As I sit back on a quiet night and browse the Internet, I visit our brothers (and sisters) in the field of paranormal research. When I do, one thing seems to keep ringing out and hitting me in the face, and that is a sense of competition or wanting to be the first to plant their flag. Its just then that all those psych classes I took in college start to pop back into my head. (wow, makes you wonder where that was stored all this time. Must have been hidden behind the Queen lyrics for Bohemian Rhapsody, and the memory of my 2nd grade teacher wanting me to write with my RIGHT hand!) One of the things I recall from those classes was that human development is broken into stages, and one of these stages has a need to "Make its Mark". So in a sense, its a deep seeded human need to want to make one's mark and be known as The GROUP that found the best evidence.There is something that can be said about a sense of competition. It tends to drive us to become better, but at the same time when it comes to competition in knowledge it stiefels sharing. That's one thing that the scientific community has known for many years, and that is that sharing of knowledge breeds growth. If Marie Curie had not shared her findings of radiation, we would likely not be enjoying much of what we enjoy today. Had Thales of Melito, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Edison, not shared their findings about electricity, you would not be using a computer to read this right now. Although individuals are credited for their work, the sharing of the information and findings has always been of paramount importance in the scientific world. As a matter of fact it hasn't been until the last century when corporate greed, and intellectual knowledge patents have taken over, that the real great discoveries have slowed down in favor of corporate owned patented discoveries.
In the world of paranormal research, just over the last 2 years there has been some amazing growth. As much as we sometimes condemn the researchers appearing on TV, there is no deneing that they are for the most part responsible for the surge in interest of the field. Some view this as a bad thing, but personally I see it as a wonderful thing. Imagine for a moment the pure research potential there is in all the groups and individual researchers that now exist. If they could overcome the need to be the only one, and unite their efforts! Just imagine the quantity, and collective information that could be gained from all this.
In the last year since this site has started, I can slowly see a move to starting to work together. So far the move is still weak and does not hold many members. But its my dream that before lone we can unite all the groups into a common goal, a common bond. Working together, but still as individuals.
Science does in fact share a lot in common with paranormal research. I hope you can join us in creating The Paranormal Collective.