Pseudoscience and the Paranormal PDF
Preview Pseudoscience and the Paranormal
Table of Contents Title Page Copyright Page Dedication PREFACE CHAPTER 1 - THE NATURE OF PSEUDOSCIENCE THE PARANORMAL SCIENTIFIC MISTAKES: N RAYS, POLYWATER,AND COLD FUSION CONSPIRACY THEORIES WHY STUDY PSEUDOSCIENTIFIC CLAIMS? CHAPTER 2 - PSYCHICS AND PSYCHIC PHENOMENA SPIRITUALISM PSYCHIC READINGS PSYCHIC PREDICTIONS PSYCHIC CRIME DETECTION TED SERIOS’S THOUGHT PICTURES PROPHETIC DREAMS AND HUNCHES DEMONIC POSSESSION AND NEUROPATHOLOGY CHAPTER 3 - LIFE AFTER DEATH GHOSTS AND POLTERGEISTS NEAR-DEATH AND OUT-OF-BODY EXPERIENCES REINCARNATION CHAPTER 4 - LABORATORY PARAPSYCHOLOGY THE NATURE OF THE EVIDENCE EARLY RESEARCH:J. B. RHINE AND S.C. SOAL THE URI GELLER EPISODE REMOTE VIEWING GANZFELD STUDIES RANDOM EVENTS AND REACTION TIME STUDIES PSI THEORY AND BELIEF CHAPTER 5 - PSEUDOPSYCHOLOGY FREUDIAN THEORY CLINICAL APPLICATIONS OF PSYCHOANALYSIS NEUROBIOLOGY AND MENTAL DISORDERS THE FUTURE OF PSYCHOANALYSIS THE PSYCHOLOGY OF JUNG HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY CHAPTER 6 - ASTROLOGY THE LUNAR EFFECT, AND BIORHYTHM ASTROLOGY AND ASTRONOMY TESTING ASTROLOGICAL PREDICTIONS MOON MADNESS BIORHYTHM THEORY CHAPTER 7 - UFOS I: CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE FIRST KIND THE CONSTRUCTIVE NATURE OF HUMAN PERCEPTION CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE FIRST KIND CHAPTER 8 - UFOS II: PHOTOGRAPHS, Physical EVIDENCE, AND ADDUCTIONS PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE PHYSICAL EVIDENCE THE TUNGUSKA EVENT CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND AND ALIEN ABDUCTIONS THE END OF THE WORLD AND THE HOLLOW EARTH THE GREAT UFO COVER-UP THE ROLE OF THE MEDIA CHAPTER 9 - ANCIENT ASTRONAUTS, COSMIC COLLISIONS, AND THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE ANCIENT ASTRONAUTS PYRAMID POWER VON DANIKEN IN PERU THE CASE OF THE DOGON THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE IMMANUEL VELIKOVSKY AND COSMIC COLLISIONS CHAPTER 10 - FAITH HEALING THE NATURE OF DISEASE FAITH HEALERS’ TECHNIQUES PSYCHIC SURGERY THE DANGERS OF FAITH HEALING THE ROLE OF SHRINES CHAPTER 11 - “ALTERNATIVE” MEDICINE DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN “ALTERNATIVE” AND SCIENTIFIC MEDICINE HOMEOPATHY THERAPEUTIC TOUCH HERBAL REMEDIES OTHER “ALTERNATIVE” TREATMENTS CHAPTER 12 - COLLECTIVE DELUSION? MASS HYSTERIA? AND ENVIRONNENTAL HEALTH SCARES ASBESTOS MICROWAVES AND ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS PCBs-A CASE OF ENVIRONMENTAL MASS HYSTERIA SILICONE BREAST IMPLANTS AND CONNECTIVE TISSUE DISEASE CHAPTER 13 - SPECIAL TOPICS IN PSEUDOSCIENCE AUTISM AND FACILITATED COMMUNICATION CREATIONISM CRYPTOZOOLOGY DOWSING AND THE MAGIC PENDULUM FIREWALKING GRAPHOLOGY KIRLIAN PHOTOGRAPHY POLYGRAPHY THE SHROUD OF TURIN APPENDIX - SKEPTICAL WEB SITES BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX Published 2003 by Prometheus Books Pseudoscience and the Paranormal. Copyright © 2003 by Terence Hines. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, digital, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or conveyed via the Internet or a Web site without prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Inquiries should be addressed to Prometheus Books 59 John Glenn Drive Amherst, New York 14228-2197 VOICE: 716-691-0133, ext. 207 FAX: 716-564-2711 WWW.PROMETHEUSBOOKS.COM 07 06 05 5 4 3 2 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hines, Terence. Pseudoscience and the paranormal / Terence Hines.—2nd ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and indexes. ISBN 1-57392-979-4 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Parapsychology. 2. Occultism. 3. Unidentified flying objects. I. Title. BF1042 .H55 2002 133—dc21 2002068086 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper This book is dedicated with love to my daughter Clare Rose Hines, who brings me more joy than I could ever have imagined; her mother, Mary Ruth Dolson; and her grandparents, Jessie Rose Stevens Dolson (1935-1997) and Roger J. Dolson Sr. (1932-2003) PREFACE The first edition of Pseudoscience and the Paranormal appeared in 1988. Much has changed in the area of paranormal claims and beliefs since then, but much has also remained the same. To reflect this, two new chapters have been added to the present book. One chapter covers “alternative” medicine and replaces that on health and nutrition quackery from the 1988 book. Chapter 12 covers the actual science of several of the various hysterical responses that have broken out over alleged environmental health hazards such as power lines, PCBs and cell phone radiation. The chapter previously titled “Psychoanalysis” has been renamed “Pseudopsychology” to reflect the fact that psychoanalysis is far from the only quack psychotherapy out there. The other chapters have been updated and expanded as needed. As in the 1988 book, I have heavily referenced the text so that readers who would like to read more on a particular topic will be able to find the relevant primary sources with ease. As with any book, this was not a project I completed alone. I would like to thank numerous friends and colleagues who helped in many ways, among them by answering questions and tracking down obscure publications. The Interlibrary Loan staff at the Mortola Library on Pace University’s Pleasantville, New York, campus was especially helpful in tracking down often obscure articles. Of course, any errors are mine alone. Terence Hines CHAPTER 1 THE NATURE OF PSEUDOSCIENCE What is pseudoscience? It’s difficult to come up with a strict definition. In the real world things are not clearly delineated but surrounded by gray areas that doom any hard definition. As the term implies, a pseudoscience is a doctrine or belief system that pretends to be a science. What distinguishes pseudoscience from real science? Radner and Radner (1982) and MacRobert (1986) have discussed criteria for separating real science from pseudoscience and for helping to decide whether a new claim is pseudoscientific. The most common characteristic of a pseudoscience is the nonfalsifiable or irrefutable hypothesis. This is a hypothesis against which there can be no evidence—that is, no evidence can show the hypothesis to be wrong. It might at first seem that such a hypothesis must be true, but a bit of reflection and several examples will demonstrate just the opposite. Consider the following hypothesis: “I, Terence Michael Hines, am God incarnate, and I created the universe thirty seconds ago.” Now, you probably don’t believe this hypothesis, but how would you go about disproving it? You could argue, “You say you created the universe thirty seconds ago, but I have memories from years ago. So, you’re not God.” But I reply, “When I created the universe, I created everyone complete with memories.” We could go on like this for some time and you would never be able to prove that I’m not God. Nonetheless, this hypothesis is clearly absurd! Creationists, who believe that the biblical story of creation is literal truth, often adopt a similar irrefutable hypothesis. They claim that the world was created less than ten thousand years ago. As will be seen in chapter 13, vast amounts of physical evidence clearly refute this claim. All one has to do is point to something older than ten thousand years. Backed into a corner by such evidence, creationists often rephrase the creationist hypothesis in an irrefutable form. They explain the clear geological and fossil evidence that dates back millions of years by claiming that God put that evidence there to test our faith. An alternative version is that the evidence was manufactured by Satan to tempt us from the true path of redemption. No evidence can refute either of these
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