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Tag Archives: Prof. Chris French
I Have Seen The Future Of Science And It’s Spin All The Way: Some Thoughts On Daryl Bem’s Habituative Precognition Experiments, and Science by Media
Firstly, a warning. This is not an article on Daryl Bem’s experiments, and if they suggest precognition exists or not. I have no idea. This is an article on hype, spin, the media and lousy science reporting, and how some … Continue reading
Posted in Debunking myths, Paranormal, Science
Tagged academic parapsychology, Daryl Bem, Feeling the Future, habituative precognition, parapsychology, parapsychology and mainstream science, precognition, Prof. Chris French, Prof. Richard Wiseman, psychical research, Scepticism, science by media, scientific spin, Stuart J Ritchie
2 Comments
Booting the Ball in No Man’s Land… A Rant for Sceptics
I should really avoid this topic like the plague, but I’m going to talk about it anyway, and risk upsetting everyone, because that what I happen to do!
I nearly titles this the “sceptics movement”, but as I think the idea of a movement that makes sceptics sounds like a creed or religious group is a misnomer I avoided that term; one thing is certain, sceptics always argue, disagree and often strongly, over all kinds of things. Where the evidence is solid they tend to agree, but on moral issues, tactical issues, social or political issues, or scientific areas where the evidence is weak sceptics hold strongly divergent opinions. And that is good and healthy. Continue reading
Posted in Debunking myths, Paranormal, Social commentary desecrated, Unclassifiable!
Tagged Anomalous Psychology Research Unit, APRU, ASKE, Ciaran O keefe, Ersby, fls, Hayley Stevens, JREF, Matthew Smith, Prof. Chris French, Prof. Richard Wiseman, scepticism and the paranormal, skeptic movement, skepticism, skepticism and the paranormal, SoapySam, Society for Psychical Research, UK sceptic culture, UK skeptic culture, UKSkeptics
15 Comments
When Psychics Fail — Beyond Sally Morgan
OK, last week I wrote a short piece on Sally Morgan, in which I critiqued the evidence that she was using a well known fraud trick, that is having accomplices gather information in the crowd (or prepare information from public sources like newspapers), and then being fed it by hidden assistants using a radio connection. (I almost wrote “wireless” there for “radio”; astonishing how the meaning of that word, so common in my youth, has changed forty years on!). I doubted this partly on the fallibility of witness testimony, partly because the Theatre manager had came forward with a fairly convincing “alibi” involving two theatre techs being overheard being the cause of the whole matter. I lay out all the facts as I had them in my previous piece, which may be worth reading as it links to the RTE broadcast and the Irish Independent article, if you have not been following the case. Continue reading →