Skeptics make fun of paranormal phenomena By Jaime Licauco I bought two books from the same book store

in Makati last week. One was Paranorm ality (Why We Believe the Impossible), by professor Richard Wiseman, and the othe r was Handbook to the Afterlife, by Pamela Rae Heath and Jon Klimo. These two books are striking because the authors hold completely opposite views about paranormal phenomena, spiritism, and extra-sensory perception. The first b ook debunks everything involving paranormal experiences, whereas the second reco rds case after case of their reality as reported and documented by investigators in the last 200 years. Whereas Wiseman regards all reported paranormal events, such as astral projecti on or out-of-body experiences, psychic powers of animals, telepathy, telekinesis , spirit communication, etc. as mere hallucination, trickery, deception or fault y research procedures, Pamela Heath and Jon Klimo, on the other hand, present a more objective and scholarly discussion of these topics supported by numerous re ferences and bibliography. The following is a typical example of the way Wiseman presents his arguments: Sue Blackmore s interest in the paranormal dates back to 1970 when she was a studen t at Oxford University and had dramatic out-of-body experiences Upon her return to reality, Sue became fascinated with weird experiences, trained as a white witch and eventually decided to devote herself to parapsychology. Sh e was awarded a doctorate for work examining whether children have telepathic po wers (they didn t), went on several LSD trips to see if they would improve their p sychic ability (they didn t), and learned to read the Tarot to discover if the car ds could predict the future (they didn t). After 25 years of such disappointing results, Sue finally gave up the ghost and b ecame a skeptic. Blackmore, according to the author, found no evidence of telepathy among a group of twins, contrary to common belief, and considers out-of-body experience an il lusion produced by sensory deprivation. Other investigators say they are a resul t of lack of oxygen in the brain. Trickery or fraud Likewise, the author dismisses spirit rappings and knocks as plain trickery or f raud. And he based his conclusion on the dubious confession of Margaret Fox, who was one of three sisters in Hydesville, New York, who discovered spirit communi cation in 1848. She said such rappings were a trick they played on people for fu n. Although Margaret eventually recanted her confession, skeptics have used that to prove that spiritism is merely hogwash. The whole book of Wiseman tried to make fun of believers of paranormal phenomena as intellectually naive and credulous individuals, but never bothered to examin e the volumes of scientific research about such phenomena. In contrast, Pamela Heath and Jon Klimo do not claim to prove such phenomena exi st but merely summarized centuries of published reports in support of the occurr ence of psychic powers and spirit communication. They let the readers decide for themselves whether to believe their findings or not. As Jon Klimo said: There are many other perspectives besides the mainstream scien tific one. And I may add that some scientists are beginning to take a second look

at the extraordinary claims of mystics and paranormal researchers in the light of the amazing discoveries in quantum physics. For those who have not experienced any of the so-called psychic and paranormal p henomena, it is perfectly understandable that they would not believe in them. I myself started out as a complete skeptic. It took many years of research and onl y after experiencing some of these phenomena myself, like telepathy, telekinesis , astral projection, prophetic dreams, psychic diagnosis, fire walking, spirit c ommunication, and many more, did I begin to believe in their reality. I do not b ase this conclusion on belief, but on numerous personal experiences which have b een verified or witnessed by other people. There is something in common that I have observed among these who are skeptical and nonbelievers of paranormal, psychic and spiritual phenomena. They all begin with the conclusion that if something cannot be explained scientifically, it doe s not exist. If it seems to exist, it must surely be a product of trickery, imag ination or faulty research methodology. On the other hand, those investigators who are open-minded about such phenomena begin with a sense of wonder and do not make hasty conclusions about them. They allow the evidence to speak for themselves and do not limit themselves to opinio ns of mainstream scientists. As Shakespeare wisely put it: There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.