Burnt State
Paranormal Adept
The Medium is the Message Alright
I completed an informal paranormal poll in a grade 12 academic class during a lesson on critical literacy, for kids about 18 years of age getting ready to head to university. The results were fascinating and worth sharing. While the sample size was small (21), i feel that for reasons provided it's probably indicative of what informs youth in general when it comes to the paranormal and UFO's.
So out of 21 students the following results demonstrate how many kids believed the topic was real and probably true. I provided minimal explanation for these topics - just enough for those unfamiliar with the topic to understand a simple definition of the term. I kept a straight and serious face throughout the voting and explanations. It's interesting to note which areas were of most concern to them:
UFO's are visiting earth: 6/21
Ghosts - the dead wander lost on earth: 8/21
Time Slips - people move in and out of time periods while in the same physical location: 3/21
Spirits and Mediums have real skill: 14/21
Dreams of the dead = contact with the dead: 11/21
Ouija Boards help to contact the dead: 8/21
Reincarnation happens again and again to people: 4/21
Bigfoot is a hairy unknown hominid living in the woods of the west coast: 1/21
Remote Viewing (people can see geographic co-ordinates in their head): 0/21
Telepathy (mind reading): 0/21
Telekinesis (moving stuff with your mind): 0/21
They categorically rejected mind powers - thought that this was ridiculous, but they were very convinced that mortality is not the whole story, that we can contact the dead in various ways, and that mediums are particularly good at their ability to do this. About a third were into the notion that UFO's are in fact alien ships - very ETH, but hardly any had any knowledge or any real concern for Bigfoot. He's just not part of their media culture landscape. When't the last time Bigfoot tweeted?
They didn't really have a clear explanation as to why they thought ghosts existed, or how Ouija Boards worked, if at all, but they were all very big on dreams, dream symbolism and about half of them were convinced that dreams of the dead meant contacting the dead. One student told an excellent story of a young sister who was born the day a grandparent died and has continued over the years, since being able to speak, to relay messages from gramps to specific family members about unique and specific elements, mentioning a specific clothing item in one case, and in telling another adult not to worry any more - this had the audience very engaged. Their family was convinced that this child was in fact in contact with dead grandpa.
But when it came to explaining why they were certain that mediums were the real deal - one thing was clear, Theresa Caputo has shown them the light and they believe her stories and the media constructions that she spins up various sequences of human emotional exploitation. Just goes to show that the medium really is the message, at least for teens circa 2014.
I completed an informal paranormal poll in a grade 12 academic class during a lesson on critical literacy, for kids about 18 years of age getting ready to head to university. The results were fascinating and worth sharing. While the sample size was small (21), i feel that for reasons provided it's probably indicative of what informs youth in general when it comes to the paranormal and UFO's.
So out of 21 students the following results demonstrate how many kids believed the topic was real and probably true. I provided minimal explanation for these topics - just enough for those unfamiliar with the topic to understand a simple definition of the term. I kept a straight and serious face throughout the voting and explanations. It's interesting to note which areas were of most concern to them:
UFO's are visiting earth: 6/21
Ghosts - the dead wander lost on earth: 8/21
Time Slips - people move in and out of time periods while in the same physical location: 3/21
Spirits and Mediums have real skill: 14/21
Dreams of the dead = contact with the dead: 11/21
Ouija Boards help to contact the dead: 8/21
Reincarnation happens again and again to people: 4/21
Bigfoot is a hairy unknown hominid living in the woods of the west coast: 1/21
Remote Viewing (people can see geographic co-ordinates in their head): 0/21
Telepathy (mind reading): 0/21
Telekinesis (moving stuff with your mind): 0/21
They categorically rejected mind powers - thought that this was ridiculous, but they were very convinced that mortality is not the whole story, that we can contact the dead in various ways, and that mediums are particularly good at their ability to do this. About a third were into the notion that UFO's are in fact alien ships - very ETH, but hardly any had any knowledge or any real concern for Bigfoot. He's just not part of their media culture landscape. When't the last time Bigfoot tweeted?
They didn't really have a clear explanation as to why they thought ghosts existed, or how Ouija Boards worked, if at all, but they were all very big on dreams, dream symbolism and about half of them were convinced that dreams of the dead meant contacting the dead. One student told an excellent story of a young sister who was born the day a grandparent died and has continued over the years, since being able to speak, to relay messages from gramps to specific family members about unique and specific elements, mentioning a specific clothing item in one case, and in telling another adult not to worry any more - this had the audience very engaged. Their family was convinced that this child was in fact in contact with dead grandpa.
But when it came to explaining why they were certain that mediums were the real deal - one thing was clear, Theresa Caputo has shown them the light and they believe her stories and the media constructions that she spins up various sequences of human emotional exploitation. Just goes to show that the medium really is the message, at least for teens circa 2014.
