How people react to rare phenomena.


Many people when they first hear about "paranormal" phenomena ask why they have never experienced it. Others see it as a threat to science or society and will go out of their way to discredit it (see below). It is a known fact that science changes by a process of paradigm shift, ie a time during which there is fierce debate between representatives of two different belief systems. Often strong emotional attachments occur. So far as we know there is no science of the process of making decisions, other than the inadequate political and sociological ones.
One of the biggest puzzles in psychic research is why more scientists don't make an effort to work with the gifted people who present themselves after media shows and articles on the paranormal. The Geller Papers has a few contributions from authors who have taken this approach. There is, to this day, little interest from scientists in the many people who phone in and write after a big media event. There has been a substantial interest in psychic phenomena in the past by scientists, this puts present day work in context.

What does it take to demonstrate satisfactory psychokinesis or telepathy?
What is satisfactory for one observer can always be faulted by someone who was not present; the ease with which one person calls another a liar or gullible is a real problem for humanity.

Is there any modification of the phenomena in the presence of a skeptical attitude?
This seems to depend on the perceptions of the person responsible for the paranormal event. Even when the witness has, on occasions, bent metal paranormally or witnessed materializations, a poor relationship with the intended psychic will still drive the phenomena to present in ambiguous circumstances.
It must be said that there does seem to be an intelligent aspect intrinsic to these phenomena; take for example remote viewing by map coordinate or direct writing. The teleportation experienced by Uri Geller seemed to be an expression of his frustration at being unable to break away from Dr Puharich. Puharich sets out his opinion about these phenomena in his book 'Uri'.
How could these things work?
Perhaps these phenomena derive from that part of physics responsible for resolving temporal paradoxes. If we assume that General Relativity is correct in as much as time travel is possible and secondly that there is only one universe, there then has to be a physical process that can prevent the paradoxes which may result. The law of least action might then act in an intelligent way to solve the paradox.
What about the Uri Bear and the power of Crystals?
It has to be established that psychic healing can occur, whether this happens at a distance and if so, how it is directed to it's target. Uri Geller has personal experience of many miraculous healings. There are several Press Reports about this topic. A mysterious ray of light shot from a large crystal and formed a prysmatic pattern on the wall of the stairs shortly after Uri's son fell from the banisters to the stone floor below and injured himself. He was healed, felt no pain and had no permanent injury. For these reasons he promotes his Bear and includes Crystals in his Mindpower Kit.

On this page we intend to review and discuss these interesting ideas with related questions. Any contributions would be welcomed.
As a start, here is a speculative idea about evolution of psychic phenomena. There should be sufficient references on the web site to allow the interested viewer to start reading about some of the work of the last few years. The books and papers on this site are intended for serious researchers to reference.
Here is a small excerpt from Psychic Breakthroughs today. It illustrates how easily false statements are made. Two books worth reading on these topics are:-

  • On the Margins of Science

    by H.M.Collins and T.J.Pinch, ed Roy Wallis, Keele University Press, 1979.

  • Alternative SCIENCE
    Challenging the Myths of the Scientific Establishment


    By Richard Milton
    Park Street Press, Rochester, Vermont 05767

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