Psychic Reading, Psychic Powers & Science!

Much skepticism exists around the subject of				However, this is almost certainly doomed to
psychic phenomena,and this is probably not a				failure in thepsychic realm. Imagine
bad thing, given its very checkeredpast. Fake				repeating your experiment in a hauntedhouse
mediums, bogus mind readers, magic tricks				and DEMANDING that the ghost appear on cue,
passed offas the real thing. The list goes				just becauseyou are performing the same
on.				experiment!

Hence, the use of Science should be welcomed				If, by its very nature, a manifestation is
in helping to verifysome of the psychic				extremely rare andunpredictable in nature, it
community's claims.				is very hard to use Science to saymuch about
				it at all.
However, this can also become unhealthy for
several reasons, andit is equally important				Science has very little to say about rare and
to stand guard against these flaws. Theytoo				unrepeatable events. Yet, these are the very
are all too common.				things that life itself is full of.

(1) Biased scientists.				The Scientific Method has little or nothing
				to say regarding rare or unrepeatable events.
The pitiful truth is that the field of				Nevertheless, these are the very things that
psychic investigation, with onlyvery rare				life itself is filled with.
exceptions, fails to excite or attract the
veryscientific brains. Career-wise, the field				It is for this very reason that, initially,
of psychic investigation isextremely badly				the notion that ameteorite collision caused
funded, is nearly impossible to make a				the extinction of the dinosaurswas met with
solid,respected career in, and is the source				hoots of laughter by the scientific
of endless derision frommainstream scientists				community. Itwas the very rarity of the
and diehard skeptics.				event, and the fact that no evidencecould be
				found, that caused humiliation to be heaped
Therefore, there is always gigantic pressure				upon theheads of the theory's proponents.
uponparapsychologists to justify their own				Until, of course, the craterwas discovered.
existence. At the end ofthe day, they have to
find something, somewhere! If, from startto				We now also know that the role of the
finish, their careers consisted solely of				experimenter canradically change the results
disproving everysingle psychic manifestation				of the experiment. This mayexplain why
that they were presented with, theywould				certain famed psychics seem to have their
quickly give up the psychic investigation				skillsleave them in the cold harsh light of
field fromsheer boredom or depression. After				the scientificlaboratory. Yet, only a
all, from a purely personalstandpoint, why				mediocre researcher would claim thatbecause
bother? Hence, most of them are				this is the case, it proves that there were
intrinsicallybelievers to start with. To put				no psychicmanifestations to begin with!
it bluntly, the probability ishigh that they
possess a strong in-built bias in place.				(3) Psychic Skeptics.

This is not to imply that they would fake				This may, in part, explain the James Randi
results. However, wemust be aware that, by				effect. This is apsychic investigator who is
their very existence in this much				a total skeptic on the subject, andwho
malignedfield, there is an invisible pressure				approaches the subject with this powerful
upon these people toproduce something to				ingrained bias. Hehas issued a challenge to
validate their own existence. Hence, thissort				pay a large sum of money to anyone whocan
of science is extremely difficult to maintain				demonstrate psychic powers to him in a
in a totallyobjective manner.				scientificallycontrolled environment. To
				date, he still has his money.
Regular academic scientists are always under
pressure to justifytheir funding through				Now, part of the problem may be that, even if
their results. How much worse then				somebody isgenuinely psychic, the attitude of
forscientists who, for the most part, have no				the researcher issufficiently negative to
funding, and who areoften the laughing stock				completely extinguish whatever
of the scientific community?				psychicabilities exist, as long as he is
				present. Again, a trueresearcher of any
For all of these reasons, the profession of				ability cannot discount this possibility.
psychic investigationcannot and will not
attract the very finest minds, at least notat				This is a purely human factor we are talking
the present times. This is not intended to be				about, a function ofthe human brain, and not
an slur toscientists involved in the field.				a measurement of the boiling point ofwater.
It is just reality. The verybest will tend to				Hence, it is entirely plausible that the
gravitate towards "safe" fields where				negativeattitude of the researcher, plus the
theirgenius will be recognized, and not				undue pressure that thepsychic is placed
derided and scoffed at.				under as a result of it, could act to
				diminishthe very effect being measured.
It is a pity, but that is just how the world
works at present.				However, the bias of people like Randi and
				the organization ofskeptics that calls itself
(2) The inadequacy of Science.				Psicop, is worrying for anotherreason. These
				are people who, while claiming to be
The scientific method has served humanity				scientists,are actually approaching the
extremely well, but ithas its limits. It				entire subject with a deepbias that has
cannot do everything.				nothing to do with Science whatsoever.

Hence, we must be wary of trying to apply				They are skeptical, because they are
scientific methodswhere they may not work				skeptical. That's all. Theyare believers in
well at all. Such is the manner in				"Disbelief". It's just the opposite end of
whichscience has been elevated to a religion				thespectrum of Belief. That's all.
in our world, thisstatement might seem almost
absurd.				There is no scientific reason for it
				whatsoever. While theypretend to be
Yet, there are clear occasions where science				scientific, their approach is more akin to
cannot measureanything. You cannot measure				areligious dogma; that of treating Science
the emotions of love or anger withscientific				like a religion. It isoften called
instruments. Yet, few would doubt that they				"Scientism" for this reason.
exist.
				They might claim that there is no proof that
You cannot use instruments to provide a				psychic phenomenaexist. Yet, it can be stated
printout of what somebodyis thinking. Yet,				with equal validity that there isno proof
nobody would deny that they DO think, and				that they do NOT. That is a totally
theyvery often think in words.				equivalentstatement. As we have seen earlier,
				Science cannot PROVE anegative statement. It
You cannot prove scientifically that there				can only talk about probabilities
are NO toy airplanesin orbit around the				andlikelihood. And, as we have discussed,
planet Mars! It might sound absurd, butno				many psychic manifestationsare intrinsically
matter how much you search for them and fail				rare or fragile in their very essence.
to find them, you
				Like any good fanatic, these skeptics like
CANNOT PROVE that they are not there. You can				Randi and Psicophave a hidden agenda in
only say that youhave not found one YET, and				"proving" that the world functions theway
that it is extremely unlikely thatthey exist.				they think it does. Frankly, a major
You might be able to say that with				motivation is FEAR. Morepeople than would
99.99999999%certainty. But you can NEVER say				like to admit it are terrified of
it with 100% certainty.				thepossibility of psychic phenomena. What if
				someone really COULDread your mind? Every
Science cannot "prove" a negative.				dirty little secret. What if YOU too
				coulddevelop psychic powers?
Thus, in the realm of psychic manifestations,
science cannotcategorically insist that there				What sort of world would THAT be?! Hardly the
is no such thing. You CANNOT				predictable,ultra-conservative, clockwork
				"scientific" universe that thesepeople like
PROVE that ghosts do not exist, for instance.				to live in. For them, it's a possibility
You can only saythat, to date, there has been				toounsettling to contemplate.
no conclusive proof that they DO.
				In summary then, we have to be very wary in
That is NOT the same as saying that they do				being toocredulous in examining scientific
NOT.				phenomena, or in jumping tobelieve the claims
				of the "professional" researchers in
In addition, the scientific method itself has				thisfield. However, we have to also be wary
limitations thatpsychic manifestations would				of the skeptics who,while purporting to be
definitely stretch. In science,something has				scientific, are frequently better viewedas
to be repeatable for it to have any validity.				ideological fanatics than even mediocre
Inother words, other scientists have to be				scientists.
able to duplicate yourprocess and get exactly
the same results.				Copyright 2006 Asoka Selvarajah. All Rights
				Reserved.

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Psychic Reading, Psychic Powers & Science!