[NetBehaviour] Digital Parapsychology

[Rob Myers]

http://robmyers.org/2011/10/15/digital-parapsychology/index.html


The (quasi-)scientific investigation of paranormal phenomena is a
category error. Paranormality is qualitative affect, not quantitative
effect. To the extent that it has physical effects these are not
physically caused.

Seeking to reduce the numinosity of the paranormal to number is a
mistake. It should be experienced, it should be retold, it should resonate.

But decades of research and reporting of the paranormal have amassed
large quantities of data. In the age of Big Data, digitizing, analysing
and relating this data with other data sources (news, geodata, parish
records, government statistical information) can find evidence that has
previously been missed and suggest new theories and new lines of
investigation.

I propose Digital Parapsychology.

Do you believe in UFOs, astral projections, mental telepathy, ESP,
clairvoyance, spirit photography, telekinetic movement, full trance
mediums, the Loch Ness monster and the theory of Atlantis?

Are you troubled by strange noises in the middle of the night?

Do you experience feelings of dread in your basement or attic?

Have you or your family ever seen a spook, spectre or ghost?

Get yourself a Hadoop cluster and start feeding your EMF meter and IR
sensor readings into map-reduce jobs to correlate them with historical
and live feed data...