I've had the pleasure and privilege to be a part of PPI since April 2006. Our group began at a time when reality TV was not only reawakening the public's interest in the paranormal, but in fact reinventing the entire field of parapsychology. We owe these advancements in part to the celebration of skeptical enquiry and the journey of personal discovery that such television programs have inspired. In recent years, a greater respect for empiricism and the scientific method, and a greater willingness to test the creative application of new investigative technologies, are testaments to what we might call a kind of renaissance in the field of paranormal research.
However, realistically, even though this burgeoning interest is palpably exciting, the whim of changing fads and fickle viewership can just as quickly dissipate it. For the armchair investigator, favorite shows are canceled; the drama of the ghost hunt ebbs, and the thrill of a tantalizing piece of evidence can wear off. For the practicing investigator, the cohesion of a paranormal group can be tested by vicissitudes of everyday life, and the sting of unexpected ambition, the pain of divisive personalities and the grief over the unexpected loss of good friends and colleagues. What then keeps our spirits aloft? What constant remains to inspire us and continue to pursue a paranormal "truth"? The answer is quite simple: the science.
In the months to come, PPI will look back at its years behind it and fine-tune its mission ahead. In the praise and pursuit of better science, PPI will produce more enlightened inquiry, publish more articles and essays, and become a more upstanding member of the greater community of paranormal investigation groups. We will strive, not for a position of leadership (for, science is not a thing to be lead unless it be a dogma), but rather for a more refined role of cooperation, encouragement, and collaboration in the broader, international community of groups.
It is my sincerest wish that, in future, when we are able to state without reasonable doubt whether or not paranormal phenomena are real, the "reasonable" part of it will find its roots in the data, research and writing among the pages of this website. I invite you to you to join us on this journey and become, not only a thoughtful passenger, but a contributor to the critical mass of it that will become PPI's legacy for future researchers of paranormal science.
Wishing you all the best in 2012, and for all the years ahead.
Karl Sherlock, Co-Director and President
Pacific Paranormal Investigations
Karl Sherlock, Co-Director and President
Pacific Paranormal Investigations
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