Science v The Paranormal
Posted by cormac on June 18th, 2009This is an interesting article from The Examiner:
Bunk. Pseudo science. Garbage research. These are just a few of the many colorful names and phrases that get tossed at people in the field of paranormal studies. The offenders are plentiful in the scientific community, and it has unfortunately been ongoing for years. For whatever reason, studying the paranormal seems to really get under the skin of many scientists. Since the first seance was held by gaslight, men and women in lab coats have been calling for our heads. Admittedly, in many cases they have been right. The popular psychics and mediums of those days, and even now, are mostly, if not all, frauds and scam artists. But when the playing field is moved from this realm and into the world of personal experience, I feel it crosses a line. The fact is, for many years and in many cultures, strange things have been reported by rational and intelligent people. Everything from the apparition of a deceased loved one to Bigfoot to UFOs have been witnessed and documented time and time again. The scientists say it is impossible. There are no such thing as ghosts and there is no giant ape creature wandering the wooded areas of the Pacific Northwest. We are the only intelligent life form. Us. Earthlings. But what if they’re wrong? Scientists say that ghosts and the paranormal cannot be proven legitimate because instances of their existence cannot be recreated in a laboratory. First of all, paranormal experiences are not a constant. It is not like adding one part oxygen to two parts hydrogen to create water. There are no formulas or chemical compounds to balance out. Secondly, and even more important to this argument, is the fact that the inability to recreate an experience in a controlled setting is not proof of its nonexistence. Simply put, just because I cannot prove to you that something happened, doesn’t mean it did not. Think of the innumerable pieces of our biology that make up the human body. Our skin, our blood, our heart, and our brain, for instance. Under controlled settings in labs the world over, scientists have succeeded in creating likenesses to certain parts of our anatomy. Pacemakers, artificial limbs, and much more have granted some people a better quality of life. However, try as they might to recreate the human heart itself or to faithfully reproduce living tissue, they have failed. Does this mean our hearts and skin do not exist? Are they fallacies of our collective imaginations because they cannot be recreated in a lab using chemicals and test tubes?
good article but as we know this topic will go on and on,,
I liked this article, everything that was said i agreed with. How many people throughout the world believe in God but how many have actually seen him……….