Argument # 7: Automatic dismissal of paranormal claims as due to mistake, lying or hallucination

 

Stated as: “Since paranormal phenomena is impossible, those who claim to have them must be mistaken, lying, or hallucinating.” 

 

PseudoSkeptics who can’t explain away a paranormal event usually classify witnesses as either mistaken, lying, or hallucinating.  This again reflect an emotional and fanatical belief on their part that any paranormal event is impossible.  They don’t really know that a claimant must fit one of the above categories, they convince themselves of it to keep their mental model paradigms intact.  This is further evidenced by the fact that many skeptics will continue to insist on one of these three categories even when such explanations do not fit the data or are far too unlikely.  It’s another example of where they prefer a false explanation over a paranormal one.

 

A common fallacy these skeptics make is to assert that those who claim to have paranormal experiences do not consider other mundane explanations for their experience, and instead jump to paranormal conclusions.  Well that simply isn't true at all.  In almost every story you read or hear about of a paranormal experience, the claimant almost always describes the possible mundane explanations that he/she considered, and how they were ruled out before coming to their unconventional conclusion.  It's there in simple plain language, yet somehow skeptics never seem to see this.  What skeptics don't understand is, if the possible mundane explanations don't fit the facts or are too improbable to be believed, then they can and should be ruled out.

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