College: it's not just for skeptics anymore

A poll of college students from last January shows that the more educated you are, the more likely it is that you believe in paranormal phenomena.

The pollsters profess surprise at these results, although I've read of similar survey findings in the past (detailed in Best Evidence, by Michael Schmicker).

"As people attain higher college-education levels, the likelihood of believing in paranormal dimensions increases," [pollsters] Farha and Steward write.

What could explain such results?

The media are likely responsible for some people's beliefs in alien abductions and other paranormal concepts, the scientists write, based on their survey of existing studies. And some people tend to selectively confirm whatever ideas might be in their heads. Even smart people might believe in something offbeat because, in part, they're good at defending whatever they believe.

Or ... how about this for a possibility? Maybe "smart people believe in something offbeat" because there's good evidence to support it? Evidence that only a fairly well-read person would be able to track down, since it's largely embargoed by the popular media, which prefer to treat the whole subject as a goof?

On the other hand, the explanation for this particular poll may lie in the fact that it was taken at the University of Oklahoma, whose student body probably includes more evangelical Christians than, say, Yale or Berkeley. Which might explain why the proposition "people are sometimes possessed by the devil" was believed by 40%  of respondents, while ESP was accepted by only 28% and "people can hear from or communicate mentally with someone who has died" was accepted by only 16%. (Reincarnation, another concept at odds with most Christian teachings, got a nod from only 14%.)

What is interesting in any event is that seniors were more open to psi than freshmen, and graduate students were more open than undergrads. Again, this is consistent with earlier surveys detailed in Schmicker's book. Exposure to more information makes belief in the paranormal rise.   

Comments

[Tim]

Michael, I suspect this result is largely due to the idea that educated people believe themselves less able to be fooled or to delude themselves. So if they have had paranormal experiences in the past, which many if not most Americans have, they would probably regard them as interesting and worth looking into at the very least, rather than delusion.

[Neal]

Honestly, the lack of philosophical sophistication among "skeptics" surprises me. They don't seem to understand that we don't have the ability to state the limits of "nature" so it is pointless to discuss what is natural, supernatural, normal, and paranormal. They don't seem to understand that our view of "nature" is constantly changing. For example, if you could go back in time to the 19th century and inform the physicists of the time about the implications of Bell's Theorem, would they regard those implications as "supernatural" and therefore impossible?

[Rod]

I wonder if true correlate is IQ?
Any ideas?
And what does rhis say for skeptics?

[Tim]

I suspect IQ is one correlate. Another seems to be confidence in one's beliefs and how those relate to self-esteem. I know when I've been on skeptic forums, the participants are 90% young males, and we all know how belligerent young male skeptics are. I equate them with fundamentalist religious types: when their belief systems are questioned, they attack. I suspect this is because their self-image depends on defending their beliefs against all disagreement, even against truth. Contrast this with true skeptics, who tend to be open-minded, tolerant and respectful of dissenting views.

[Ulrich Mohrhoff]

I'd say exposure to more information makes people realize how little they know.

[Tim]

Amen to that. And they become intrigued, rather than threatened, by mystery.

[william]

If I learned nothing else on college campuses as a student and professor one must be very very skeptical of research findings, which I suspect includes polls.

And only 14% believed in reincarnation I don’t think that even matches the national average. And only 16% believed we could commutate with those on the other side? Guess they have not been watching the TV show Medium or read Gary Swartz’s books.

Most have brought their parents beliefs with them to college or have rebelled and gone in the exact opposite direction.

As evidenced by this blog and TV shows the paranormal is a hot topic in the 21st century.

[armand]

"slowly but surely"is is a form of saying
and recognizing the opportunity for the paranormal in a more formal protocol to
obtain the seriousness that it deserves,and
a clear sign that "it can not be done",or "it is impossible" -'mantra',it is
a way of thinking of the previous millenium,
in other words it has starting to be obsolete,and decreasing,about time!

[St Ann]

Having lived in Oklahoma I suspect that this survey was skewed due to a bias sample. Indeed, Okees, I feel, are wild about evangelicalism and thus tend to believe in all sorts of bibical paranormality. ... Having said that I do also believe that the person with a broadly educated background and one who has worked in a post-graduate area of his discipline tend to be more creative, more open-minded, less inhibited or restricted in their thinking. A good university environment should encourage these qualities as they are necessary for research and publication - the crux of academic survival. These qualities also tend to push the boundaries of belief into the realms beyond what is considered "normal" - thus, the "paranormal".

[Jay]

What's really funny is that I know Dr. Farha(one of the pollsters)--he teaches at Oklahoma City University, and his class is absolutely terrible. He's the biggest dogmatic skeptic I have ever met and pushes the issue with his students to the point of frustration. I'm not in the least bit surprised that despite the fact that his own survey shows that educated people seem to have a reason to believe that the world isn't entirely made up of materialistic phenomenon, he skews it the other direction.