“Parapsychology, and before it Psychical Research, has been researching psychic phenomena such as ESP, ghosts and hauntings for more than a century now both in the lab and in the field”, says parapsychologist and author Loyd Auerbach. “It would be safe to say that, unlike other fields of research, about 95% or more of the ghost hunters in this country know too little or even nothing of the rich history of parapsychological research and those that pioneered such research for over 130 years.”
Besides a lack of knowledge of the very field that has studied psychic (psi) phenomena for so long, “Most people out there, who are being invited into people's homes, have no actual academic training or true knowledge of psychology, sociology or anthropology, three valuable social sciences not to be ignored if you are studying psychic phenomena. After all,” adds parapsychologist Dr. Barry E. Taff, “Psi is of the mind.”
Adds Loyd Auerbach, “Thanks to the TV shows, it seems that the large number of ghost hunters seem to think they can ignore human experience in favour of technology not designed to detect anything ‘paranormal,’ when it is that experience that labelled the location/event ‘haunted’ to begin with. Without witness experience, you have nothing – even a rumour starts with a person.”
The IPC wants the general public and media outlets to know that they are available to help anyone who is experiencing paranormal phenomena, or has questions about Parapsychology, that they will help you get in touch with educated and knowledgeable psi field researchers and parapsychologists as opposed to teams who have little more training than watching cable television. They also hope to reach out to serious minded people who are interested in being more than ghost hunters, the psi field researchers and parapsychologists of the future.
Another separate platform for dissemination of information is an expanding portal to scientific Parapsychology and to reputable resources on psi phenomena, education in Parapsychology, and field investigation. “We hope that it will be of great use to people having paranormal experiences, to people interested in investigating the paranormal, and to the media and general public at large,” says Loyd Auerbach.
In addition, the Psi Portal (also known as the Parapsychology Portal) is intended to help support people truly curious about real scientific research and investigation methods and what has gone before in the field. As “amateur astronomers” gain respect with their discoveries and contributions to the field of astronomy, the amateur psi researcher has the potential to contribute greatly to the social science that is parapsychology.
The typical Amateur Psi Field Researcher is one who does not depend on the field of parapsychology as a primary source of income or support, and does not have advanced academic training in the subject and/or a related degree. Many amateurs are beginners, while others have a high degree of experience in parapsychological research and often assist and work alongside professional parapsychologists. The amateur psi field researcher, with the proper support and training, can be considered a great deal more qualified than the weekend “ghost hunter” so popular today.
The majority of scientific contributions by amateur psi field researchers will be in the area of data collection. In particular, this applies where large numbers of amateur psi field researchers with small teams can add to the knowledge base in ways that the relatively small number of parapsychologists in the country cannot when it comes to collecting data from the ever increasing world population.
From the Parapsychology Portal, members of the public, media and international press, will be able to find parapsychologists as well as professionally recommended psi field researchers. Working along parapsychologists, these amateur field researchers are the most qualified to study cases of psi phenomena which includes consciousness survival (ghosts, hauntings, etc), psychic activity (ESP, poltergeists, etc) and Near Death Experiences (NDE).
“We hope that in the future, when the press and public need information or research done in anything psi related they will contact us through the Parapsychology Portal website,” says parapsychologist and author Dr. Andrew Nichols. “It is the difference between science and pseudo science, as true amateurs and expert's present information and resources that go way beyond the mostly-TV-trained enthusiasts and hobbyists. The Psi-Portal site provides a single stop on the web that brings together major parapsychological organizations for the 1st time.”
