if being a paranormal expert was a job

[Brian Topp 3,822]

If being a ghost hunter or paranormal expert was an actual job, like an accountant or real estate agent, what would the job requirements you believe that is required to get that role. this is a skeptical thread meaning that self proclaim powers such as medium is not permitted as a job requirements.

For me it is a degree in in 3 years in dslr photography, sound editing, video editing and ala masters degree.

[Sweetpumper 10,602]

Actually having experiences.

[Vlad the Mighty 33,397]

Being adept at Photoshop and how to fake videos and post them on Youtube, he says sourly.

[rashore 10,433]

Yeah, the whole photography thing. I think some construction/electrical/plumbing sort of experience too. Good researching skills. I don't even know what this skill would be called, but some knowledge of how waves work, like how sound travels over water or how light can bounce and reflect. Some medical knowledge like sleep paralysis, how people freak themselves out, how the eyeballs can trick themselves, that sort of stuff.

I know this isn't a mediumship sort of thread, but I do think a good paranormal expert would be well read on those aspects too. Not to use themselves, but rather to better understand what is going on when other people use those various methods.

Edit to add more stuff...

A good investigator should also have good/positive connections with the LEO too. And have a good grasp of the legal aspects that can come into investigating situations like being in a cemetery or what happens if you break a lamp in someones home while on investigation by accident? Or discover human remains?

Edited February 11, 2014 by rashore

[TheTheosophist 1,489]

If that was the case, there should be a formal training program, that touches various aspect required for an investigatior that is, a base on science ((para)psychology, physics), skeptical thinking, history research, photography.

I do think it is important that an investigator, alone, should have more than one tool in his bag. That is why we see today more groups of people with various skills than one stand-alone investigator.

After this formal training program, the 'graduated students' can choose further their expertise on a particular aspect of paranormal research. Wheter it be history, science, photography, ect

Edited February 11, 2014 by sam_comm

[MissJatti 4,045]

you have to be clever

[questionmark 11,357]

But it is a job, more of the artistic type that is why just a few can live of it...Con-Artist that is....

[Awake2Chaos 899]

Yeah, the whole photography thing. I think some construction/electrical/plumbing sort of experience too. Good researching skills. I don't even know what this skill would be called, but some knowledge of how waves work, like how sound travels over water or how light can bounce and reflect. Some medical knowledge like sleep paralysis, how people freak themselves out, how the eyeballs can trick themselves, that sort of stuff.

I know this isn't a mediumship sort of thread, but I do think a good paranormal expert would be well read on those aspects too. Not to use themselves, but rather to better understand what is going on when other people use those various methods.

Edit to add more stuff...

A good investigator should also have good/positive connections with the LEO too. And have a good grasp of the legal aspects that can come into investigating situations like being in a cemetery or what happens if you break a lamp in someones home while on investigation by accident? Or discover human remains?

Legalities for sure. You'd also need a good base in world religions, seeing as your client base would vary.

[JesseCuster 5,320]

If being a ghost hunter or paranormal expert was an actual job, like an accountant or real estate agent, what would the job requirements you believe that is required to get that role. this is a skeptical thread meaning that self proclaim powers such as medium is not permitted as a job requirements.

For me it is a degree in in 3 years in dslr photography, sound editing, video editing and ala masters degree.

I definitely agree with these technical requirements. All too many crap gets touted by paranormal investigation groups that is clearly not the real deal. Crappy fuzzy recordings of background noise being shouted from the rooftops as "Class A" EVPs, mist and breath condensation illuminated by flash being touted as spirits, falling for photos that came from ghost apps and which can easily be proven to have come from ghost apps, etc.

There just seems to be too many clueless amateurs calling themselves experts and investigators in the field that the signal to noise ratio is ridiculously low.

[davros of skaro 6,148]

One has to hold PHD's like these guys.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Venkman

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Stantz

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egon_Spengler

[TheTheosophist 1,489]

But it is a job, more of the artistic type that is why just a few can live of it...Con-Artist that is....

I have to disagree. In truth, If the paranormal research or 'ghost hunting'' is one day to be ''legitimized'' as a serious field of research, it would be by the scientific community. Therefore the study of ghosts phenomenon would be encompassed in the realm of science just like archeology, paleonthology, geology ect. It would be a science that can possibly have an impact on various fields such as physics, biology, neurobiology and others.

If you find serious researches to be artistic, that's your view, but I do not see it that way.

It also means the recognition of Parapsychology as a real and genuine science (not only on paper but in fact) that can no longer be ignored. Experts of paranormal research would be these very parapsychologists with background in psychology, physics, biology and other skills and trainings required to carry (not investigations but rather studies).

Edited February 11, 2014 by sam_comm

[JesseCuster 5,320]

One has to hold PHD's like these guys.

http://en.wikipedia....i/Peter_Venkman

http://en.wikipedia....wiki/Ray_Stantz

http://en.wikipedia....i/Egon_Spengler

"Your theories are the worst kind of popular tripe, your methods are sloppy and your conclusions are highly questionable. You are a poor scientist Dr. Venkman."

[aquatus1 7,080]

"But the kids love us."

The entire conflict between the two sides, in a nutshell.

[Sakari 9,740]

First requirement :

Proof that the " paranormal " exists. Can not be an expert at nothing.

Now " what if ".....Credentials in :

Electrical

Geology

Structural Engineering

Psychology

Pest Control

And a few more.

[aquatus1 7,080]

Hmm...an actual, wage-earning, parapsychologist, eh...?

Okay, let's say a university has inexplicably given me a large enough grant to go through a serious investigation. Assuming we have to work within existing parameters (meaning that we can't donate a new wing to Yale and request a specific course on parapsychology), my first stop be the English department.

I need a fresh new face with experience and practice writing technical papers and presentation pieces. Someone who hasn't gotten lazy with age, or learned what he can and can't get away with. I need someone who is assuming the science instructor from hell will be personally grading his submission and tattooing a big ugly "F!" on his forehead should the paper not meet his stringent standards.

Next, I am heading to the Biological Science building. I need a forensic biologist, specializing in humans. I need someone who has a good spread of knowledge on how people die, what the body does when that is happening, and how the mind reacts to the situation. Ideally, I need an instructor, or at least someone who has submitted a paper and been out in the field.

From the Psychology department, I will recruit a teacher with experience in the application of Formal Logic, Critical Thinking, and Human Behaviour. If I can, I need someone who has instructed courses on Experimental Design.

Lastly, myself, a global marketing and negotiations instructor. My job will be to look through the cases and determine which ones will be the foundation of our department. I will need to find two cases at a minimum, one supernatural and one paranormal. The cases need be such that a metric of statistical significance can be determined ahead of time and objectively achieved. The purpose of these cases will basically be to prove to the grant board that our department is indeed involved in actual research. It goes without saying that we will need to publish at least one, better two, papers prior to the 8-month mark.

The purpose of our group will be to establish the existence of some currently unknown factor which influences statistical probability in a manner that can be repeatedly and reliably demonstrated to be above that which could be expected from mere chance.

[Camarel 184]

If being a ghost hunter or paranormal expert was an actual job, like an accountant or real estate agent, what would the job requirements you believe that is required to get that role. this is a skeptical thread meaning that self proclaim powers such as medium is not permitted as a job requirements.

For me it is a degree in in 3 years in dslr photography, sound editing, video editing and ala masters degree.

I have a master fellowship of the degreesmith society, which is part of the internet,college of that online university i forgot the name of. I'm seriously almost 4 % sure that there is a half decent chance that i haven't been duped out of my money

[lorelle17 20]

Its similar to psychology. Doing research and developing ideas and understandings through experience that are shared with people and accepted yet cant in stone be proven as fact without a doubt. Not all are successful.

[aquatus1 7,080]

Seems to me that there is a gap in knowledge at work here. While the question was about what sort of job requirements someone would need in order to earn a living as an actual paranormal expert, most people are just focusing on what would be needed to debunk a given claim.

Thing of it is, though, that unless you are doing a show, no one is going to pay you to debunk anything. You don't hire an exterminator to convince you there are no mice. You hire one because you suspect there are mice and he has the knowledge to be able to confirm it. Similarly, no one pays researchers to disprove things (not as a regular job, anyways). They pay them to prove things, or at least to make a documented effort at doing so.

Knowledge in photography, editing, Photoshop, electrical work, etc, etc is fine and certainly can come in useful should a particular claim come across your desk, however, if your primary purpose is to produce something that will justify the money people are spending on you, then you will need to do the same thing researchers everywhere else do, namely, Research. For that, you need people with skills in actual research, experimentation, methodology, and design. In the creation of data, not the debunking of it.

[Sakari 9,740]

You don't hire an exterminator to convince you there are no mice. You hire one because you suspect there are mice and he has the knowledge to be able to confirm it.

I am hiring a pest control place....To check if we have termites. I am hoping we do not. If he convinces me we have none, I save money, and stress.

[lorelle17 20]

Good luck saving money

[Sakari 9,740]

Good luck saving money

Ok, no offense, but this is common sense.

If we had termites, then it costs more to have the issue taken care of.

Just an inspection is much less.

Not hard to figure out.

( house has been inspected every year, and no termites since the issue 3 years ago )------ So, the previous owners saved money.

[lorelle17 20]

No offense but i was being sarcastic

[Sakari 9,740]

No offense but i was being sarcastic

No offense taken. You never know on this site

Edited February 12, 2014 by Sakari

[Brian Topp 3,822]

by reading these replies, I comes to my attention that each paranormal expert should be split into roles, libairian or research (not just google it), a construction worker or contracter, photo and sound and video professional. this sounds right to me since having one person with all one knowledge and training would be costly and rare.

Edited February 12, 2014 by Brian Topp

[JesseCuster 5,320]

Knowledge in photography, editing, Photoshop, electrical work, etc, etc is fine and certainly can come in useful should a particular claim come across your desk, however, if your primary purpose is to produce something that will justify the money people are spending on you, then you will need to do the same thing researchers everywhere else do, namely, Research. For that, you need people with skills in actual research, experimentation, methodology, and design. In the creation of data, not the debunking of it.

An investigator and a scientific researcher are not the same thing.

An investigator is like a police detective. Someone with a broad variety of skills needed to examine an incident. The ability to interview people, know if a story doesn't add up, know if someone's BSing them, etc.. Collecting evidence and taking it to the right kind of people to interpret, etc. Knowing that a scene of a supposed haunting or poltergeist or whatever needs certain type of people on the scene to help with the investigation, etc. And yes, debunking will come with the job. The field is so rife with hoaxes and stories with very dodgy evidence that concluding that nothing paranormal happened will be (or should be) part and parcel of the job.

I don't think expecting a person investigating paranormal incidents to be involved with experimentation, designing experiments, etc. makes much sense any more than a homicide detective will be expected to conducts and design experiments in ballistics, knows how to do a DNA test. He needs to have a broad working knowledge of those things and be able to take advice from people who are experts in such areas. His job is to visit the scene, examine the evidence, interview witnesses, document what needs to be documented (photographs, video, audio, testimony) and figure what (if anything) happened etc.

Of course, having such a team of people at your disposal would be prohibitively expensive.