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From: mrh@cybvax0.UUCP (Mike Huybensz)
Newsgroups: net.philosophy
Subject: Re: Parapsychology.
Message-ID: <796@cybvax0.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 23-Oct-85 14:35:09 EDT
Article-I.D.: cybvax0.796
Posted: Wed Oct 23 14:35:09 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 25-Oct-85 07:25:25 EDT
References: <970@decwrl.UUCP>
Reply-To: mrh@cybvax0.UUCP (Mike Huybensz)
Organization: Cybermation, Inc., Cambridge, MA
Lines: 31
Summary: 

In article <970@decwrl.UUCP> cooper@pbsvax.DEC (Topher Cooper) writes:
> >>Apparent paranormal phenomena has been elicited in the laboratory many
> >>(conservatively speaking, hundreds) times under conditions most scientists
> >>would consider highly rigorous, particularly if they were not informed that
> >>the experiment were a parapsychology experiment.
> > 
> >			. . .		      Please document these claims.
> >Parapsychology is not widely accepted in the scientific community precisely
> >because it has *not* been demonstrated in the way you calim.
> > 
> >-- Jim Balter (ima!jim)
> 
> Glad to.  ....

[Description of literature of >3000 papers omitted.]

How pathetic.  Almost every mention of early papers carried the warning
"flawed, but the flaws were corrected later".  And a huge numebr of papers
were about methodology, not phenomina.

The fact is, there is NO demonstrable, reproducible psychic phenominon
after who knows how many years of research.  Progress in parapsychology
has closely paralleled progress in alchemical transmutation of elements:
none, except as spinoffs of another field.  (Physics has given us
radioactive decay and bombardment, biology has given us magnetic senses in
a variety of organisms.)  Compare this to any other field recognized as
science, and you will readily see why parapsychology is regarded as
fraudulent.
-- 

Mike Huybensz		...decvax!genrad!mit-eddie!cybvax0!mrh