Not everything published in the journals of Psychical Research and Parapsychology is reproducible. Some authors and even some editors have a false concept of scientific method, particularly those who came out of psychology.
In the 1930s, a psychologist named J.B. Rhine invented parapsychology, which I define as "the study of ordinary people in a laboratory setting, using non-symbolic, non-emotive tools, ignoring mood, atmosphere and motivation, while using lots of statistics." As an undergraduate, the famous physicist Stephen Hawking found that the stricter the controls in parapsychology, the less the Psi. Thus, parapsychology is non-reproducible. It is like cold fusion, which never works when a visiting scholar is in the lab. Thus, we must conclude that ordinary untrained people in a lab do not exhibit Psi, at least not the kind that reveals itself in tedious guesses about cards lacking any symbolic or emotive content, without any positive feedback, where the subject is treated like a lab rat. What a surprise.
Do not confuse parapsychology with PR. Rhine simply ignored all the excellent studies already done by the Society for Psychical Research (SPR) on apparitions and poltergeists, which tell us far more about the Mind than parapsychology, had it achieved any valid results. Parapsychology has just confused the issues, muddied the waters, and delayed the acceptance of Psychical Research.
Nonetheless, in 1974 the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) accepted Psychical Research as a member science. Apparently college Deans and Boards of Regents don't know about this, or don't care. Otherwise why aren't there more departments of Psychical Research? I don't know.
Copyright © Thales 1999