Do skeptics believe that if you believe in the Paranormal, you don't believe in Science?

Question

Sometimes it seems like the skeptics believe that we believe ONLY paranormal things. We weren't born yesterday. We took Science in school. Science is part of the human race. I think there's absolutely no reason they can't walk side by side! What do YOU think?

Answer 1

There is science and then there are things one can not prove with measurement. Some scientists believe in religion and others do not.... one would have to believe in the empirical measured proof of things and the other can believe in two things at the same time. It is an interesting question. I think that many on here, like Peter D, want to believe,  but need more proof than can be offered at present. I admire the thinking.... wanting to finally have proof beyond t he shadow of a doubt to finally come out and say that you know something for a fact.

Answer 2

Scientists everyday prove the existence of God. They also invented the term 'Intelligent Design' to try to explain how everything exists - but when you ask them 'WHO' actually created such 'intelligent designs', they all seem to 'don't know' and refer to God as being the one who may have done it.

*Scientists don't create things - they just investigate and 'mimic' God's creations.

Answer 3

There are scientists today who honor and practice the scientific method, but who are also persuaded that at least some so-called "paranormal" phenomena, such as ESP and near-death experiences are real.  Brian Josephson, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, and Rupert Sheldrake, a prominent plant biologist, are two of many.  Noted scientists in the past were also believers in these topics.  William James, widely regarded as one of the leading founders of the science of psychology in the United States, also founded the American Society for Psychical research, an organization dedicated to researching paranormal phenomena.  Another was biologist Alfred Russell Wallace, co-discoverer of the theory of evolution.   Scientists who use scientific principles to research paranormal subjects are called parapsychologists, and they use scientific methods and tools to make their findings.  There is a whole organization, made up of many card carrying scientists, called the Society for Scientific Exploration, which is open to the examination of these phenomena.  The bottom line is this:  There is no reason why science and parapsychology can't coexist.

Answer 4

No, not necessarily. They are not mutually exclusive. A scientist accepts scientific results based on the evidence, but I think that most scientists who believe in the paranormal base their paranormal belief not on evidence but simply on faith. Religious belief is something that can be found in everybody, from PhD physicists on down. You can find trends in religious belief, of course, but the main point is that you can find many scientists who believe in a god that answers prayer (according to a recent poll, see Nature 386, 435-436 (1997)), and you can be very sure it's not because they've done experiments on it. It's a matter of faith. In the same way, you can have scientists believing in other paranormal claims based on faith.

Also, it should be pointed out that a paranormal claim is usually very difficult or impossible to disprove. One can come up with an airtight scientific explanation for some observation, but this does not logically preclude someone from saying, "yes, I suppose that might happen sometimes, but in this case a ghost did it".  While the bearer of this claim bears the burden of proof, the scientist can't prove this paranormal claim is wrong, either.  So, the paranormal and science are not quite side-by-side, but belief in the paranormal and acceptance of scientific results can co-exist.

Answer 5

As it turns out, by the nature of the beast, most things one would classify as paranormal are supernatural.  The paranormal, per se, is not necessarily out of the realm of scientific inquiry.  But some things are clearly supernatural and do not warrant serious consideration until they are framed in a rational, investigable way.

As one person said, there have been many scientists who have gone off the deep end.  It has turned out to the discredit of all of them for two reasons.  Almost none of them used acceptable methods of investigation and verification.  Arrogantly they assumed they could just make the most important discovery in history and not have to follow any of the rules they would insist on in their own areas of expertise.  Secondly, many of the people who conned them were exposed later.  Lack of academic discipline seems to be symptomatic of psi research.  Some of the research I have read about is nothing less than ludicrous.  Most 8th graders would be appalled by the gullibility and recklessness of some researchers.  And we're talking about some famous people here.

Deenie, sorry, but the parade of reputable scientists who have gone off the deep end is no cause for optimism.  All of them failed.  All of them, and often to their humiliation.  A French scientist named Blondlot committed suicide when he realized what he had done to his career.

One thing I should add on behalf of those scientists who screwed up so badly.  They are too trusting.  I have seen this happen with my own eyes.  They are used to working with a world that doesn't cheat and lie.  That's why people like Randi are so valuable.  He would almost certainly be able to conduct a better paranormal investigation than almost any scientist, (despite his humble disclaimer that he is not a scientist and does not pretend to reveal scientific truths.  He really is able to do it very well.)

Answer 6

Skeptics only believe in not believing!

Answer 7

Consciousness is paranormal. That can't be explained by the standard model of the universe. A machine exists in the physical world that interacts with it (called a brain), but no one know how this works and what form the consciousness takes. Many religious types take the standpoint it a form of energy and is therefore eternal. There is no argument that can be made that rules out that consciousness isn't a form of energy existing in a kind of space under a set of rules. So maybe science can explain it but currently, if you don't believe in the paranormal and only science, then you are dead to the world.

Answer 8

YEA for RviewO !!! Thanks so much!! There's HOPE!!

Answer 9

Parapsychology is a minor blip in the world of Science.After years and years of study.There are virtually no results.Maybe  a study here and there.An anomaly not yet explained an out of place statistic.Nothing you can see for yourself though.No one is moving objects with their mind.If they are they aren't showing it to anyone.How are Skeptics to blame for that?Until Parapsychologists can put something on the table.(They've had plenty of time to do it).They will remain an ugly step-sister.

Answer 10

Perhaps what your confusion is lies here. There is absolutely no shred of evidence to support paranormal claims, thus it is not held as a scienctific discipline, nor will it ever be.

If there were some form of convincing evidence of the existance of any aspect of the paranormal, then it would no longer be called "Paranormal". It would be normal, and science would study it and understand it.

No scientist is going to invest enormous amounts of money and time to study something that someone just made up to sell books, or to con people out of thier money. And certainly if the cause of such paranormal activity is known to be of natural origin, its not worth investigating.

Why investigate noises in the attick if you are smart enough to figure out immediatly that the boards are expanding and contracting when the temperature changes? It would be a waste of time. Why look for a ghost if you know there isnt one there? Its not logical.

Answer 11

I agree. Maybe science and the paranormal are not so different. When you think of string theory and all that that implies everything exists at the same time on a sub atomic level we are all connected with the oneness of the universe...

Answer 12

Paranormal means outside of normal or outside of science.

You can't believe in both.

Answer 13

yup, and because they want it all and they want it their way. Kind of reminds one of politicians, Huh?

Answer 14

All of the full members of the Parapsychological Association hold doctoral level degrees. Most members hold degrees in traditional sciences like medicine, physics, psychology, engineering, etc. very few have degrees in parapsychology and those that do usually have masters degree in a traditional science (like experimental psychology) that they built on in their parapsychology doctorates.

The Parapsychological Association was elected as an affiliate of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1969 by a vote of 6 to 1.

Most skeptics do not conduct research but only critique the  work of scientist that do the actual work. Parapsychology is perhaps the only field where people with no education or training in the field seem to believe that they are qualified to critique the research of others. This why you rarely see skeptics published in peer reviewed journals. Just like a biologist is not qualified to critique to work of a physicist (and you never see a biologist rebuttal to a physics experiment in a peer reviewed journal) most skeptics are not qualified to review experiments in parapsychology or in the respective field of research. For instance Rupert Sheldrake conducting ESP experiments on animals as a biologist is critically evaluated by people with no training in biology or parapsychology or any other research experience.

Parapsychology not only walks by the side of science it is a field of science.

Please understand I believe everyone has the right to their opinions and you can be convinced by the evidence or not but I do think it helps to have some understanding of how it is collected and evaluated if you wish to present yourself as an authority. Otherwise it is all just opinion that everyone is entitled to have.

Answer 15

Pretty much, although there are some paranormal investigators who are very skeptical, they try to rule out some occurrences such as objects moving or hot or cold spots with simplistic explanations.