tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16158865.post645445292006028329..comments2024-01-26T00:50:50.752-08:00Comments on Entangled Minds: Two recommended booksDean Radinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131263574182645280noreply@blogger.comBlogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16158865.post-27677616190911597422009-06-01T08:24:25.755-07:002009-06-01T08:24:25.755-07:00I would add numerology most definitely to your lis...I would add numerology most definitely to your list. There are so many advantages: it's numerical and lends itself to computer analysis; it can be monitored in terms of discrete categories such as income or wealth, happiness, health, or psychological traits; and can be correlated with factors such as birth names or birth path.<br /><br />The most important part is that any particular system of numerology is in principle falsifiable.<br /><br />Names are known to be unusually statistically significant in non-obvious ways. Check out this study summary here:<br /><br />http://www.energybodyways.com/blog/names-highest-paid-executives/<br /><br />There is a link therein to the full study. It shows that common names with no real rationale, even though equally distributed in the population, such as James, don't have the same representation as Steve, Donald, or Richard among top CEO's.<br /><br />The only problem with numerology is which system to follow, what to correlate it with, and of course doing the work and getting the funding. <br /><br />Some little known systems of numerology are said to be ancient and scientific, are in theory falsifiable, and very mathematical (such as Yantric numerology).Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07672954476071211697noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16158865.post-48261681572284713352009-05-30T11:26:57.377-07:002009-05-30T11:26:57.377-07:00"If plain old vanilla psi provides us with an abil...<I>"If plain old vanilla psi provides us with an ability to gain information about virtually anything, independent of the usual constraints of space and time, then in principle that same ability can provide all of the evidence used in arguments for survival (possibly excluding physical effects, as that type of evidence is less certain in my view)."<br /><br /></I>One form of evidence of survival is that the characteristics of the communication through trance mediums vary with the communicator independently of who the sitters are. Some spirits are never good at communicating, some are better at communicating names than other spirits. During otherwise successful sittings a spirit will come through that has trouble communicating. Spirits have trouble communicating for the first few times but increase in proficiency with practice. Communicators usually seem to be confused for the first few days after the death of the person they claim to be. Sometimes stray thoughts seem to be communicated through the trance medium. These thoughts are always from the spirits as if they are having difficulty with the communication mechanism and transmitting private thoughts inadvertently. These thoughts are of subjects that would be of concern to the spirit but not the sitter or medium. Spirits of young children recently deceased seem to have clearer memories of early childhood than spirits of those who died in childhood many years previously. Spirits of children recently deceased communicate more clearly than spirits of adults recently deceased. <br /><br />I discuss this in more detail on my blog:<br /><br /><A HREF="http://ncu9nc.blogspot.com/2009/05/further-record-of-observations-of.html" REL="nofollow"><br />http://ncu9nc.blogspot.com/2009/05/further-record-of-observations-of.html<br /><br /></A>It is based on Richard Hodgson's 1898 report in the Proceedings of the SPR:<br /><br /><A HREF="http://books.google.com/books?id=5dTNAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA284&dq=editions:LCCN09022954&lr=&output=html" REL="nofollow"><br />http://books.google.com/books?id=5dTNAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA284&dq=editions:LCCN09022954&lr=&output=html<br /><br /></A>anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09701008088467238503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16158865.post-73130468398421895142009-05-25T14:23:50.304-07:002009-05-25T14:23:50.304-07:00My comment was responding to the idea that a unive...My comment was responding to the idea that a university would self-fund a research program on survival. That has never occurred anywhere, to my knowledge. Private funds donated to universities for this purpose is another matter. <br /><br />Even so, the U Penn case just adds to the sorry story of funds donated to other universities, like Stanford and Harvard, which were specifically provided for psychical research. All of those funds were eventually usurped by psychology departments for more conventional studies. In most or perhaps all of these cases, shifting of funds away from the donor's wishes was illegal, but nevertheless it happened.<br /><br />The only remaining academic endowment I'm aware of (in the United States) that is focused on survival research is the Division of Personality Studies at the University of Virginia, which is still going strong. <br /><br />Academic support for various forms of psi research in the UK is far better than in the US.Dean Radinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16131263574182645280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16158865.post-7372788257964978752009-05-25T05:48:34.666-07:002009-05-25T05:48:34.666-07:00" I'm not aware of any university, anywhere in the...<I>" I'm not aware of any university, anywhere in the world, or at any time in history, that has funded mediumship research."</I><A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seybert_Commission" REL="nofollow"><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seybert_Commission<br /></A><I>The Seybert Commission was a group of faculty at the University of Pennsylvania who in 1884-1887 investigated a number of respected spiritualist mediums, uncovering fraud or <B>suspected fraud</B> in every case that they examined.<br />...<br />An ardent believer in Spiritualism, Henry Seybert left in his will funds for the establishment of an endowed chair in Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania. As a condition to this bequest, he required that the University set up a commission to investigate "all systems of Morals, Religion, or Philosophy which assume to represent the Truth, and particularly of Modern Spiritualism."<br /><br /><br /></I>The uncovered suspected fraud? <br /><br />Based in my understanding of the history of the period, there were frauds and genuine mediums at that time. I have to wonder if they really sought out genuine mediums or were objective or competent in their investigation.<br /><br /><br />From Ghost Hunters by Deborah Blum<br /><br /><I>IN THE SPRING OF 1857, a tired and cranky team of scientists made its<br />way from Harvard University to upstate New York, determined to try yet<br />again to rub some of the superstition out of modern culture.<br /><br />They'd been sent to investigate claims that two sons of a Buffalo police<br />officer were able to summon spirits into a theatrical performance.<br /><br />... the<br />editor of the Boston Courier offered $500 to any medium who could really<br />produce spirit phenomena. His one condition was the results had to be<br />verified by Harvard University. The university administrators preferred to<br />take the higher road of scoffing at such productions. But they also believed<br />that if some reputable professors took on the job, spiritualism could be easily<br />exposed and, they hoped, eliminated. Over the protests of the designated<br />investigators, Harvard's president sent his professors to Buffalo.</I>anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09701008088467238503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16158865.post-30782373146892351902009-05-24T21:40:23.238-07:002009-05-24T21:40:23.238-07:00> I'm sure the university would be happy to...> I'm sure the university would be happy to support somebody <br /><br />If only it were so. I'm not aware of any university, anywhere in the world, or at any time in history, that has funded mediumship research. Even when private donors have offered funds, fewer than a handful of universities have been willing to accept those funds. <br /><br />The strength of the taboo against studying these questions cannot be overstated.Dean Radinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16131263574182645280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16158865.post-54366429706223638992009-05-24T19:08:55.486-07:002009-05-24T19:08:55.486-07:00What if you received some support/funding and/or w...What if you received some support/funding and/or worked with the University of Arizona? <br /><br />I'm sure the university would be happy to support somebody other than Bieschel and Schwartz for the purpose of having independent replication (or the purpose of *attempting* independent replication)<br /><br />If you replicated their triple blind findings, then it would become even harder for people to allege fraud. That would be a great thing. <br /><br />- PatPaprika https://www.blogger.com/profile/01650640416865438605noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16158865.post-10098886635755824952009-05-24T12:08:50.747-07:002009-05-24T12:08:50.747-07:00> Dean, do you think you'd ever want to ......> Dean, do you think you'd ever want to ...<br /><br />There are many things I'd like to do, including experiments with mediums. <br /><br />But society is conflicted when it comes to studying controversial or taboo topics, so funding is scarce to nonexistent and thus precious little can be done.Dean Radinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16131263574182645280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16158865.post-83178277406959598762009-05-24T11:53:28.546-07:002009-05-24T11:53:28.546-07:00Dean, do you think you'd ever want to try replicat...Dean, do you think you'd ever want to try replicating the Bieschel and Schwartz triple-blind study?Paprika https://www.blogger.com/profile/01650640416865438605noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16158865.post-52958920375896547452009-05-13T06:57:00.000-07:002009-05-13T06:57:00.000-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Paprika https://www.blogger.com/profile/01650640416865438605noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16158865.post-52887105990416369302009-05-12T13:22:00.000-07:002009-05-12T13:22:00.000-07:00I've just published (with the author's permission)...I've just published (with the author's permission) a very long paper by Neal Grossman on super-ESP:<br /><br />http://subversivethinking.blogspot.com/2009/05/neal-grossman-on-super-esp-or-super-psi.html<br /><br />It has the format of a dialogue between Grossman and Plato and Socrates.<br /><br />This paper has not been available online until now.<br /><br />Much food for thought in that paper.<br /><br />Enjoy.Jimehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12817742150756784876noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16158865.post-23772410903512039752009-05-11T13:38:00.000-07:002009-05-11T13:38:00.000-07:00On Tart's book (The end of materialism)I've read a...<B>On Tart's book (The end of materialism)</B>I've read about on third of it now and find it to be both good and interesting.<br /><br />I just finished reading Tart's opinion on the quantum take on psi (he see,s to be mildly skeptical of it). Although I agree with him when it comes to always putting the data first, I do think we have to dabble with quantum mechanics. I do not think this explains away or reduces anything about our minds or psi. The quantum universe, which is the best model we have so far, is not causally closed and needs some additional input to be able to exist as real (not just potential). In fact, aspects of the mind like intention and attention, may just be the additional processes that are not described in the physical universe (or derives from it) but are needed for it to exist (as Stapp argues well for without ever mentioning psi). We then end up with a psycho-physical universe, which could just as well be called a spiritual-physical universe.<br /><br />Dean, have you talked to Tart about this? I would interpret your quantum experiment (and also the GCP) as pointing to just these additional spiritual aspects of our reality, and how they interact with abstract quantum level to create the "real" world we live in. <br /><br />TorTorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00832780160218654422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16158865.post-78719585543056504232009-05-11T13:34:00.000-07:002009-05-11T13:34:00.000-07:00I think survival is a more convincing explanation ...I think survival is a more convincing explanation than super-psi when you consider all the evidence but it is interesting to study the history of psychical research because the super-psi hypothesis did make sense up to a certain point.<br /><br />The early psychical researchers had reason to believe that the unconscious mind could create "personalities" and that the unconscious had psychic powers. They knew of multiple personality disorders and they knew that under hypnosis people could be induced to invent personalities. They knew telepathy was real. They knew that crisis appiritions occured for living people in danger and not just for people near death.<br /><br />Therefore the early psychical researchers had ample reason to believe that trance mediumship might be explained by the medium creating alternate personalities and using psychic powers like telepathy to obtain information about deceased people.<br /><br />Poltergeist phenomena, in some cases, seems to be associated with a living person. This, along with what is known about crisis appiritions, seemes to suggest that that a living person could be responsible for physical mediumship including materialization mediumship.<br /><br />When the early psychical researchers studied a medium like Mrs. Piper who in trance, could tell of things she would not be able to know in a normal state of consciousness, they knew there was some psychic phenomena occuring. When they found on certain occasions the "spirit" would only tell things correctly that were known to the sitters, this seemed to suggest the medium was using telepathy and generating personalities herself. But sometimes the medium would be able to tell of things unknown to the sitters, so they wondered if in those cases the medium was getting things telepathically from people outside the room somewhere else in the world. <br /><br />Eventually Richard Hodgson, who was the main investigator of Mrs. Piper, came to believe in survival. The best instances of Mrs. Piper's mediumship seemed to him to be genuine suriving personalities because of so many little touches that to accept they were due to the unconscious mind of the medium seemed to stretch credulity too far to. These touches extended beyond simply characteristics, mannerisms and patterns of speech of the individual spirits. It included misunderstandings, and confusions, of the type you get when you are interacting with real people. In addition, the control spirits for Mrs. Piper changed over time and the later ones were better at explaining the difficulties spirits experienced communicating through a medium, explaining some of the seeming failures of mediumship, and were better able to control the sittings to produce more accuracy in the readings.<br /><br /><br />More information about the mediumship of Mrs. Piper can be found in:<br /><br />Michael Sage: "Mrs. Piper & the Society for Psychical Research" <br /><A HREF="http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/19376" REL="nofollow"><br />http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/19376<br /><br /></A>A FURTHER RECORD OF OBSERVATIONS OF CERTAIN PHENOMENA OF TRANCE by Richard Hodgson L.L.D. Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research Vol. XIII. 1898, p 284 - 582 <br /><A HREF="http://books.google.com/books?id=5dTNAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA284&dq=editions:LCCN09022954&lr=&output=html" REL="nofollow"><br />http://books.google.com/books?id=5dTNAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA284&dq=editions:LCCN09022954&lr=&output=html<br /><br /></A>Later evidence from the cross correspondences, reincarnations studies, NDE's and other phenomena seem to me to make the survival hypothesis much more reasonable than super-psi.<br /><br />However, I find the history of psychical research facinating. In its early days, it was the first time that scientists started to examine whether or not psychic abilities were real. They had no previous work to start from. They began by looking at basic phenomena like telepathy and mesmerism. They collected anecdotes of apparitions. In time they worked their way up to the question of survival of consciousness. The personalities involved in early psychical research included Nobel prize winning scientists such as the Marie Curie, Pierre Curie, Charles Richet, John William Strutt, and other brilliant scientist like Sir William Crookes, and Sir Oliver Lodge, and leading psychologists like William James and Frederic Myers. To me it seems like it was a unique time in history, in a way similar to the time when the US was formed by the founding fathers. A group of highly intelligent people were, by good fortune, in the right place at the right time to do something unique in history.anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09701008088467238503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16158865.post-19697168911976710462009-05-11T09:18:00.000-07:002009-05-11T09:18:00.000-07:00"We know a little about what is possible via consc...<I>"We know a little about what is possible via conscious psi. With unconscious psi I expect that we are capable of far more. If "deep mind" is not tightly located within individual bodies, and separation is an illusion (which is in general what I think psi implies), then I don't see why an appropriately talented person could intentionally embody another personality and "become" them sufficiently to convince others that they are, or at least are in touch, with that personality."<br /><br /></I>What does it mean to embody another personality?<br /><br />Ian Stevenson distinguishes between knowledge "that" and knowledge "how" in this article:<br /><br /><br />Survival or Super-Psi?: Interchange Responses <br /><A HREF="http://www.scientificexploration.org/journal/jse_06_2_braude.pdf" REL="nofollow"><br />http://www.scientificexploration.org/journal/jse_06_2_braude.pdf<br /><br /></A>I think he is saying psi can give you knowledge about something but not necessarily a learned skill. You might be able to use psi to give the music notation for a symphony, but psi won't help you play first violin.<br /><br />Do you have any thoughts on that question?<br /><br />One might consider xenoglossy evidence of survival if a medium, or child remembering a past life, demonstrated skill using a language they otherwise had no opportunity to learn.<br /><br />Other examples might be playing musical instruments as D.D. Home was reported to do by Crookes:<br /><br />Researches into the Phenomena of Spiritualism<br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.survivalafterdeath.org.uk/books/crookes/researches/contents.htm" REL="nofollow"><br />http://www.survivalafterdeath.org.uk/books/crookes/researches/contents.htm<br /><br /></A>Thanks,anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09701008088467238503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16158865.post-11791354962706426172009-05-11T03:15:00.000-07:002009-05-11T03:15:00.000-07:00> I'll have to look up Stanford's PMIR ...> I'll have to look up Stanford's PMIR model. Are there any on-line references you recommend?<br /><br /><br />Unfortunately I can't find any online papers on his model. If you can get hold of them, the original paper is:<br /><br />Stanford, R.G. An experimentally testable model for spontaneous psi events. I. Extrasensory events. Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, Jan 1974, p34-58.<br /><br />And a later one:<br /><br />Stanford, R.G. Toward reinterpreting psi events. JASPR, July 1978, p197-215Dave Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03182481968584866354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16158865.post-27584474534744893922009-05-10T12:08:00.000-07:002009-05-10T12:08:00.000-07:00The super-psi vs. the survivalist interpretation o...The super-psi vs. the survivalist interpretation of the data is an interesting debate.<br /><br />My current opinion is that, regarding some cases of afterlife evidence, the super-psi hypothesis seems to be very non-parsimonious, in the sense we have to assume many ad hoc ideas to make it work, when the survival interpretation account for it in a simpler way.<br /><br />As an example, let's see the cases of so-called materialization mediumship.<br /><br />For the purposes of this example, let's assume the data is real (i.e no fraudulent or product of trickery).<br /><br />In such case, it seems very hard to explain the following evidence (facts) with super-psi:<br /><br />1)The spirit has a physical (ectoplasmic) body.<br /><br />2)His physical body (when materialized) is very similar to the body on earth.<br /><br />3)It has the same personality traits and memories that the supposed real personality on earth<br /><br />4)Some of the information given by him is ignored by the medium and the assistents to the séances (but known by the deceased).<br /><br />5)The spirit has intelligent answers to the questions being asked. This is not an static answer, but a normal conversation for several minutes. <br /><br />All the above facts (provided we accept them) are consistent with the idea that we're actually talking with a real person (personality), the same personality of the deceased. Hence, with the person who has survived death. <br /><br />Can the above facts be explained by super-psi? It's possible, but you will have to pose several ad hoc scenarios to make it work. You'll have tu multiply your conjetures to give it plausibility. <br /><br />For example, when you talk by phone with a friend, you recognize him because 1)He has the same voice of your friend; 2)His personality is the same; 3)He says to you things that only your friend knows; 4)He gives you information previously discussed with him in the real life, that make sense for your, etc.<br /><br />The above facts strongly suggest the person on the phone is actually your friend (this is the simpler and parsimonious explanation, and the one we take it in our daily lives), not an actor; or a product of your psi powers; or of your imagination, or implants by aliens. (Such interpretations aren't impossible, after all, maybe it was only a product of your imagination... or an experiment by aliens; but the point is the they are very improbable for account to the above facts in a parsimonious manner) <br /><br />In my opinion, the existence of psi effects in cases of afterlife data is not a reason to think the whole phenomenon is a product of psi. Instead, I think spirits (when not limited to a physical body) have better psi-like abilities. And this explain why we see some psi manifestations on cases suggestive of an afterlife.<br /><br />I know the problem is more complex and sophisticated, but my idea is that is hard to argue that super-psi is more parsimonious than the survival hypothesis to account for the facts and data supporting the afterlife interpretation.<br /><br />Also, in the cases where psi seems to be more parsimonious, it often doesn't account for all the relevant facts. And it is another argument against super-psi.<br /><br />I agree with Titus Rivas when he says, about reincarnation evidence "<B>Similarly, although ESP appears to be a more parsimonious hypothesis, it doesn't satisfactorily explain those cases that defy normal hypotheses. In contrast, reincarnation does fulfill both conditions. Finally, the author mentions some topics for further research, which go beyond a mere demonstration of reincarnation</B>"<br /><br />http://www.geocities.com/athanasiafoundation/reincarnationresearch.html<br /><br />By the way, I wouldn't rely too much in NDEs to support the afterlife interpretation, since it's open to some objections mentioned by Dean and other researchers. <br /><br />I'm not saying NDEs don't support the afterlife; only that maybe, to convince supporters of super-psi, we should use a more strong type of evidence that put the super-psi hypothesis against a corner (making it improbable).<br /><br />Super-psi is a good theoretical possibility worth of considering for the sake of an in-depth examination of the problem; but it is not, in my opinion, the best explanation for the <B>best</B> evidence of an afterlife.Zetetic_chickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06520593161180787019noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16158865.post-70072893109675940072009-05-09T17:11:00.000-07:002009-05-09T17:11:00.000-07:00""Dying" can certainly be viewed as a sub-category...<I>""Dying" can certainly be viewed as a sub-category of "altered", but if psi is a brain function then we shouldn't expect a dying brain to increase brain capacities."<br /><br /></I>Hi Patrick,<br /><br />There is a well regarded theory, among those who believe that consciousness is non-physical, that one of the purposes of the brain is not to generate consciousness but to restrict it.<br /><br />In that case, if you get rid of the brain (ie if you die) you have expanded (psychic, "cosmic") consciousness beyond even what living psychics experience. <br /><br />This is often referred to as the filter model where the brain filters some aspects of consciousness like a colored glass can filter out some wavelengths of light.<br /><br />What passes through the filter comprises the conscious mind.<br /><br />Restricting consciousness probably has some survival value. If a person had access to all the information in the universe at any time in the past or future, it might be difficult to concentrate on surviving here and now.<br /><br />One of the early discussions of this model of consciousness can be found in the introduction to <B>"Human Personality and its Survival of Bodily Death"<br /></B> by Frederic William Henry Myers <br /><br /><A HREF="http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=title%3A%28human%20personality%29%20AND%20creator%3A%28myers%29" REL="nofollow"><br />http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=title%3A%28human%20personality%29%20AND%20creator%3A%28myers%29<br /><br /></A><I>In the sun's spectrum, and in stellar spectra, are many dark lines or bands, due to the absorption of certain rays by certain vapours in the atmosphere of sun or stars or earth. And similarly in the range of spectrum of our own sensation and faculty there are many inequalities permanent and temporary of brightness and definition. Our mental atmosphere is clouded by vapours and illumined by fires, and is clouded and illumined differently at different times. The psychologist who observes, say, how his reaction-times are modified by alcohol is like the physicist who observes what lines are darkened by the interposition of a special gas. Our knowledge of our conscious spectrum is thus becoming continually more accurate and detailed. <br /><br />But turning back once more to the physical side of our simile, we observe that our knowledge of the visible solar spectrum, however minute, is but an introduction to the knowledge which we hope ultimately to attain of the sun's rays. The limits of our spectrum do not inhere in the sun that shines, but in the eye that marks his shining. Beyond each end of that prismatic ribbon are ether-waves of which our retina takes no cognisance. Beyond the red end come waves whose potency we still recognise, but as heat and not as light. Beyond the violet end are waves still more mysterious, whose very existence man for ages never suspected, and whose intimate potencies are still but obscurely known. Even thus, I venture to affirm, beyond each end of our conscious spectrum extends a range of faculty and perception, exceeding the known range, but as yet indistinctly guessed. The artifices of the modern physicist have extended far in each direction the visible spectrum known to Newton. It is for the modern psychologist to discover artifices which may extend in each direction the conscious spectrum as known to Plato or to Kant. The phenomena cited in this work carry us, one may say, as far onwards as fluorescence carries us beyond the violet end. The X rays of the psychical spectrum remain for a later age to discover. <br /><br /></I>anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09701008088467238503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16158865.post-56300776279863803182009-05-09T13:05:00.000-07:002009-05-09T13:05:00.000-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Paprika https://www.blogger.com/profile/01650640416865438605noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16158865.post-66530161615493912952009-05-09T12:28:00.000-07:002009-05-09T12:28:00.000-07:00"> Children who remember past lives would ...<I>"> Children who remember past lives would seem to be better explained by some phenomena other than psi, such as an actual memory of the individual's past.<br /><br /><br />I don't understand. How is that different from psi?"<br /><br /></I>It depends on how you define psi. <br /><br />If an conscious entity maintains individuality across multiple lives, memories from a previous life might be intrinsic to the individual and therefore remembering a past life might be substantially different than accessing information psychically as in remote viewing.<br /><br />Does remembering what you had for lunch yesterday require psi?<br /><br />Does being conscious require psi?<br /><br />Recovering from amnesia is substantially different from doing research in the library. <br /><br />I've read a few of these cases of children remembering past lives and they seem to be so detailed and accurate that it doesn't seem like psi. I said it doesn't fit the pattern of psi because there is no altered state of consciousness, no life threatening crisis, and no other examples of psychic talent in the child (as far as I know). To me, it doesn't seem like psi. <br /><br />It's interesting that some paranormal phenomena seem to occur at speicific times in a life: young children sometimes have past life memories, teenagers sometimes evoke poltergeist phenomena, and then at the time of death a person may cause a crisis apparition.<br /><br />I'll have to look up Stanford's PMIR model. Are there any on-line references you recommend?<br /><br /><br />Thanksanonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09701008088467238503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16158865.post-78867350416776233442009-05-09T03:06:00.000-07:002009-05-09T03:06:00.000-07:00Some interesting points anonymous!
> To propos...Some interesting points anonymous!<br /><br />> To propose that children who remember past lives are getting their information psychically is to propose a completely unique type of psi.<br /><br /><br />Possibly. The ostensive reincarnation effect seems to be unique but the underlying process may be the same one that is responsible for telepathy, precognition etc. After all, reincarnation can be described in the same terms as ESP (and PK). The information is just acquired under more specific circumstances. There's obviously something different about the conditions in which reincarnation manifests that distinguishes it from 'ordinary' ESP and understanding what drives this diffrence is a challenge indeed!<br /><br /><br />> It effects only one subject: lives of dead people, and it occurs only once - the child doesn't have knowledge of several lives, only one. This doesn't fit any other known patterns or theories of psi. <br /><br /><br />I'm not sure that it doesn't fit known theories. For example, as I understand it (and anyone please correct me if I'm wrong), Stanford's PMIR model would predict that the child's memories of a past life are a psi-mediated response to the childs needs at the time, which could be a need for attention from their parents or a need to conform to cultural beliefs for example. It could be that a widespread cultural belief in reincarnation (as there is in India) biases children to use psi information to manifest these types of effects to serve their particular needs and dispositions, perhaps even in an attempt to please and impress their parents or community. Stanford termed his model a dispositional model in that "all extrasensory responses are, in very general terms, behavioural, imaginal, mnemonic, or other organismic activity which is appropriate in the context of events relevant to the concerns, dispositions, or needs of the organism..."(Stanford, JASPR, 1978). This model may suggest that reincarnation is less common in cultures that do not have beliefs in reincarnation because there would be less disposed to manifest such effects.<br /><br /><br />> Children who remember past lives would seem to be better explained by some phenomena other than psi, such as an actual memory of the individual's past.<br /><br /><br />I don't understand. How is that different from psi?Dave Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03182481968584866354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16158865.post-13735667910744427672009-05-08T21:30:00.000-07:002009-05-08T21:30:00.000-07:00"> "If plain old vanilla psi provides...<I>"> "If plain old vanilla psi provides us with an ability to gain information about virtually anything, independent of the usual constraints of space and time..."<br /><br />>> What evidence are you basing this statement on? <br /><br />Precognitive remote viewing."<br /><br /></I>Hi Dean,<br /><br />I think this leads to a testable prediction: that mediumship among ordinary average people should be demonstrably more detailed and more accurate than remote viewing. This is based on the assumptions that mediumship is due to communication with a surviving consciousness and remote viewing is due only to the psychic ability of the percipient.<br /><br />My hypothesis is that mediumship would be more detailed and accurate because a spirit is helping whereas in remote viewing the psychic is, presumably, on his own. <br /><br />I say "in ordinary average people" because talented psychics might not have the same limitations as ordinary people. <br /><br />(Also, the assumption that remote viewing is not aided by spirits is an assumption which might be wrong in some or all cases.)<br /><br />I don't think there has been much research restricted to only "ordinary average people" but as a first step, existing research with talented or trained psychics could be examined.<br /><br />But, I don't know, off hand, how to compare different types of experiments. Do you know if such a comparison is possible with currently published research?<br /><br />How might an experiment to compare mediumship to remote viewing be designed?<br /><br />(If possible, it might also be interesting to compare the accuracy and detail of children's past life memories to the accuracy and detail obtained by the best adult psychics. I don't know if this is possible since past life memories not reported in laboratory experiments - but one might hypothesize the children's past life memories are far too accurate and detailed to be due to any type of psi.)<br /><br />Thanks,anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09701008088467238503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16158865.post-64941917997118354972009-05-08T16:39:00.000-07:002009-05-08T16:39:00.000-07:00> "If plain old vanilla psi provides us wi...> "If plain old vanilla psi provides us with an ability to gain information about virtually anything, independent of the usual constraints of space and time..."<br /><br />>> What evidence are you basing this statement on? <br /><br />Precognitive remote viewing. <br /><br />>you also have to believe that the unconscious mind of the medium can use that information to convincingly impersonate the mannerism and patterns of speech of another person<br /><br />We know a little about what is possible via conscious psi. With <I>unconscious psi</I> I expect that we are capable of far more. If "deep mind" is not tightly located within individual bodies, and separation is an illusion (which is in general what I think psi implies), then I don't see why an appropriately talented person could intentionally embody another personality and "become" them sufficiently to convince others that they are, or at least are in touch, with that personality.Dean Radinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16131263574182645280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16158865.post-47011732533908503972009-05-08T15:48:00.000-07:002009-05-08T15:48:00.000-07:00"If one is interpreting reincarnation in terms of ...<I>"If one is interpreting reincarnation in terms of psi, there are a number of hypotheses you could make."<br /><br /></I>I don't think psi is a good explanation for children who remember past lives. That type of extreme detail and accuracy tends to occur for a very few people who are among the worlds best "psychics" and who have a general skill. <br /><br />For example expert dowsers can detect more than just water, and they do it more than once in their life. <br /><br />To propose that children who remember past lives are getting their information psychically is to propose a completely unique type of psi. It effects only one subject: lives of dead people, and it occurs only once - the child doesn't have knowledge of several lives, only one. This doesn't fit any other known patterns or theories of psi. <br /><br />Mediumship might be a better explanation for memories of past lives than super-psi since in mediumship the spirit may be the source of psychic influence on the percipient and that would explan the limitation to the subject of dead people. However it doesn't explain birth marks or why the children only know about one life, and in any case mediumship implies survival.<br /><br />Children who remember past lives would seem to be better explained by some phenomena other than psi, such as an actual memory of the individual's past.anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09701008088467238503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16158865.post-71427678971903574342009-05-08T12:42:00.000-07:002009-05-08T12:42:00.000-07:00"First, some veridical NDEs occur when there is no...<I>"First, some veridical NDEs occur when there is no measurable brain activity (fixed pupils, no EEGs, etc.)."<br /><br /><br /></I>Hi Patrick,<br /><br />Can you give any references for this?<br /><br /><br />I'm aware of the Pam Renyolds case but the wikipedia article on it seems to indicate the veridical (verifiable) parts of her nde did not occur when her eeg was stopped.<br /><br /><A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pam_Reynolds'_NDE" REL="nofollow"><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pam_Reynolds'_NDE<br /><br /></A>The Sarah Gideon is discussed on Michael Tymns blog which says, in an addendum at the end of the article, that this case is an "amalgam" of more than one case and includes the Pam Renyolds case.<br /><br /><A HREF="http://metgat.gaia.com/blog/2008/3/back_from_the_dead?printable=1" REL="nofollow"><br />http://metgat.gaia.com/blog/2008/3/back_from_the_dead?printable=1<br /><br /></A>Thanks,anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09701008088467238503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16158865.post-13955102432995110982009-05-08T11:35:00.000-07:002009-05-08T11:35:00.000-07:00"If plain old vanilla psi provides us with an abil...<I>"If plain old vanilla psi provides us with an ability to gain information about virtually anything, independent of the usual constraints of space and time..."<br /><br /></I>Hi Dean,<br /><br />What evidence are you basing this statement on? <br /><br />To explain trance mediumship I think you also have to believe that the unconscious mind of the medium can use that information to convincingly impersonate the mannerism and patterns of speech of another person. There is evidence from hypnotism and multiple personality disorders that the unconscious mind can create an alternate personality but is there evidence it can use information to convincingly impersonate a real person?<br /><br />To explain the cross correspondences you also have to assume that some how the unconscious mind or one or more individuals can psychically influence or interact in a coordinated manner. Is there any evidence for this independent of the cross correspondences?anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09701008088467238503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16158865.post-29692074749931087662009-05-08T11:34:00.000-07:002009-05-08T11:34:00.000-07:00> First, some veridical NDEs occur when there i...> First, some veridical NDEs occur when there is no measurable brain activity ... suggests that ... psi is occuring without a functional brain. <br /><br />This assumes the perceptions occur in real-time. But psi is not bound by the usual flow of time. I.e., the perceptions could have occurred precognitively, or postcognitively.<br /><br />> super-psi ... seems inconsistent with what mediums report and reportedly perceive... <br /><br />Our subjective impressions are projections of what is "really" out there. And our ability to articulate those impressions is bound by our language. <br /><br />> ... But if a fully living brain can produce mild effects, then why should we think that a dying brain can produce stronger-than-usual psi effects <br /><br />Because most strong psi effects, even in "ordinary" people, occur in altered states of consciousness. And the dying brain/mind would certainly fit that description.<br /><br />Note that just because I lean towards the superpsi explanations (because as I said, to me all psi is superpsi), that doesn't mean I lean away from some form of survival. I don't think that brain = mind, so that opens the strong possibility that something survives. I just think that whatever it is, it's not going to resemble what we think of as a more or less conventional ego-based personality, which is what is implied by what mediums report.Dean Radinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16131263574182645280noreply@blogger.com