will read the paper tonight but will go ahead and give my thoughts on the field, its future, and how its changed....
this field has actually made very little progress overall. it is still really looked at as a superstition of sorts. modern science for the most part still doesn't recognize the paranormal, psychics, or ghosts/spirits as a valid topic of study. what we see on TV is purely for entertainment and the ghost hunting tours are something that has been around for many many years. the recent (last 10-20 years) popularity of paranormal television has gotten everyday ppl interested in "ghost hunting" but they expect what they see on TV and usually soon lose interest and are on to the next big hobby or phase of their life. for most its a money grab form of entertainment or just a fun night out. psychics have been around forever. i can remember when there was 3 or 4 psychic shops or houses ( or whatever the places were called...lol) all around the city i lived in.
The recent popularity of television shows is actually nothing new . there have always been been tv shows highlighting the strange and paranormal side of life along with magazines such as fate, and a few others from the 60's and 70's. cable networks have been able to capitalize on the field for monetary gain and sheer entertainment but as with anything in the entertainment business, that is a double edged sword, for every one good thing it does for the field there are ten setbacks due to fraud and scripting..... i think the paranormal field has actually not moved forward very much in the last 50 years, except with the possible exception of forums such as this where like minded people can come together and create "think tank" type discussions and work out answers and problems with others who have been through similar.... real answers from real people, not from what is seen or scripted from television.
