The Passage of Time

by Chris Chaos

I had a question about an observation that I had over the last few years....

Has anyone noticed that it appears that the passage of time seems to be going faster the older you get? Does it seem like the days, weeks, months and years are rolling by incredibly quick? For me it seems as if time started to gain acceleration when I was about 22 years old. I have always kept busy with schooling, work, hobbies and other pursuits in life so my time has always been occupied.

Now I know as a kid time seems to take forever since you are constantly looking forward to things: birthdays, Holidays, trips, your 13th b-day, your 18th b-day etc.... When you have your eye on a date when something exciting happens time feels like it never moves.

Now flash forward to adulthood, you are working on college, a job, a career, paying bills, having kids and the daily grind. You are constantly busy and bogged down with life that you do not have the time to stop and smell the roses per say.

Quite a few other adults that are doing something with their life have stated similar observations. On the flip side I noticed that people that have nothing going for them in life state the opposite, they can be heard stating, "I am so bored, I cannot wait for today to end." Why so you can do the exact same life loafing that you did today?

 

The times that I seem to notice the most (not due to ques such as alarm clocks) are 10 am, 12 noon, 3pm, 6pm and then 9pm. These blocks pop up the most and the time in between them appear to disappear without explanation.

An excerpt from Wikipedia:

Time perception is a field of study within psychology and neuroscience that refers to the subjective experience of time, which is measured by someone's own perception of the duration of the indefinite and continuous unfolding of events. The perceived time interval between two successive events is referred to as perceived duration. Another person's perception of time cannot be directly experienced or understood, but it can be objectively studied and inferred through a number of scientific experiments. Time perception is a construction of the brain that is manipulable and distortable under certain circumstances. These temporal illusions help to expose the underlying neural mechanisms of time perception.

Pioneering work, emphasizing species-specific differences, was conducted by Karl Ernst von Baer. Experimental work began under the influence of the psycho-physical notions of Gustav Theodor Fechner with studies of the relationship between perceived and measured time.

William J. Friedman (1993) also contrasted two theories for a sense of time:

The strength model of time memory. This posits a memory trace that persists over time, by which one might judge the age of a memory (and therefore how long ago the event remembered occurred) from the strength of the trace. This conflicts with the fact that memories of recent events may fade more quickly than more distant memories.

The inference model suggests the time of an event is inferred from information about relations between the event in question and other events whose date or time is known.



(Chris Chaos is a long time resident of South Jersey who once again resides in and writes from Gloucester City, New Jersey. He is a filmmaker, a business owner, writer, urban explorer and investigator of the odd and weird, a proud parent, happily taken and a connoisseur of hot wings. Chris can be reached at AxisVideo@aol.com) 

Ghost Hunting and Urban Exploration: Some Things to Consider

by Chris Chaos

How priming can set you up for failure. Priming is activating particular associations in memory. An example might be watching various paranormal shows on TV prior to investigating a location, or reading books concerning ghosts. Although popular concenses may state that the particular location IS haunted, consider all possibilities as to why and how people came to this conclusion about the location. Many locations get the attribute of being haunted for many reasons. Some may be for tourism reasons, others may be that it was a former mental hospital or prison where many atrocities have occurred. Some business owners have been known to start the rumor that their establishment is haunted to draw in interest and more business. For once you have a belief, it influences how you perceive all other relevant information. If you enter a location believing that it is haunted, then every noise you hear, every shadow that you see will convince you further that the place IS haunted. Most likely the noise that you heard came from another team member clumsily stomping around, or a mouse, a bird or possibly a homeless person that seeked shelter in the building that you are investigating. Entering a location with a neutral frame of mind will produce far greater and accurate results. For every piece of information that you gather that confirms your original thoughts and suspisions, try to find a piece that will disprove it. Opposing information is just as important as information that is confirming, if not even more important.

A healthy and appropriate amount of skepticism will usually yield correct results. With each piece of evidence that confirms your beliefs or what you suspected, please reserve some skepticism to test if the original theory is correct. Confirmation bias (a tendency to search for information that confirms one's preconceptions) is usually counter productive without "conflicting" evidence.

William Shakespeare said it best: "The error of our eye directs our mind: what error leads must err"

Usually when one has a solid belief in if a location is haunted or not they ignore all contridicting evidence. This is called Belief Perseverance (persistence of one's initial conceptions, such as when the basis for one's belief is discredited but an explanation of why the belief might be true survives). Many are enticed by the unknown and thrive on the thrill of the hunt, not really caring about the futilness of actually finding anything that is logical.

Amatuers fueled by the popular ghost hunting TV shows, riled up by the stories in Weird NJ and inspired by reading a ghost story may prematurly set off to a location and conduct an impromptu “ghost hunting” session having not properly conducted the research needed to come to any sort of logical conclusion. Usually this behavior is mirrored by individuals that feel the need to either vandalize, take souvenirs or drink and party at the location, disrespecting everything in the process.

"We hear and apprehend only what we already half know" Henry Thoreau

I never really liked the term “ghost hunter”, it always conjured up images of rednecks hopping into a pick up truck and heading off to an adventure. Also are you really hunting ghosts? Or are you investigating a specific location that was rumored to be haunted, using scientific measures to determine if the place is haunted or not? For us we do enjoy venturing to locations that even angels fear to tread. Many of the locations that we researched and documented are/were in danger of being torn down in the name of progress. As reported, after we walked through, took photos, did tests and noted the history and logged our experiences many of the locations have been torn down.

We have documented the history, researched why the location might have been deemed haunted, took photos/videos and conducted experiments to see if there were any spirits at the location. We consider ourselves urban explorers, documentors of historic architect, investigators of the paranormal, preservers of legend and lore. We preserve the various legends and lore of the place with the scientific research of the history of the location to come to our conclusions.

Sometimes this works backwards and the Misinformation Effect may marry Hindsight Bias. The Misinformation Effect is incorporating misinformation into one's memory of the event, after witnessing an event and receiving misleading information about it. Hindsight bias, also known as the knew-it-all-along effect or creeping determinism, is the inclination, after an event has occurred, to see the event as having been predictable, despite there having been little or no objective basis for predicting it, prior to its occurrence. What this means is that you may go out and investigate a location, gather all your information and then when the investigation is complete an outside source may tarnish the gathered evidence by interjecting information that was misleading or bad information. You may look back and figure that whatever was said might have actually happened.

Happy exploring and documenting!

(Chris Chaos is a long time resident of South Jersey who once again resides in and writes from Gloucester City, New Jersey. He is a filmmaker, a business owner, writer, urban explorer and investigator of the odd and weird, a proud parent, happily taken and a connoisseur of hot wings. Chris can be reached at AxisVideo@aol.com)

For more information :

https://www.facebook.com/Cursedbook

A Brief Thought on American and the World Citizens

by Chris Chaos

Over the years I have held various memberships and ranks that have members from international communities and have consistently notices quite a few constants. One that I was studying last night was a vast chasm between citizens of the United States and the citizens of other countries...in discussing various topics with an international audience the topic of professions and country that you reside in came up. Examining the various members it showed that the members that were not living in the United States held upper level positions: teachers, engineers, scientists, doctors etc..and many were from countries that might be considered third world. Now examining the citizens from the United States the vast majority were: unemployed, high school drop outs, or working a low level minimum wage job.

Bottom line in my discussions with the international platform is that most people in the US have their priorities misplaced in the pursuit of fun over education and stability, each wanting things but not willing to put forth effort to earn them. Another reason why most of the world's citizens dislike Americans and their sense of entitlement.

 

(Note to those that do not know me, I am a US citizen and do agree with what many of the internationals are saying)

Feel free to discuss, I would like to hear the input from the readers of this short thought.

Below is a response that I received when this short thought was posted to social media:

NOLAN:

In the 1950s kids lost their innocence. They were liberated from their parents by well-paying jobs, cars, and lyrics in music that gave rise to a new term ---the generation gap.

In the 1960s, kids lost their authority. It was a decade of protest---church, state, and parents were all called into question and found wanting. Their authority was rejected, yet nothing ever replaced it.

In the 1970s, kids lost their love. It was the decade of me-ism dominated by hyphenated words beginning with self. Self-image, Self-esteem, Self-assertion....It made for a lonely world. Kids learned everything there was to know about sex and forgot everything there was to know about love, and no one had the nerve to tell them there was a difference.

In the 1980s, kids lost their hope. Stripped of innocence, authority and love and plagued by the horror of a nuclear nightmare, large and growing numbers of this generation stopped believing in the future.

In the 1990s kids lost their power to reason. Less and less were they taught the very basics of language, truth, and logic and they grew up with the irrationality of a postmodern world.

In the new millennium, kids woke up and found out that somewhere in the midst of all this change, they had lost their imagination. Violence and perversion entertained them till none could talk of killing innocents since none was innocent anymore.

For more writings of Chris Chaos visit:

http://allthingsweird88.blogspot.com/

(Chris Chaos is a long time resident of South Jersey who once again resides in and writes from Gloucester City, New Jersey. He is a filmmaker, a business owner, writer, urban explorer and investigator of the odd and weird, a proud parent, happily taken and a connoisseur of hot wings. Chris can be reached at AxisVideo@aol.com) 

Cursed Revisited: An Explanation of the Unknown

Authored by Mr Chris Chaos
Edition: First

Available at:
https://www.createspace.com/5049759

Cursed Revisited is the 2nd in the series featuring various locations on the east coast in an attempt to preserve and investigate the paranormal, the unexplained, local lore and uphold the preservation of history, culture and architectural landmarks. This book is a result of years of research, documenting and exploring. Using a combination of the internet to find as much information that we could concerning the locations/topics, neighbors of the locations, eyewitness interviews, news reports, logic, skepticism and commonsense, we present to you, the legends, the lore, the facts and the science that is associated with all the locations that we have investigated and researched.

About the author:
Chris Chaos: The founder of Axis Video and Pine Barren Films.He is a filmmaker, writer, business owner, urban explorer, investigator of the odd and a connoisseur of hot wings. As the owner of Axis Video/Pine Barren Films he has produced and has been involved with some ground breaking projects in the world of music and documentaries on the east coast. Gradually he switched his focus from making films to authoring books on various hot button topics.

In the vein of paranormal and the preservation of history and lore he has created the series "Cursed: An Explanation of the Unknown" and the documentary "The Search for the Jersey Devil" along with its companion book of the same title.

For his contribution to music he produced countless music videos for many international, national and even local bands. Some can be viewed on his "Dynasty of Darkness" compilations.

Concerning his horror writings many wondered what inspired him to pen the stories that he did and here is an excerpt of what he had to say: "Horror is all around us, just turn on the news or look out your window. The demons and monsters are inside of your fellow man. From the meth mom that sells her infant to a film producer of stomping videos in exchange for drugs to the parent that kills her child so they can have more time to play Farmville. Inspiration comes from those around you, turn the bad, the horrible into something good." "When I was a child I would borrow my father's movies..he thought I was watching child friendly movies but I was taking his Faces of Death video tapes and going into my room to take it all in."

Publication Date: Oct 19 2014
ISBN/EAN13: 1502830507 / 9781502830500
Page Count: 158
Binding Type: US Trade Paper
Trim Size: 6" x 9"
Language: English

(Chris Chaos is a long time resident of South Jersey who once again resides in and writes from Gloucester City, New Jersey.  He is a filmmaker, a business owner, writer, urban explorer and investigator of the odd and weird, a proud parent, happily taken and a connoisseur of hot wings. Chris can be reached at AxisVideo@aol.com)

THE HERD MENTALITY (an excerpt from a larger piece)

by Chris Chaos

Creatures with low cognitive capacity follow the herd, for example birds flock, fish school

and social insects swarm.

Humans are considered to be the most evolved and intelligent of all the animals on the planet. But among the lowest rung of humankind the urge to herd still holds true. The deindividualization of the person occurs when in a larger crowd and then all inhibitions go out the window.

The crowd mentality takes over and as a swarm, if members of this crowd start doing

negative acts, then even a person that would normally not engage is such behaviors will

follow suite and go along with the acts.

  

For example, among kids in school a person in a group might start to pick on and tease a

classmate. Other members in the group will see this and wanting to belong and be accepted

will join in to heckle the student thus lowering their own accountability. Usually this person

would not engage in this kind of detrimental behavior but as stated previous the crowd

mentality will take over.

A prime example is a flash mob, where a mass of people will run through the streets and

either attack people/property, plunder stores or commit some sort of vandalism. They are "in

the moment" and would normally not do this while alone. The group cloaks them in a sort of

invisibility and anonymity.

This behavior is most prevalent during/after a sporting event, a political rally or any other event where a large number of people gather.

For more writings of Chris Chaos visit:

(Chris Chaos is a long time resident of South Jersey who once again resides in and writes from Gloucester City, New Jersey. He is a filmmaker, a business owner, writer, urban explorer and investigator of the odd and weird, a proud parent, happily taken and a connoisseur of hot wings. Chris can be reached at AxisVideo@aol.com)

Collingswood Book Festival with Chris Chaos and Chrissy McManis

Come out this Saturday for a book signing.

Chris Chaos and Chrissy McManis at the 

The 12th Annual Collingswood Book Festival

Saturday, October 11, 2014

10am—4pm

Book the Date!

So join us on Saturday, October 11, 2014 for a day of authors/speakers for adults and children, as well as booksellers, storytellers, poetry readings, workshops, exhibitors, kid-friendly activities, and entertainment for all ages. Our award-winning festival is the longest-running, largest literary event in the Delaware Valley. Remember, all events are free! We hope to see you there!!!

Collingswood Book Festival

(Chris Chaos is a long time resident of South Jersey who once again resides in and writes from Gloucester City, New Jersey.  He is a filmmaker, a business owner, writer, urban explorer and investigator of the odd and weird, a proud parent, happily taken and a connoisseur of hot wings. Chris can be reached at AxisVideo@aol.com)

THE CREEPY DOLL HOUSE: Mount Ephraim, NJ

by Chris Chaos

This green house is located on Kings Highway in Mount Ephraim NJ has been historically dubbed as "creepy". Why you ask? Well for one this house has all its front windows lined with dull eyed porcelain dolls. The other fact is that no matter what time you drive past this house you will NEVER see a person outside nor do you ever see a light on at night time. Who lives here? How come you never see a light on or a sign of a person on the property? And most importantly, what is going on with all the dolls??? We can only speculate (based on info pulled from the tax records and Zillow) that an older couple or widow lives here.

UPDATE: Recently the house has been painted white, the dolls have been removed and the house is up for sale. We can only make assumptions as to what happened to the dolls and the previous owner(s).

But why speculate when we can find hard data through real estate transactions, tax records and death certificates. For privacy reasons I will leave out the previous and current owners info but public record states that the previous owner (1919 - 2011) passed in 2011 and the house was sold in 2012 to a new owner.

UPDATE: 7-17-14 We drove past fabled location last week and noticed that The Creepy Doll House of Mount Ephraim was painted/remodeled for a third time.

Pulled from Zillow:

DATE EVENT PRICE
12/06/12 Sold $99,900
04/11/74 Sold $33,000

 

For more writings of Chris Chaos visit:

http://allthingsweird88.blogspot.com/

(Chris Chaos is a long time resident of South Jersey who once again resides in and writes from Gloucester City, New Jersey. He is a filmmaker, a business owner, writer, urban explorer and investigator of the odd and weird, a proud parent, happily taken and a connoisseur of hot wings. Chris can be reached at AxisVideo@aol.com)