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Kathryn Trout

Joyce Barnes

ENG 1201

25 October 2020

Literature Review

My question is “what are the benefits and drawbacks of believing in the paranormal?” I

chose several resources to look into this question and gain a deeper understanding of the subject.

I found that many resources found that believing in the paranormal was more beneficial than

harmful in most cases. First of all, believing in the paranormal can lead to further research into a

certain phenomenon which results in scientific discoveries. In Paranormal Nation: Why America

Needs Ghosts, UFOs, and Bigfoot, several examples are discussed by pointing out “just as ghosts

are windows to the past, pyramids and UFOs inspire rethinking of archeology and history, and

Bigfoot leads us to question the development of Homo sapiens…” (Fitch 347). Several scientists,

such as William Corliss and Charles Fort, started investigating and writing about the paranormal

and have inspired entire generations to do the same (Ruch). Paranormal happenings have also

been known to help boost a town’s economy through tourism. Individuals make pilgrimages to

these places in order to decide whether they think the event actually happened and the towns

make an immense amount of money from it. One such place is Point Pleasant, West Virginia,

where the original Mothman sightings first happened. This town is visited so much because of

this course of events that they have a statue, a museum, a festival, and more dedicated to the

Mothman (Hider). It seems that many of the benefits associated with paranormal belief tend to

help society as a whole.

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The disadvantages of believing in paranormal happenings happen on an individual level.

People have been cheated and conned out of their money by phony psychics. There is even an

organization that has offered a million dollars to someone who can complete a test that will

demonstrate that someone has psychic or supernatural powers (The Power of Belief). Nobody

has claimed the prize at this point. Another disadvantage is the constant shroud of doubt

constantly surrounding the paranormal investigation community. While Marc Fitch writes in his

book that this doubt could be good and inspire others to become interested in the subject, others

disagree. They argue that, because any evidence gained must be questioned, then there will never

be any definitive answers that something is real or not and will ultimately discourage

investigators (Hanks). These are some incredibly critical issues associated with the paranormal.

Some possible answers to my research question would be that there are several societal

benefits to believing in the paranormal. Researching paranormal occurrences can lead to

scientific interest and discoveries that are incredibly important. Paranormal belief can also

stimulate the economy on a local level and help out small towns and businesses. Some

drawbacks of this belief are that people can get fooled and cheated out of their money and time

by believing in psychics. People can also get incredibly discouraged by not finding any definitive

evidence of a real paranormal occurrence. Admittedly, I need to do more research on common

misconceptions about this subject and will add those into my final paper. My final argument will

likely be focusing on how it is good to believe in the paranormal.

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Works Cited

Fitch, Marc. “Why Does the United States Need Ghosts, UFOs, and Bigfoot?” Paranormal

Nation: Why America Needs Ghosts, UFOs, and Bigfoot, Santa Barbara, California,

Praeger, 2013, pp. 339–355.

Hanks, Michele. “Haunted Objects: English Paranormal Investigation and the Material

Mediation of Doubt.” American Anthropologist, vol. 118, no. 4, 2016, pp. 60–74.

Crossref, doi:10.1111/aman.12684.

Hider, Anna. “The Mothman Cometh? I Went Searching for Point Pleasant’s Prophet of Doom

and All I Got Was a T-Shirt.” Roadtrippers, 25 Nov. 2019,

roadtrippers.com/magazine/mothman-point-pleasant-west-virginia.

Ruch, John. “This Physicist Saw Promise in the Paranormal, but Now His Legacy Could Be

Lost.” The Washington Post [Washington, D.C.], 24 Sept. 2019,

www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/he-saw-the-scientific-promise-in-the-

paranormal-but-now-his-legacy-could-be-lost/2019/09/23/e42c02e6-c8e8-11e9-a4f3-

c081a126de70_story.html.

The Power of Belief. [Electronic Resource] : Its Impact on Our Minds. Films Media

Group, 2006. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=cat01128a&AN=scc.b1347580&site=eds-live.