Why is it that people blurt out " there's no proof!!" whenever someone mentions telekinesis?

Question

or anything having to do with controlling things not connected to our bodies.the past or future have never been proven to exist yet most people thing it exist does it mean they do, time for that instance has never been proven to exist!!!!!!!

Answer 1

Well you can't prove anything outside of mathematics. What is meant is there is no evidence. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. If it helps your time argument, you could consider our understanding of time as simply a model (a very good one) of how we see that aspect of the world.

Answer 2

Hi

People are conditioned to believe in things by their elders and environment. Questioning and proving the unknown can be dangerous in some societies.

As humans, we stick to what we have been taught because it is safe and in some cases a matter of survival. People instinctually have a fear of the unknown therefore they choose to aovid or deny things beyond the norm.

Answer 3

The short answer: Because some people are lazy and they find it easier to shout down challenges to their beliefs rather than engage in serious study required of true skepticism.

Answer 4

Why is it that people blurt out "there's no proof!" whenever I mention the invisible dragon I keep in my garage? Because the burden of proof lies on the person making the claim - THEY must produce evidence to the positive, not demand everyone else produce evidence to the negative. If you were accused of a murder yet there was no witness, no DNA evidence or fingerprints to place you anywhere near the scene of the crime, no motive or connection to the victim, would you think it fair that you be forced to somehow demonstrate your innocence before you could be exonerated?

Answer 5

Short answer:

Because those people are correct that there is no proof, and they also know that improbable extraordinary claims like telekinesis bear a much larger burden of evidence than mundane likely claims. We all experience time passing, but do we experience, measure or scientifically observe objects levitating via mind power, or is it generally accepted in science that the mind can influence random number generators? No.

Long answer:

Science cannot offer absolute proof. The scientific method logically can't give you absolute proof, but it can provide evidence and probabilities. There is limited evidence for telekinesis but so far that limited evidence is in the form of dubious and controversial statistical studies that have not succeeded in convincing many people that were not already convinced before. Much of that evidence comes from meta-analysis (see link), a method which gathers results from many studies and compiles them as if they are one study. This technique is fraught with pitfalls and weaknesses which is one reason for all the controversy and doubt. I am comfortable in stating that there is no _compelling_ evidence for telekinesis based on my studies into the matter. This does not prove that telekinesis cannot exist, but the burden of evidence remains on those who claim it does. I provided a link that will offer a great deal more information on telekinesis and the evidence for it.

Answer 6

I don't know if time can be proved to exist but it's measurable and useful which cannot be said for telekinesis.

Answer 7

Because people,

First, lack of understanding (or choosing not to clearly state) scientific inquiry. Science does not prove anything. Science provides supporting evidence (or fails to provide evidence for but does disprove) for a hypothesis.

Second, confusing the common notion of telekinesis (bending spoons, throwing fire balls, levitating your friend) with the scientific research into telekinesis,(TK) (usually called psychokinesis (PK) in the scientific research literature), that deals with influencing not controlling random number generators, decaying radioactive particles, and thrown dice and not wanting to (or being too lazy to) educate the questioner about the difference.

Third, they support their belief (or interpretation of the evidence) that it can not exist and has never been shown to exist. This is possibly motivated by fear (link below).

In fact it has been demonstrated by numerous and replicated experiments for well over 27 years at odds just barely over chance. What makes the research astonishing is that the barely over chance number remains consistent at staggering odds against chance.

This research has been criticized on both statistical and methodological grounds by disbelievers and every charge so far made has been sufficiently answered.

Fourth, a desire to withhold information that contradicts (or even allows you to possible draw your own conclusion that might contradict) their beliefs.

In the spirit of scientific inquiry and freedom of information I have provided you some links to the extensive scientific research literature on psychokinesis.

I suggest you start with the actual research of the qualified scientist that conduct experiments and publish their results in peer reviewed scientific journals. After that I suggest you read the skeptical editorials (almost never published in peer reviewed science journals) that criticize (usually very poorly) the actual research. Then you can form your own opinion as to if the research supports Psychokinesis.

The YA Priesthood of Psuedoskeptics have been thumbs downing me lately in their attempt to practice censorship (denying people information and answers other than their own) so read quickly.

I guess thumbs downing (the online equivalent of shouting someone down) is far easier than actually addressing the evidence.

Several supporting links below.

Psiexploration

Answer 8

There are lots of things I believe even though I have no proof. What about the history books? I wonder if skeptics believe anything in them. I've never seen telekinesis...and I wouldn't bet my life that it can happen...but I think it's possible. I've been amazed at the things in life I didn't think were possible...that ARE possible.  If we can send humans into outer space....telekinesis seems like it would be easy compared to that.

Answer 9

Maybe because there isn't any.

Answer 10

Because there is NO PROOF.

And besides the absence of proof, there is the fact that there is not even a clue that it could be possible at all, and the somewhat annoying obstacle that science -- the one that gave us things like CD players, computers, lasers, radar, cell phones, rockets and so on -- has laws (that so far have been 100% reliable) that would be VIOLATED if there was such a thing as telekinesy.

So, what should we put our faith into? Mumbo jumbo parapsychologists who have nothing to show for themselves, or science with a perfect track record?

Edit: well, what else do reasonably well informed people believe in that has no proof? Whenever there is no real proof, there is at least some manifestations, something that can be measured, i.e. a proof can be worked on, there is a starting point, a mathematical model, an equation, some consequences that can be measured and analyzed. In the case of telekinesis, there is not even properly monitored events that would cause someone to say "Wow, that is weird, let's study that in more detail", only disillusioned people (or sloppy experimenters) who unknowingly blew air on the object "while concentrating" (and who later would claim that their "mental power" is blocked by a pane of glass or something instead of admitting that blown air was really doing it...) or bona fide fraudsters like Uri Geller.