Ciaron O Keefe -credible or not?

[jennys]

I always found Ciaron (or however you spell his name) to be the most credible member of the most haunted crew and the voice of reason amongst the silliness. However, after some of his comments on last nights MHL (the pre show on living TV - yes i was sad enough to watch it) im not so sure. He said in a Q+A session that he may be moving onto the side of the believers. He is also taking a more active part in the 'investigations' now, helping Yvette 'summon the devil' and talking to thin air (supposedly a spirit).
What you you think of Ciaron - credible or sell out?

[bobdezon]

Ciaran is a psychologist. He can seem to do bizarre things sometimes but there is usually a good reason for it, like he wants to gauge reactions or see how a premise effects the people around him as part of an experiment. Do I trust him? depends how you define trust. If he published results of an interesting psychological phenomena and had evidence to back that claim then yes if I agreed with the data. If he said he witnessed a floating yvette then no. (that ass is a counterweight)

[starx]

;D Saucer of milk for Bob

[Mr. Jon Donnis]

Please do not take ANYTHING Ciaran says on MHL seriously at all.

He is a paid to play a part, like Phil Whyman before him and Jason Karl before him.

Ciaran does NOT do any scientific experiments on the show, he is purely an actor playing a part.

The fact he is a real life Phd means nothing.

[mookster]

Does he? my eyes have really and truly been opened........lol

[Mr. Jon Donnis]

Come on guys, do you really think an intelligent man like Ciaran believes the crap he spews on that show.
Trust me he collects his money and goes to the pub like anyone else would

[tilly]

I wonder what his academic peers think of him being in the circus.

[Mr. Jon Donnis]

They dont care, they are probably jealous he gets paid to waste a few hours of his life doing silly things

[diggergig]

They could take up pro fishing.

[hellyp]

I don't care if he's credible or not. He's a lovely boy. [/Father Ted voice]

[mrtoots]

Let's be clear about one thing. There is no way the scientific community would accept any 'experiment' done by Dr O'Keefe on this show. It's a dodgy area anyway, but MH places it 100% in the entertainment category. Bill Murray or Dan Ackroyd would stand a better chance of getting a paper published.

He has damaged his academic credibilty irreparably, but I guess he figures he can make more money this way. I'm sure he's an intelligent guy, and knows exactly what he's doing, but having almost literally sold his soul, it must hurt at times, putting up with all that utter crap. His 'pieces to camera' at the beginning and end of the show are so benign that they could be as relevant to any other episode. Perhaps he consoles himself that because of their TV clout MH allows access to places otherwise inaccessible, and he just might record something genuine. If that did happen the last person to benefit would be Ciaran.

[theminx]

Mar 28, 2008 15:38:20 GMT Mr. Jon Donnis said:

Please do not take ANYTHING Ciaran says on MHL seriously at all.

He is a paid to play a part, like Phil Whyman before him and Jason Karl before him.

Ciaran does NOT do any scientific experiments on the show, he is purely an actor playing a part.

The fact he is a real life Phd means nothing.

i have a black belt can i join the mh team

[loz]

I think he teaches more of the criminal psychology side of things doesn't he? So I don't think doing MH would damage his career, it's just a little earner on the side I'd imagine.

[Mr. Jon Donnis]

Apr 9, 2008 23:55:25 GMT mrtoots said:

Let's be clear about one thing. There is no way the scientific community would accept any 'experiment' done by Dr O'Keefe on this show. It's a dodgy area anyway, but MH places it 100% in the entertainment category. Bill Murray or Dan Ackroyd would stand a better chance of getting a paper published.

Firstly welcome to the forum Greg, pleasure to have you on here.

Agree with your comments, but I dont think Ciaran ever went onto the show with the idea of publishing a paper on his findings.

He has damaged his academic credibilty irreparably, but I guess he figures he can make more money this way.

Well that is an issue for academics i guess, but from a normal persons point of view, I have learned to seperate Ciaran the professional and Ciaran the actor.

I'm sure he's an intelligent guy, and knows exactly what he's doing, but having almost literally sold his soul, it must hurt at times, putting up with all that utter crap.

That will depend on his personality.
You will know how crap the money is when you are studying for your Phd, and the debts you can build up.
Ciaran had an opportunity to make some good money for doing very little, has his reputation suffered, yes, has he made good money to support himself and his new family, yes, which is more important?

His 'pieces to camera' at the beginning and end of the show are so benign that they could be as relevant to any other episode. Perhaps he consoles himself that because of their TV clout MH allows access to places otherwise inaccessible, and he just might record something genuine. If that did happen the last person to benefit would be Ciaran.

I agree his pieces to camera are worthless, but thats his job so he does it.

And i dont for one second think he believes he will ever get anthing genuine, if i was him i would actualy hope i wouldnt get anything real, because i would know that it would be evidentially worthless.

Ask yourself Greg, if you owed a lot of money, had a new family, and the bills were piling up, and someone came an offered you a job to "act" on a TV show, would you take it?

[luckydiane]

I used to have a lot of respect for Ciaran in the earlier shows, he was my voice-of-reason amongst some of the amateur dramatics. But then a couple of years ago he allegedly let the cat out of the bag and said to the press that some of the goings-on in MH were baseless, ill-defined or just basically made up.

I was surprised he didn't walk out on the show after that, but he took the 30 pieces of gold and stayed and ever since then I jsut see him as a bogus man with bogus principles and phD which he has wasted by associating himself with a program he claims is not fit for purpose!

[steje73]

He does have a lovely collection of scarves, though.
Supplemented last night with a wooly hat!

[Deleted]

I do have to say though, he was wearing a black jumper and coat with a BROWN scarf last night - black and brown are a big no-no i'm afraid.

[luckydiane]

I've been watching some eariler episodes from S2 when he replaced the rather nice Jason Karl. For a time O'keefe was sporting a rather feeble looking goatie:o

[mrtoots]

Hi,
I guess I have been 'outed' by Admin

As a plodding academic, I have not been part of any media interest, nor fortunately had to balance financial imperatives against professional reasoning. The closest I ever came was being interviewed on local radio as a PhD student, but my enthusiasm for the science soon produced a glazed look from the host, all words lost to the aether.

If I needed the cash, and had such a media opportunity, then I guess I might reason the same as you, and try to inject as much logic as my employers would allow before the cutting room floor... and to be fair, I think Ciaran does try.

Also, if this is not your principal career field, then the question of academic credibilty doesn't really apply, and this is an entertainment sideline.

But I think it would nonetheless trouble me to be associated with such a Blair Witch type programme, where some, albeit probably a minority of viewers are fooled into thinking it is for real. For a scientist such obfuscation of the truth should be an anathema.

As yet unknown laws of physics may well explain paranormal events (assuming they are not imagined). Hence my interest in Ghost Busting. But couldn't the TV viewer stomach some proper, boring, scientific study? Preferably without the screaming.

[starx]

Ok, confused of Hertfordshire, wants to know who Greg is?