Metadigital Social Sciences

The study of how digital communities form around the analysis of other digital communities, creating a meta-ecosystem of commentary, criticism, and chronic online behavior. It examines subreddits dedicated to dissecting other subreddits, YouTube channels that react to YouTube reactions, and Twitter threads that analyze Twitter discourse. It's the field that explains why the most popular content on the internet is often content about other content, and why the comment section has become its own genre of entertainment, separate from the thing being commented on.

Example: "A metadigital social sciences study examined a subreddit dedicated to mocking a Facebook group dedicated to mocking Instagram influencers. The study found that participants felt superior to both the influencers and the Facebook mockers, while being completely unaware that they were themselves being observed by another subreddit dedicated to mocking them. It was mockery all the way down."

by Nammugal February 14, 2026

Supernatural Sciences

The academic discipline dedicated to studying things that, by definition, cannot be explained by natural laws, which makes the "science" part a bit tricky. It's the field that investigates miracles, divine interventions, and that one time your grandmother's watch started working again after she prayed to Saint Anthony. Supernatural sciences require a methodology that balances rigorous observation with the acknowledgment that the phenomena being observed might just be magic. The peer review process is complicated when the reviewers keep asking for replication and the universe keeps saying "that was a one-time thing."

Example: "He got a PhD in supernatural sciences by documenting 47 cases of objects disappearing and reappearing in places they couldn't logically be. His dissertation was titled 'The Teleportation of Car Keys: A Study in Domestic Miracle.' His committee was skeptical but couldn't explain where his own keys went during the defense."

by Nammugal February 14, 2026

Supernatural Social Sciences

The study of how human societies organize themselves around beliefs in the supernatural, from organized religions to local superstitions to that one neighbor who thinks the government is using chemtrails to control the weather (that's more paranormal, but close enough). It examines how communities decide which supernatural beings are worthy of worship and which are just weird, how supernatural beliefs shape social hierarchies (priests at the top, skeptics in the corner), and why every culture has a version of "don't whistle at night" (it attracts something, apparently).

Supernatural Social Sciences Example: "A supernatural social sciences study examined why people in coastal communities have different sea monster legends than people inland. The answer: people who spend a lot of time near water see things in the water, and some of those things are probably seals, but seals are boring, so monsters it is. The study was called 'Seals, Fog, and Imagination: A Maritime Epistemology.'"

by Nammugal February 14, 2026

Paranormal Sciences

The systematic study of phenomena that are "beside" normal experience—ghosts, UFOs, cryptids, and that weird feeling you get when you're sure someone's watching you but no one's there. Paranormal sciences occupy the uncomfortable space between "this might be real" and "this is almost certainly not real," attracting researchers who are either brave pioneers or people who really want to believe their night vision footage of a blurry shape is Bigfoot. The field has generated decades of inconclusive data, which its practitioners interpret as evidence that the phenomena are elusive, not that they're nonexistent.

Example: "She dedicated her life to paranormal sciences, spending nights in abandoned asylums with EMF meters and audio recorders. After 20 years, she had 2,000 hours of recordings that were mostly wind, mice, and her own stomach rumbling. Three times, she caught something that might have been a voice. It said 'help' twice and 'turn that thing off' once. She's still not sure if that was a ghost or just an annoyed caretaker."

by Nammugal February 14, 2026

Paranormal Social Sciences

The study of how groups of people who believe in or investigate paranormal phenomena organize themselves, from local ghost-hunting clubs to international UFO organizations. It examines why these groups develop their own jargon (we don't say "nothing happened," we say "the entities were non-responsive"), how they establish credibility (the more equipment, the more serious), and the complex social dynamics of "proving" something that can't be proven. Paranormal social sciences reveal that ghost hunters are just like any other community: they have leaders, followers, drama, and annual conferences where everyone pretends their footage from last year is definitely not a bug on the lens.

*Example: "A paranormal social sciences study observed a ghost-hunting group for a year. It found that 90% of their 'evidence' was easily explained by natural causes, but the group's social cohesion depended on interpreting it as paranormal. When one member pointed out that their 'ghost orb' was actually just dust, he was gently exiled and had to start his own, more rational group, which lasted approximately three weeks before everyone got bored."*

by Nammugal February 14, 2026

Media Sciences

The academic study of everything that comes out of a screen, speaker, or printing press, examining how messages are created, transmitted, and interpreted by an audience that's usually scrolling past them. It's the discipline that explains why news outlets cover the same stories, why your uncle shares articles he clearly hasn't read, and why every movie trailer now has that same "BWAAAA" sound. Media sciences reveal that the medium is the message, and the message is usually "please keep watching, we need ad revenue."

Example: "She got a degree in media sciences and now can't watch a commercial without analyzing its target demographic, psychological manipulation tactics, and questionable gender politics. She misses the days when she could just enjoy a fast-food ad without deconstructing its capitalist agenda."

by Nammugal February 14, 2026

Media Social Sciences

The study of how media shapes human behavior and how humans shape media in return, creating a feedback loop of content, reaction, and more content about the reaction. It examines why certain videos go viral (cats, mostly), how news coverage influences public opinion (a lot, unfortunately), and why comment sections are universally recognized as the worst places on the internet (anonymity plus anger equals chaos). Media social sciences confirm that we are not just consumers of media; we are also products of it, and the product is currently yelling at someone on Twitter.

Example: "A media social sciences study analyzed why people share political articles without reading them. The conclusion: signaling tribal identity is more important than being informed. Sharing an article says 'I'm on your team,' not 'I've evaluated this information.' The researchers then shared their findings without reading the comments, which they knew would be terrible."

by Nammugal February 14, 2026