Atlantic University asked me to pass along news of an upcoming event, the Parapsychology and Consciousness Conference, to be held in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on October 14 through 16.
Speakers include Dean Radin, author of Entangled Minds; Julie Beischel, director of the Windbridge Institute; Edwin May, physicist and parapsychologist; and Roger Nelson, director of the Global Consciousness Project. There are many other scheduled speakers, as well.
More information can be found on Atlantic U's website. Check it out.
This post reminds me of a personal brush with Psi, which occurred at the beach in Cancun of all places. Meeting some family members late in the day on the beach, there was a hunt on for a small plastic toy that a 4-year old member of the family had been using all afternoon but had somehow lost in the sand. A 10 foot by 20 foot area was marked off as the possible locale of the toy and the group had been combing it methodically for about 15 mins trying to find the item when I arrived.
I am not a psychic at all as far as I am concerned, but I somehow felt confident that I could find the missing item, which measured less than 1-inch by 2-inches in size. I moved to an edge of the rectangular area then listened to a voice inside me tell me to walk forward from that spot as the item would be directly in front of me about 3 feet. I combed the communicated spot with my foot and found nothing. I then "heard" that it was there but that I had to "dig deeper". Sure enough, to everyone's surprise I found the item buried in that exact spot about 8 inches down under the sand. None of our clan understood how it could have been buried that deep or how I could find it there. I calculated that I had about a 1 in 10,000 chance of finding it as a random guess on the first try so it was highly unlikely to be a coincidence.
I can't explain that helpful quiet voice inside me, but on rare occasions it has come to my aid in various focused situations like this. I imagine many of us have had these sorts of experiences and I am happy to share mine.
Posted by: Darren Cepulis | July 22, 2011 at 08:23 AM
"Sure enough, to everyone's surprise I found the item buried in that exact spot about 8 inches down under the sand."
Very cool, Darren! You should hook up with Stephan Schwartz. I hear that he's looking for another George McMullen. :o)
http://www.newscienceideas.com/page/UT/PROD/ESP/U1005
Posted by: Bruce Siegel | July 22, 2011 at 10:27 AM
Darren, I just noticed that the story I linked to is even more apropos than I thought: it's also about finding something buried in the sand.
I've done a lot of reading, by the way, about Schwartz's and McMullen's work together (and we've discussed it on this blog before). Absolutely compelling stuff!
And you really do seem to have a bit of the same talent.
Posted by: Bruce Siegel | July 22, 2011 at 10:50 AM
Off topic, but I was wondering what you would think of this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paE4Et7tIFI&NR=1
It seems like a very meaningful experience, but by her explanation it could also explain mystical experiences in terms of the workings of the brain.
I also wonder, if how she describes the brain is accurate, why nothing like this is observed in split brain patients.
(Note: it describes it as a NDE in the title, but it isn't really)
Posted by: Anon | July 22, 2011 at 04:23 PM
I came across this on a blogsite. http://atheismblog.blogspot.com/2011/07/dead-as-doornail-souls-brains-and.html
Was going to comment their but some reason an error came up. Oh well.
Posted by: Leo | July 24, 2011 at 10:14 AM
Any article much less book depending on Keith " you have to study UFOs before you can have an opinion on NDEs" Augustine and Dr Michael " Wells has brilliant argument for the Jesus Myth" Martin should immediately set of warning bells to anyone who has an ounce of critical thinking. I suspect Martin will believe what Augustine says uncritically and Augustine will simply believe what Woerlee says uncritically and we will have some raunchy skeptical incest going on in there. Everyone, wear a raincoat when reading this.
Next Michael Prescott, or someone else will squish this book and Keith will complain forever his ideas are being misrepresented.
Posted by: Kris | July 24, 2011 at 06:35 PM
Michael(and all folks) - what do you think on this quote form Craig Hamiltom-Parker's book "What to do when You are dead -living better in the afterlife"(page 110)?:
"My own spirit guide ,Taratha,has spoken about the primal form, which we attain once we become fully integrated into the afterlife.As far as I understand,this is what others have called "overself",the highest aspect of our consciousness.Tatatha has also told my circle that only a fraction of our self incarnates on the earth at any one time.We are like a many-faceted diamond of which only one surface is in this world at any one timeThe primal self is the core personality that has lived many lives before andthat is fully aware of the purpose of its existence in past lives,this life and the lives to come.It is real you".
I am pesronally impressed by this,and this pretty common things in writings/musings about afterlife.I think this could be very close to truth.
Posted by: Alexander1304 | July 25, 2011 at 10:13 AM
"Tatatha has also told my circle that only a fraction of our self incarnates on the earth at any one time.We are like a many-faceted diamond of which only one surface is in this world at any one timeThe primal self is the core personality that has lived many lives before andthat is fully aware of the purpose of its existence in past lives,"
-------------------------------------------
Sounds just like the ship's computer on the Starship Enterprise. It's the ship's computer that controls the holodeck and all the characters in the various holodeck simulations so ultimately all the characters are projections from the stored programs in the ship's computer.
Posted by: Art Riechert | July 25, 2011 at 12:09 PM
The quote from "Tatatha" sounds about right to me, though of course there's no way to be sure ...
Posted by: Michael Prescott | July 25, 2011 at 02:16 PM
"Michael(and all folks) - what do you think on this quote form Craig Hamiltom-Parker's book "What to do when You are dead -living better in the afterlife"(page 110)?: ..."
1) I haven't read the book, so I have to ask ... does this medium regularly give verfiable information that he otherwise would not know? Usually this occurs when the medium gives readings to sitters unknown to the medium. If the medium can give information about a sitter that is verifiable but unknowable by ordinary means, then the medium can be considered genuine. Other forms of verifiable but ordinarily unknowable information include specific information like that given in the book tests and predictions about the future like those given in the newspaper tests.
If the medium just spouts wisdom, there is no way to tell whether or not they are reliable. If they can't prove their reliability why should anyone believe them? Anyone reading channeled material or books by mediums should consider this when assessing what they read.
(The Hamilton-Parkers' web site seems to indicate they do give readings and are on TV. I've never seen them, maybe someone else can say if they give accurate and specific information. http://www.psychics.co.uk/index.php)
2) The statement quoted reminds me of the following statement attributed to Silver Birch:
http://www.angelfire.com/ok/SilverBirch/lights.html
"There are also what I call facets of the one diamond. This is the over-soul, the greater individuality, and the facets are aspects of it which incarnate into your world for experiences that will add lustre to the diamond when they return to it.
Also there are people who, although separate persons, are aspects of the one individuality. For instance, my medium, his wife and myself are parts of one individual. So you can have facets of the one guide. You can call these extensions if you like, but it comes to the same thing. Only an infinitesimal part of the whole individuality can be manifested in physical form on earth."
Posted by: jshgfcre98ijyds | July 25, 2011 at 08:31 PM
I noticed on the Hamilton-Parkers' web site that they seem to believe in numerology, astrology, even phrenology. These kinds of things tend to make me skeptical about the medium. Sometimes mediums just use these things to give structure to genuine psychic abilities or, maybe these things are marketing devices needed to help support the mediums financially, but to my mind they reduce the credibility of the mediums.
Posted by: jshgfcre98ijyds | July 25, 2011 at 08:40 PM
Alphabet, you sure are tough! I mean that in a good way. I'm just starting to find out the difference between what is acceptable in a typical mainstream science paper vs the higher standards required when you want to publish something of a parapsychological nature. I'm still hoping to get some data published, but it is a little intimidating. It's much easier to get a little pinwheel to spin inside a sealed jar without using conventional means than it is to write a paper about it afterwards.
Posted by: Sandy | July 25, 2011 at 09:39 PM
"Alphabet, you sure are tough!"
I'm not sure why you say that. I don't think I wrote anything unreasonable or that I am guilty of a double standard.
"I'm still hoping to get some data published, but it is a little intimidating."
Publish it yourself on the internet (which you already did).
If you want to see tough, here is tough:
You are trying to compensate for your problems in grad school by turning your psychic abilities into science. Your stubborn ego doesn't want to admit failure and is trying to show "them" that you don't need them are can do science with out them.
When I left science, for a while I was deteremined continue my work at home too. Maybe you will be more successful at that than I was.
But why don't you consider if there is a better way for you to use your abilities.
John Edward, and Craig Hamiltom-Parker for that matter, reach more people through one tv show than any parapsychologist will reach through a life time of work and that work is destined to be ignored by mainstream science.
You are trying to prove something to people who do not want to believe you. They don't want your "help"
Why don't you look for a way to use your talents to help people who want your help?
Sorry, that's just my opinion, and really none of my business, you have to decide what to do for yourself.
Posted by: jshgfcre98ijyds | July 25, 2011 at 11:53 PM
"I'm still hoping to get some data published, but it is a little intimidating."
Are you going to publish it under a pseudonym or your real name?
I have no problem with a pseudonym, but will other parapsychologists feel the same way?
I'm pretty sure mainstream scientists would find all sorts of excuses to disregard such a paper.
It's one thing to protect the privacy of an experimental subject, it's another to protect the identity of a principal investigator.
Posted by: jshgfcre98ijyds | July 26, 2011 at 12:03 AM
"I'm still hoping to get some data published, but it is a little intimidating."
Are you going to publish it under a pseudonym or your real name?
I have no problem with a pseudonym, but will other parapsychologists feel the same way?
I'm pretty sure mainstream scientists would find all sorts of excuses to disregard such a paper.
It's one thing to protect the privacy of an experimental subject, it's another to protect the identity of a principal investigator.
Posted by: jshgfcre98ijyds | July 26, 2011 at 12:03 AM
Michael Prescott,
Sorry about the duplicated comment, my system is slow and I clicked post button twice because I thought it didn't work the first time.
Can you delete one of the duplicates, and this comment too?
Thanks
Posted by: jshgfcre98ijyds | July 26, 2011 at 12:06 AM
Mainstream "Science" is corrupt from top to bottom.
The only evidence I need to prove that is the fact that it has ignored parapsychology since the days of psychical research.
What other explanation for that fact is there? Scientists are not scientific. "Science" is a big fraud.
Maybe some individual scientists believe the truth, but they cannot say it. That is just more evidence that "Science" is a fraud. It is not scientific, it is "Religion" which is just another form of politics.
Trying to use logic to change religious beliefs doesn't work.
Posted by: jshgfcre98ijyds | July 26, 2011 at 12:20 AM
If you think parapsychology is free from internal politics, read Ingo Swann's book where he tells of how his own research was suppressed.
R E M O T E * V I E W I N G
THE REAL STORY
http://www.biomindsuperpowers.com/Pages/2.html
He alludes to the problems in his subtitles:
The Discoveries
The Political and Technical History
The Rise and the Fall
The Saga and the Soap Opera
The Strange Circumstances
Posted by: jshgfcre98ijyds | July 26, 2011 at 12:42 AM
"It's much easier to get a little pinwheel to spin inside a sealed jar without using conventional means than it is to write a paper about it afterwards."
It's none of my business but ...
Isn't the fact of a spinning psi-wheel itself much more significant and important than the learning curve? I realize that the learning curve might help understand how psi works and is important. However I have the sense that you are getting lost in the process of science - publishing data - and ignoring the significance of the phenomena itself.
Which is more important to you, being recognized as a scientist or learning about the phenomena?
Why do you want to publish in a journal rather than on your own web site? Typically scientists do that to get tenure or research grants. Are you looking for an academic position?
Do you think there would be any point to just moving on to the next round of experiments? Does distance affect pk? Can you learn to move heavier and heavier objects at will, or is the phenomena limited to very small forces? What happens if you make the psi wheel out of aluminium from a soda can? Tape coins to the metal wheel to require even more force? Etc.
Posted by: alphabet | July 26, 2011 at 01:52 AM
I'm not sure if I want to be published anonymously or not. That option has been suggested as a possibility by a someone who would likely be reviewing any possible papers that come out of this. I think having a coauthor helps take the pressure off, because he will be taking most of the responsibility for the content of the paper.
I want to publish in a journal because I feel the peer review process still has value. It makes you up your game and pay attention to all the details. I agree that the business of science is very political. It shouldn't be, and there are many problems with the system. But good papers are still being published.
I don't see myself as a John Edwards. I couldn't handle that kind of attention. Besides, the world already has a John Edwards... and an Ingo Swann for that matter. I'm trying to find my own path.
I try not to look too much at the significance of moving the wheel. It still scares me to think about it in that context. Maybe I need to get lost in the data for a while. The science has been my coping mechanism. One of the things that I've noticed in my data is that doing pk well seems to have more to do with my environment than me. But certain emotional states, such as fear, seem to quash pk. That seems like a big deal to me, the notion that maybe fear is the only thing stopping everyone from doing pk. Whether or not I'm getting to caught up in the science, I'm coping better than I had been before I started my experiment and I'm learning about the pk. When I'm ready to think about the implications, I will.
Posted by: Sandy | July 26, 2011 at 07:40 AM
The Hamilton-Parkers' web site seems to indicate they do give readings and are on TV. I've never seen them, maybe someone else can say if they give accurate and specific information
I know the Hamilton-Parkers (Craig and Jane).
I would describe them as psychics rather than mediums.
He claims to have been the Managing Director of an advertising agency.
Whether it is true or not he is certainly very good at self-publicity.
Having witnessed some of their demonstrations first-hand and on TV I found them remarkably unimpressive.
I wouldn't place too much reliance on the claims in his book nor the statements by his alleged guide.
Posted by: zerdini | July 26, 2011 at 02:28 PM