Psychic Abilities, Psychic Mediums & Science!

Much skepticism exists around the subject of				and DEMANDING that the phantom appear on cue,
psychic phenomena,and this is probably not a				just becauseyou are performing the same
bad thing, given its rather dubiouspast. Fake				experiment!
mediums, bogus mind readers, magic tricks
passed offas the real thing. The list goes on				If, by its very nature, a experience is
and on forever.				extremely rare andunpredictable in nature, it
				is very hard to use Science to saymuch about
Hence, the use of Science should be welcomed				it at all.
in helping to verifysome of the psychic
community's claims.				Science has very little to say about rare and
				unrepeatable events. Yet, these are the very
However, this can also become unhealthy for				things that life itself is full of.
several reasons, andit is equally important
to stand guard against these flaws. Theytoo				The Scientific Method has little or nothing
are all too common.				to say regarding rare or unrepeatable events.
				Nevertheless, these are the very things that
(1) Biased scientists.				life itself is filled with.

The unhappy truth is that the field of				It is for this very reason that, initially,
psychic research, with onlyvery rare				the theory that ameteorite collision caused
exceptions, fails to excite or attract the				the extinction of the dinosaurswas met with
veryscientific brains. Career-wise, the field				hoots of laughter by the scientific
of psychic research isextremely badly funded,				community. Itwas the very rarity of the
is nearly impossible to make a				event, and the fact that no evidencecould be
solid,respected career in, and is the source				found, that caused anger and scorn to be
of endless derision frommainstream scientists				heaped upon theheads of the theory's
and diehard skeptics.				proponents. Until, of course, the craterwas
				discovered.
Therefore, there is always gigantic pressure
uponparanormal investigators to justify their				We now also know that the role of the
own existence. At the end ofthe day, they				experimenter candrastically change the
have to find something, somewhere! If, from				results of the experiment. This mayexplain
startto finish, their careers consisted				why certain famed psychics seem to have their
solely of disproving everysingle psychic				skillsabandon them in the cold harsh light of
experience that they were presented with,				the scientificlaboratory. Yet, only a
theywould quickly give up the psychic				mediocre scientist would claim thatbecause
research field fromsheer boredom or				this is the case, it proves that there were
depression. After all, from a purely				no psychicexperiences to begin with!
personalstandpoint, why bother? Hence, most
of them are intrinsicallybelievers to start				(3) Psychic Skeptics.
with. To put it bluntly, the probability
ishigh that they possess a strong in-built				This may, in part, explain the James Randi
bias in place.				effect. This is apsychic investigator who is
				a total skeptic on the subject, andwho
This is not to imply that they would fake				approaches the subject with this powerful
results. However, wemust be aware that, by				ingrained bias. Hehas issued a challenge to
their very existence in this much				pay a large sum of money to anyone whocan
malignedfield, there is an invisible pressure				demonstrate psychic powers to him in a
upon these people toproduce something to				scientificallycontrolled environment. To
validate their own existence. Hence, thissort				date, he still has his money.
of science is extremely difficult to maintain
in a totallyobjective manner.				Now, part of the problem may be that, even if
				somebody isgenuinely psychic, the attitude of
Regular academic scientists are always under				the scientist issufficiently negative to
pressure to justifytheir funding through				completely extinguish whatever
their results. How much worse then				psychicabilities exist, as long as he is
forscientists who, for the most part, have no				present. Again, a truescientist of any
funding, and who areoften the laughing stock				caliber cannot discount this possibility.
of the scientific community?
				This is a purely human factor we are talking
For all of these reasons, the profession of				about, a function ofthe human brain, and not
psychic researchcannot and will not attract				a measurement of the boiling point ofwater.
the very finest minds, at least notat the				Hence, it is entirely plausible that the
present times. This is not intended to be an				negativeattitude of the scientist, plus the
insult toscientists involved in the field. It				undue pressure that thepsychic is placed
is just reality. The verybest will tend to				under as a result of it, could act to
gravitate towards "safe" fields where				diminishthe very effect being measured.
theirtalent will be recognized, and not
derided and scoffed at.				However, the bias of people like Randi and
				the organization ofskeptics that calls itself
It is a pitiful state of affairs, but that is				Psicop, is worrying for anotherreason. These
just how the world works at present.				are people who, while claiming to be
				scientists,are actually approaching the
(2) The inadequacy of Science.				entire subject with a deepbias that has
				nothing to do with Science whatsoever.
The scientific method has served humanity
extremely well, but ithas its limits. It				They are skeptical, because they are
cannot do everything.				skeptical. That's all. Theyare believers in
				"Disbelief". It's just the opposite end of
Hence, we must be careful of trying to apply				thespectrum of Belief. That's all.
scientific methodswhere they may not work
well at all. Such is the manner in				There is no scientific reason for it
whichscience has been elevated to a religion				whatsoever. While theypretend to be
in our world, thisstatement might seem almost				scientific, their approach is more akin to
absurd.				areligious dogma; that of treating Science
				like a religion. It isoften called
Yet, there are clear instances where science				"Scientism" for this reason.
cannot measureanything. You cannot measure
the emotions of love or anger withscientific				They might claim that there is no proof that
instruments. Yet, few would doubt that they				psychic phenomenaexist. Yet, it can be stated
exist.				with equal validity that there isno proof
				that they do NOT. That is a totally
You cannot use instruments to provide a				equivalentstatement. As we have seen earlier,
printout of what somebodyis thinking. Yet,				Science cannot PROVE anegative statement. It
nobody would deny that they DO think, and				can only talk about probabilities
theyvery often think in words.				andlikelihood. And, as we have discussed,
				many psychic experiencesare intrinsically
You cannot prove scientifically that there				rare or fragile in their very essence.
are NO toy airplanesin orbit around the
planet Jupiter! It might sound absurd, butno				Like any good zealot, these skeptics like
matter how much you search for them and fail				Randi and Psicophave a hidden agenda in
to find them, you				"proving" that the world functions theway
				they think it does. Frankly, a major
CANNOT PROVE that they are not there. You can				motivation is FEAR. Morepeople than would
only say that youhave not found one YET, and				like to admit it are terrified of
that it is extremely unlikely thatthey exist.				thepossibility of psychic phenomena. What if
You might be able to say that with				someone really COULDread your mind? Every
99.99999999%certainty. But you can NEVER say				dirty little secret. What if YOU too
it with 100% certainty.				coulddevelop psychic powers?

Science cannot "prove" a negative.				Just imagine what sort of world THAT would
				be!
Thus, in the realm of psychic experiences,
science cannotcategorically assert that there				Hardly the boringly predictable,
is no such thing. You CANNOT				ultra-conservative, Newtonian

PROVE that ghosts do not exist, for instance.				"scientific" universe that these people
You can only saythat, to date, there has been				inhabit. For them, it's apossibility too
no conclusive proof that they DO.				horrible to contemplate.

That is NOT the same as saying that they do				In conclusion , it's vital not to be too
NOT.				credulous in examining apsychic experience,
				or in rushing to accept the claims of the
In addition, the scientific method itself has
limitations thatpsychic experiences would				"professional" investigators in this field.
definitely stretch. In science,something has				Nevertheless, wemust also be extremely
to be repeatable for it to have any validity.				careful of the skeptics who, whilepretending
Inother words, other scientists have to be				to be scientific, are often better viewed
able to repeat yourprocess and get exactly				asideological fanatics than even mediocre
the same results.				scientists.

However, this is almost certainly doomed to				Copyright 2006 Asoka Selvarajah. All Rights
failure in thepsychic realm. Imagine				Reserved.
repeating your experiment in a hauntedhouse

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Do you have psychic powers

Psychic Abilities, Psychic Mediums & Science!