Paranormal Research

W

Woody

Musical Creationist
Registered Senior Member
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Center for Paranormal Research

Has anyone read about this group of scientists and skeptics that are performing investigations on paranormal activities?

This is pretty fascinating stuff. They are using scientific equipment and performing reproducible experiments.
 
That isn't science, Woody.

"Dr. S.Rorke has experience as a Professor of Physics for Loyola College"

Loyola College is a Christian "college," although that term really doesn't apply.

Try doing your homework for a change, Woody.
 
having "scientific" instruments means nothing. I could hook up an op-amp in a derivative mode, and watch as the voltage jumps, and claims its a ghost when it is really just noise.

in the spirit of open mindedness, what exactly are their experiments?
 
after reviewing the site, and seeing two specific things:
1. they are selling a book
2. the "brain fritzer"
I have concluded they are nutters.
 
(Q) said:
That isn't science, Woody.

"Dr. S.Rorke has experience as a Professor of Physics for Loyola College"

Loyola College is a Christian "college," although that term really doesn't apply.

Try doing your homework for a change, Woody.
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Well, I haven't read through every page of it. They are a non-profit organization. I read through the FAQS:

What are your views on...?
Since CPRI has a diverse membership, simply saying "We believe..." would be arrogant and totally wrong. There are members that are complete believers in almost everything and members that are total skeptics. We do have an "Editorial" area on the site for anybody to express their views but other than this, we do not "preach" nor limit ourselves by believing or not believing in one answer to anything.
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Well "Q", speaking for them, they are calling you arrogant and totally wrong. Hilarious.

I did some reading before I made the post, and was hoping for some insight. Actually the supposed "paranormal" activities people think they experience have a relatively natural explanation, and that is the approach being taken in the "research" for example:

Why Depressed People See Ghosts

Some of their Research Projects

excerpt: 40 hz vibration is known to cause blurred vision because it is the resonant frequency of the human eye and could explain why some people have "apparitions."

"Q" and Cato should love this one about "Fritzing"

His theory is that the sensation commonly described as “having a religious experience/paranormal experience” is merely a side effect of our bicameral brain’s feverish activities. Simplified considerably, the idea goes like so: When the right hemisphere of the brain, the seat of emotion, is stimulated in the cerebral region that is presumed to control notions of self; and then the left hemisphere, the seat of language, is called upon to make sense of this nonexistent entity, the mind generates a “sensed presence.” Dr. Persinger believes such cerebral “fritzing” is responsible for almost anything one might describe as paranormal, incuding aliens, heavenly apparitions, past-life sensations, near-death experiences, awareness of the soul, and so on.
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watta-ya-say Cato? Christian religious conversion is just a brain "fritz." (Is that like a brain fart?) Gives the site instant credibility for Cato and Q. :cool:
 
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Woody

I would have to half-apologize for not doing my homework as I did not see those articles.

However, I did see others that would lead one to conclude the site is full of nutters:

"This circle has some of the items one would look for in a genuine crop circle, but I was unable to examine it until ten days after its formation and a number of people had been walking in it before I got there. I would say it appears to be real and would have to ask why someone would hoax one in a location where almost no one would see it."

http://virginiaghosts.com/cc_2005.php

"Should you encounter some type extraterrestrial being associated with the craft be prepared to take evasive action to protect yourself. From a safe distance, in a concealed position photograph or video tape the being. If you are unable to safely get photos of the being, draw and write down a description as soon as it is safe to do so."

http://virginiaghosts.com/10_things.php

It appears the site has a mixed bag of goodies, nice work Woodsey.
 
(Q) said:
That isn't science, Woody.

"Dr. S.Rorke has experience as a Professor of Physics for Loyola College"

Loyola College is a Christian "college," although that term really doesn't apply.

Try doing your homework for a change, Woody.
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I looked at a few of the articles. While they didn't show the details of all the experimental data, the summaries appeared objective and to be yeilding information resulting from scientific and critical thinking processes.
 
(Q) said:
Woody

I would have to half-apologize for not doing my homework as I did not see those articles.

However, I did see others that would lead one to conclude the site is full of nutters:

"This circle has some of the items one would look for in a genuine crop circle, but I was unable to examine it until ten days after its formation and a number of people had been walking in it before I got there. I would say it appears to be real and would have to ask why someone would hoax one in a location where almost no one would see it."

http://virginiaghosts.com/cc_2005.php

"Should you encounter some type extraterrestrial being associated with the craft be prepared to take evasive action to protect yourself. From a safe distance, in a concealed position photograph or video tape the being. If you are unable to safely get photos of the being, draw and write down a description as soon as it is safe to do so."

http://virginiaghosts.com/10_things.php

It appears the site has a mixed bag of goodies, nice work Woodsey.
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Hmmm... disappointing to say for sure.
 
Crunchy Cat said:
Hmmm... disappointing to say for sure.
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Yeah, it's a mixed bag. They really don't take a position on anything -- they just try to gather data and perform reproducible experiments. They state their disclaimers and caveats on the "ghost videos," etc. Some of their work appears to be reasonable on the surface of it, especially in the technology section.
 
whats with all the phonecalls from the dead crap? it looks like they are trying to sell a book more than anything.
 
moreover, they don't see to be showing any real research on their site. at least I could not find any. i found their book reviews, I found the book they are selling, I found the movie reviews, but no actual research.

point me to the research and I will decide if they are nutters. just because they say objective sounding things, and talk science, doesn't mean they are really in it for the research.
 
cato said:
moreover, they don't see to be showing any real research on their site. at least I could not find any. i found their book reviews, I found the book they are selling, I found the movie reviews, but no actual research.

point me to the research and I will decide if they are nutters. just because they say objective sounding things, and talk science, doesn't mean they are really in it for the research.
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Some of the studies seem to be well researched and statistically evaluated

Here is one of them on sensed presense.

I'm trying to locate some other studies and experiments that are well documented and evaluated. They are on that web site.

It's one heck of a database for anyone serious about understanding how the human mind can experience a lot of unusual phenomena. To say someone is "crazy" because they have a vision is really kind of ignorant, like something an uneducated person would say. Their interpretaion of what they experience is arguable, but they do have phenomena going on in their brain that are predictable.

Here's another on why human's universally come to a conclusion about a god or gods.

I'd have to say it is right on target with me.
 
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