Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Light bulb lights up in my brain - and the TV changes channel.

An astonishing revelation - some of the new lightbulbs can actually change the channels on your TV set.

Such events are not unheard of in paranormal cases. I could say that the restless spirits are trying to find something decent to watch. Good luck to them, I say, because I certainly can't!

On a serious note, there's nothing funny about paranoral activity - far from it. So what does a paranormal expert have to say about paranormal channel surfing in light of this new discovery?

Well, the first thing to understand is that the particular (faulty) variety of logic which I like to call Randypandy (after a famous skeptic) does not hold. Just because a TV can change channels under the influence of a lightbulb does not automatically prove that ALL channel changes are due to the lightbulb. Just hitting the button on the remote control can prove that! Therefore, although certain lightbulbs may effect this rather disconcerting phenomena, that does not mean that it is always going to be the cause.

Secondly, the biggest - and pleasing - result of this discovery is that we now have another check to be performed. Are there any lightbulbs near the offending TV? If so, remove them. If not then consider if any other electrical equipment might be able to generate rogue signals. It might actually be something adversely affecting the TV's components and not a lightbulb.

Paranormal research is not about jumping in and declaring ghosts all over the place. It is a painstaking - and sometimes boring - process of eliminating all of the 'normal' possibilities one by one until the only thing left is the 'paranormal' possibilities. It also relies on supporting evidence - not one single piece. Much in the paranormal is non-physical, so it is very difficult to prove. Instead, inferences are made based on different pieces of evidence. So a real paranormal investigator would not assume a mischievous spirit just because a TV cycles its channels.

Even when we do reach the conclusion that something is paranormal, it doesn't mean it CANNOT be due to an as-yet-undiscovered cause. Being a true paranormal investigator means that you must be open minded about things. It might look like a ghost, it might sound like a ghost - it might feel like a ghost - so if every other explanation has been ruled out, then it is safe to assume that perhaps it IS a ghost. Until some better explanation arises.

History is full of examples of discoveries which are first ridiculed and then adopted as fact - only to then be replaced by new theories when it is appropriate. So it is with the paranormal.

So, when the TV next develops self-will - check the lightbulbs first. Then, look for other signs.....

No comments:

Post a Comment

Be nice or you will be removed.
Skeptics are welcome. As are intestinal worms. I am not prejudiced, I treat them both the same.