I've had a couple people inquiring about different aspects of what a paranormal team does as it relates to the group dynamic. In what I'm hoping will be a series of blogs, I want to try to cover some of my opinions about group hierarchy, personalities, schedules, and some pointers I've found from doing "ghost hunt" events with the general public. I'll also go into some of the different personalities that I've seen, not just in my group, but others as well. I don't want anyone to think that I'm calling them out or attaching some label to them. We're all different. If we weren't, it would make for an awfully boring world.
Just as everyone is unique in this world, so are the reasons why people get involved in paranormal groups or ghost hunter groups in the first place. And as I've discussed before, there is a difference between a paranormal investigation group and a ghost hunting group. I won't really go into it here. Those of you who have been following along with my blog should already know my thoughts on that.
The least popular reason, in my opinion, why someone would get involved in ghost hunting is because they are what I call "Hollywoodies." They are all about themselves and want all eyes to be on them (more commonly referred to as "attention whores"). Their dream is to become the next Jason Hawes, Grant Wilson, Zak Bagans, or Ryan Buell. "Look at me! I'm hunting ghosts at Waverly Hills!" the caption on their Facebook photo will read, or something similar. They're only in it in order to ride the wave of the paranormal craze all the way to the bank. A group comprised mainly of persons with this ideology will ultimately fall out of favor and fail due either to their "manufacturing" of evidence or their "all eyes on me" attitudes. Not that there is anything wrong with wanting to have the local news team come out and follow you along on an investigation, but total shameless self-promotion is a major turnoff to most people.
Akin to the Hollywoodie is what I term the "wanna-be" ghost hunter. This person wants to get involved because they saw it on TV or think it's cool because paranormal seems to be the flavor of the month right now. I'll admit that in the beginning, I could have termed myself a "wanna-be." I watched the shows and got the idea to begin our little group of ghost hunters by taking mental notes on how the TV guys did it. However, for me, those shows were a jumping off point or a gateway into the wider world of the paranormal which led me toward reading and expanding upon the theories they were presenting. Hopefully most "wanna-be's" overcome their wide eyed wonder and pursue self-education through reading and studying what's currently available in the paranormal world. It's not bad to be a "wanna-be." We all wanted to be something at one time or another. Just don't get stuck by limiting yourself to only what you see on television.
In pushing the boundaries of paranormal science, we find what I call the "science dork." This person, usually a guy, can rationalize away just about anything with his meters and computers and recording devices. His sole interest lies in disproving or capturing absolute scientific proof of paranormal activity. Once I moved out of the "wanna-be" phase, I spent a lot of time trying to explain away everything scientifically. "Oh, it's just high EMF due to the ungrounded wiring in the house." "I hold no credence in the orb phenomena because it can always be explained as dust, moisture, lens flare, or a dirty lens." All of these and more are what comprise the mantra of the science dork. Sure, they want to believe that something's out there, but they just can see past the filter of rationalizing science that they're wearing. I have since moved on from this phase as well.
From the sci-dork comes the tech-head or techie. Much like the "Ghostbusters" did in the movie, they firmly rely on their electronic gear to capture audio, video, or a picture of the ever elusive spirit that haunts a location. They have varying degrees of belief in paranormal activity, but they do believe that there is something out there. It isn't a bad thing to be a techie. Every group should have at least one member that is one. Our group has about three of us that have various levels of technical expertise. I'll proudly admit that I am a tech-head, and defend myself by saying that technology is probably the only way that we're going to catch the proof that everyone will consider as "the answer". You might as well embrace it in one form or another because it isn't going away. A sub-group of the techie, which I hold in high regard, is the builder who understands electronic engineering and fabricates all the neat little devices that we use.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, and held in highest regard in many people's eyes is the psychic or sensitive. These people, to varying degrees, feel like they have the ability to see/communicate with spirits and entities on a much higher level. Only because it bears repeating, I hold a lot of skepticism for people that throw around the term psychic and sensitive. Nowadays, this is bandied about like a term of endearment. Everyone is a sensitive or thinks that they can see spirits or commune with the dead. That's all well and good, but my skepticism lies in the fact that this is so easy to fake. I won't go into it any further only to say that I require a lot of proof that a person is indeed the genuine article. Anybody can say they're sensitive/psychic and feel like they sense things. I want proof that you can glean what only I know or only what the spirit knows before I'll even consider you legit. With all that being said, since it seems that everyone is sensitive in one form or another, it's probably a good thing to have at least one person in a group that have proven themselves to be at least mildly sensitive. Personally, I'm about as psychic as a dead tree stump.
In a perfect world, everyone would care about everyone else and do everything they could to ensure that no one suffered and everyone was taken care of. Unfortunately, Alice, this ain't Wonderland. However, being altruistic in your reasoning for getting involved is akin to taking the high road. This kind of person genuinely cares about people and wants to help them work through their problems. Generally nurses and social workers would fall into this category, and it's a good idea to have more than one altruist involved with your group. These folks put their personal needs and reasons aside and want only to assist others. Sadly, I am far from an altruist, but strive to at least be able to put myself in other people's shoes and try to see things from their perspective. Nobody's perfect though.
This brings me to the final personality type to close out the first part of this blog series. This person has watched every horror movie and totally buys into what Hollywood has been selling about ghosts. They believe that every spirit attempting contact is either a demon wanting to possess and drag a person's soul to Hell or that any human entity has evil intentions and wants to only maim and kill. They bring their crosses and holy water along with a bucket to catch the "pea soup" as it belches forth from those possessed souls to every investigation fully expecting a full on battle with Satan himself. I call these people clueless. They have totally sold their souls to the notion that art is a direct imitation of reality. More often than not, a group with at least one these people as a member won't last long at all.
So that's the end of the first part of this series on Paranormal Group Dynamics. Remember, this is just my opinion from what I've seen. Your mileage may vary. In the next part, I'm going to go a little bit more into the different personality traits that people have and how they relate directly to the group dynamic. I'll talk about how people function in the group due to how they seem themselves. I'm also going to cover in the third and final part the hierarchy that seems to be prevalent in most groups.
