Contact with Spirits

     This is a visual that I put together from How Stuff Works (Link: https://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/afterlife/evp.htm). This image shows the major steps of analyzing EVPs, according to the Ghost Investigators Society. The first screen shows the unedited voice pattern, the second screen shows the wave form statistics used to analyze the pattern, and the third screen shows the analysis graph, which helps the investigators determine whether or not the voice sample was actually EVP. This visual actually helps to illustrate the counterargument, as it shows the “scientific” part of EVPs. After discussing this visual and how recorded voice patterns are checked before being deemed as actual EVPs, I would like to discuss how all the actual interpretation of EVPs is still up to humans, who are very much fallible and are likely to hear words out of nonsense. 

  Research questions: Why do paranormal investigators use the tools that they use? How does the media (i.e., paranormal programming) affect the choices and beliefs of investigators and observers? Why are some people more likely to believe in the paranormal than others? Works Cited Axtell, Cassie C., "Assessing Electronic Voice Phenomena through Speech Science" (2017).  Honors Theses. 415. https://encompass.eku.edu/honors_theses/415. Aykroyd, Peter H., and Angela Narth. A History of Ghosts: the True Story of Séances, Mediums,  Ghosts, and Ghostbusters . Rodale, 2009.  Blum, Deborah. Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life after  Death . Century, 2007.  Brewer, Paul R. “The Trappings of Science: Media Messages, Scientific Authority, and Beliefs  About Paranormal Investigators.” Science Communication , vol. 35, no. 3, SAGE  Publications, 2013, pp. 311–33, doi:10.1177/1075547012454599. Fitch, Marc E.. Paranormal Nation : Why America Needs Ghost