Fringe-ology

by Steve Volk

  Dean Radin, Entangled Minds (Pocket Books, 2006): 120–21.

  What follows is a short selection of papers on psi research I found most compelling during my research:

  Joel B. Greenhouse, “Comment: Parapsychology—On the Margins of Science,” Statistical Science 6, no. 4 (1991), accessed October 26, 2010, http://www.stat.ucdavis.edu/~utts/91rmp-c4.html

  Jessica Utts and Brian Josephson, “The Paranormal: The Evidence and Its Implications for Consciousness,” 1996, accessed October 26, 2010, http://www.tcm.phy.cam.ac.uk/~bdj10/psi/tucson.html

  George P. Hansen, “The Elusive Agenda: Dissuading as Debunking in Ray Hyman’s The Elusive Quarry,” Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 85 (April 1991): 193–203, accessed October 26, 2010, http://www.tricksterbook.com/ArticlesOnline/HymanReview.htm

  Jessica Utts, “Replication and Meta-Analysis in Parapsychology,” Statistical Science 6, no. 4 (1991): 363–403.

  Bernard Carr, “Rational Perspective on the Paranormal,” Conference Report, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 16, no. 4 (2002): 635–50.

  Richard Wiseman and Marilyn Schlitz, “Experimenter Effects and the Remote Detection of Staring,” Journal of Parapsychology 61, no. 3 (1998): 197–208.

  Daryl Bem and Charles Honorton, “Does Psi Exist? Replicable Evidence for an Anomalous Process of Information Transfer,” Psychological Bulletin 115, no. 1 (1994): 4–18.

  J. Milton and R. Wiseman, “Does Psi Exist? Lack of Replication of an Anomalous Process of Information Transfer,” Psychological Bulletin 125, no. 4 (1999): 387–91.

  L. Storm and S. Ertel, “Does Psi Exist? Comments on Milton and Wiseman’s Meta-Analysis of Ganzfeld Research,” Psychological Bulletin 127, no. 3 (2001): 424–33.

  Daryl Bem et al., “Updating the Ganzfeld Database: A Victim of Its Own Success?” Journal of Parapsychology 65 (2001): 207–18.

  L. Storm et al., “Meta-Analysis of Free-Response Studies, 1992–2008: Assessing the Noise Reduction Model in Parapsychology,” Psychological Bulletin 136, no. 4 (July 2010): 471–85.

  Guy Lyon Playfair, “Twin Telepathy,” Fortean Times Paranormal Handbook (2009): 70–75.

  See Radin, Entangled Minds, 136–41, and papers Radin collected and analyzed at http://deanradin.blogspot.com/ for brain correlation experiments, listed here.

  C. Tart, ”Possible Physiological Correlates of psi Cognition,” International Journal of Parapsychology 5 (1963): 375–86.

  T. D. Duane et al., “Extrasensory Electroencephalographic Induction Between Identical Twins,” Science 150 (1965): 367.

  D. H. Lloyd et al., “Objective Events in the Brain Correlating with Psychic Phenomena,” New Horizons 1 (1973): 69–75.

  C. S. Rebert et al., “EEG Spectrum Analysis Techniques Applied to the Problem of psi Phenomena,” Behavioral Neuropsychiatry 6 (1974): 18–24.

  Russell Targ and Hal Puthoff, “Information Transmission Under Conditions of Sensory Shielding,” Nature 252 (1974): 602–7.

  B. Millar et al., “An Attempted Validation of the ‘Lloyd Effect,’ ” Multidimensional Mind: Remote Viewing in Hyperspace (Scarecrow Press, 1999): 25–27.

  E. F. Kelly, “EEG Changes Correlated with a Remote Stroboscopic Stimulus: A Preliminary Study,” Research in Parapsychology (Scarecrow Press, 1975): 58–63.

  K. Hearne, “Visually Evoked Responses and ESP,” Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 49 (1977): 648–57.

  Z. Vassy, “Method for Measuring the Probability of 1 Bit Extrasensory Information Transfer Between Living Organisms,” Journal of Parapsychology 42 (1978): 158–60.

  K. Hearne, “Visually Evoked Responses and ESP: Failure to Replicate Previous Findings,” Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 51 (1981): 145–47.

  D. W. Orme-Johnson et al., “Intersubject EEG Coherence: Is Consciousness a Field?” International Journal of Neuroscience 16 (1982): 203–9.

  J. Grinberg-Zylberbaum et al., “Patterns of Interhemispheric Correlation During Human Communication,” International Journal of Neuroscience 36 (1987): 41–53.

  J. Grinberg-Zylberbaum et al., “The Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Paradox in the Brain: The Transferred Potential,” Physics Essays 7 (1994): 422–28.

  H. Sugano et al., “A New Approach to the Study of Subtle Energies,” Subtle Energies 5, no. 2 (1994): 143–65.

  C. N. Shealy et al., “EEG Alterations During Absent ‘Healing,’ ” Subtle Energies 11, no. 3 (2000): 241–48.

  A. Sabell et al., “InterSubject EEG Correlations at a Distance—The Transferred Potential,” Proceedings of the 44th Annual Convention of the Parapsychological Association (2001): 419–22.

  H. Walach et al., “Transferred Potentials—Fact or Artifact? Results of a Pilot Study. In Bridging Worlds and Filling Gaps in the Science of Healing,” Samueli Institute for Information Biology (2001): 303–25.

  E. C. May et al., “EEG Correlates to Remote Light Flashes Under Conditions of Sensory Shielding,” Mind at Large: IEEE Symposia on the Nature of Extrasensory Perception (Hampton Roads, 2002).

  S. Kalitzin et al., “Comments on ‘Correlations Between Brain Electrical Activities of Two Spatially Separated Human Subjects,’ ” Neuroscience Letters 350, no. 3 (October 30, 2003): 193–94.

  L. Standish et al., “Evidence of Correlated Functional MRI Signals Between Distant Human Brains,” Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine 9 (2003): 122–28.

  J. Wackermann et al., “Correlations Between Brain Electrical Activities of Two Spatially Separated Human Subjects. Reply to the Commentary by S. Kalitzin and P. Suffczynski,” Neuroscience Letters 350, no. 3 (2003): 193–94.

  J. Wackerman, et al., “Correlations Between Brain Electrical Activities of Two Spatially Separated Human Subjects,” Neuroscience Letters 336 no. 1 (2003): 60–64.

  U. Hasson, “Intersubject Synchronization of Cortical Activity During Natural Vision,” Science 303 (2004): 1634–40.

  M. Kittenis et al., “Distant Psychophysiological Interaction Effects Between Related and Unrelated Participants,” Proceedings of the Parapsychological Association Convention (Vienna, Austria, August 5–8, 2004): 67–76.

  Dean Radin, “Event-Related Electroencephalographic Correlations Between Isolated Human Subjects,” Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 10 no. 2 (2004): 315–23.

  L. Standish et al. “Electroencephalographic Evidence of Correlated Event-Related Signals Between the Brains of Spatially and Sensory Isolated Human Subjects,” Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 10, no. 2 (2004): 307–14.

  S. Schmidt, “Distant Intentionality and the Feeling of Being Stared At: Two Meta-Analyses,” British Journal of Psychology 95 (2004): 235–47.

  J. Wackerman, “Dyadic Correlations Between Brain Functional States: Present Facts and Future Perspectives,” Mind and Matter 2, no.1 (2004): 105–22.

  J. Achterberg et al., “Evidence for Correlations Between Distant Intentionality and Brain Function in Recipients: a Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Analysis,” Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 11, no. 6 (2005): 965–71.

  T. L. Richards et al., “Replicable Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Evidence of Correlated Brain Signals Between Physically and Sensory Isolated Subjects,” Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 11, no. 6 (2005): 955–63.

  S. T. Moulton et al., “Using NeuroImaging to Resolve the psi Debate,” Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 20, no. 1 (2008): 182–92.

  Michael Persinger et al., “Enhanced Power Within a Predicted Narrow Band of Theta Activity During Stimulation of Another by Circumcerebral Weak Magnetic Fields After Weekly Spatial Proximity: Evidence for Macroscopic Quantum Entanglement?” NeuroQuantology 6, no. 1 (2008): 7–21.

  B. T. Dotta, “Evidence of Macroscopic Quantum Entanglement During Double Quantitative Electroencephalographic Measurements of Friends vs Strangers,” NeuroQuantology 7, no. 4 (2009): 548–51.

  Sam Harris, The End of Faith (Norton, 2004): 41.

  Michael Persinger, Intervi
ew, June 2009.

  Michael Persinger, “The Harribance Effect as Pervasive Out-of-Body Experiences: NeuroQuantal Evidence with More Precise Measurements,” 8, no. 4 (2010): 444–465.

  Jessica Utts, Interview, August 2009. Author’s note: Utts believes the PK tests reflect precognition—not the mental manipulation of matter, as PK enthusiasts claim.

  Jessica Utts, Seeing Through Statistics (Brooks/Cole, 1999).

  Marcello Truzzi, “On Some Unfair Practices Towards Claims of the Paranormal,” Oxymoron: Annual Thematic Anthology of the Arts and Sciences, Vol. 2: The Fringe (Oxymoron Media, 1998). Accessed October 26, 2010, http://www.skepticalinvestigations.org/Anomali/practices.html

  David Hume, “Of Miracles,” An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (Filiquarian Publishing, 2007): 104.

  Ray Hyman, “The Evidence for Psychic Functioning: Claims vs. Reality,” Skeptical Inquirer 20, no. 2 (March/April, 1996), accessed October 26, 2010, http://www.csicop.org/si/show/evidence_for_psychic_functioning_claims_vs._reality/

  Trevor Pinch, Interview, September 2009.

  Trevor J. Pinch, “Normal Explanations of the Paranormal,” Social Studies of Science 9 (1979): 329–48.

  Trevor Pinch, “Private Science and Public Knowledge: The Committee for the Scientific Investigation of the Claims of the Paranormal and Its Use of the Literature,” Social Studies of Science 14, (1984): 521.

  H. M. Collins and Trevor Pinch, Frames of Meaning: The Social Construction of Extraordinary Science (Routledge, 1982).

  Elizabeth Mayer, Extraordinary Knowing (Bantam, 2007): 69–70, 93.

  Marie-Catherine Mousseau, “Parapsychology: Science or PseudoScience?” Journal of Scientific Exploration 17, no. 2 (2003): 271–82.

  Chris Carter, Parapsychology and the Skeptics (Paja Books, 2007): 8–15, 73–82. Author’s note: Carter’s book on the battle between skeptics and psi proponents is, for my money, one of the best books ever written about the paranormal. My citation here is for the Rawlins and Wiseman material, but Carter’s entire book is worth reading and was an incredible resource for me in the research for this chapter. A further chapter of Carter’s book, available online, is cited later.

  George P. Hansen, “CSICOP and the Skeptics: An Overview,” Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 86, no. 1 (January 1992): 19–63.

  Guy Lyon Playfair, “Has CSICOP Lost the Thirty Years’ War?” Skeptical Investigations, accessed October 26, 2010, http://www.skepticalinvestigations.org/New/Observeskeptics/CSICOP/30yearswar1.html

  Paul Kurtz et al., “Objections to Astrology,” Humanist (September/October 1975): 4–6.

  Dennis Rawlins, “Starbaby,” Fate 34, no. 10 (October 1981): 67–98. Accessed October 26, 2010, http://cura.free.fr/xv/14starbb.html

  Michel and Francoise Gauquelin, “The Truth About the Mars Effect on Sports Champions,” Humanist 36, no. 4 (July/August 1976): 44–55.

  G. O. Abell et al., “A Test of the Gauquelin Mars Effect,” Humanist 36, no. 5 (September/October 1976): 40.

  Michel and Francoise Gauquelin, “The Zelen Test of the Mars Effect,” Humanist 37, no. 6 (November/December 1977): 30–35.

  Richard Kammann, “The True Disbelievers: Mars Effect Drives Skeptics to Irrationality,” Zetetic Scholar 10 (1982): 50–65.

  Patrick Curry, “Research on the Mars Effect,” Zetetic Scholar 9 (February/March 1982): 34–52.

  R. Targ and H. Puthoff, “Information Transmission Under Conditions of Sensory Shielding,” Nature 251, no. 18 (October 1974): 602–7.

  James Randi, Flim-Flam! (Prometheus Books, 1982): 133 (lying claim), 143–45 (Geller tests, Pressman controversy).

  Guy Lyon Playfair, “The Witch Hunters,” Geller Effect, 1988, Accessed October 26, 2010, http://www.urigeller.com/geller-effect/tge14.htm

  Jonathan Margolis, Uri Geller: Magician or Mystic? (Orion, 1999).

  Geller has posted the entire book for free at http://www.urigeller.com/books/magician-or-mystic/index.htm, but the relevant chapter was accessed October 26, 2010, http://www.urigeller.com/books/magician-or-mystic/chapter11.htm.

  Paul H. Smith, Reading the Enemy’s Mind (Forge, 2005): 66–67.

  Susan Blackmore, In Search of the Light: Adventures of a Parapsychologist (Prometheus Books, 1986): 163.

  Susan Blackmore, “The Elusive Open Mind: Ten Years of Negative Research in Parapsychology,” Skeptical Inquirer, 11, (1987): 244–55. Author’s note: Some might complain that I subject Blackmore to a particularly critical examination. In that context, I congratulate her on the following article she published in 2010, in which she reveals that she no longer considers religion a “virus of the mind.” In it, she cites some new research that has come to her attention demonstrating that religious people seem happier, perhaps even healthier, and have more children than “secularists.” I’m not sure why she is shocked by this new data when plenty of old data contained similar findings, but I congratulate her on being willing to revise her opinion on such a hot button issue. Susan Blackmore, “Why I No Longer Believe Religion is a Virus of the Mind,” Guardian, September 16, 2010, accessed October 30, 2010, http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2010/sep/16/why-no-longer-believe-religion-virus-mind/print.

  Rick E. Berger, “A Critical Examination of the Blackmore Psi Experiments,” Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 83 (1989): 123–44.

  Chris Carter, “The Research of the Skeptics,” Skeptical Investigations. Also Parapsychology and the Skeptics, 70–71, accessed October 26, 2010, http://www.skepticalinvestigations.org/Anomali/skeptic_research.html

  Susan Blackmore, “A CRITICAL RESPONSE to Rick Berger,” Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 83 (1989): 145–54.

  Sheila Jones, “One Hot-Button Issue Can Rile a Roomful of Skeptics,” Globe and Mail, July 10, 2010, p. F-4.

  Susan Blackmore, “Which Skeptical Position?” Skeptical Inquirer 19, no. 3 (May/June 1995): 26.

  Alex Tsakiris, “Rupert Sheldrake and Richard Wiseman Clash Over Parapsychology Experiments,” Skeptiko, March 8, 2010, http://www.skeptiko.com/rupert-sheldrake-and-richard-wiseman-clash/. Accessed October 26, 2010.

  Also see, Carter, ”Research.”

  Kendrick Frazier, “It’s CSI Now, Not CSICOP,” December 4, 2006. Accessed October 26, 2010. http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/show/its_csi_now_not_csicop/

  Brian Josephson, “Scientists’ Unethical Use of Media for Propaganda Purposes,” Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge University, Fall 2004, accessed October 26, 2010, http://www.tcm.phy.cam.ac.uk/~bdj10/propaganda/

  Guy Lyon Playfair, “The Girl with X-Ray Eyes,” Skeptical Investigations, accessed October 26, 2010, http://skepticalinvestigations.org/Demkinafile/X-Ray.html

  Rupert Sheldrake, “James Randi—A Conjurer Attempts to Debunk Research on Psychic Animals,” accessed October 26, 2010, http://www.sheldrake.org/D&C/controversies/randi.html

  Brandon K. Thorp, “The Sheldrake Kerfuffle,” Swift, blog of the James Randi Educational foundation, accessed October 26, 2010, http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/795-the-sheldrake-kerfluffle.html

  James Randi, “Nessie Innocent, Sheldrake Lecture, Hand Acupressure, More Santa Stuff, and a Good Christian’s Dilemma,” Swift, January 17, 2003, accessed October 26, 2010, http://www.randi.org/jr/011703.html

  Author’s note: The following selections, with some notes from me, contain some of the back-and-forth between Schwartz and Randi.

  James Randi, “How Long Do We Wait,” Swift, April 8, 2005. Author’s note: Here, Randi lists Krippner, in a March 27, 2001 (author’s emphasis) letter to Schwartz’s university, as having “already agreed” to analyze Schwartz’s data, Accessed October 26, 2010, http://www.randi.org/jr/040805how.html

  Gary Schwartz, “A Reply to Randi,” Daily Grail, April 15, 2005, accessed October 26, 2010, http://www.dailygrail.com/Guest-Articles/2005/4/Reply-Randi-Dr-Gary-Schwartz Two months after the letter listing Krippner, Randi says Krippner didn’t agree to participate and this was
only his proposed panel.

  James Randi, “ … More Schwartz!” Swift, May 18, 2001. Accessed January 11, 2011. http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/swift-archives.html

  Michael Schmicker, Best Evidence (Writers Club Press, 2002): 287–88.

  Ridolfo H. Baxter et al., “Social Influences on Paranormal Belief,” Current Research in Social Psychology 15, no. 3 (2010) 33-41. Author’s note: Also includes polling data.

  Frank Newport et al., “Americans’ Belief in Psychic and Paranormal Phenomena Is up Over Last Decade,” Gallup News Service, June 8, 2001.

  David W. Moore, “Three in Four Americans Believe in Paranormal,” Gallup News Service, June 16, 2005.

  Daryl J. Bem, et al., “Does Psi Exist? Replicable Evidence for an Anomalous Process of Information Transfer,” Psychological Bulletin 115, no. , (1994): 4–18.

  Dean Radin, The Conscious Universe (HarperOne, 1997): 55–56.

  Doreen Molloy, Personal reading, January 2010.

  Windbridge Certified Research Mediums, accessed October 26, 2010, http://www.windbridge.org/mediums.htm

  Julie Beischel et al., “Anomalous Information Reception by Research Mediums Demonstrated Using a Novel Triple-Blind Protocol,” EXPLORE: The Journal of Science and Healing 3, no. 1 (2007): 23–27.

  M. Mumford et al., “An Evaluation of Remote Viewing: Research and Applications,” American Institutes for Research, September 29, 1995.

  Patrick Huyghe, “Closing the Dream Factory: Sony Proves That Psychic Powers Are Real,” Fortean Times, October 1998.

  CHAPTER 3: OUT OF THEIR HEADS? OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!

  Roger Penrose, The Emperor’s New Mind, (1989, Oxford Univ. Press): 4 (initial quote), 75–84 (Turing machines, beginning of Gödel’s theorem argument), 138–46 (full Godel’s theorem argument), 516–17 (QM in the brain, photon experiment), 521 (need for a new physics to explain consciousness), 523–581 (the physics of the mind—a brilliant summation of his position).

  Stuart Hameroff, Interview, March 12–14 2009.

  Beyond Belief: Science, Reason, Religion & Survival, conference, November 5, 2006; Hameroff’s presentation can be seen at http://thesciencenetwork.org/programs/beyond-belief-science-religion-reason-and-survival/session–4–1