1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from my Heart Radio. 2 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:15,440 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome back to a spooky episode of 3 00:00:15,560 --> 00:00:21,320 Speaker 1: tech Stuff. I'm your host your ghost post Jonathan Strickland. 4 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:24,079 Speaker 1: I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio and how 5 00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:27,080 Speaker 1: the tech are you? So? Throughout this month, I'm doing 6 00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:31,320 Speaker 1: a few Halloween well themes seems like it would be 7 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:35,600 Speaker 1: too strong a word, let's say Halloween inspired episodes. So 8 00:00:35,680 --> 00:00:38,839 Speaker 1: earlier I did an episode about zombie computers, which is, 9 00:00:39,680 --> 00:00:43,760 Speaker 1: you know, questionably tied to the Halloween theme. Today, we're 10 00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:47,640 Speaker 1: going to return to a classic topic that tech Stuff 11 00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:51,960 Speaker 1: covered way back in two Now. I'm not replaying that episode, 12 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:56,040 Speaker 1: but I am revisiting it. So in t I and 13 00:00:56,200 --> 00:00:59,560 Speaker 1: my then co host Chris Palette sat down to talk 14 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:04,680 Speaker 1: about tech commonly used in ghost hunting. And let's get 15 00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:06,600 Speaker 1: this out of the way first. Just like I did 16 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:12,120 Speaker 1: twelve years ago, I am a skeptic. I do not 17 00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:17,680 Speaker 1: believe in ghosts. I think ghostly phenomena describes a collection 18 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:25,440 Speaker 1: of misinterpretations, mistakes, willingness to believe uh scams in some cases, 19 00:01:25,520 --> 00:01:28,360 Speaker 1: the human tendency to look for explanations to stuff, and 20 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:31,800 Speaker 1: you know when those explanations are not immediately evident. We 21 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:36,880 Speaker 1: tend to invent explanations. For example, one thing we humans 22 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:42,520 Speaker 1: are pretty good at is recognizing patterns in lots of 23 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:47,039 Speaker 1: noisy stimuli. And this makes sense. It's a kind of 24 00:01:47,080 --> 00:01:51,200 Speaker 1: survival mechanism. You're right, If you're scanning the tall grass 25 00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:54,920 Speaker 1: and you notice a pattern that looks like a lioness's head, 26 00:01:55,560 --> 00:01:58,400 Speaker 1: well you might just save yourself from being a lions lunchable. 27 00:01:58,720 --> 00:02:02,080 Speaker 1: So it's a portant that we humans are able to 28 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:07,640 Speaker 1: recognize meaningful shapes or meaningful sounds and white what might 29 00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:11,720 Speaker 1: otherwise seem to be like just random information. It's it's 30 00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:16,120 Speaker 1: recognizing the signal through the noise. There's a real value 31 00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:21,080 Speaker 1: to that. But that ability is not full proof. Sometimes 32 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:23,840 Speaker 1: we don't see the pattern and we end up as 33 00:02:23,919 --> 00:02:26,880 Speaker 1: lunch so we just failed to notice it. Or sometimes 34 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:30,800 Speaker 1: we see what appears to us to be a meaningful shape, 35 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:33,880 Speaker 1: but really it's just a bunch of visual clutter that 36 00:02:33,919 --> 00:02:37,960 Speaker 1: doesn't actually form the shape we have perceived. So the 37 00:02:37,960 --> 00:02:40,920 Speaker 1: classic example of this is laying on your back and 38 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:44,280 Speaker 1: looking up at the sky and saying what clouds look like? 39 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:47,440 Speaker 1: You know, seeing shapes in the clouds. You might look 40 00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:49,920 Speaker 1: up at a fluffy cloud and see a face or 41 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:54,280 Speaker 1: an animal or something like that, and we know that 42 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:58,320 Speaker 1: the cloud isn't really a face. In fact, we might 43 00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:00,959 Speaker 1: even realize that if we were to view that same 44 00:03:01,040 --> 00:03:04,440 Speaker 1: cloud but from a different perspective. Let's say that we 45 00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:07,280 Speaker 1: were well up in the air in a hot air 46 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:11,919 Speaker 1: balloon looking at that cloud, we might see that it's 47 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:14,200 Speaker 1: it's made up of totally different shapes. It doesn't look 48 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:16,160 Speaker 1: like a face at all, and it's only because of 49 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:20,000 Speaker 1: our perception from the ground that we think that. But 50 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:23,280 Speaker 1: you know, you move your perception a little bit and 51 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:26,320 Speaker 1: it doesn't. The same thing was true of the infamous 52 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:31,919 Speaker 1: face on Mars. There was this famous picture of this, uh, 53 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:35,440 Speaker 1: this little physical region of Mars, where it kind of 54 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:37,560 Speaker 1: looked like it was a face, like perhaps someone had 55 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:41,960 Speaker 1: carved a face into the very rock of Mars. Except 56 00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:43,960 Speaker 1: then we found that if you viewed it from a 57 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:46,160 Speaker 1: different angle, it didn't look like a face at all. 58 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:50,000 Speaker 1: It was just a natural formation of hills and valleys 59 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:53,240 Speaker 1: that when the light hit it at a certain angle 60 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:56,520 Speaker 1: and when looked at from a certain perspective, looked like 61 00:03:56,560 --> 00:04:00,360 Speaker 1: a face. So again, like our perception can play tricks 62 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:05,720 Speaker 1: on us, otherwise optical illusions wouldn't exist, right, So that's 63 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:08,520 Speaker 1: something that we need to remember. There's also a concept 64 00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:13,000 Speaker 1: called apophenia, by the way, the tendency to look at 65 00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:16,120 Speaker 1: something that doesn't have patterns in it, but we perceive 66 00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:20,159 Speaker 1: a pattern. We often call that paradolia. Right, So you 67 00:04:20,200 --> 00:04:23,920 Speaker 1: look at a cloud, you see a face, that's paradolia. Well, 68 00:04:23,920 --> 00:04:28,080 Speaker 1: there's a similar concept called apathenia. That's a term that 69 00:04:28,279 --> 00:04:33,839 Speaker 1: Klaus Conrad coined while writing about early stages of schizophrenia. 70 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:38,920 Speaker 1: And Conrad was describing this tendency to see connections between 71 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:44,600 Speaker 1: things that aren't actually connected, and beyond that, beyond perceiving 72 00:04:44,640 --> 00:04:47,560 Speaker 1: these connections, you get the feeling like there's a real 73 00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:52,360 Speaker 1: significance to it, a special meaning between these perceived connections, 74 00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:56,560 Speaker 1: even though in reality, objectively, there is no connection between 75 00:04:56,560 --> 00:04:59,760 Speaker 1: these things. And you can sort of draw a line 76 00:05:00,279 --> 00:05:04,000 Speaker 1: from that tendency to stuff like conspiracy theories, where you 77 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:06,479 Speaker 1: start looking at things that really don't have any connection 78 00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:09,880 Speaker 1: with each other and you start drawing connections to them, 79 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:15,440 Speaker 1: and you start assigning causal relationships and motivations and active 80 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:20,160 Speaker 1: steps towards pushing these things forward. That's where a lot 81 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:23,120 Speaker 1: of conspiracy theories take place because we have this natural 82 00:05:23,160 --> 00:05:25,800 Speaker 1: tendency to do it to some degree. You know, some 83 00:05:25,839 --> 00:05:29,360 Speaker 1: people have a stronger tendency to do it than others, 84 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:33,039 Speaker 1: And as Conrad was saying, that people who are particularly 85 00:05:33,080 --> 00:05:38,120 Speaker 1: susceptible to this often are demonstrating uh features that are 86 00:05:38,279 --> 00:05:43,159 Speaker 1: common to early stages of schizophrenia. So it's dangerous because 87 00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:47,680 Speaker 1: we can start building upon an early misperception. Right, we 88 00:05:47,760 --> 00:05:53,440 Speaker 1: make a mistake in drawing a conclusion about things we've observed, 89 00:05:53,839 --> 00:05:56,359 Speaker 1: and then we build upon that mistake, and before you 90 00:05:56,440 --> 00:05:59,600 Speaker 1: know it, you've got an entire structure of beliefs there 91 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:02,320 Speaker 1: that's built on a faulty foundation. But by then it's 92 00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:05,320 Speaker 1: too late, right, you've already bought into a lie, or 93 00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:08,680 Speaker 1: at least a misinterpretation of the facts. So what this 94 00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:12,400 Speaker 1: tells us is that our brains are not completely reliable. 95 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:16,679 Speaker 1: Our brains interpret information, but sometimes the ding dang gray 96 00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:21,400 Speaker 1: matter makes mistakes. This applies to everyone. In fact, if 97 00:06:21,400 --> 00:06:25,320 Speaker 1: it didn't happen, then stuff like stage magic would never work. 98 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:29,440 Speaker 1: Magicians count on the fact that our brains are fallible, 99 00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:33,000 Speaker 1: that we can be tricked. Scam Artists do it too, 100 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:36,680 Speaker 1: but they're more nefarious about it, all right, All that's 101 00:06:36,720 --> 00:06:39,039 Speaker 1: just to establish the fact that we humans can encounter 102 00:06:39,120 --> 00:06:43,839 Speaker 1: stuff and draw incorrect conclusions. Now, the thing about ghost 103 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:47,960 Speaker 1: hunting is that ghost hunters have kind of doubled down 104 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:51,320 Speaker 1: on this and have gone even further through the misuse 105 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:55,800 Speaker 1: and misunderstanding of technology. The hunters say their tech helps 106 00:06:55,839 --> 00:07:02,240 Speaker 1: them detect ghosts. I say they are misinterpreting data. Uh, 107 00:07:02,920 --> 00:07:09,120 Speaker 1: perhaps by just you know, naturally misinterpreting it, sometimes willfully 108 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:12,880 Speaker 1: misinterpreting it. Sometimes they don't believe what they're saying at all, 109 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:15,320 Speaker 1: but they're doing this because it's a living. They're making 110 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:18,240 Speaker 1: money through it. So I don't want to paint everyone 111 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:20,920 Speaker 1: with the same brush. I think there are true believers 112 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:25,280 Speaker 1: out there who are mistaken but sincere in their beliefs. 113 00:07:25,600 --> 00:07:27,800 Speaker 1: And I think there are scam artists who don't believe 114 00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:30,080 Speaker 1: a thing that they are saying, but they are, you know, 115 00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:34,040 Speaker 1: exploiting other people's belief in the paranormal in order to 116 00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:39,080 Speaker 1: make a living. But anyway, it's all fundamentally anti scientific. 117 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:42,320 Speaker 1: And let's get to our first example to really dive 118 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:45,160 Speaker 1: into that, and and that is trying to find meaning 119 00:07:45,280 --> 00:07:48,720 Speaker 1: in random noise because This plays back to things like 120 00:07:48,760 --> 00:07:52,880 Speaker 1: apophenia and paradolia, So in this case, I'm talking about 121 00:07:53,520 --> 00:07:56,160 Speaker 1: literal noise. And there are a couple of different ways 122 00:07:56,160 --> 00:07:59,040 Speaker 1: that ghost hunters tried to do this. They might try 123 00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:01,880 Speaker 1: and take an audio recording device, and this could be 124 00:08:01,920 --> 00:08:05,800 Speaker 1: anything from an older magnetic tape system like even real 125 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:08,880 Speaker 1: to real tape systems in some cases, to stuff like 126 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:13,320 Speaker 1: digital recorders that save audio files directly to solid state drives, 127 00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:16,800 Speaker 1: so you can have an analog recording or a digital recording. 128 00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:20,440 Speaker 1: There are a lot of different variations out there. Another 129 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:25,320 Speaker 1: take on this is not the recording device necessarily, but 130 00:08:25,440 --> 00:08:29,640 Speaker 1: a playback device where they might scan through a spectrum 131 00:08:29,720 --> 00:08:33,880 Speaker 1: of radio frequencies to see if something emerges as you're 132 00:08:33,880 --> 00:08:37,000 Speaker 1: doing the scanning. We'll talk about that in a second too. Now, 133 00:08:37,040 --> 00:08:39,040 Speaker 1: in all these cases it helps if you take a 134 00:08:39,040 --> 00:08:43,640 Speaker 1: big old dose of magical thinking along with your technology. 135 00:08:43,679 --> 00:08:46,400 Speaker 1: That can go a long way to filling in gaps, 136 00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:49,120 Speaker 1: because when you start to ask questions about what's going on, 137 00:08:49,880 --> 00:08:54,439 Speaker 1: things fall apart fairly quickly. So let's start with recordings. 138 00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:58,640 Speaker 1: This alone gets pretty messy. So the simplest version of 139 00:08:58,679 --> 00:09:01,840 Speaker 1: this is that at ghost hunters have set up recording 140 00:09:01,840 --> 00:09:06,120 Speaker 1: devices in an area where there is supposed ghost activity, 141 00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:08,640 Speaker 1: and you might do this so that you can monitor 142 00:09:08,679 --> 00:09:11,280 Speaker 1: the area for longer periods without having to have a 143 00:09:11,360 --> 00:09:14,400 Speaker 1: human sit there the whole time. So you just let 144 00:09:14,400 --> 00:09:17,160 Speaker 1: a recording device go and then later you check back 145 00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:18,760 Speaker 1: and you scan through it to see if there are 146 00:09:18,800 --> 00:09:22,200 Speaker 1: anything registered on the recording device. Maybe you even have 147 00:09:22,320 --> 00:09:25,720 Speaker 1: one that only turns on when there's an audible noise, 148 00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:29,400 Speaker 1: and so you just have recordings of anything that actually 149 00:09:29,720 --> 00:09:33,840 Speaker 1: went beyond a certain threshold. Or maybe the idea is 150 00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:35,840 Speaker 1: that the spirits are going to be more inclined to 151 00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:39,400 Speaker 1: be chatty if there are no nosy breathers who happened 152 00:09:39,400 --> 00:09:41,319 Speaker 1: to be in the space breathers by the way, or 153 00:09:41,360 --> 00:09:44,480 Speaker 1: what ghosts call the living, which is something I just 154 00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:48,760 Speaker 1: made up, or another perfectly cromulent explanation. As you want 155 00:09:48,800 --> 00:09:52,520 Speaker 1: the recording to document anything that is actually experienced, because 156 00:09:52,559 --> 00:09:56,559 Speaker 1: otherwise you have to rely upon witness accounts. Those are 157 00:09:56,679 --> 00:10:00,840 Speaker 1: thoroughly unreliable. We know that witness accounts are unreliable in 158 00:10:00,920 --> 00:10:06,079 Speaker 1: all really matters, because our our perception and our memories 159 00:10:06,120 --> 00:10:09,600 Speaker 1: are fallible, and we can make mistakes, especially the further 160 00:10:09,640 --> 00:10:14,560 Speaker 1: removed you are from the event, the more fallible it gets. 161 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:19,200 Speaker 1: That's not to say that witness reactions have no value whatsoever. 162 00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:23,679 Speaker 1: They do, but they're always there's always a matter of 163 00:10:23,880 --> 00:10:27,920 Speaker 1: how reliable is the witness. The witness could be making mistakes, 164 00:10:27,920 --> 00:10:31,280 Speaker 1: the witness could be influenced by a line of questioning, 165 00:10:31,559 --> 00:10:35,800 Speaker 1: or the witness could be attempting to, you know, pain 166 00:10:35,880 --> 00:10:38,240 Speaker 1: a picture that wasn't really accurate in the first place. 167 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:42,640 Speaker 1: They're all these possibilities. Then there's the matter of how 168 00:10:42,840 --> 00:10:45,920 Speaker 1: any sounds actually end up on recordings, because there are 169 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:49,760 Speaker 1: different explanations for this, right, So there's the very straightforward answer. 170 00:10:49,800 --> 00:10:53,720 Speaker 1: There's the answer that maybe spirits were making audible noises 171 00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:58,440 Speaker 1: which could perhaps even include speech, and the recording device 172 00:10:58,520 --> 00:11:00,800 Speaker 1: thus picked it up because it's the same thing that 173 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:04,679 Speaker 1: anyone would have heard. But they're also let's call them 174 00:11:04,679 --> 00:11:09,240 Speaker 1: paranormal enthusiasts who have put forward other hypotheses suggesting that 175 00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:13,120 Speaker 1: the spirits or ghosts or psychically gifted humans are somehow 176 00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:18,080 Speaker 1: able to project sound onto a recording without actually making 177 00:11:18,120 --> 00:11:21,839 Speaker 1: an audible sound. So, in other words, whatever the mechanism 178 00:11:22,040 --> 00:11:26,199 Speaker 1: is makes some sort of alteration to the recording process. 179 00:11:26,280 --> 00:11:29,360 Speaker 1: So in the moment when you're there, you don't hear anything, 180 00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:32,599 Speaker 1: but in the playback you hear a sound. This is 181 00:11:32,640 --> 00:11:36,200 Speaker 1: called electronic voice phenomena or e v P, or as 182 00:11:36,240 --> 00:11:40,040 Speaker 1: my friend Shay says, it's ghost a s MR. So 183 00:11:40,080 --> 00:11:43,280 Speaker 1: if we're using real to real magnetic tape, a ghost 184 00:11:43,320 --> 00:11:47,319 Speaker 1: hunter might put forth the hypothesis that a ghost used 185 00:11:47,320 --> 00:11:50,720 Speaker 1: its electro magnetic powers, which we'll talk about later in 186 00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:54,800 Speaker 1: this episode, to somehow manipulate the magnetic particles on the 187 00:11:54,840 --> 00:11:57,800 Speaker 1: tape itself, and that that's what created the sound you 188 00:11:57,800 --> 00:11:59,679 Speaker 1: hear when you play the tape back. So even though 189 00:11:59,679 --> 00:12:01,760 Speaker 1: you didn't hear it in the moment, the sound is 190 00:12:01,800 --> 00:12:06,320 Speaker 1: there because the ghost has effectively bypassed the microphone and 191 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:11,120 Speaker 1: recorded directly onto the tape. So that's that hypothesis, And 192 00:12:11,160 --> 00:12:14,679 Speaker 1: there are problems with this. First, depending upon the instrumentation used, 193 00:12:15,040 --> 00:12:18,679 Speaker 1: you can get artifacts during recording sessions. Uh And if 194 00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:21,320 Speaker 1: the tape you're using used to have another recording on it, 195 00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:25,280 Speaker 1: then the tape recorder might not be particularly good, and 196 00:12:25,320 --> 00:12:29,880 Speaker 1: it may be that you have faint artifacts, faint recordings 197 00:12:29,880 --> 00:12:32,960 Speaker 1: that are left from previous sessions on that tape. So 198 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:36,720 Speaker 1: the stuff you're listening to wasn't even put there during 199 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:40,120 Speaker 1: the recording session, but from a previous one. And so 200 00:12:41,240 --> 00:12:45,080 Speaker 1: that's a possible explanation for at least the magnetic tape 201 00:12:45,120 --> 00:12:49,439 Speaker 1: ones things where you could have artifacts from earlier recording sessions. Obviously, 202 00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:52,080 Speaker 1: if it's a brand new tape that was never used 203 00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:54,520 Speaker 1: in recording, that's not going to be the case. So 204 00:12:55,160 --> 00:12:59,400 Speaker 1: this isn't like blanket explanation for every moments, just pointing 205 00:12:59,400 --> 00:13:01,800 Speaker 1: out that there are our natural explanations for these sorts 206 00:13:01,800 --> 00:13:05,520 Speaker 1: of things. Uh, And there are other totally natural explanations 207 00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:08,080 Speaker 1: for odd stuff picked up on audio recordings, including just 208 00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:12,880 Speaker 1: faulty recording processes. There's nothing quite like having someone who 209 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:16,720 Speaker 1: is unfamiliar with a tool who has then put in 210 00:13:16,840 --> 00:13:20,120 Speaker 1: charge of using that tool, like they're going to be 211 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:23,480 Speaker 1: mistakes made and it may not be evident that a 212 00:13:23,520 --> 00:13:26,880 Speaker 1: mistake was made, but it's recorded, and that can lead 213 00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:30,880 Speaker 1: to all sorts of misinterpretations. If you give me an 214 00:13:30,960 --> 00:13:34,360 Speaker 1: electronic device I have never used before and you're very 215 00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:37,200 Speaker 1: vague with the instructions, chances are I'm going to do 216 00:13:37,240 --> 00:13:40,560 Speaker 1: a really poor job at using that tool properly, and 217 00:13:40,600 --> 00:13:43,480 Speaker 1: I might draw some conclusions based upon my use of 218 00:13:43,520 --> 00:13:47,240 Speaker 1: that tool, but they're completely incorrect conclusions because I wasn't 219 00:13:47,320 --> 00:13:50,600 Speaker 1: using the tool correctly in the first place. Then there's 220 00:13:50,640 --> 00:13:53,360 Speaker 1: the actual playback experience. This is where we get to 221 00:13:53,360 --> 00:13:56,120 Speaker 1: our brains playing tricks on us. We hear the playback 222 00:13:56,480 --> 00:13:58,680 Speaker 1: and it seems so long ago. Now, we hear the 223 00:13:58,679 --> 00:14:02,120 Speaker 1: playback and we listen oh hard for anything that we 224 00:14:02,640 --> 00:14:06,320 Speaker 1: might identify as a meaningful signal. We're really listening hard, 225 00:14:07,400 --> 00:14:11,400 Speaker 1: and we might start to interpret connections and patterns in 226 00:14:11,440 --> 00:14:15,960 Speaker 1: the noise even when none really exist. We mistakenly identify 227 00:14:16,040 --> 00:14:19,480 Speaker 1: stuff as having intent and meaning behind it, when in 228 00:14:19,520 --> 00:14:22,560 Speaker 1: fact it's just random noise. That's just how our brains work, 229 00:14:22,960 --> 00:14:24,680 Speaker 1: and we have to be aware of that, and we 230 00:14:24,720 --> 00:14:28,400 Speaker 1: have to think critically before we run with that interpretation. 231 00:14:29,240 --> 00:14:33,000 Speaker 1: This also is the case was so called ghost boxes, 232 00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:37,400 Speaker 1: and this episode, because I'm head up, is going to 233 00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:39,840 Speaker 1: start running long if I'm not careful. So what I'm 234 00:14:39,840 --> 00:14:41,640 Speaker 1: gonna do is I'm going to take a quick break. 235 00:14:41,640 --> 00:14:45,480 Speaker 1: When we come back, I'll talk about ghost boxes and 236 00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:49,120 Speaker 1: what those are, but first let me go get a drink. 237 00:14:49,280 --> 00:15:01,080 Speaker 1: We'll take this quick break. Okay, was rambling about ghost 238 00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:03,560 Speaker 1: boxes before the break. What are those? Now? These are 239 00:15:03,560 --> 00:15:07,920 Speaker 1: devices that are meant to sweep through a band of 240 00:15:08,040 --> 00:15:12,040 Speaker 1: radio frequencies. Typically we're talking AM radio here, doesn't have 241 00:15:12,120 --> 00:15:15,240 Speaker 1: to be, but that's like the standard is using AM radio. 242 00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:18,480 Speaker 1: It actually kind of reminds me of being in the 243 00:15:18,520 --> 00:15:22,360 Speaker 1: car and hitting that scan feature found on most car radios. 244 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:25,760 Speaker 1: And when you do that, what happens is your radio 245 00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:28,760 Speaker 1: is starting to seek out viable radio signals, right, like 246 00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:33,160 Speaker 1: a strong signal that represents this is something that would 247 00:15:33,200 --> 00:15:36,920 Speaker 1: come through onto the speakers, and once it does, it 248 00:15:36,960 --> 00:15:39,560 Speaker 1: will settle on that station for a few seconds, and 249 00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:41,760 Speaker 1: if you don't hit the scan button again, it will 250 00:15:41,800 --> 00:15:45,120 Speaker 1: then jump to the next available signal. And once in 251 00:15:45,160 --> 00:15:46,760 Speaker 1: a while if you do this, if you hit scan 252 00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:50,680 Speaker 1: on a road trip, you might end up with some 253 00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:53,280 Speaker 1: pretty funny results on occasion, like you might get the 254 00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:56,360 Speaker 1: opening bit of one song and the closing bit of 255 00:15:56,400 --> 00:15:59,840 Speaker 1: a totally different song, and it's just because of the 256 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:03,280 Speaker 1: way the scan jumped. It might have a weird way 257 00:16:03,280 --> 00:16:06,240 Speaker 1: of fitting together. That's funny. Like that can happen, right. 258 00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:08,800 Speaker 1: It's not the best way to stay entertained, mind you, 259 00:16:08,880 --> 00:16:12,000 Speaker 1: but it can on occasion produce something funny. What ghost 260 00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:15,520 Speaker 1: boxes are doing something similar, except they sweep more quickly 261 00:16:16,080 --> 00:16:19,000 Speaker 1: through radio signals, so you're not really settling on any 262 00:16:19,040 --> 00:16:22,320 Speaker 1: one frequency for long. Plus you're going through all the 263 00:16:22,360 --> 00:16:25,320 Speaker 1: frequencies in the band over and over and over again, 264 00:16:25,400 --> 00:16:28,160 Speaker 1: so not just the ones that represent a signal, but 265 00:16:28,360 --> 00:16:31,920 Speaker 1: the static that's in between signals and again. The ghostly 266 00:16:31,960 --> 00:16:35,120 Speaker 1: mechanics of this approach, like what ghosts are doing to 267 00:16:35,200 --> 00:16:40,600 Speaker 1: supposedly communicate through this device, are really questionable. The ideas 268 00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:43,080 Speaker 1: that somehow a ghost is able to communicate as the 269 00:16:43,080 --> 00:16:48,120 Speaker 1: ghost box cycles through these radio frequencies, piecing together noises 270 00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:52,680 Speaker 1: that create words or phrases, so the little snippets of 271 00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:56,120 Speaker 1: sound could be reinterpreted to be communications from the great beyond, 272 00:16:57,320 --> 00:17:00,400 Speaker 1: but it's really just random snippets of sound and static. 273 00:17:00,880 --> 00:17:03,680 Speaker 1: I'm not even sure what the mechanism would be for 274 00:17:03,720 --> 00:17:06,680 Speaker 1: a spirit to communicate in this way. I mean, how 275 00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:10,320 Speaker 1: would a spirit even know to manipulate radio signals in 276 00:17:10,600 --> 00:17:16,000 Speaker 1: time with a tuner that's rapidly cycling through different frequencies. 277 00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:18,080 Speaker 1: I mean, imagine that you're trying to have a phone 278 00:17:18,119 --> 00:17:20,879 Speaker 1: conversation with someone, only in order to do it, you 279 00:17:20,920 --> 00:17:24,120 Speaker 1: have to run down a hallway where there are phones 280 00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:27,240 Speaker 1: mounted on the wall all down the hallway, and meanwhile, 281 00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:29,560 Speaker 1: your friend who's listening to you also has to run 282 00:17:29,560 --> 00:17:32,520 Speaker 1: down a hallway of speakers, each speaker tied to one 283 00:17:32,560 --> 00:17:34,679 Speaker 1: of the specific phones, and that's the only way you 284 00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:36,960 Speaker 1: can be heard. That seems like a lot of work 285 00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:40,199 Speaker 1: to me. How does a ghost even do that? So 286 00:17:40,280 --> 00:17:42,960 Speaker 1: there's no only no real explanation as to why you 287 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:44,920 Speaker 1: would use a ghostbox in the first place, at least 288 00:17:44,960 --> 00:17:48,680 Speaker 1: not an explanation that makes sense, because all of those 289 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:52,400 Speaker 1: explanations pretty much require you to first accept the existence 290 00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:57,040 Speaker 1: of ghosts or psychic phenomena from the get go. You 291 00:17:57,080 --> 00:17:59,040 Speaker 1: have to accept that those are things that are real 292 00:17:59,240 --> 00:18:03,879 Speaker 1: from the start. They don't prove the existence of these phenomena, 293 00:18:04,119 --> 00:18:09,080 Speaker 1: they just are assumed to be associated with them, and 294 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:13,080 Speaker 1: you get into the circular reasoning, right, like, oh, the 295 00:18:13,119 --> 00:18:16,080 Speaker 1: ghost box proves there are ghosts, and ghosts prove that 296 00:18:16,119 --> 00:18:19,800 Speaker 1: the ghost box works. That's not how science works, right, 297 00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:24,040 Speaker 1: That's not an accurate kind of of conclusion you can make. 298 00:18:25,119 --> 00:18:28,399 Speaker 1: But let's move on. We're gonna talk about a different 299 00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:31,159 Speaker 1: technology used in connection with ghost hunting. So get ready 300 00:18:31,520 --> 00:18:35,919 Speaker 1: to say cheese, because we're gonna talk cameras. The humble 301 00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:38,960 Speaker 1: camera has been an integral part of the ghost hunting 302 00:18:39,560 --> 00:18:42,719 Speaker 1: subset ever since its earliest days when it became a 303 00:18:42,760 --> 00:18:47,240 Speaker 1: tool used by spiritualists, and it kind of got started 304 00:18:48,040 --> 00:18:51,280 Speaker 1: as a joke that was interpreted as a real thing, 305 00:18:51,400 --> 00:18:53,159 Speaker 1: and then the person who made the joke realized they 306 00:18:53,160 --> 00:18:55,560 Speaker 1: could make a whole lot of money if they ran 307 00:18:55,600 --> 00:18:58,040 Speaker 1: with the joke being real. And I'm talking about double 308 00:18:58,119 --> 00:19:00,879 Speaker 1: exposure in this case. So for we're gonna talk about 309 00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:07,520 Speaker 1: photographic cameras like actual um film and and plate cameras, 310 00:19:07,560 --> 00:19:11,120 Speaker 1: the stuff that takes place before digital cameras. So these 311 00:19:11,160 --> 00:19:13,639 Speaker 1: are the kind of cameras that take images by exposing 312 00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:17,760 Speaker 1: some photoreactive chemicals that are coded on some substance UH. 313 00:19:17,800 --> 00:19:21,480 Speaker 1: They expose those chemicals to light, so a lens focuses 314 00:19:21,520 --> 00:19:24,080 Speaker 1: the light and directs it to whatever surface has these 315 00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:26,720 Speaker 1: photoreactive chemicals on it. So in the good old days, 316 00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:30,679 Speaker 1: these were photographic plates, and later that was replaced with UH, 317 00:19:30,920 --> 00:19:35,720 Speaker 1: with film that had the chemicals essentially painted onto them. 318 00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:40,720 Speaker 1: And then you would develop these photographic plates or film 319 00:19:41,520 --> 00:19:44,119 Speaker 1: through a process where you expose them to different chemicals, 320 00:19:44,119 --> 00:19:46,120 Speaker 1: you would develop a negative. From the negative, you could 321 00:19:46,160 --> 00:19:49,840 Speaker 1: produce a positive image and then boom, you've got your photograph. 322 00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:52,119 Speaker 1: But one thing you could do with these cameras is 323 00:19:52,160 --> 00:19:54,840 Speaker 1: you could take a double exposure. And that's just what 324 00:19:54,920 --> 00:19:58,640 Speaker 1: it sounds like. It's when you expose the same photoreactive 325 00:19:58,680 --> 00:20:03,800 Speaker 1: surface to light twice. You can actually do multi exposure, 326 00:20:03,800 --> 00:20:06,000 Speaker 1: though the more you do it, the messier the image 327 00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:07,679 Speaker 1: is going to be to a point where you're not 328 00:20:07,680 --> 00:20:11,159 Speaker 1: gonna see anything. And maybe you do it by accident, right, 329 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:13,879 Speaker 1: maybe you failed to advance the film in your camera 330 00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:17,280 Speaker 1: and you expose the same frame of film to light twice, 331 00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:19,560 Speaker 1: or maybe you do it on purpose to create an 332 00:20:19,600 --> 00:20:22,320 Speaker 1: interesting effect. Maybe you're an artist and you're just experimenting 333 00:20:22,320 --> 00:20:25,560 Speaker 1: with this sort of stuff. But however he gets made, 334 00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:28,960 Speaker 1: a double exposure can have some really interesting features. You know, 335 00:20:29,040 --> 00:20:33,080 Speaker 1: figures that were perfectly corporeal during the actual photo session 336 00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:36,960 Speaker 1: could appear to be ghostly in the double exposure photo. 337 00:20:37,840 --> 00:20:41,480 Speaker 1: Artists have used this effect to create amazing and sometimes 338 00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:46,040 Speaker 1: you know, unsettling works. And there are modern tools in 339 00:20:46,200 --> 00:20:49,639 Speaker 1: editing software suites like Photoshop. They give artists the chance 340 00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:53,639 Speaker 1: to replicate those effects. Using digital photographs or even create 341 00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:58,640 Speaker 1: brand new effects inspired by double exposures. But it's all 342 00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:04,000 Speaker 1: stemming from the very physical phenomena with early cameras. Now, 343 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:06,480 Speaker 1: at a casual glance, you might think the photographs you're 344 00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:09,840 Speaker 1: looking at depicts something supernatural because there are these kind 345 00:21:09,840 --> 00:21:13,040 Speaker 1: of ghostly images in there, and the less you know 346 00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:15,639 Speaker 1: about how film works, the more likely you are to 347 00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:19,240 Speaker 1: misinterpret what you are seeing. If you have a background 348 00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:22,800 Speaker 1: in film and in film development, you would likely spot 349 00:21:22,800 --> 00:21:26,280 Speaker 1: double exposures right away. You would understand what you're looking at, 350 00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:28,959 Speaker 1: you would know how it was produced. But to the layman, 351 00:21:29,119 --> 00:21:33,200 Speaker 1: particularly back when photography was a young science, it could 352 00:21:33,240 --> 00:21:37,160 Speaker 1: seem like proof that the supernatural exists. But no, it's 353 00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:41,160 Speaker 1: just a multiple exposure of photoreactive chemicals that were subsequently 354 00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:46,600 Speaker 1: developed into a photograph. Then there are the orbs. Uh, 355 00:21:46,680 --> 00:21:50,360 Speaker 1: the orbs so orbs and photography refer to these little 356 00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:55,120 Speaker 1: spears of light that sometimes show up in photographs, and 357 00:21:55,280 --> 00:21:59,120 Speaker 1: ghost hunter types might claim that such orbs represent spirits 358 00:21:59,280 --> 00:22:03,080 Speaker 1: or ghost or psychic phenomena or something along those lines. 359 00:22:03,760 --> 00:22:08,320 Speaker 1: But the real explanation is pointedly not paranormal. It's just 360 00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:13,400 Speaker 1: very very normal. So why would orbs appear in a photograph. 361 00:22:13,760 --> 00:22:16,960 Speaker 1: It's due to a phenomenon called back scatter, and it 362 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:20,600 Speaker 1: all has to do with light. So let's say you're 363 00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:23,720 Speaker 1: a ghost hunter and you're in a creepy old mansion 364 00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:28,480 Speaker 1: and you're at the foot of a really particularly creepy staircase, 365 00:22:29,119 --> 00:22:31,240 Speaker 1: and all the lights in the house are turned off 366 00:22:31,320 --> 00:22:33,800 Speaker 1: so that you can see any ghostly phenomena right away. 367 00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:36,400 Speaker 1: And you've been told that there's a ghost that sometimes 368 00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:39,159 Speaker 1: walks up and down this particular staircase, and that usually 369 00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:42,040 Speaker 1: this ghost is invisible to the naked eye. So you 370 00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:44,840 Speaker 1: take out your digital flash camera, you set it up 371 00:22:44,880 --> 00:22:47,720 Speaker 1: on a tripod, you pointed up the staircase, and you 372 00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:52,120 Speaker 1: start taking flash photos. And the focal point of these 373 00:22:52,119 --> 00:22:54,919 Speaker 1: photos is on the staircase itself, so you focus the 374 00:22:55,000 --> 00:22:58,120 Speaker 1: lens so that it's on the staircase. Well, if you're 375 00:22:58,119 --> 00:23:00,240 Speaker 1: in an old mansion, they're likely going to be dust 376 00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:03,480 Speaker 1: particles in the air. Depending upon the condition of the mansion, 377 00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:05,520 Speaker 1: maybe there's quite a few dust particles in the air. 378 00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:08,280 Speaker 1: Some of those dust particles may well be within the 379 00:23:08,359 --> 00:23:11,440 Speaker 1: view of this camera lens. So when the flash goes off, 380 00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:14,840 Speaker 1: the flash eliminates not just the staircase, but these little 381 00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:18,000 Speaker 1: moats of dust that are floating in the air. Now, 382 00:23:18,040 --> 00:23:21,520 Speaker 1: the particles aren't necessarily in the focal point of the camera, 383 00:23:21,720 --> 00:23:23,600 Speaker 1: like some of them might be very close to the camera, 384 00:23:23,640 --> 00:23:26,600 Speaker 1: but obviously the lens is focused on the staircase beyond, 385 00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:30,760 Speaker 1: so these unfocused particles reflect light back at the lens. 386 00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:33,639 Speaker 1: The lens is designed to collect and direct light to 387 00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:36,800 Speaker 1: a sensor, so that gets recorded as this sort of 388 00:23:36,920 --> 00:23:40,240 Speaker 1: circular blob of light, a little artifact, a sphere of 389 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:43,600 Speaker 1: light or orb. Dust particles that are close to the 390 00:23:43,600 --> 00:23:46,720 Speaker 1: camera are going to appear very bright, sitting out against 391 00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:48,760 Speaker 1: the focused part of the image because they're closer to 392 00:23:48,800 --> 00:23:51,240 Speaker 1: the flash. So the bit of staircase you've trained the 393 00:23:51,280 --> 00:23:54,800 Speaker 1: camera on is darker. This orb will stand out much 394 00:23:54,840 --> 00:23:57,080 Speaker 1: better because it's a piece of dust that's a little 395 00:23:57,080 --> 00:23:59,679 Speaker 1: closer to that flash and therefore shows up as a 396 00:23:59,680 --> 00:24:04,040 Speaker 1: brighter spot in the image. So there's nothing supernatural about 397 00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:07,719 Speaker 1: any of this. They're just dust particles or sometimes water droplets. 398 00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:11,000 Speaker 1: The same thing can happen with underwater photography because you 399 00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:13,800 Speaker 1: have all these little particulates in the water that can 400 00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:17,800 Speaker 1: reflect light. Meanwhile, you're focusing on something that's further out 401 00:24:18,119 --> 00:24:20,920 Speaker 1: from the lens, So it's just this very small surface 402 00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:23,760 Speaker 1: that's relatively close to the camera flash and therefore reflecting 403 00:24:23,840 --> 00:24:26,120 Speaker 1: light back to the camera lens. It happens in an instant, 404 00:24:26,760 --> 00:24:29,320 Speaker 1: so when we take the photo, we don't see the orbs. 405 00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:31,920 Speaker 1: You know, that's not how our eyes are are catching this, 406 00:24:32,440 --> 00:24:36,480 Speaker 1: but they are showing up in the images that we captured. Again, 407 00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:39,959 Speaker 1: we get to the question of if this were a 408 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:45,040 Speaker 1: paranormal entity, how does this work? Exactly like, assuming that 409 00:24:45,080 --> 00:24:47,119 Speaker 1: this is a ghost, how is it that's showing up 410 00:24:47,119 --> 00:24:49,560 Speaker 1: as an orb on the image? How would a camera 411 00:24:49,600 --> 00:24:53,480 Speaker 1: pick up something that we cannot see with our own eyes, 412 00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:55,879 Speaker 1: Because how is the camera able to see it? If 413 00:24:55,920 --> 00:24:59,000 Speaker 1: we cannot, how is it able to produce something that 414 00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:01,560 Speaker 1: we can see? Wants it's a recorded image, but we 415 00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:04,280 Speaker 1: can't see it when it's in the moment. Now I 416 00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:07,240 Speaker 1: do understand how folks could start to think that a 417 00:25:07,280 --> 00:25:09,720 Speaker 1: camera could do this, because we do have things like 418 00:25:09,800 --> 00:25:13,720 Speaker 1: infrared cameras. Right we humans can't see in the infrared 419 00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:17,280 Speaker 1: range of light. Infrared light is invisible to us. I mean, 420 00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:20,080 Speaker 1: we can feel infrared as heat, but we can't see it. 421 00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:25,439 Speaker 1: But with infrared cameras, we can capture images in infrared. 422 00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:28,040 Speaker 1: But the images that we look at, the ones we 423 00:25:28,119 --> 00:25:31,679 Speaker 1: see from these cameras, Obviously that information has to be 424 00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:35,920 Speaker 1: converted into the visible spectrum for us to see it. Typically, 425 00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:39,119 Speaker 1: the warmer areas appear in the early part of the 426 00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:42,880 Speaker 1: visible spectrum. So your red's, oranges and yellows, right, that's 427 00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:46,119 Speaker 1: those are the hotter things. If you're taking a picture 428 00:25:46,119 --> 00:25:48,720 Speaker 1: with a thermal camera and it's red, you know that's 429 00:25:48,760 --> 00:25:51,520 Speaker 1: a hot part of the image. The cooler parts appear 430 00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:54,320 Speaker 1: in the latter half of the visible spectrum, so you're greens, blues, 431 00:25:54,359 --> 00:25:58,000 Speaker 1: and purples indicate cooler areas of an image. So if 432 00:25:58,040 --> 00:26:01,040 Speaker 1: we have an infrared or thermal camera, uh, well, that's 433 00:26:01,160 --> 00:26:04,480 Speaker 1: device that's capable of capturing stuff that are humanized cannot see. 434 00:26:04,560 --> 00:26:08,360 Speaker 1: So based on that, I can understand why people might 435 00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:11,720 Speaker 1: think that somehow a normal camera could capture a ghost 436 00:26:11,760 --> 00:26:14,560 Speaker 1: image that would otherwise be invisible to us. But there's 437 00:26:14,560 --> 00:26:17,960 Speaker 1: no mechanism to describe what it's capturing or how that happens. 438 00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:21,520 Speaker 1: So unfortunately for ghost hunters, that's just not what's happening. 439 00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:24,840 Speaker 1: It's literally just light reflecting into the lens and causing 440 00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:27,280 Speaker 1: an artifact in the image. All right, well, then we 441 00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:30,680 Speaker 1: got the big daddy of technology used in ghost hunting, 442 00:26:30,680 --> 00:26:34,879 Speaker 1: the cren de la creme, the piece de resistance, the 443 00:26:34,960 --> 00:26:39,600 Speaker 1: old e MF detector or meter or reader. E m 444 00:26:39,680 --> 00:26:43,600 Speaker 1: F stands for electro magnetic field. Although a ton of 445 00:26:43,640 --> 00:26:49,080 Speaker 1: these are marketed as just ghost hunting or ghost detecting technologies, 446 00:26:49,280 --> 00:26:53,879 Speaker 1: it is it's really ludicrous to see how many are. 447 00:26:53,920 --> 00:26:56,040 Speaker 1: In fact, I think I read one study that said 448 00:26:56,680 --> 00:27:00,480 Speaker 1: two out of of three e MF meet is that 449 00:27:00,560 --> 00:27:05,199 Speaker 1: they found were related to paranormal investigations, which is not 450 00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:07,919 Speaker 1: what they were made for. But you know, it's a 451 00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:10,159 Speaker 1: great way to sell them. If you're a manufacturer that 452 00:27:10,200 --> 00:27:12,960 Speaker 1: makes the MF meters and you don't mind the fact 453 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:16,520 Speaker 1: that people are buying them on the mistaken pretense that 454 00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:19,280 Speaker 1: they could detect ghosts, it could be a really effective 455 00:27:19,320 --> 00:27:21,960 Speaker 1: marketing tool. Okay, so it's time for a quick brush 456 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:25,879 Speaker 1: up on electro magnetism. This is one of the fundamental 457 00:27:26,119 --> 00:27:29,400 Speaker 1: forces of the universe. The others, as we understand them, 458 00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:33,040 Speaker 1: are the strong force, the weak force, and gravity. Now, 459 00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:37,240 Speaker 1: these forces all have different strengths at different ranges. So 460 00:27:37,320 --> 00:27:40,639 Speaker 1: the strong force, for example, is in fact the strongest, 461 00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:44,119 Speaker 1: but it has a very small range on it's on 462 00:27:44,160 --> 00:27:47,960 Speaker 1: the sub atomic scale, so it doesn't work beyond that. 463 00:27:48,440 --> 00:27:52,399 Speaker 1: Gravity is the weakest of the fundamental forces, but it 464 00:27:52,440 --> 00:27:56,840 Speaker 1: has infinite range, so everything in the universe technically has 465 00:27:56,880 --> 00:28:00,119 Speaker 1: a gravitational effect on everything else in the universe. But 466 00:28:00,240 --> 00:28:03,679 Speaker 1: this is a very weak weak force, so really we 467 00:28:03,720 --> 00:28:05,840 Speaker 1: only start to notice it. We humans only start to 468 00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:08,520 Speaker 1: notice that when we have stuff that's got a lot 469 00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:11,719 Speaker 1: of mass, like planets and moons and stuff like that, 470 00:28:11,760 --> 00:28:14,520 Speaker 1: where we start to really see the effects of this force. 471 00:28:15,560 --> 00:28:19,760 Speaker 1: The electro magnetic force is stronger than gravity, but weaker 472 00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:23,760 Speaker 1: than the other two. It also has infinite range, so 473 00:28:23,840 --> 00:28:25,760 Speaker 1: it's not nearly as strong as the strong force or 474 00:28:25,800 --> 00:28:29,480 Speaker 1: even the weak force. It's the physical interaction between electrically 475 00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:35,360 Speaker 1: charged particles, and this connection between electricity and magnetism is fascinating, 476 00:28:35,600 --> 00:28:39,000 Speaker 1: and I'm pretty sure that everyone who's listening to this 477 00:28:39,120 --> 00:28:42,760 Speaker 1: has at some point played with a basic electro magnet, 478 00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:45,440 Speaker 1: probably made one in science class at some point. So 479 00:28:45,480 --> 00:28:47,560 Speaker 1: the way that we used to do it when I 480 00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:50,040 Speaker 1: was in school was we would take an iron nail, 481 00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:53,040 Speaker 1: like the kind you would use in construction, and we 482 00:28:53,080 --> 00:28:57,960 Speaker 1: would take some insulated copper wire, usually insulated copper wires 483 00:28:58,040 --> 00:29:00,320 Speaker 1: that no one was gonna get a shock or anything. 484 00:29:00,680 --> 00:29:03,880 Speaker 1: We would wrap this wire around the nail several times, 485 00:29:03,880 --> 00:29:07,600 Speaker 1: creating coils all along the length of the nail. Then 486 00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:10,280 Speaker 1: we would attach the ends of the copper wire to 487 00:29:10,440 --> 00:29:13,120 Speaker 1: the two terminals of a battery, which would allow an 488 00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:17,000 Speaker 1: electric charge to move through the wire. So current moves 489 00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:19,920 Speaker 1: through the copper wire. It's direct current because it's going 490 00:29:19,960 --> 00:29:24,000 Speaker 1: in just one direction. And that means that the the 491 00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:27,720 Speaker 1: electricity is looping around this nail over and over, and 492 00:29:27,760 --> 00:29:30,880 Speaker 1: it turns the nail into a magnet. And the nail 493 00:29:30,960 --> 00:29:33,120 Speaker 1: has a north pole and a south pole, just like 494 00:29:33,160 --> 00:29:37,200 Speaker 1: a permanent magnet would. And if we were to use 495 00:29:37,280 --> 00:29:40,800 Speaker 1: that to pick things up that were ferromagnetic, you know, 496 00:29:40,880 --> 00:29:43,240 Speaker 1: there you go. You've just made yourself an electro magnet. 497 00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:49,960 Speaker 1: So electricity can generate a magnetic field. Likewise, if you 498 00:29:49,960 --> 00:29:53,000 Speaker 1: take a permanent magnet and you start to move it 499 00:29:53,320 --> 00:29:55,680 Speaker 1: past a conductor, you know, move it so that the 500 00:29:55,720 --> 00:29:59,840 Speaker 1: magnetic field of the permanent magnet encounters this conductor over 501 00:30:00,040 --> 00:30:03,040 Speaker 1: over again. You can induce a current to flow through 502 00:30:03,080 --> 00:30:06,760 Speaker 1: the conductor. That's the basis for a lot of our technology. Actually, 503 00:30:06,800 --> 00:30:10,800 Speaker 1: everything from electric motors to dynamos two transformers all depends 504 00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:16,040 Speaker 1: upon this relationship between electricity and magnetism. And we've got 505 00:30:16,040 --> 00:30:18,400 Speaker 1: a lot more to say about that and how that 506 00:30:18,440 --> 00:30:20,920 Speaker 1: relates to e m F meters. But before we get 507 00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:33,280 Speaker 1: to that, let's take another quick break. Okay, we are 508 00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:37,000 Speaker 1: up to the e m F reader or meter or detector. 509 00:30:37,480 --> 00:30:40,959 Speaker 1: Ghost Hunters use these to look for fluctuations in electromagnetic 510 00:30:41,040 --> 00:30:45,200 Speaker 1: fields in an effort to apparently detect ghosts. I guess 511 00:30:45,240 --> 00:30:49,120 Speaker 1: the idea is that ghosts, through some unexplained mechanism, are 512 00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:53,920 Speaker 1: capable of manipulating electromagnetic fields. How they do this is 513 00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:57,080 Speaker 1: never really explained in the satisfactory way in my opinion. 514 00:30:57,600 --> 00:31:00,400 Speaker 1: You might get some pseudo scientific explanation of that, but 515 00:31:00,520 --> 00:31:03,000 Speaker 1: often you don't even get that. You just hear people 516 00:31:03,200 --> 00:31:07,080 Speaker 1: starting from the assumption that ghosts can do this. But 517 00:31:07,200 --> 00:31:10,160 Speaker 1: even with the pseudo scientific explanations, it really doesn't make 518 00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:13,640 Speaker 1: any sense because you've again you have to establish the 519 00:31:13,680 --> 00:31:17,280 Speaker 1: existence of the cause before you can declare it as 520 00:31:17,520 --> 00:31:20,920 Speaker 1: the cause. Right, saying that the m F detector went 521 00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:23,200 Speaker 1: beat because of a ghost and then saying the ghosts 522 00:31:23,240 --> 00:31:27,000 Speaker 1: exist because your detector went beep. That's just circular reasoning. Again, 523 00:31:27,040 --> 00:31:29,800 Speaker 1: it doesn't actually prove anything. So you have an e 524 00:31:29,920 --> 00:31:32,640 Speaker 1: m F meter and the readings fluctuate and boom, there 525 00:31:32,720 --> 00:31:36,440 Speaker 1: be ghosts nearby, according to ghost hunters. But what's really 526 00:31:36,480 --> 00:31:39,880 Speaker 1: happening here. Well. E m F meters or detectors have 527 00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:44,120 Speaker 1: very sensitive components that are easily influenced by electrical and 528 00:31:44,160 --> 00:31:48,200 Speaker 1: magnetic fields and the strength and the fluctuation. So, in 529 00:31:48,200 --> 00:31:52,360 Speaker 1: other words, the amount and the rate of change of 530 00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:56,880 Speaker 1: those fields determines how much response these components in the 531 00:31:56,920 --> 00:32:00,000 Speaker 1: e m F detector give off. Right, how how influence 532 00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:05,360 Speaker 1: are these elements inside the detector itself. That's a measurable quantity. 533 00:32:05,480 --> 00:32:09,080 Speaker 1: You can measure how much it changes. So by measuring 534 00:32:09,160 --> 00:32:12,840 Speaker 1: how the components respond, we can determine the presence and 535 00:32:12,920 --> 00:32:16,680 Speaker 1: even the strength of an electromagnetic field. Now, I admit 536 00:32:16,840 --> 00:32:19,600 Speaker 1: this is a super high level version of what's going on. 537 00:32:19,920 --> 00:32:23,040 Speaker 1: It is not getting into the nitty gritty mechanics, and 538 00:32:23,080 --> 00:32:26,120 Speaker 1: there is a much more technical explanation, but honestly, it 539 00:32:26,160 --> 00:32:30,240 Speaker 1: gets deep into the physics of electromagnetic fields and complex 540 00:32:30,280 --> 00:32:33,640 Speaker 1: equations that we use to derive field strength, and it 541 00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:36,760 Speaker 1: frankly goes over my head pretty quickly. So rather than 542 00:32:36,800 --> 00:32:39,760 Speaker 1: bumble through a bad explanation, I just want to reduce 543 00:32:39,800 --> 00:32:43,440 Speaker 1: this to the fact that these meters measure the amount 544 00:32:43,440 --> 00:32:48,400 Speaker 1: of change that they encounter as electromagnetic fields affect the meters. 545 00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:52,040 Speaker 1: That's it, that's all they're meant to do. So it's 546 00:32:52,080 --> 00:32:54,320 Speaker 1: kind of an under easy to understand when you realize 547 00:32:54,320 --> 00:32:57,840 Speaker 1: that magnetic fields can induce current to flow through conductors, 548 00:32:57,880 --> 00:33:00,200 Speaker 1: and that a current moving through a conduct or it 549 00:33:00,240 --> 00:33:03,680 Speaker 1: creates a magnetic field. Once you understand that, having a 550 00:33:03,680 --> 00:33:07,000 Speaker 1: little of device that has very sensitive elements inside it 551 00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:11,080 Speaker 1: that can respond to this, that makes it pretty simple 552 00:33:11,080 --> 00:33:13,480 Speaker 1: to understand from a high level. So e m F 553 00:33:13,520 --> 00:33:17,200 Speaker 1: readers can really be divided into two broad categories. You 554 00:33:17,240 --> 00:33:21,760 Speaker 1: have single access meters and try access meters or try 555 00:33:21,840 --> 00:33:25,960 Speaker 1: axes meters, and you can think of an axis in 556 00:33:26,000 --> 00:33:29,080 Speaker 1: this case kind of like an antenna. So a single 557 00:33:29,200 --> 00:33:31,840 Speaker 1: access e m F detector has what would amount to 558 00:33:32,040 --> 00:33:35,840 Speaker 1: a straight antenna, and to get a full reading, like 559 00:33:35,880 --> 00:33:39,040 Speaker 1: a full accurate reading with a single access e MF meter, 560 00:33:39,640 --> 00:33:43,320 Speaker 1: you would have to slowly rotate the meter to properly 561 00:33:43,360 --> 00:33:49,400 Speaker 1: measure an electromagnetic field. If the antenna was perpendicular with 562 00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:53,080 Speaker 1: the actual electromagnetic field, it's not going to pick up 563 00:33:53,240 --> 00:33:56,920 Speaker 1: much of a signal. It's because it's out of alignment. 564 00:33:57,200 --> 00:33:59,880 Speaker 1: If you rotate it so that it's out of that 565 00:34:00,040 --> 00:34:03,000 Speaker 1: perpendicular orientation, then you would start to see the meter 566 00:34:03,120 --> 00:34:06,880 Speaker 1: go off. If in fact, you were within a magnetic field, 567 00:34:06,880 --> 00:34:11,000 Speaker 1: an electromagnetic field at a ninety degree rotation from the 568 00:34:11,040 --> 00:34:14,440 Speaker 1: perpendicular with relation to the field, you should get the 569 00:34:14,520 --> 00:34:19,680 Speaker 1: highest reading in whatever spot you're in. So moving into 570 00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:22,600 Speaker 1: or out of an electromagnetic field will cause a detector 571 00:34:22,640 --> 00:34:25,279 Speaker 1: to go off, which makes sense, but it means that 572 00:34:25,360 --> 00:34:29,440 Speaker 1: moving around in an area where you have an electromagnetic field, 573 00:34:29,880 --> 00:34:32,640 Speaker 1: you're gonna get ratings, and that can get really confusing 574 00:34:32,680 --> 00:34:35,719 Speaker 1: really quickly. It might seem like the field is moving around, 575 00:34:36,160 --> 00:34:39,200 Speaker 1: when in fact it's just that the detector is passing 576 00:34:39,239 --> 00:34:43,400 Speaker 1: through a static field, which to the detector amounts to 577 00:34:43,480 --> 00:34:46,920 Speaker 1: the same thing as being stationary, while a fluctuating field 578 00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:50,920 Speaker 1: is around the detector um. So it can be easily misinterpreted. 579 00:34:51,000 --> 00:34:53,480 Speaker 1: Is what I'm really getting at, So for ghost hunters, 580 00:34:53,480 --> 00:34:56,880 Speaker 1: it can appear as though a field is spontaneously appearing 581 00:34:56,880 --> 00:34:59,560 Speaker 1: and disappearing, but in fact that's not necessarily the case. 582 00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:02,080 Speaker 1: I mean, it could be the case, but it could 583 00:35:02,080 --> 00:35:05,239 Speaker 1: also be that the single access detector has moved into 584 00:35:05,239 --> 00:35:07,160 Speaker 1: an alignment where it's not going to pick up the 585 00:35:07,160 --> 00:35:09,439 Speaker 1: field in the first place. So the field could still 586 00:35:09,480 --> 00:35:12,040 Speaker 1: be there, but the detector isn't sensing it because of 587 00:35:12,080 --> 00:35:15,480 Speaker 1: its orientation. But you rotate the detector and spooky, the 588 00:35:15,480 --> 00:35:18,839 Speaker 1: ghost is back. Now this is not really the case 589 00:35:18,880 --> 00:35:23,200 Speaker 1: with try axes detectors. So as that name suggests, here 590 00:35:23,200 --> 00:35:26,200 Speaker 1: you've got detectors that can pick up electromagnetic fields along 591 00:35:26,600 --> 00:35:29,520 Speaker 1: three axes at the same time, not just in a 592 00:35:29,600 --> 00:35:33,719 Speaker 1: single orientation, but three different so x, y, and Z 593 00:35:34,360 --> 00:35:36,759 Speaker 1: if you If you think of it that way. They 594 00:35:36,800 --> 00:35:40,280 Speaker 1: are more expensive than single access detectors, but they can 595 00:35:40,320 --> 00:35:45,479 Speaker 1: create a more meaningful reading without having to rotate the meter, 596 00:35:45,640 --> 00:35:49,279 Speaker 1: so you can use them more effectively. But one of 597 00:35:49,280 --> 00:35:52,440 Speaker 1: the most popular devices in ghost hunting is a single 598 00:35:52,520 --> 00:35:56,319 Speaker 1: access meter. One that's used frequently is called the k 599 00:35:56,560 --> 00:35:59,400 Speaker 1: TO safe range, often just referred to as the k 600 00:35:59,600 --> 00:36:02,360 Speaker 1: TO eater. Themeter has a couple of other features that 601 00:36:02,400 --> 00:36:04,239 Speaker 1: make it popular with ghost hunters, and I'll touch on 602 00:36:04,280 --> 00:36:06,560 Speaker 1: that in just a minute. Now, some things we need 603 00:36:06,600 --> 00:36:11,239 Speaker 1: to consider about electromagnetic fields are that all electrical devices 604 00:36:12,120 --> 00:36:16,600 Speaker 1: generate electromagnetic fields. So the electrical wiring and a building 605 00:36:17,040 --> 00:36:20,879 Speaker 1: generates an electromagnetic field, and different things can impact how 606 00:36:20,920 --> 00:36:24,440 Speaker 1: strong those fields are. So, for example, if the wiring 607 00:36:24,480 --> 00:36:27,319 Speaker 1: and a building has really poor shielding, let's say, like 608 00:36:27,400 --> 00:36:31,440 Speaker 1: the insulating material around the wires have kind of rotted away, 609 00:36:32,400 --> 00:36:36,120 Speaker 1: then you're likely going to detect stronger electromagnetic fields in 610 00:36:36,160 --> 00:36:40,640 Speaker 1: that area, assuming that you know those circuits are actually active. Also, 611 00:36:40,680 --> 00:36:44,920 Speaker 1: electromagnetic fields can penetrate some material and it can reflect 612 00:36:44,960 --> 00:36:48,200 Speaker 1: off other material. So it's just like I mean, light 613 00:36:48,360 --> 00:36:51,400 Speaker 1: is electromagnetic radiation when you get down to it. Just 614 00:36:51,520 --> 00:36:54,719 Speaker 1: like light can pass through certain things and it bounces 615 00:36:54,760 --> 00:36:57,680 Speaker 1: off or reflects off of other things, the same is 616 00:36:57,680 --> 00:37:02,200 Speaker 1: true with electromagnetic fields. So that means you might encounter 617 00:37:02,280 --> 00:37:05,920 Speaker 1: fields in places you didn't expect. Right, Maybe there's a 618 00:37:05,920 --> 00:37:09,720 Speaker 1: place where there's no visible source for an electromagnetic field, 619 00:37:10,160 --> 00:37:12,040 Speaker 1: but that may be because the source happens to be 620 00:37:12,120 --> 00:37:13,759 Speaker 1: on the other side of a barrier, like on the 621 00:37:13,800 --> 00:37:16,520 Speaker 1: other side of a wall and you just can't see it. 622 00:37:16,640 --> 00:37:19,600 Speaker 1: Or maybe it's that there are reflective surfaces that have 623 00:37:19,719 --> 00:37:23,839 Speaker 1: essentially bounced the field to where you are, and while 624 00:37:23,880 --> 00:37:27,080 Speaker 1: it doesn't look it's close to like a source, it's 625 00:37:27,120 --> 00:37:30,719 Speaker 1: in fact because it's been reflected there. Electricians who are 626 00:37:30,760 --> 00:37:33,440 Speaker 1: hired to seek out faulty wiring they know that an 627 00:37:33,440 --> 00:37:35,319 Speaker 1: e m F detector is just the first step to 628 00:37:35,320 --> 00:37:40,000 Speaker 1: actually tracking down the source of an electromagnetic field. So 629 00:37:40,040 --> 00:37:42,960 Speaker 1: if they're looking for the faulty wires, they know, all right, well, 630 00:37:42,960 --> 00:37:45,799 Speaker 1: this is my starting point, but it doesn't necessarily mean 631 00:37:45,960 --> 00:37:50,240 Speaker 1: I'm at ground zero for wherever the faulty wiring maybe. 632 00:37:50,760 --> 00:37:52,720 Speaker 1: So that means if you're using an e m F detector, 633 00:37:52,760 --> 00:37:55,359 Speaker 1: there are a lot of things that can support your 634 00:37:55,560 --> 00:37:59,080 Speaker 1: erroneous use of that technology. If you pick up a 635 00:37:59,080 --> 00:38:02,160 Speaker 1: reading somewhere that doesn't appear to be near electrical sources, 636 00:38:02,520 --> 00:38:05,160 Speaker 1: well you might jump to the conclusion that something else 637 00:38:05,280 --> 00:38:10,200 Speaker 1: has to be causing this fluctuating electromagnetic field, and since 638 00:38:10,239 --> 00:38:14,480 Speaker 1: there isn't apparently an electrical system at fault, it has 639 00:38:14,520 --> 00:38:17,799 Speaker 1: to be ghosts. And yeah, that's a huge leap to make, 640 00:38:17,840 --> 00:38:20,399 Speaker 1: but it's essentially what you see with ghost hunters who 641 00:38:20,400 --> 00:38:24,360 Speaker 1: rely on e m F meters. Knowing that electromagnetic fields 642 00:38:24,440 --> 00:38:26,440 Speaker 1: might be passing through a wall or that they might 643 00:38:26,440 --> 00:38:28,440 Speaker 1: be reflected off a surface tells you that you can 644 00:38:28,560 --> 00:38:31,759 Speaker 1: encounter them in places that you wouldn't expect to and 645 00:38:31,800 --> 00:38:35,879 Speaker 1: that they're all from perfectly mundane sources. But let's get 646 00:38:35,880 --> 00:38:37,600 Speaker 1: back to the K two for a second. So it 647 00:38:37,680 --> 00:38:40,359 Speaker 1: has a poor reputation for e m F detectors, at 648 00:38:40,400 --> 00:38:43,520 Speaker 1: least according to the Atlantic and a piece titled The 649 00:38:43,560 --> 00:38:47,680 Speaker 1: Broken Technology of Ghost Hunting, writer Colin Dicky says, the 650 00:38:47,760 --> 00:38:51,319 Speaker 1: meter is known to be poorly shielded, which means this 651 00:38:51,440 --> 00:38:54,960 Speaker 1: meter is particularly sensitive, and we'll pick up signals from 652 00:38:55,080 --> 00:39:00,000 Speaker 1: very small sources, including stuff like cell phones. So maybe 653 00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:02,240 Speaker 1: you've had an experience like this, like maybe you're listening 654 00:39:02,719 --> 00:39:06,880 Speaker 1: to music on some cheap headphones and your phone is nearby, 655 00:39:06,960 --> 00:39:09,080 Speaker 1: and your phone gets a notification, and at the moment 656 00:39:09,120 --> 00:39:12,400 Speaker 1: that your phone gets this notification, the music you're listening 657 00:39:12,440 --> 00:39:15,600 Speaker 1: to gets this weird digital stutter. I used to have 658 00:39:15,719 --> 00:39:18,840 Speaker 1: some desktop speakers that were bad about this. If I 659 00:39:18,840 --> 00:39:21,440 Speaker 1: had my phone on my desk and I was listening 660 00:39:21,440 --> 00:39:23,759 Speaker 1: to music on the speakers, then I would get the 661 00:39:23,760 --> 00:39:26,319 Speaker 1: diddy did they did? Did it sound? Whenever any kind 662 00:39:26,320 --> 00:39:29,640 Speaker 1: of signal hit my my cell phone, Well, those signals 663 00:39:29,640 --> 00:39:33,239 Speaker 1: have interfered with the electrical signal going to the speakers. 664 00:39:33,680 --> 00:39:37,000 Speaker 1: This happens when the headphones or speakers have just poor 665 00:39:37,080 --> 00:39:40,160 Speaker 1: shielding around the wires that lead to the speakers and 666 00:39:40,360 --> 00:39:44,600 Speaker 1: the signal interferes with that. So, with better insulation than 667 00:39:44,640 --> 00:39:46,800 Speaker 1: the wires are protected and you don't get this digital 668 00:39:46,800 --> 00:39:49,880 Speaker 1: stutter well with an E M F meter. If it 669 00:39:49,880 --> 00:39:52,360 Speaker 1: has poor shielding, it means the meter is likely to 670 00:39:52,400 --> 00:39:54,520 Speaker 1: go off a lot more frequently. It's kind of like 671 00:39:54,560 --> 00:39:59,359 Speaker 1: a hair trigger, uh, and a well shielded meter isn't 672 00:39:59,360 --> 00:40:01,440 Speaker 1: going to do that at That could mean that you 673 00:40:01,440 --> 00:40:03,399 Speaker 1: could be standing in the middle of an attic where 674 00:40:03,400 --> 00:40:06,239 Speaker 1: there are no electrical systems anywhere close to you, and 675 00:40:06,280 --> 00:40:08,480 Speaker 1: if someone around you gets a text message, the meter 676 00:40:08,600 --> 00:40:11,719 Speaker 1: might register a fluctuation because it's picking up interference from 677 00:40:11,760 --> 00:40:15,000 Speaker 1: the cell phone signal. And, as Dickie points out, the 678 00:40:15,080 --> 00:40:19,160 Speaker 1: faults of this meter actually turned into assets for ghost hunters. 679 00:40:19,440 --> 00:40:22,560 Speaker 1: Erratic performance plays into the narrative of looking for a 680 00:40:22,640 --> 00:40:26,480 Speaker 1: mischievous ghosts. It's not the meter that's to blame. It's 681 00:40:26,520 --> 00:40:30,520 Speaker 1: that they're ghosts around you. Now, there are other tools 682 00:40:30,520 --> 00:40:34,200 Speaker 1: that ghost hunters will occasionally rely upon, thermal cameras and 683 00:40:34,239 --> 00:40:37,160 Speaker 1: heat sensors and thermometers, for example, to detect things like 684 00:40:37,360 --> 00:40:42,520 Speaker 1: cold patches, but again, detecting an area that is colder 685 00:40:42,880 --> 00:40:46,359 Speaker 1: or warmer than its surroundings that doesn't actually tell you 686 00:40:46,400 --> 00:40:49,279 Speaker 1: that much. Let's say that you've got a crew with you, 687 00:40:49,960 --> 00:40:52,480 Speaker 1: you're doing a ghost hunt. You're in an abandoned building, 688 00:40:53,120 --> 00:40:55,359 Speaker 1: and you set up in one room and you start 689 00:40:55,719 --> 00:40:59,080 Speaker 1: looking for orbs, and you're turning on recording stations to 690 00:40:59,160 --> 00:41:01,960 Speaker 1: capture e v P, a lot of people moving around 691 00:41:02,360 --> 00:41:06,120 Speaker 1: getting things established, and then you move away from this 692 00:41:06,160 --> 00:41:08,880 Speaker 1: base of operations and you start picking up cold spots. 693 00:41:09,200 --> 00:41:11,680 Speaker 1: Could that be a ghost or is it just that 694 00:41:11,760 --> 00:41:14,399 Speaker 1: the room you came from had some heat build up 695 00:41:14,600 --> 00:41:19,480 Speaker 1: because you had warm bodies moving around, you had electronic 696 00:41:19,520 --> 00:41:22,640 Speaker 1: equipment being turned on that gives off heat, and then 697 00:41:22,719 --> 00:41:25,560 Speaker 1: the area you're moving into hasn't had these sorts of 698 00:41:25,560 --> 00:41:29,919 Speaker 1: heat sources, so the heat is slowly creeping into other 699 00:41:30,000 --> 00:41:33,640 Speaker 1: parts of the building and it creates the illusion of 700 00:41:33,680 --> 00:41:37,600 Speaker 1: these cold spots. Other stuff that can also cause cold spots, 701 00:41:37,680 --> 00:41:40,879 Speaker 1: like a blocked or clogged air event can do that. 702 00:41:41,520 --> 00:41:46,080 Speaker 1: Drafts from outside obviously can do that. Just being in 703 00:41:46,320 --> 00:41:49,319 Speaker 1: a building where maybe you're in a far point from 704 00:41:49,360 --> 00:41:53,240 Speaker 1: where a thermostat is, so the temperature at your location 705 00:41:53,280 --> 00:41:58,920 Speaker 1: isn't gonna match wherever the thermostat is because it's it's 706 00:41:59,280 --> 00:42:02,440 Speaker 1: it's too far away, right, Like poor thermostat location can 707 00:42:02,520 --> 00:42:07,040 Speaker 1: really cause very uncomfortable conditions within buildings. We're sure if 708 00:42:07,080 --> 00:42:11,279 Speaker 1: you're near the thermostat, you're experiencing whatever temperature you've set 709 00:42:11,320 --> 00:42:13,719 Speaker 1: it to. But the further you get away from that, 710 00:42:14,280 --> 00:42:18,799 Speaker 1: the the greater deviation you experience from whatever that's set 711 00:42:18,840 --> 00:42:22,000 Speaker 1: temperature is. Well, that could be an explanation for things 712 00:42:22,000 --> 00:42:25,520 Speaker 1: like cold spots or warm spots. I think ultimately the 713 00:42:25,600 --> 00:42:27,799 Speaker 1: role that tech plays and ghost hunting is one that 714 00:42:27,920 --> 00:42:31,360 Speaker 1: is meant to support the belief in ghosts. Any outcome 715 00:42:31,880 --> 00:42:35,239 Speaker 1: is seen to be evidence supporting that. A lack of 716 00:42:35,280 --> 00:42:38,960 Speaker 1: interesting stuff on recordings or video or film, all that 717 00:42:39,000 --> 00:42:41,200 Speaker 1: means is that ghosts were not active at the time 718 00:42:41,200 --> 00:42:45,560 Speaker 1: of investigation. Anything you do gather counts as evidence. Any 719 00:42:45,640 --> 00:42:48,640 Speaker 1: lack of evidence is dismissed, So it's a head's eye 720 00:42:48,640 --> 00:42:52,600 Speaker 1: win tails, you lose kind of situation. On top of that, 721 00:42:53,120 --> 00:42:56,160 Speaker 1: a lot of text role relies upon the misuse or 722 00:42:56,200 --> 00:43:00,480 Speaker 1: the misunderstanding or both of that technology. Arthur's see Clark 723 00:43:00,600 --> 00:43:05,240 Speaker 1: famously said any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, 724 00:43:05,560 --> 00:43:09,319 Speaker 1: Meaning if we were to teleport into the future and 725 00:43:09,360 --> 00:43:12,279 Speaker 1: see what technologies future humans were using, to us, so 726 00:43:12,320 --> 00:43:15,600 Speaker 1: would seem magical because we don't understand how it works. Well. 727 00:43:15,920 --> 00:43:18,560 Speaker 1: It doesn't actually have to be that advanced to seem magical. 728 00:43:18,600 --> 00:43:21,200 Speaker 1: It just relies upon ignorance. We just had to have 729 00:43:21,200 --> 00:43:23,719 Speaker 1: a limited understanding of the technology for it to seem 730 00:43:23,760 --> 00:43:27,200 Speaker 1: magical to us. So if you think of cameras as 731 00:43:27,280 --> 00:43:31,240 Speaker 1: just devices that produce images of stuff that is definitely there, 732 00:43:31,920 --> 00:43:34,560 Speaker 1: then you don't understand how a reflection off a mode 733 00:43:34,600 --> 00:43:37,240 Speaker 1: of dust could create an orb and you're more likely 734 00:43:37,280 --> 00:43:39,400 Speaker 1: to accept the idea that the blob of light is 735 00:43:39,719 --> 00:43:43,919 Speaker 1: supernatural in nature. And of course, tech plays a part 736 00:43:44,000 --> 00:43:47,399 Speaker 1: in supporting our desire to know what happens after we 737 00:43:47,480 --> 00:43:52,120 Speaker 1: have shuffled off this mortal coil. As William Shakespeare once said, 738 00:43:53,000 --> 00:43:56,839 Speaker 1: it is natural to wonder what, if anything, lies for 739 00:43:56,920 --> 00:43:59,759 Speaker 1: us after we pass away, and while we usually think 740 00:43:59,760 --> 00:44:03,920 Speaker 1: of ghosts in terms that are creepy and scary, the 741 00:44:03,960 --> 00:44:07,240 Speaker 1: idea is also something of a comfort, because, of course, 742 00:44:07,800 --> 00:44:10,759 Speaker 1: if ghosts exist, it suggests that there is some sort 743 00:44:10,800 --> 00:44:16,239 Speaker 1: of continuation of our personal experience even after we expire. 744 00:44:16,960 --> 00:44:20,360 Speaker 1: We want there to be ghosts because that means we 745 00:44:20,440 --> 00:44:24,319 Speaker 1: don't just cease to exist after we die. We are 746 00:44:24,480 --> 00:44:29,640 Speaker 1: highly incentivized to believe in an afterlife, but just because 747 00:44:29,640 --> 00:44:33,839 Speaker 1: we want to believe does not necessarily make it so. Now, 748 00:44:33,920 --> 00:44:36,640 Speaker 1: perhaps there is an experience after death. I am no 749 00:44:36,760 --> 00:44:39,680 Speaker 1: expert on the subject. I cannot say one way or another. 750 00:44:40,000 --> 00:44:43,319 Speaker 1: I haven't died, I don't know, so maybe there is. 751 00:44:43,719 --> 00:44:46,360 Speaker 1: But I feel confident in saying there is no compelling 752 00:44:46,400 --> 00:44:52,680 Speaker 1: evidence the ghosts as they are frequently portrayed in entertainment 753 00:44:52,760 --> 00:44:56,000 Speaker 1: like ghost hunting shows are a thing. I feel there's 754 00:44:56,080 --> 00:44:59,839 Speaker 1: no compelling evidence whatsoever to support that, and certainly none 755 00:45:00,080 --> 00:45:05,840 Speaker 1: relies upon the misinterpretation of the use of technology. Now again, 756 00:45:06,000 --> 00:45:10,200 Speaker 1: from the spiritualist days of the late nineteenth century up 757 00:45:10,200 --> 00:45:13,600 Speaker 1: to ghost hunting programs that are on today, I feel 758 00:45:13,640 --> 00:45:18,800 Speaker 1: like so much of that is based firmly on misunderstanding 759 00:45:18,960 --> 00:45:23,360 Speaker 1: or willful ignorance of what technology is and how it works, 760 00:45:24,440 --> 00:45:28,920 Speaker 1: and then twisting that to support an interpretation that in 761 00:45:28,960 --> 00:45:33,920 Speaker 1: turn supports this preconceived idea that ghosts exist. So that's it. 762 00:45:34,400 --> 00:45:38,000 Speaker 1: That's my bummer of an episode about ghost hunting technology. 763 00:45:38,080 --> 00:45:41,319 Speaker 1: There are obviously other technologies used in ghost hunting that 764 00:45:41,360 --> 00:45:44,799 Speaker 1: we could talk about. Um And I'm sure that lots 765 00:45:44,840 --> 00:45:47,200 Speaker 1: of you out there have seen programs that had some 766 00:45:47,280 --> 00:45:50,960 Speaker 1: pretty compelling experiences on them. You also have to remember 767 00:45:50,960 --> 00:45:54,880 Speaker 1: that editing is a thing that it's way easier to 768 00:45:54,880 --> 00:45:57,440 Speaker 1: shoot a whole lot of footage than edit together something 769 00:45:57,440 --> 00:46:01,040 Speaker 1: that is remotely interesting. Um. And also, like you know, 770 00:46:01,160 --> 00:46:04,160 Speaker 1: some people fake stuff. I'm not saying everyone does, but 771 00:46:04,320 --> 00:46:07,400 Speaker 1: some people definitely do. And uh, it just takes a 772 00:46:07,400 --> 00:46:09,880 Speaker 1: little bit of that to create something that feels compelling 773 00:46:10,239 --> 00:46:14,279 Speaker 1: when ultimately the Emperor has no clothes. All right, that's 774 00:46:14,320 --> 00:46:17,239 Speaker 1: it for this spooky episode tech stuff. I plan to 775 00:46:17,280 --> 00:46:22,440 Speaker 1: do a few more spooky related themed shows before Halloween 776 00:46:22,480 --> 00:46:25,520 Speaker 1: gets here. Hope you are all well and that you 777 00:46:25,520 --> 00:46:29,040 Speaker 1: are having a good time. I really hope that you're 778 00:46:29,200 --> 00:46:32,960 Speaker 1: enjoying the spooky season. If that is your thing, I 779 00:46:33,000 --> 00:46:35,279 Speaker 1: know it's my thing, like even being a skeptic, I 780 00:46:35,320 --> 00:46:38,640 Speaker 1: still enjoy it. Like I like ghost stories, and I 781 00:46:38,800 --> 00:46:42,400 Speaker 1: like ghost story movies and all that kind of stuff. 782 00:46:42,440 --> 00:46:45,400 Speaker 1: I really enjoy them. But to me, their stories, and 783 00:46:45,480 --> 00:46:48,759 Speaker 1: that's where it starts and ends. If you have suggestions 784 00:46:48,760 --> 00:46:51,000 Speaker 1: for topics I should cover in future episodes of tech Stuff, 785 00:46:51,040 --> 00:46:52,360 Speaker 1: feel free to reach out to me. There are a 786 00:46:52,360 --> 00:46:53,880 Speaker 1: couple of ways you can do that. One is to 787 00:46:54,080 --> 00:46:57,600 Speaker 1: download the I Heart Radio app. It's free. You can 788 00:46:57,680 --> 00:46:59,600 Speaker 1: navigate over to tech Stuff. Just put tech Stuff in 789 00:46:59,600 --> 00:47:02,120 Speaker 1: the little arch bar will pop up. You'll see that 790 00:47:02,160 --> 00:47:04,520 Speaker 1: there is a little microphone icon on there. If you 791 00:47:04,560 --> 00:47:06,759 Speaker 1: click on that, you can leave a voice message up 792 00:47:06,760 --> 00:47:09,360 Speaker 1: to thirty seconds in length. And if you want me 793 00:47:09,400 --> 00:47:11,279 Speaker 1: to use the message in a future episode, just let 794 00:47:11,320 --> 00:47:14,560 Speaker 1: me know, because I only do it if you tell 795 00:47:14,600 --> 00:47:17,480 Speaker 1: me to. But you can reach out that way, or 796 00:47:17,560 --> 00:47:19,840 Speaker 1: you can do so on Twitter. The handle for the 797 00:47:19,880 --> 00:47:23,799 Speaker 1: show is tech Stuff H s W and I'll talk 798 00:47:23,840 --> 00:47:32,920 Speaker 1: to you again really soon Y. Tech Stuff is an 799 00:47:32,920 --> 00:47:36,640 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio production. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, 800 00:47:36,960 --> 00:47:40,120 Speaker 1: visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 801 00:47:40,200 --> 00:47:41,720 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.