From Blogsquatcher: "Belief and Skepticism Amongst Those Who Believe Crazy Things

Blogsquatcher has an excellent post on the limits those who investigate fringe topics put on other fringe topics. Example:

I'm often amused at how insular the various "fringe science" and esoteric categories are. UFO people laugh at bigfoot people, who laugh back, while both laugh at ghost hunters, who are laughing all the way to the bank. It gets a little ridiculous when you think about it. A bioacoustician, Elizabeth von Muggenthaler, once said, speaking of a Vermont lake monster,

This just doesn't belong in the same category as crop circles or a Sasquatch sighting. It needs to be treated as real. You don't want to minimize the scientific importance of this.

The inspiration for his post came from the comments some Bigfoot people; researchers, etc. made upon hearing his podcast with a "paranormal" Bigfoot researcher. And these are from "believers" -- we expect the knee jerk reactions from the skeptoids, but when it comes from within esoterica...

Lastly, he makes a very good point about listening. Just listening, without judgement, just, listening to the story, the experience, as is. It's a lot harder than it sounds, and for some, it's impossible.