Science and the Paranormal

It doesn't matter what the subject is, there will always be two schools of thought. And when it comes under the umbrella of the paranormal that's certainly the case. It seems any intelligent scientist who values his credibility, how he/she is perceived in the world of academia with all that it offers and entails, will think more than twice before speaking out in acceptance of any aspects relating to the paranormal. So it is only through a few brave souls who are prepared to speak out (against great odds and often at the peak of their careers) that humanity will have the chance to know a Truth that is our right to enjoy whilst living.

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Professor Dick Bierman of the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands is one scientist who has spoken out. He recently carried out experiments with numerous subjects in an MRI brain imager, and found that when subjects were presented with a randomized sequence of emotional and calming visual stimuli, the responses to the emotional stimuli took place in the brain up to 4 seconds before the subjects actually viewed the stimuli. He also looked at raw data from other laboratories and found similar responses, recorded before the emotional stimuli appeared. In other words the subjects were predicting the future.

He presented these findings to the recent Tucson Conference.

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Professor Brian Josephson, the Nobel Prize winner based at Cambridge University, is another. He was recently featured in 'The New Scientist' in its special "Lone Voices" column which interviews scientists with views that differ from the mainstream. In it he says 'there are a lot of scientists who believe telepathy exists, but they keep quiet about it'. He made headlines 6 years ago when he was one of 6 Nobel Prize winners featured in a booklet and commemorative set of stamps prepared by the Royal Mail to mark the 100th anniversary of the Noble Prize.

'Quantum theory is now being fruitfully combined with theories of information and computation', he says. 'These developments may lead to an explanation of processes still not understood within conventional science, such as telepathy - an area in which Britain is at the forefront of research,' adding 'that some of the strange behaviour of sub-atomic particles might explain much of the paranormal including telepathy, seeing at a distance and psychokinesis.'

He also dares talk of the 'pathological disbelief' in some scientists, whose attitude he sums up by the statement: 'Even if it were true I wouldn't believe it.'

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Thank goodness there are courageous scientists prepared to speak out.