Parapsychology

I would have been a parapsychologist if I was less practical about how I could put food on the table.  Who would pay for my services?  Many years ago when I was at the crossroads working out how to live out the rest of life, I found psychology -- in particular parapsychology -- and law to be my top two interests.  I did not make it in law...  I also did not make it to become a parapsychologist...  I am definitely not qualified to tell you about what it is...  However, I am qualified to say that even if I passed the hurdle of "food on the table", I would probably die of a heart attack while on the job.  My heart is too weak for parapsychology work. 

Let's see what Wikipedia has to say... 

Parapsychology is a field of study concerned with the investigation of paranormal and psychic phenomena. Parapsychologists study telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis, near-death experiences, reincarnation, apparitional experiences, and other supernatural and paranormal claims.

(For the full article, read  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parapsychology.)

So, readers, what is your religion?  What is your cultural background?  Do you believe in afterlife?  Do you believe that there are ghosts?  If you do not believe in ghosts, what do you do if you meet one?  Do NOT, for a second, equate absence of evidence with evidence of absence.

Years ago, when I did my research about parapsychology as a possible career choice, I did think really hard about the questions I had just asked you.  Of course, I asked more questions (like "who pays a parapsychologist?").  As much as the questions turned me away from the such a career path, it helped pushed me towards safe choices.  I guess I am forever playing the "safe choices" (we'll talk about that later).

For me, I believe that there is a god or maybe a higher power...  One who yields greater power than I do...  And I also believe that, for every positive power, there has to be a negative power -- this way, our world/universe is close to neutral with slight inclination to the positive side.  Back to childhood talk about good vs bad...  a little in line with the Marvel comics which are starting to gain some interest. 

In my culture, we believe in reincarnation, we believe in afterlife...  How do we commit to these beliefs?  I have heard stories about it...  Such beliefs are passed on from generation to generation.  Do I believe these absurd stuff (being a modern individual).  I DO even though I had never seen any evidence (i.e., absence of evidence) of the same.  Maybe you think that I am just easily suggestible, easily swayed/hoodwinked, etc... 

Why am I so committed to these beliefs?  Going along the lines of forensic psychology, maybe I will be less committed to these beliefs if there is evidence of absence.  I shall give you another reason but this is a longwinded explanation...  I remember a psychiatrist talking about how he had attended a workshop about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).  Now, most people agree about how irrational some of these OCD anxieties can be.  In order to illustrate the "irrational" point, the workshop presenter challenged all workshop attendees to write on a piece of paper something ridiculous like "everyone in my family will die".  Even though attendees understand that just by writing down does not mean that things will happen that way (much like I had written down "I want to be a millionaire" -- don't bother, doesn't work), most (if not all) attendees did not write it down.  Does this mean that the attendees are superstitious?  Silly?  Ridiculous?  Irrational?  No.  I think that it is only human to try to avoid these negative things whether or not believe they are there.  I mean how many people would have the guts to buy a home near a cemetery (BTW, there is actually a new housing development in Nudgee QLD near the cemetery.  Went to see it.  Nope, did not place a deposit -- psychological barrier.)

I am only human to avoid parapsychology as a field of study and a career path because I know that I will have a heart attack whether or not I see a ghost.  I am only human.  I am not god.  I fear the unknown.  I get stressed by the unknown.  Maybe that is why life is grinding to a halt because I opened the door that leads to "security" (and maybe also invited mediocrity into my life as well) which inadvertently closed the door to opportunities and excitement.  Maybe when I am more comfortable in my own skin, I can venture into less safe options.  My dear readers, sorry, I strayed from parapsychology (which is an ultra interesting field of study) in my bid to motivate you (definitely less interesting if you have a tendency to procrastinate or choose safe options).