Annoying Things About the Paranormal with James Paradie: The "Elitists"

There's a scale I use of people in the paranormal field I tend to pick on - there are the Friends for Likes; there are the Circle Crazies; there are the "Oh, my God! It's a orb! That must be a child, because it's a little itty bitty orb. Those people who have proven that 95 percent of orbs are actually dust particles or bugs are stupid faces! I know I'm right. They're wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!" ... I could have simply said Crazy Orb Lovers (I haven't done an article on these people yet. Coming soon!) But in all honesty, I have these people on my friends list (though I don't talk to them) and truthfully I don't hate these people.The people I hate are the elitists. The ones who think they're right, everyone else is wrong. They're better than you.

One of my first run ins with a paranormal elitist was a while ago. I was still writing for the newspapers and sending in articles to two other paranormal websites. One was Mostly Ghosts, which suddenly they stopped taking my articles and I haven't heard from the lady in like two or three years now (whatever). But there was Paranormal News as well. I don't put articles on there anymore. Mostly because I have stopped doing new articles on the paranormal and because I don't think there's a need to bring my materials elsewhere.

Anyways, writing articles for them, I would check periodically to see if there were any responses. There were two articles that I remember the most, one was about the history of Electronic Voice Phenomena and Do It Yourself Ghost Hunting. Most people were favorable and even if they weren't, they were at least respectful about their dismissal towards my opinions. But there was one guy who was going around to these two articles and making sure he was grabbing his own dick and saying, "I'm better than you."

Now, to be honest, this guy wasn't an ultra-elitist. He did have some positive things to say in my D.I.Y. article. But the EVP one he totally bashed it. Saying EVPs are "not important in paranormal investigating." That's HIS opinion and I'm sure the majority of people will say he's on crack. But back to the D.I.Y. article, he said it was good, but there was one thing that really set him off. In one spot I said that graveyards are a great place to test out your equipment and train yourself to ask questions and etc. He said, no investigators have EVER gotten any evidence in a graveyard. Bullshit. I have as I'm sure others. The problem with people like him and other elitists is their rule: if it's never happened to me, it's never happened. Period.

No matter what you do, no matter how good your evidence is, you're going to get someone who says it's bullshit or that they can do or have done better. Everything in life is a competition. Writing is a competition. I know this, because I have authored a book (cheap plug. Buy it now!) and you get elitists who nit-pick over every little thing you've done wrong. Funny thing is, most of these knobs have never written a book! Same thing with the paranormal. It's a hobby to most people. Myself included. I do not get paid for it (I certainly have never made a dime off of this website) and it is not a job. Granted, it is to those who have television shows or the Mediums who charge 100 bucks an hour (rip off! cough cough. I know that's going to piss people off. One of these days I will go further into my "love" for overpriced Mediums). Or you get friends of mine, like Chad Stambaugh, who makes money from books, but rightfully so he should be paid. Printing books is expensive!

Regardless, even people who do this as a hobby are even competitive. If a group starting out only has a couple audio recorders, a cheap handheld video recorder, and last gens K-2 meter, you're going to get some jackass who says, "Ha. Such amateurs." Well, listen Mr. Bucks, not everybody has the finances you do. I used to buy NEPI tons of new equipment when I had the money, but now I can't, because I don't have the money. And already we're using last gens equipment. We have the last Ghost Box (the P-SB7, I think they've upgraded it since then.) Even the K-2 has an upgrade now. But yet, better equipment means that you're better than everyone. Not true. We've done "bare bones" investigations with just audio recorders, a Pendulum, and cameras and have gotten better results than we do with the state of the art equipment. It's all about setting and the way you present yourselves.

But no matter even saying that, the elitists will still laugh and say, I'm better than you. They're like leeches. They always need to be the center of attention and always have to feed off the "inferior ones." They consume off those who they consider weak.

Two paragraphs ago I mentioned Chad, I've witnessed him having a problem with this elitist who has been harassing him since the days of his first book. Saying Chad doesn't know anything and his information is smoke and mirrors. Listen. I've never ran into a demon, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. I've never had a problem with a Glass Swirling session, but that doesn't mean it can't go wrong. It's the same thing with Ouija Boards. I've sort of laughed off the people who say, "Stay away!" But then again, that doesn't mean they're wrong. I've never had a problem with them. Then again, I've only used it once and that was when I was probably ten or eleven years old at my cousin's birthday party. But that doesn't mean I'm right, they're wrong, because it's never happened to me before.

People really need to let go of that philosophy. There's always going to be someone who's had an experience you've never had. That doesn't mean it can't happen, because obviously it did to them. Is there a chance that some of these people are doing it for attention? Oh, yeah. There are some bat shit crazy folks out there. Believe me. I can tell you some stories. But until you know the truth, you can't yell "Liar!" yet.

You know what I think it really is? Why they are the way they are? Jealousy. They're jealous because someone knows more than them. We live in a jealous world. Jealousy creates the greed for attention and for demoralizing those who make them jealous. But also it could be attributed to fear. They fear that others out there are smarter than them and they simply can't take that. It causes them pain, so they lash out at those they fear.

How do you beat the elitists? You don't die out. You don't give in. You stay put and true to your words. Because they only win if you let them win. Don't let them win. Ignore them. Cut them out of your life. You don't need them. You don't need to listen to them. Let them feed off others, but go to those others and tell them the same thing. Fight against those who want to cause nothing but unwarranted pain and to warp their conscious into believing their malarkey. But don't ever go down to their level.

In closing there was a quote that I read on Facebook that I really really liked. Forgive me, I can't remember who said it. "The dead isn't the problem in the paranormal. It's the living."