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Materialist assumption hits bottom of dumpster

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The mind does not exist – or anyway it cannot cause anything to happen, right? Well, it would be very convenient for materialists if that could be shown to be true.

Here, commenter Magnan writes, in response to my recent post on dealing with Darwinist hate,

Such a deep dynamic could explain, for instance, why parapsychology is nearly as implacably opposed today as in the early days of psychical research, 1870-1900 (at least this is my impression).

Well they have certainly tried to implacably oppose it.

But actually, Magnan, things are changing a little bit – though it took way too long, to be sure. Professional unidirectional skeptics are giving up on trying to disprove the idea that there are no paranormal phenomena.

It’s about time. History lesson:

The Parapsychological Association, an international scientific society, was elected an affiliate of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 1969. Seminars on psi research have formed part of the regular programs of annual conferences of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Psychological Association, and the American Statistical Association. Educated audiences at the United Nations, Harvard, and Bell Laboratories have invited lecturers on the state of psi research. Reports have been prepared by the Congressional Research Service, the Army Research Institute, the National Research Council, the Office of Technology Assessment, and the American Institutes for Research (this latter one commissioned by the CIA). All five of the reviews concluded that, based on experimental evidence, certain forms of psychic phenomena deserved serious scientific study. ( P. 168, The Spiritual Brain)

Montreal neuroscientist Mario Beauregard and I cover this key change in detail in The Spiritual Brain (Harper One, 2007).

And how much have things changed? Well, for example, CSICOP – the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry into Claims of the Paranormal – changed its name a couple of years ago to merely Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.

I have heard various explanations for the moniker change, but what most obviously emerged was that they wanted “paranormal” out of their name.

Advisedly. There is serious evidence that psi phenomena do exist as a LOW level phenomenon, not a high level one.

So like, yeah, the world is still normal. Madam Baloni IS a fraud.

(Surprised, anybody? No, … I didn’t expect you guys would be. )

But some people do beat the odds in guessing or influencing random generation of numbers, beyond the reach of chance. So a basic tenet of materialism is simply incorrect.

A discreet change of name is probably the wisest strategy for CSICOP > CSI.

That, and distancing themselves from the likes of Richard Dawkins, which they seem to also be doing.

Most interesting developments …

Comments
Barry, that's too bad. The prof was probably overreacting to something he actually knew - that the statistics supported its existence (even Alvin Turing knew that back in the 1950s) - but admitting that was inconvenient to the materialist lobby.O'Leary
January 25, 2008
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When I was taking (enduring?) advanced statistics in college in 1982 my prof could talk of nothing but the paranormal. Indeed, much of what I learned in that class (and had to spew out on the tests) was self-taught, because he was obsessed with the paranormal and that is all he wanted to discuss in class.BarryA
January 24, 2008
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About the Parapsychological Association.... Wow, I didn't know it was (once?) affiliated with the AAAS. I knew that that the American Psychological Association endorsed some forms of research, basically affirming the existence of "something extra" operating beyond the five senses. I remember my High School psychology textbook having a section on the phenomenon and my teacher discussing it. About five years later, though, while taking another such course at the college level, I was surprised to find out the subject missing from the pages of the textbook and being told by one of the professors that this was one of the areas that were off limits to the APA. I was dumbfounded. In little less than four years?! So here again I am surpised to find out that the subject is being visited anew.JPCollado
January 24, 2008
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Regarding Wilson's candid acknowledgement about the benefits of religion, one wonders if he and his compadres would finally see that they are the odd ones out in a world where nature has a tendency of selecting this most favorable "Belief Trait," and that efforts in quashing it is but time wasted in futility. It should not come as a surprise to find out that this innate propensity to believe is identical to the close correspondence existing between water and thirst or sexual desire and sex itself, and thus indicative of an outside source to supply that need.JPCollado
January 24, 2008
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Calling Dr. Venkman; calling Dr. Venkman.BarryA
January 23, 2008
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