Honest Communications

[HauntedWebby]

Yesterday a situation came up that kind of surprised me. Someone wanted to post something about a practice they didn’t agree with in paranormal groups. They were afraid to offend people, including myself.

Here is my take on it. Without ruffling some feathers you can’t grow. Sometimes you even have to pluck them. Can you tell I’m a bird owner?J

Anyway, if you have a thought or comment that may offend don’t ignore what you have or need to say. It could be very valid or someone needs to clearly explain why it’s not. Have someone that knows you well and doesn’t have a vested interest in the comment read it. They may suggest some more appropriate words, then post.

One of the hottest debates now in paranormal is Ethics. What people should and shouldn’t do. “A Universal Code” Unfortunately the people trying to write these policies have no clue what ethics truly are. Ethics are simply the process of weighing right and wrong in decision-making. Not if tool of some sort should or should not be used in collecting data in this field. The decision to use or not use a tool is a Procedural question, not ethical. Because I understand the true meaning of ethics on many forums I have offended many, many people. Most of the time I just end up patting them on the head and sending them to the corner to live in their own world. Because they want so many regulations that they can only live in that corner and never explore the universe. Ethics, Procedural and Safety are all different and should be handled as such. Technically Safety is part of Procedural, but who’s going to read the entire manual to get to Safety?

The other is religion and paranormal. Personally I think religion and paranormal have nothing to do with each other. Religion is a belief, and beliefs can’t be wrong (note: I didn’t say good or bad). Paranormal is a science looking for truth through theory. Theories are often wrong. They have nothing to do with each other, and because I say that I offend many people. Even some on the website.

So, where am I going? Without honest communications that does not involve personal attacks of ones beliefs, but questioning their theories is a must. No one can grow without it.

Webby
(Who's COE is in my Dec Blogs)

[Joff]

Bravo.

Question everything and be honest. Everyone has an opinion and the right to share it (within reason.) There will ALWAYS be someone who'll contradict, argue or otherwise 'flame' your thought, comment or theory.

I just said it in response to Billy's blog - I guess I'm behind the times - but common sense is key. If, as a ghost hunter / investigator, you don't realize that mistreating people's property is bad then there's something severely wrong with you.

Ethics, Safety, Procedures are all a matter of common sense. There are fuzzy gray areas, to be sure, but the majority of understanding what's right and wrong when performing an investigation or handling evidence or dealing with a 'client' comes down to plain ol' common sense.

Offending people comes with the territory. For example, stating that it would take a very special individual to not have the common sense to handle a client's property with care and respect would elicit some heated response. The amusing thing is; how does one defend their right to treat a client or property with disrespect?

As a group I'm sure we could talk about this for hours. Heck, come G&BBQ'08 it may well happen!

[HauntedWebby]

Like I've said before most people can't follow a code of ethics because they don't know what ethics are. A standard code is VERY EASY to write. Because it has nothing to do with procedures. Procedures and tool use are totally different then ethics.