WWW or "Would We Want"?
I often think we have to ask of a believer in the paranormal, "Would we want your paranormal belief accepted by the world at large based on the evidence we now have? "
I rather think most believers in Bigfoot or space aliens or even the most die hard Loch Ness fan would have to say, "no". At first I'm sure they would be "well yes that's what I'm fighting for!". Still I feel after careful reflection they would probably end up with "no, but I'd like there to be more searching for evidence." The whole point of "WWW" or "Would We Want " is that it requires a lowering of our standards. I'm not talking scientific standards here, I'm talking our standards as a society.
Let's say we all wake up tomorrow and say Bigfoot is real!. What next? Do they get status as protected species? Can logging companies be banned from cutting trees on their habitat? I really don't know how it would be determined if they are endangered or not. They are certainly rarely seen, yet have been reported in every state. Biology textbooks would all need to be rewritten, and park rangers and police across the nation would need special training in Bigfoot/human relations.
How about UFOs being space aliens that invade and abduct us? We wake up, and NASA has to totally refocus efforts on finding out where these aliens with such a wide variety of spaceships live. The military of every nation has to train to combat these aliens that are invading our air space. Police departments and the FBI will be spending all their time investigating alien kidnappings of humans.
One point of the "WWW" arguement is that once something is accepted as normal, the believers that are amateur/experts are no longer welcome. Degrees and real experience are required. Not just anyone can go tramping all over a site of an alien abduction when it's a crime scene. Even the 9-11 truthers are going to have to take a back seat to some international judicial investigation committee. Part time amateurs are not welcome, and indeed can endanger an investigation by compromising evidence.
How to choose which paranormal beliefs to accept as normal at our newly lowered standards is also a question. If you accept Bigfoot on the evidence so far, then surely you must accept the Loch Ness Monster, aliens, Mothman, chupacabras and the tooth fairy. Once myth becomes fact life could get very interesting. I think while many people, especially in polls, claim belief in UFOs and Big Foot, they would also would NOT want NASA and police departments budgets to suddenly reflect the increased need for dealing with these new realities. You may say you believe in chupacabras, but are you willing to pay for the government to put out expensive chupcabra traps to protect cattle and sheep? It's very easy to say you believe in something, it's another thing to spend money and resources on that something. I think most people are very comfortable with spending money on developing a swine flu vaccination. But if our government and major drug corporations spent time and money on a vaccination for vampire bites objections would be raised even by the most dedicated Goth.
When it comes down to it, the believer with much time and emotional investment in a cause really only wants the vague more investigation or the open mind to the possibility. Try to raise his taxes for development of an alien abduction shield for home use, and you will find the belief isn't ready to become fact.
