Paranormal Nation - Validate

The survival theory of the human consciousness after physical death has been long debated not only within the public arena, but also among vast communities. And thus we see a division in philosophies - religion oriented, first hand experience, alternative perspective of life, professional self-preservation, personal belief, fear, victim of misleading conduct etc.

One of the main contenders that created a so-called element of doubt are hoaxes. Throughout history, particularly during the early 20th century when spiritualism was at its height, countless cases of fraudsters, swindlers and charlatans were exposed. The subject of psychic phenomena was now tainted in the minds of the public, as well as academics. Luckily people like Dr. Joseph Banks Rhine (considered as the founder of parapsychology) continued a pursuit that others deemed unworthy. As a result we have countless statistical records of performed experiments on psychic phenomena in controlled environments such as laboratories. Unfortunately this methodology leaves very little room for studying spontaneous cases.

Since 1882 when the first research body for psychic phenomena was formed (Society of Psychical Research) many different collectives, coined as ‘Ghost Hunters’, have emerged with the aim of obtaining evidential proof of the paranormal, while a minority group seem to be on an opposing crusade.
We can characterise these movements the following way:

• The sceptics – Generally individuals who find no room for facts, but rather dismiss any form of evidence whether it’s anecdotal or experimental (this also reflects on other psi phenomena). In this preconceived state, in some cases known as cognitive dissonance, no acceptance or even the will to explore exists no matter how objective the evidence is.

• The critical – Individuals who have the determination and the ability to carefully scrutinise certain ideas or theories. If the degree of evidence prevails the critical are not dissuaded by any preconceived notion.

• The believers – Primarily people who are seeking for the extraordinary in all aspects of life.

Despite personal views and opinions, there is definitely some aspect of intangible reality that surrounds the survival hypothesis. Validate explores this and other aspects of parapsychology.
Although Validate is a relatively new name in this field of studies, the Director of Enquiries as well as head of Research and Development has been involved in several projects for over a decade.