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Tag Archives: psychical research
Ghosts: working notes (Part One)
“That stole the only girl I lovedAnd drowned her deep inside of me”— The Cure, Just Like Heaven I’ve written a lot on UFOs recently, a topic where I know relatively little so I’m just going to write a little … Continue reading
The Quest for the Historical Harry Price
Yes, it’s been a while. I find writing about most things nowadays superfluous – people can become absurdly well informed by reading Wikipedia, and people like me belong to an irrelevant generation of people who hoarded books and knowledge the … Continue reading
The Day I Met Myself: or how I survived my death-omen doppleganger.
It was an overcast day, and I was walking through Bury St Edmunds with my best friend, Hugh. After lunch sometime, killing time before our scheduled afternoon classes. I don’t know the date or even the year — and Hugh … Continue reading
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
The Fall of Parapsychology?
Long time readers of this blog will know I am a genuine fan of Professor Chris French — he is brilliant, hard working, and actually investigates claims, and like Professor Wiseman avoids making the “rationalist myths” howlers that most of … Continue reading
Posted in Paranormal, Reviews and Past Events, Science, Social commentary desecrated
Tagged Andrew Endersby, Anomalistic Psychology, Bruce Hood, Chris French, Do we need a new parapsychology?, JSPR, Neil Davies, parapsychology, psychical research, Richard Wiseman, Society for Psychical Research, Susan Blackmore
3 Comments
Why Everything We Think We Know About Ghosts Is (Probably!) Wrong
If you are interested in ghosts you may want to take a look. By kind permission of the editor, Dave Wood, my paper, with only the graph missing, follows. Continue reading
Posted in Debunking myths, Paranormal, Reviews and Past Events, Science, Uninteresting to others whitterings about my life
Tagged Alan Gauld, Anomalous experience, ANOMALY journal, apparitions, ASSAP, ASSAP 30, ASSAP conference, Edmund Gurney, Frederick Myers, ghosts, hauntings, parapsychology, poltergeists, psychical research, Rebecca Smith, RSPK, S.P.R
8 Comments
Psychic News closes down after 78 years — but why?
I am aware of the byzantine politics of the Spiritualist movement, and the complex theological, administrative and personality clashes which sometimes (always?) arise. In this the Spiritualist National Union is much like any other church, or much like any other organisation, be it poetry club or gardening society.
In those two factors, economic issues and doubtless some political manoeuvring we see the immediate reasons for the decline of Psychic News (a newspaper that as long term reader of this blog may recall once featured me on the front page!). It is a shame, but possibly to be expected. And yet… Continue reading
Posted in atheism, Paranormal, Religion, Social commentary desecrated
Tagged Charismatic Christian Churches, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Chat magazine, Colin Fry, Derek Acorah, Derren Brown, Dr Chris French, Dr Richard Wiseman, Dr Susan Blackmore, European Journal of Parapsychology, falling advertising revenues, Fortean Times, ghosthunters, Ghosthunting TV shows, hands-on theological investigation., I'm with the Woolwich, ITN, James Randi, Jane Millichip, John Edwards, John Wesley, Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, JREF, Living TV, mediums, Most Haunted, New Atheists, New Religious Movements, New Sceptics, New Skeptics, Paranormal, Paranormal Magazine, paranormalisation' of our popular culture., Penn & Teller, Prof. Richard DAwkins, psychical research, psychics, Richard Dawkins, S.P.R, sceptics, skeptics, Skeptics in the Pub, Society for Psychical Research, Spirit & Destiny magazine, spiritualism, Spiritualist National Union, spiritualists, Susan Blackmore, teenage Wiccan wannabes, thoughts on spiritualists, Tony Stockwell, UK Skeptics, war and spiritualism, war and the psychic
7 Comments
How To See A Ghost – At Home!
“OK, I’m in a playful mood. Last week I ended with a promise – that we would create a “ghost” in the lab, or our own homes, and experiment with it. And that, dear reader, is exactly what we are going to do today… if you want to!
I will skip the philosophical stuff, and the discussion of the cases I referenced last time for now – Campermon wants science, and while I think we have been doing science from the start let’s play with something empirical. Let’s see a ghost! Continue reading
Posted in Paranormal, Science
Tagged Annalisa Ventola, apparitions, Charles Dexter Ward, Coventry University, Dean Radin, Derek Acorah, Dr Ian Hume, Dr. Raymond Moody, experimental parapsychology, Hallucinations, Hauntings and Poltergeists: Multidisciplinary Perspectives, Houran, how to manufacture a ghost, how to see a ghost, James Houran, Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, JSPR, Lange, let's see a ghost, necromanteum, Parapsychological Association, psychic medium, psychical research, psychomanteum, Public Parapsychology blogspot, punk science, Raymond Moody, Reunions, S.P.R, Simon Sherwood, Society for Psychical Research, Terhune
2 Comments
"And sometimes he's so nameless" 
A 5 million dollar question: Is Life after Death real? The Immortality Project.
Today I should be working, but about the time I’m writing this my Becky is finally submitting her PhD thesis at Coventry University, entitled something like A Century of Apparitions: The Census of Hallucinations in the 21st Century. I have … Continue reading →