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Where Has All The Mystery Gone?

Vardoger said:
I don't think there are less mysteries. Half the programming on the Discovery network is paranormal shows these days.
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Yes but the reason why is a mystery.

/ ok not really, those shows are probably quite profitable
 
Since personal experiences of the weird and mysterious are as widespread as ever i'm guessing what the OP is noticing the absence of is new "iconic" events and stories which are reported over and over again, analysed or debunked in multiple books and articles and so on. I think that is just the combination of the internet and the victory of the "there are no such things" mindset.

If multiple people saw a ufo in the past it may get covered as a mysterious event in serious newspapers with official responses sought. If they saw it now, it would be very unlikely to be covered outside of the inside pages of a tabloid newspaper where no one would take it seriously...it certainly wouldn't get on mainstream broadcast news in the UK (though recently it has done in the US), outside of the smirking "and finally..." slot. Similarly with cryptids. It might be interesting that people "think" they saw something, but it wouldn't be treated as if they might indeed have seen something, outside of dedicated documentaries on subscription tv. So on this side of the atlantic at least incidents and events have no opportunity to grow and become something major to be discussed or debated for more than fleeting moment.

Iconic cases of apparitions or mediumistic communications are known from dense volumes of reports by eminent victorian and edwardian scientists at the SPR. The SPR still exists but whoever constitutes the "eminent scientists" of today aren't on it, and its studies - if they still do much studying - aren't picked up and disseminated very much outside their own company.

It's often suggested that its "funny" that now everyone carries a phone camera in their pocket the world isn't full of ufo or ghost pics. It sounds like the kind of thing which might be true so we go along with it. But its self evidently not true...the increase in ready to hand recording devices has seen an explosion in photos and videos of objects in the sky and shadows on the wall. But that has been accompanied by an equally large and instantaneous impulse to debunk. All photos and videos are decried as fake. Whether they are or not the fact they could be is enough to stop any of them gaining traction with the public.

So weirdness, high or low, probably hasn't decreased in the slightest. A willingness to pay it much serious attention as something even conceivably possible is what has all but disappeared.
 
gattino said:
Since personal experiences of the weird and mysterious are as widespread as ever i'm guessing what the OP is noticing the absence of is new "iconic" events and stories which are reported over and over again, analysed or debunked in multiple books and articles and so on. I think that is just the combination of the internet and the victory of the "there are no such things" mindset.

If multiple people saw a ufo in the past it may get covered as a mysterious event in serious newspapers with official responses sought. If they saw it now, it would be very unlikely to be covered outside of the inside pages of a tabloid newspaper where no one would take it seriously...it certainly wouldn't get on mainstream broadcast news in the UK (though recently it has done in the US), outside of the smirking "and finally..." slot. Similarly with cryptids. It might be interesting that people "think" they saw something, but it wouldn't be treated as if they might indeed have seen something, outside of dedicated documentaries on subscription tv. So on this side of the atlantic at least incidents and events have no opportunity to grow and become something major to be discussed or debated for more than fleeting moment.

Iconic cases of apparitions or mediumistic communications are known from dense volumes of reports by eminent victorian and edwardian scientists at the SPR. The SPR still exists but whoever constitutes the "eminent scientists" of today aren't on it, and its studies - if they still do much studying - aren't picked up and disseminated very much outside their own company.

It's often suggested that its "funny" that now everyone carries a phone camera in their pocket the world isn't full of ufo or ghost pics. It sounds like the kind of thing which might be true so we go along with it. But its self evidently not true...the increase in ready to hand recording devices has seen an explosion in photos and videos of objects in the sky and shadows on the wall. But that has been accompanied by an equally large and instantaneous impulse to debunk. All photos and videos are decried as fake. Whether they are or not the fact they could be is enough to stop any of them gaining traction with the public.

So weirdness, high or low, probably hasn't decreased in the slightest. A willingness to pay it much serious attention as something even conceivably possible is what has all but disappeared.
Click to expand...
Also random smart phone pics are often better quality than most of the "iconic" cryptid/UFO pics.
 
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