The Effect Of Paranormal TV Shows

[Richard]

Glenn Sparks picked a good time to start thinking about ghosts. With the increasing number of paranormal shows dotting the new season's TV line-up, public interest in the paranormal is steadily rising. Since the early 1990s, Sparks, a professor of communication, has been researching how the media affects the public's belief in the paranormal."I had done a number of studies early in my career on the effects of frightening movies on emotional reactions that children had. I was interested in the sorts of things that scared children in the media at different points in their development and what parents could do to help children who were scared," said Sparks.Sparks noticed most of the programming, which caused the frightened reactions, were shows that involved ghosts, aliens and other similar programming. Around the same time, Sparks noticed an increase in paranormal programming."I've always been interested in how media affects what people believe. I just became interested in how (paranormal) depictions were being framed and what their effects might be on the viewing public," said Sparks.Sparks said he has done about seven studies on the subject and is looking forward to starting his next project. Sparks' next research project will be studying ghosts, particularly how the media depicts ghosts and how that affects what people believe.

"Ghosts are very commonly represented in the media," said Sparks. "Ghosts and psychics are two that I would like to look at."He has found that a large percentage of the public admits to believing in ghosts or have not decided whether or not they believe in ghosts. He would also like to look at whether or not a person's prior belief in ghosts can predict the emotional reaction a person might have to a movie about ghosts."(Researching the paranormal) has opened up so many different realms of exploration," Sparks said. "As a result, I've become familiar with a lot of the skeptical societies out there and their publications."The magazine Sparks enjoys the most is the Skeptical Inquirer, which is published by the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal. Benjamin Radford, managing editor of the Skeptical Inquirer, said the paranormal stories the media present is just a reflection of what the public is interested in."The amount someone believes in the paranormal more or less goes up and down," said Radford. "Paranormal shows have always stayed around because there is always an interest in what's out there."

 View: Full Article | Source: Purdue Exponent

http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/vie...p?id=74345

[Octahedron]

Hi Richard ,

I saw a show on television last sunday; a man was trying to convince he healed people with Christ energy. It was also about exorcism and protection against the Devil. He even suggested Jezus Christ talked to him and gave him a consult about a patient !!!!

Although, the concept of hyperspace healing is clear to me; it gave me the idea it is the nr. x  TV-show to imprint a "second coming" on the audience.

[Richard]

I think it’s like you said before. They want to change the paranormal to the normal. So they are getting people familiar with it with TV shows.

[psyconaut]

some crackpot at the bus transit center came up to me one time while i was waiting for a bus and asked if i beleived in jesus etc i said no i am an atheist(which is no longer true for saying she saw the wounds of jesus christ on her friend one day)
Salvia divinorum showed me that there is without a doubt a BIGGER picture than the THIS reality people normally accept. it was like stepping "BEHIND the scenes" of our conventional reality, its what i would imagine going through a wormhole at unimaginable speed is like. I accidentally ended up stumbling into some other dimension of some sort i didnt intend to enter, Salvia forces me to see what i need to see, but for whatever reason i am not able to face myself.