Para
Continued from Page 6
observations or events and an at
tempt to obtain the best possible
data and information about those
events.
“A long history of scientific in
vestigation over the last 80 years
has in general failed to substantiate
these kinds of claims,’’Jensen said.
“The pattern is that mysteries
ordinarily evaporate with full sci
entific investigation. A ghost in the
attic turns out to be a raccopn or
special powers the result of chican
ery.”
When claims of unexplained
phenomena are made, Jensen points
to a need for investigation by those
with knowledge in the appropriate
subject area, such as a physicist or
an expert in visual perception, rather
than those who are merely inter
ested in the phenomena.
“If there are real abilities we
want to know about them, but only
through careful scientific investiga
tion, not accepting claims which
arc investigated partially or unsys
tematically,” said Jensen.
Jensen himself has investigated
claims of unexplained phenomena
and supernatural abilities. He de
scribed one such investigation
concerning a student who believed
he could control the weather.
“We set up a randomized series
of heatings and coolings for him to
change the weather a few degrees
above or below normal,” he said.
“After a week without success, he
decided he did not have time for
the experiment.”
Jensen said the problem with
many claims of the paranormal is
that there is no mechanism for
them to occur. Most scientific phe
nomena have mechanisms which
are in principle understood, but
that is not the case for many claimed
paranormal phenomena, he said.
“Skepticism is especially great
for such events that appear to be
impossible,” Jensen said. “I don’t
-4 4
If there are real
abilities, we want to
know about them,
but only through
careful scientific
investigation, not
accepting claims
which are investi
gated partially or
unsystematically.
Jensen
psychology professor
---f ♦
mean to offend people who be
lieve, but it is terribly easy to mis
perceive or misevaluate the evi
dence of our senses.”
Jensen said the skeptical ap
proach has a long history of recog
nizing characteristics of the “lay
mind,” or an unsophisticated ap
proach to knowledge, which en
courages acceptance of the.se ideas.
‘ Some of these events involve
abnormal physiological and psy
chological phenomena - not super
normal,” he said. “There are expe
riences which can be misinterpreted
as being ‘out there,’ which are really
occurring inside the brain.”
Jensen teaches a summer read
ing course whose purpose is to
“introduce students to the modern
skeptical point-of-view described
in such publications as paranor
mal.”
“Parapsychology: A Skeptical
Perspective (Psychology 298x)” uses
texts by James Randi, Terence Hines
and Andrew Neher to explore
modern psychological perspectives
on the paranormal.
Jensen also has recently contrib
uted an article, “Pathologies of
Science, Precognition and Modern
Psychophysics,” to The Skeptical
Inquirer, the official journal of The
Committee for the Scientific Inves
tigation of Claims of the Paranor
mal.
The committee is described by
Jensen as “an organization made
up of prominent scientists, writers,
and philosophers dedicated to ra
tional and scientific study of claims
and reports of the sort,” which was
found in last week’s Diversions.
Such publications provide a
balance to claims of paranormal
phenomena found in the popular
press, according to Jensen, who
sees a need for “careful, scientific
analysis of events and their rational
explanation.”
“There is not a single, simple
explanation but there are multiple,
natural explanations for the bulk of
what is represented as fTl
supernatural,’’Jensen said. LU
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