Desensitized to the paranormal?

"could it just be that they want to believe so they see and hear what is really not there?????"

Yes, that is exactly what it is, 100%! You are correct. It is in the best interests of these people to continue with this charade. That is how they make their money! By telling people things like this are real and using the tricks that you have said yourself you know about and could do.

Nothing fazed you because you are a rational, free thinking open minded person not blinded by the incessant need to feel special by making things up for personal or financial gain.

Having a paranormal experience is rare.It really isn't something you can plan to have. You do not seem "desensitized" , you just seem skeptical.Having such an experience can be few and far between. There are several variables that have to be in place for it to happen. I have had a few experiences but the ones I had I did not go looking for. They seemed to make themselves known to me unsuspectingly.If you do go back to some of the places you've been to before, take some equipment so as you may be able to capture some evidence.And if a ghost sits down and starts talking to you , I want to know what they have to say.

I wouldn't say you've become desensitized at all. You didn't let rumors of haunts scare you when you'd go to those places (and there's really nothing to be scared of anyhow, usually). That, and knowing that there's things you can do to doctor up a site to make it "appear" haunted.

Those ghost hunters on TV say that their involvement in the paranormal began after having experiences before, that made them curious. I had experiences before I even heard of the words "ghost" or "haunted". I see some of these shows and shake my head at them, amazed that people actually love them, when they're totally ridiculous and they're making it into much more than it really is and being totally unprofessional.

I've lived in some haunted houses, a little unnerving at first, but it becomes the norm and not scary at all. I lived in a house with demons and would never willingly go through that ever again. My current house was free and clear of spirits, until my father died (although I didn't find out until 2.5 years of hell later), it had gotten so bad that I thought it could possibly be a demon. I was so afraid that I wouldn't be in the house by myself, which is odd, because even in the demon house, I could stay in the house by myself. But, after finding out it was him, finally being able to put the past behind me and finally forgiving him for the hell he put me through my entire life, things settled down and I'm no longer afraid. There are just some things that can never be explained that happens in a place/home, that happens on a regular basis. (a sudden smell, knocks and bangs on a door/wall, dog food being strewn across the room (hitting the floor, walls, and window) when you're home alone and your dogs are stuck in your lap and shaking, doors slamming or opening, the sound a very large bubble wrap popping in front of you, behind you, beside you for a couple of minutes, clocks all showing different times throughout the house (battery, self-setting, windup, electric, and even the computer times on all the computers), regardless of resetting, changing batteries, no power failure, etc. It's just my husband, me, and our dogs, our kids are grown and gone, my husband works out of town way too much, so, there's nobody to blame things on, except my imagination, which I did do for a while, but there's a time when you realize that it's not you, there IS something going on. As for going to haunted locations, I do that quite a bit, hoping to catch something on the camera, never happens. Spirits don't appear when you want them to, they do it on their time, so, in ALL the haunts I've been to, I've never seen a single thing, but, I still believe most of those places (Alcatraz, Gettysburg, the Alamo, etc) to be haunted, because of the many others have been around when one of those spirits decided to make itself known.

You desensitized? No. Skeptic, yes. I can definitely appreciate that. Hopefully, one day you'll have your experience!

Yes and Yes

I Think the same thing happened to James Randi

We learned in school that when you think something or believe in something strongly, your body starts to feel it and hear it.

Like many young teens freak out when they think their pregnant, and swear they feel it and throw up and the whole 9 yards.

Their mind is causing their body to create those feelings.

There was a show on TV I watched that showed how people who are "addicted" to pain killers, medicines,ect. react to fake pain killers & medicines.

So, they gave them medicines and pills that did absolutely nothing to their bodies and they instantly felt better.

So, I think everything is in the mind.

:)