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Paranormal Beliefs Then and Now

2012; Volume: 14; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

1527-7143

Harvey Richman, Courtney Bell,

Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices

A perusal of current television listings, movie offerings, and internet content suggests that there is no shortage of interest in paranormal phenomena. Based on data from a variety of sources, Smith (2010) concludes that between 73 and 76 percent of people have at least one paranormal belief that is not based in traditional religious belief. The questions behind the current research are these: Should we be concerned with how many people believe, and how strongly they believe, in various paranormal phenomena, and whether levels of belief are rising or falling? We believe the answer to these questions is a resounding yes. The task of investigating paranormal phenomena, and belief in them, has been taken up by psychology. During the late 1800s, the eminent Harvard psychologist, William James, conducted investigations into paranormal phenomena and was influential in the early activities of the American Society for Psychical Research (Irwin & Watt, 2006). Notable also is the work of J. B. Rhine, who joined the psychology faculty of Duke University in 1928 and established a laboratory there to study paranormal phenomena. Although Rhine failed to provide convincing empirical support for the phenomena he investigated, his pioneering work in applying the scientific method and statistical analysis to the investigation of such phenomena is regarded as a step forward. At about the same time that Rhine's negative findings were providing fuel for skeptics, a master magician named Harry Houdini was working to expose spiritualist mediums who used sleight of hand and magicians' tricks to extract money from those desperate to contact their deceased loved ones. There are many modern day skeptics, including many psychologists. Master magician, paranormal debunker, and author James Randi is perhaps the most outspoken modern day skeptic, maintaining a standing offer of $1,000,000 for anyone who can demonstrate paranormal ability under controlled laboratory conditions (James Randi Educational Foundation, 2010). The prize remains unclaimed. Skeptics maintain that there is a costly and sometimes dangerous side to belief in the paranormal. Modern day psychics, like the early spiritualists Houdini so despised, extract large sums of money from grief-stricken individuals desperate to make contact with their departed loved ones (Hines, 2003, Smith 2010). Charismatic faith healers and psychic surgeons, claim the ability to heal the chronically or terminally ill when traditional medicine has failed (Hines, 2003, Randi, 1982). Seriously ill people may be convinced by these healers to throw away their medications, leading to a worsening of symptoms and perhaps even death (Hines, 2003). Psychic surgery and other types of medical quackery have their basis in paranormal belief. Pepper (cited in Hines, 2003) estimated the cost of such treatments to the American public to be $10 billion annually. This figure might be much higher today. There is a place for serious scientific inquiry, but skeptics take issue with research which may be unwarranted, poorly executed, and/or excessively costly. In 1972, the CIA, perhaps in response to reports that the Soviet Union was involved in similar research, contracted first with the prestigious Stanford Research Institute (SRI) and later with another agency to investigate the military potential of viewing, seeing in one's mind, objects at a great distance. Much of the remote viewing work at SRI was carried out by parapsychological/paranormal researchers Targ and Puthoff (Randi, 1982). Smith (2010) reported that the price tag for this remote viewing research, known as Project Stargate, eventually reached $20 million before it was abandoned. In a recent move that surprised, and perhaps dismayed, many in the psychological community, the prestigious Journal of Personality and Social Psychology published an article by noted social psychologist, Daryl Bem, in which he claims to have found empirical support for the existence of precognitive ability (Bem, 2011). …