only 30 percent of the time... Remember again that a lot of psychics will be wrong more often than they are exact (Gibson, Burns & Schrader pp 49, 51) In fact, there are many people who perceive the paranormal, amateur ghost hunters, for instance, who are not very good at it. Yet like everything in life, one should give them the privilege of the doubt, believing that they would become better as they continue to put their skill into practice. As things are, it is actually very difficult to take a stand on whether the paranormal can be perceived by using the normal five senses. In fact, scholars remain divided about whether the concept of the paranormal itself is logical and plausible. However, one thing seems to be for sure—there are some things which science is not able to prove, may be because these thing cannot be investigated through empirical means. Yet, the incapability of science to give a proper explanation for them does not mean that they really do not exist. This is exactly what the case is with the possibility of witnessing the paranormal by using the normal five senses. The reality on ground makes it known that it is very possible to perceive the paranormal by using the five senses of sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell. Works Cited Cambridge International Dictionary of English. Ed. Woodford, Kate; Jackson, Guy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2003. Print Cohen, Daniel, Encyclopedia of Ghosts. New York: Dorset Press. 1984. Print Gibson, Marley., Burns, Patrick., & Schrader, Dave. The Other Side: A Teen’s Guide to Ghost Hunting and the Paranormal. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2009. Print Jackson, Donna. Phenomena: Secrets of the Senses. New York: Little, Brown and Company. 2008. Print Novella, Steven. Getting into the Spirit of Things. MonsterTalk podcast, March 2 The Paranormal Journal: Materia Percipio Cognosco 1. 1. (2010). California: Paranormal Journal Foundation. Radford, Benjamin. Scientific Paranormal Investigation: How to Explain the Unsolved Mysteries. Corrales: Rhombus Publishing Company. 2010. Print Wescott, Robert. Anomalistics: The Outline of an Emerging Field of Investigation. New Jersey: Research Division, New Jersey Department of Education. 1973. Print Westrum R.; and Marcello Truzzi. “Anomalies: A Bibliographic Introduction with Some Cautionary Remarks.” Zetetic Scholar. 2(1978). Read More