The Ghost Lab

[Gary C]

The Michael Shermer Show # 522 -
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ci1XDnq99bY

Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling, author of the new book The Ghost Lab, explains the wild ecosystem of paranormal profiteers and consumers through the astonishing story of what happened in this one [small New Hampshire] town. He also maps the trends of declining scientific literacy, trust in institutions, and the diffusion of a culture that has created space for armies of pseudoscientists to step into the minds of an increasingly credulous public.

Around 1:15 Michael and Matthew discuss treating people who reportedly suffer from repeated alien abductions / demonic possessions and the critical role of empathy in achieving trust between the therapist and the sufferer.

 

[Sharon Hill]

I have his book for a review (for Fortean Times). (I'm not going to listen to a Shermer show.) The book has a few good points, but the premise is rather weak, the focus is entirely New Hampshire which doesn't work real well, and he missed some of the big picture reasons for why people flocked to amateur research and investigation groups in the 2000s. It was a complicated time. It's rather interesting reading to see the characters stumble their way through this, but they all are logically inconsistent and some are very annoying. I'm only halfway through, but things aren't going well for a team who aren't scientists, but insist on a scientific premise, lack skills, fall for all sorts of obviously awful pseudoscientific claims, and want to make money off it all.