Science

Has reality become too real? Has science gone so far, that all the mystery is gone out of life? Perhaps our desire to know everything, to understand everything, has caused us to become disillusioned, and desperate to find something that can not be explained away. Maybe we are seeking reassurance that there is more out there than the guys in white lab coats know about. Whatever the reason, it seems that our interest in the unknown, the unusual and the unbelievable has reached an all time high.

Current pop culture may play a huge part in our fascination with the unexplainable. We are inundated with movies, television and other media images celebrating that which we can not explain. From the days of Godzilla, we have had a love/hate relationship with the idea of creatures from unknown realms interfacing with our world. The numbers of television series about hunting for proof of ghosts has increased exponentially in the past five years. Shows like Monsterquest, Destination Truth, and __________ lure us in with the possibility of proving the existence of crypotzoological mysteries. Many more shows promise evidence of aliens through UFO sightings, crop circles, or ancient archaeological evidence.

Dr. Jeffry Palmer, Ph. D., said in his article Paranormal Topics in the Media that “Disillusionment with antiquated beliefs as well as modern society; the real need to discover a personal sense of spirituality and the validation of mystical concepts by modern scientists, I believe are responsible for the increasing interest in paranormal subject matter. We see this interest reflected in the cinemas, on television, on the book shelves and on the radio. Every media outlet is aware of this trend and there seems to be a rush to produce as many products as

possible.”

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the word paranormal as simply meaning “scientifically unexplainable”. This doesn’t mean that the supernatural doesn’t exist, it just tells us that science...