History of Parapsychology - History of Parapsychology Anecdotal reports of psi phenomena have appeared in every culture since at least the dawn of history up to the present day. (Some observers have opined that this will, in the long run, continue to provide impetus to parapsychology, though some skeptics are optimistic that eventually this will decline with sufficient "education" of the populace.) Historically the existence of such phenomena was commonly accepted even among the learned, and so many of the forerunners of modern science expressed interest in such phenomena. The beginning of modern science, the period now labelled the Scientific Revolution, is often delineated as spanning the time of Galileo (b 1564 - d 1642) to Newton (b 1642 - d 1727), and culmintating in the publication of Newton's Principia in.
Claims of Parapsychology - Claims of Parapsychology This subarticle describes some of the experimental results and interpretations claimed by some parapsychologists today. Rather than insert the words "purported" or "supposed" or "claimed" in every sentence and paragraph of the this section, which would make for overly cumbersome reading, these claims are presented here in straightforward language. As such, the reader is advised that all of these claims are hotly disputed within the scientific community (see the section on Controversy in the main article), and the Wikipedia takes no position regarding the veracity of these claims. Though some parapsychologists still pursue the study of "macro" or large scale phenomena, such as spoon bending and events of the type reported from the era of the spiritualist mediums, these have not been well-established experimentally.
Parapsychology - Parapsychology Parapsychology is the branch of science concerned with the study of mental phenomena, whether actual or purported, that are not currently explainable within the framework of mainstream, conventional science. Table of contents showTocToggle("show","hide") 1 Types of parapsychology 2 Status of the field 3 Parapsychology as a Science 4 Interpretation of the Evidence 5 James Randi and The Randi Challenge 6 Other Objections to Parapsychology 7 History 8 Trivia 9 External Links 10 Putative Parapsychologists 11 Putative Psychics 12 Famous Frauds 13 Psychic Investigations 14 References Types of parapsychology The phenomena in question fall into two broad groups. Extra-sensory perception, also known as anomalous cognition, includes telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition. Anomalous operation includes psychokinesis (in the past referred to as telekinesis), out-of-body experiences, near-death experiences, and.
Hot reading - Hot reading In parapsychology, hot reading is the use of foreknowledge when giving a psychic reading. The reader can gain information about the sitter (person getting the reading) through a variety of means, such as research or overhearing a conversation. This is commonly used in conjunction with cold reading, and can sometimes explain how a psychic reader can get a specific hit..
Ganzfeld experiment - for psi phenomena to date. As with all purported psi phenomena, these claims are highly controversial within science in general and even within parapsychology. The debate is well-documented in parapsychology journals and in articles such as those referred to below. The ganzfeld experiments are among the most recent in parapsychology for testing the existence of and affecting factors of telepathy, the ability to communicate information from one person's mind to that of another without resorting to normal means. After the initial success of the forced-choice card-guessing telepathy experiments of J. B. Rhine and his associates, researchers noted a "decline effect" where the accuracy of card guessing would decrease over time for a given subject, which some parapsychologists attributed to boredom. Some parapsychologists turned to free response experimental formats where the target.
Ghost - in western belief. Exorcistss can either help a ghost to be reincarnated or blow it out of existence. In Chinese belief, besides reincarnation, a ghost can also become immortal and become demigod, or it can go to hell and suffer till eternality, or it can die again and become "ghost of ghost". In most cultures, the appearance of ghosts are associated with a chilling sensation. Some believers claim ghosts are related to some kind of negative energy. But a natural animal response to fear is hair-raising which can be mistaken as chill. Ghosts are also associated with seeking justice or revenge almost in all culture. It serves as an effective scare tactic against killers in all society. See also: Ghost (movie), Parapsychology, Exorcism, Undead, Possession, Spectre, Ghost dance, Holy Ghost. People.
Extra-sensory perception - Educational Foundation offers $1 million to anyone who can demonstrate ESP or any psychic phenomenon. No one has ever collected. Possible ESP phenomena include: telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, retrocognition, medium-hood and séancing, psychometry, clairaudience, clairsentience, astral projection, the reading of auras and telekinesis. Study of these phenomena is known as parapsychology. The word "psychic" is used as both a noun and adjective to denote a person capable of using ESP in any of its forms. Although most people who believe in ESP maintain that it is a power innate to only a relatively small percentage of the population, there are some who believe that everyone is psychic. These people claim that most of us have simply not learned yet to tap their innate extrasensory potential. Table of contents showTocToggle("show","hide") 1 Difficulties with.
ABE - ABE In parapsychology, the initialism ABE stands for Anomalous Biological Entity. ABE also stands for Advanced Book Exchange..
Anomalous phenomenon - as calling the serious study of them pseudoscience. Of the various subjects that can fall under this loose rubric, probably parapsychology has the greatest claim to academic respectability, due to its use, or (according to critics) alleged use, of scientific methods. There are university programs devoted to parapsychology, the most famous probably being that of the University of Edinburgh. Another term for "anomalous phenomenon" is "paranormal phenomenon". Paranormal phenomena can be divided into three main classes: Mental phenomena, unusual mental states or abilities, such as telepathy, near-death experiences and clairvoyance. Physical phenomena, unusual physical occurrences that may be controlled by a consciousness, such as psychokinesis, poltergeists or stigmata. Other phenomena, such as unidentified flying objects, reverse speech, cattle mutilation and alien abductions. Cryptozoology studies such "hidden", undiscovered and possibly non-existent creatures.
Telepathy - accounts of such perception have been noted in many cultures since historical records have been kept. As with all psi phenomena, there is wide disagreement and controversy within the sciences and even within parapsychology as to the existence of telepathy (see Parapsychology). Scientific investigation of telepathy is generally recognized as having begun with the inital program or research of the Society for Psychical Research. The apex of their early investigations was the report published in 1886 as the two-volume work Phantasms of the Living. It was with this work that the term "telepathy" was introduced, replacing the earlier term "thought transference". Although much of the initial investigations consisted largely of gathering anecdotal accounts with followup investigations, they also conducted experiments with some of the those who claimed telepathic abilities. However, their.
Arthur Koestler - consideration. The issue of mysticism, while implicit in his works, carried tremendous weight on his personal life. This was confirmed when he left a substantial part of his own estate to establish the Koestler Institute in the University of Edinburgh dedicated to the study of parapsychological phenomena. Such personal belief in the unexplained might have arisen from his political apostasy with regard to his leftist politics, draining himself of the certainty and, perhaps, bravado he once had when he was still a member of the Communist Party. Always the connoeisseur and lover, Koestler was married three times, excluding the short romantic fling he had with notable French thinker Simone de Beauvoir, probably explaining the mutual animosity between Koestler and Jean-Paul Sartre. Books by Arthur Koestler Darkness at Noon Arrival and Departure.
The Force - in balance. They attempt to achieve this by destroying the Sith and denying the dark side, as the dark side is corruption. This involves the purging of negative emotions such as aggression, anger, and hate since they can easily bring on acceptance of the dark side. In contrast, positive emotions such as love, compassion, and courage nurture the light side of the Force. The Jedi Code compares such feelings and provides insight into the ethical use of the Force. It may seem that harnessing the dark side increases a person's power. This may be because of the "abilities" the darkness provides, such as the ability to kill. However, the dark side also corrupts the user and over time wastes away their body (see Palpatine). The Abilities of a Jedi Manifestations of.
Chaos magick - or self or demon or other "spritual" entity that we may choose to invest or disinvest belief in, at least for ourselves and sometimes others as well. The frequently awesome results attaining by creating gods by act of ritually behaving as though they exist should not lead the Chaos magician into the abyss of attributing ultimate reality to anything. That is the transcendentalist mistake,, which leads to the narrowing of the spectrum of the self. The real awesomeness lies in the range of things we can discover ourselves capable of, even if we may temporarily have to believe the effects are due to something else, in order to be able to create them. The gods are dead. Long live the gods. Magic appeals to those with a great deal of hubris.
Clairvoyance - to other forms: telepathy referring to reception of information from another person (i.e. presumably mind-to-mind), and precognition referring to gaining information about places and events in the future. As with all psi phenomena, there is wide disagreement and controversy within the sciences and even within parapsychology as to the existence of clairvoyance and the validity or interpretation of clairvoyance related experiments (see Parapsychology). There have been anecdotal reports of clairvoyance and claims of clairvoyant abilities on the part of some throughout history in most cultures. Often these have been associated with religious figures, offices, and practices. For example, ancient Hindu religious texts list clairvoyance as one of the siddhis, skills that can be acquired through appropriate meditation and personal discipline. But a large number of anecdotal accounts of clairvoyance are of.
Cryptozoology - million years, one was caught in a fishing net in 1938 off the coast of Africa. Cryptozoologists point this out to demonstrate that there are many unexplored regions of the world left, and that remote exotic locations or specialized ecosystems untouched by man can contain life we didn't expect to find. Along similar lines, the emblem of the Society for Cryptozoology is the okapi, a shy, forest-dwelling relative of the giraffe that was unknown to Western scientists prior to 1901. Notable topics of interest in cryptozoology: Thylacine Bigfoot and other primates such as Yeti and Alma Loch Ness Monster (and other lake monsters such as Ogopogo) Mokele mbembe Thunderbird (mythology) Rods Bunyip Sea monsters Mothman Chupacabra Jersey Devil Monkey-man of New Delhi Dover Demon Squonk Jackalope There are also some areas.
Transpersonal psychology - states of consciousness within physiological psychology, and spiritual life within the psychology of religion. Transpersonal psychologists, however, disagree with the approach to such phenomena taken by other schools of psychology, and claim that have typically been dismissed either as signs of various kinds of mental illnesses or regression to infantile stages of psychosomatic development. One must not confuse transpersonal psychology with parapsychology- a mistake frequently made due to the unenviable academic "reputation" of both branches and eerie atmosphere surrounding the subjects of investigation of respective disciplines. Although there are many disagreements with regard to transpersonal psychology, one could succinctly lay out a few basic traits of the field: transpersonal psychology is rooted in archaic religious psychological doctrines expounded in: Zen Buddhism, Kabbalah, Gnosticism, Sufism, Vedanta, Taoism and Neoplatonism by common consent,.
Siddhi - having access to memories from past lives and more. The term became known in the West through the work of H.P. Blavatsky. The plural is Siddhis. See also Yoga Kundalini Parapsychology Occultism.
Susan Blackmore - She went on to do a postgraduate degree in environmental psychology at the University of Surrey, achieving an MSc in 1974. In 1980, she got her PhD in parapsychology from the same university, her thesis being entitled "Extrasensory Perception as a Cognitive Process". She has done research on memes (which she wrote about in her popular book The Meme Machine), evolutionary theory, consciousness, and the paranormal. She has also appeared on television a number of times, discussing such paranormal phenomena as ghosts, ESP, and out-of-body experiences, in what she describes as the "unenviable role" of "Rentaskeptic", and she has also presented a show on alien abductions. Another programme which she has presented discusses the intelligence of apes. She also acted as one of the psychologists who featured on the British version.
Random number generator - generators are typically much faster than physical ones, but physical random number generators have the advantage that the sequences they produce are completely unpredictable, assuming that current theories of quantum physics are correct. See also hardware random number generator. Random number generators have several important applications. Random number generators were originally constructed to carry out computer simulation of physical phenomena, specifically the simulation of neutron transport in nuclear fission. Random number generation is also important in modern cryptography, and is sometimes used in parapsychology as a test of precognition. Every modern electronic casino game contains one or more random number generators that decide the outcome of a trial in the game. Even in slot machines where mechanical reels appear to spin randomly, the reels are actually spinning for entertainment value and.
Raymond T. Birge - branches of the physical sciences and gave fruit with many publications, in particular, a 1929 paper in Reviews of Modern Physics that recommended a standard set of values for the constants based on earlier published results. There ensued a frustration with the conventional methods of statistics as applied in physical science which led to a collaboration with W. Edwards Deming. Following their 1934 joint paper in Reviews of Modern Physics, their approaches diverged with Deming following the work of Walter A. Shewhart while Birge became interested in the more conventional statistical approaches of least squares and maximum likelihood. Birge's interest in statistics led him to the investigation of parapsychology in which he conducted many experiments without finding any conclusive results. Birge was an active administrator and was the architect of the.
