This might be the wrong place to put this, but here goes nuthin'...

Anyway, I happen to be an involved student at our local Community College. Recently, our Student Activities Director decided that it would be a very good idea to have a ghost hunter come to talk to us just before halloween. As much as I love spooky stuff around halloween, and as much as I otherwise like our SA Director, I seriously don't think that pseudo-science has a place on a college campus. It's also way to late to cancel this guy from talking. So I was wondering if anybody had some good questions to catch this guy with his pants down. His name is John Zaffis, just in case anyone was wondering.

__________________
"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists in the Universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."

-Calvin

Have you ever caught [LOCAL RELIGIOUS DIETY OF YOUR CHOICE] in one of your ghost traps?

It might be fun to hear his opinion on which colleges offer the best programs in ghost-hunting.

__________________
0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 ...

Why are the ghosts you describe so different from descriptions of ghosts in Malaysia or Nigeria? Are ghosts are actually different in different countries or is it because Malaysian and Nigerian ghost hunters are just making stuff up to bilk money out of the credulous?

It's all because of the indigenous ectoplasmic costumes they wear from where they were. Were they to wear other than what they were expected to wear, then they would get nowhere, and the ghost hunter would have to sell his wares to other gullible clients, perhaps those who believe in werewolves.

Good way to wear out one's welcome anywhere.

Meanwhile, I need to check my weir to see if I've caught any fish.

__________________
A person's name, or a mark representing it, as signed personally or by deputy, as in subscribing a letter or other document.

Moved, from the ATM section.

Are you [INSERT DOMINANT LOCAL RELGION]? I see. So, are you commiting heresy by believing what you are saying or is it merely blasphemy because you're lying?

Depending on his technique, you might want to ask about the science of it. For example, if he finds them by his mental powers (ESP or whatever) ask him what is the mechanism for such transmissions. If he uses some sort of technology, ask him about the technology. Ask him if he has done controlled experiments and if he has examined alternative explanations for what he claims to have seen.

__________________
At night the stars put on a show for free (Carole King)

One Earth, One Sky - IYA 2009

Ask him if he has ever worked with Bill Murray. Ask it in as serious a manner as you can muster.

Five minutes later, interupt with one of the better known lines from Caddyshack, in your best Murray impersonation. Maybe something like "I don't think the heavy stuff is gonna come down yet for a while Your Emminency."

Do this while a friend stands somewhere out of sight wiggling one of those big pieces of tin that sound like thunder.

Lastly, do the redrum thing from The Shining as he's winding down at the end.

If all that is a little much, just stick with the first question, but try to get Sigourney Weaver to attend so she can ask the question for you.

__________________
Don of Borg - Cool, Calm, Collective.

"Within the next generation I believe that the world's leaders will discover that infant conditioning and narco-hypnosis are more efficient, as instruments of government, than clubs and prisons, and that the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

shouldnt that be Peter Venkman?

Just ask him for pictures or peer-reviewed proof. Hold him accountable for pics that are obvious fakes and proof that's not peer-reviewed. Take him to task. He's coming to you with his evidence - show him the same strict standards the rest of the scientific community holds other scientists to whenever they announce discoveries. If he can't produce, he's not worthy!

__________________
I am Mugs, of the Alien clan of Usa, Nordamerica, a Terran, of Sol. A human.

Whoever says "perception is reality" is daft. It's merely an abstraction, and often not a very good one.

If you want to see just how rediculous this guy is, here's his cob-website:

http://www.johnzaffis.com/

If you want to see something funny, try scrollinging to the bottom of the page and trying to highlight the large black empty area. Rather convenient for a google search, don't you think?

__________________
"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists in the Universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."

-Calvin

Ask him if he would ghost hunt for free, unpaid.

(Tell him you think ghosts are 'dead interesting'.)

__________________
Round...everything is always round!

Challenging him will not help. This is because we are large monkeys and whoever is capable of the most bluster will be seen as the alpha male and be respected. Reasonable people are not good at bluster as logic gets in the way. Far better to agree with him in such a stupid way that he's forced to argue against himself. "My friend says that ghost specialists like youself used real ghosts in the movie Ghostbusters because they didn't have special effects that good back in the 80's. Is this true?"

"So if they weren't real ghosts, how did they fake them?"

"So if ghosts can be fake that well, how can we tell a real ghost from a faked one?"

"So you are saying that it is easy for people to be conned when it comes to ghosts?"

Why spoil the fun... if some people want to get together for a little while and exchange ghost stories and imagine that ghosts could exist let them have some fun. I believe in logic and science, but I also read ghost stories, and stories about vampires...

It's not as if this is a classroom and students are being taught that ghosts are real... its a sponsered sponsored event where students can come and imagine for a while if they wish...

Science and logic have their place, but there is more to life...

I strongly disagree. This guy is an scammer who, if not actually being paid by the school for this baloney, is at least using it for free advertising. This sort of event inevitably attracts the gullible who will have their woo-woo beliefs reinforced. He needs to be challenged in the strongest possible terms.

__________________
Cum catapultae proscribeantur tum soli proscripti catapultas habeant.

Well, not exactly, according to my experieince -- but that is probably too much to hope for here.

At work, a monthly seminar consisted of a couple men doing extraordinary, seemingly supernatural, acts, exhibiting psychic skills and the like.

After an apparent wind-down that asked for a show of hands of people who thought they had witnessed the supernatural, it was then explained that actually the two were from the local skeptics organization, they had used tricks to dupe the gullible, and that they were actually here to give a talk on skepticism and critical thinking, which they did, well.

Very enjoyable. It was especially interesting to learn which of my coworkers had been among the believers.

__________________
0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 ...

He is either:

(a) a liar
or
(b) a nut

In which case he either needs:

(a) repudiation
(b) help
or failing that,
(c) pity

And how do we come to this harsh conclusion... because he is going to discuss his encounters with ghosts. I think that science and logic are fine things, but I also think there is a time to let go. No one is being forced to come to this presentation and I know that if I were there I would love to get lost in the idea of ghosts and tales of messages from the other side after long days in the computer lab or with my nose stuck in a calculus book. I think we get too caught up with the harsh realities of science here sometimes...

Let's face it...Cinderella's carriage could not have been zapped into existance from a pumpkin and her coachmen could not have been what... a mouse and a dog?? I forget at this point. I still love the story though and I do not think it suggests that the spinner of the tale is "a scammer".... Let the kids have a bit of fantasy... its good for them...

Hey... for a couple of months after Rose died, the Belgian cell phone company left Rose's voice mail active. I use to leave her messages just in case they allowed people to take their cell phones with them to the other side... I don't think I am a woo woo... besides it help ease the loneliness as I adjusted...


My... aren't we sure of ourselves... I guess I should seek professional help for leaving messages on Rose's voice mail too...

You can tell the complete truth and still be a nut.

And as for professional help, I'm afraid there is no complete cure. Being a nut is part of being human.