Parapsychology

Parapsychology is the study of paranormal phenomena, or phenomena that cannot be explained by conventional scientific models. Its fields of inquiry include extrasensory perception (ESP), unexplained or otherwise anomalous experiences, and evidence of the afterlife. While some parapsychologists believe that these phenomena can be explained within the context of prevailing scientific notions, others believe that conventional science's inability to explain these events demonstrates that its methodologies and models are lacking. Researchers in the latter category believe that the goal of parapsychology is to develop the scientific basis for bridging this gap.

Background and History

Modern parapsychology is rooted in the spiritualist movement of the nineteenth century, which was popular in Great Britain and, to a lesser extent, the United States. Some historians view the spiritualist movement as a response to the paradigm shift brought about by the rapid proliferation of scientific understanding, which resulted in the decline of the traditional influence of religious belief. The 1859 publication of The Origin of Species, Charles Darwin's revolutionary treatise on evolution, is considered a seminal moment in this shift.

In addition to a revival of religious tradition, the second half of the nineteenth century saw a sharp rise in interest in the supernatural and occult. The 1882 founding of the London-based Society for Psychical Research was one of the earliest significant developments in the emerging field of parapsychology. Although the group functioned on the periphery of the scientific mainstream, its cultural influence was evident in the works of contemporary writers such as Henry James.

One supernatural-oriented journal that attracted a wide readership was Borderland, published between 1893 and 1897 by the British journalist and newspaper editor W.T. Stead. The periodical detailed the latest developments in the scientific study of paranormal phenomena, including psychic research, ghosts, séances, astrology, and related topics in chemistry and physics. Stead died on the Titanic, which sunk in 1912. His followers claimed that he delivered news of the ship's sinking from beyond the grave, making his spiritualist adherents the first to learn of the luxury ocean liner's tragic fate.

During the twentieth century, paranormal researchers embraced methodologies that were more scientific. This included adopting standardized methods of testing subjects for apparent psychic abilities and using sensitive field equipment capable of detecting and quantifying anomalies in places associated with ghost sightings. As technology evolved, video and audio recorders also became standard tools in the search for proof of the existence of ghosts. While these methods have occasionally produced records of events that are difficult to explain, they have yet to lead to any definitive proof that members of the mainstream scientific community would accept. Other fields of parapsychological inquiry, such as past-life regression therapy and the documenting of alleged near-death experiences, are heavily reliant on the subjective testimony of participants and are predisposed to criticism and dismissal.

Fields of Inquiry

Parapsychology's fields of inquiry can be broken down into three main categories: extrasensory perception (ESP), anomalous experiences, and survival studies, a catchall term for research into ghosts, the afterlife, and related phenomena. Extrasensory perception includes a wide range of specific subtopics, of which telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, and psychokinesis are the best known. Telepathy involves person-to-person communication using means that fall outside the normal boundaries of the five senses, while clairvoyance is the knowledge of events or details that a person did not see, hear about, or experience for him- or herself. Precognition is the unexplained knowledge of future events. Throughout the course of history, many people have been claimed to possess precognitive powers. Although these individuals are said to have produced predictions about the future that occasionally proved to be accurate, skeptics dismiss their work as coincidental and the result of researcher bias and/or misinterpretation. Psychokinesis is the ability to exert an influence on physical objects using only the mind. Sometimes termed "mind over matter," psychokinesis also generally includes the scientific examination of phenomena known as energy healing, in which disease processes are allegedly treated or cured solely through concentrated mental intervention.

The anomalous experiences of people who do not otherwise claim to have extrasensory perception or other paranormal abilities is also of interest to parapsychologists. In most cases, such experiences involve one or more of the aforementioned types of extrasensory perception affecting ordinary people. Also known as subjective paranormal experiences (SPEs), anomalous experiences are frequently investigated using established models of human psychology, and parapsychologists seek explanations for the reported events using scientifically accepted frameworks. Such experiences only enter the realm of parapsychology when they cannot be adequately explained otherwise.

Survival studies are concerned with the ultimate nature of human consciousness, particularly whether it exists before birth or survives after death. This branch of parapsychology includes investigations into ghosts and the afterlife, pre-birth experiences, near-death experiences, reincarnation, and out-of-body experiences.

Perception in the Scientific Mainstream

Many members of the mainstream scientific community generally consider parapsychology a form of pseudoscience, and its legitimacy as a formal academic discipline is contentious. However, numerous academic institutions throughout the world have parapsychology departments or maintain research divisions that investigate paranormal and unexplained phenomena.

Critics and skeptics point to parapsychology's failure to produce any objective evidence of the existence of paranormal phenomena, despite more than a century of effort. The field's supporters claim that it has built a compelling body of circumstantial evidence that cannot be easily dismissed and that it is the shortcomings of mainstream scientific methods, not parapsychology itself, that are to blame for this purported lack of objective proof.

Bibliography

Bown, Nicola, et al., editors. The Victorian Supernatural. Cambridge UP, 2004. Cambridge Studies in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture

McGreal, Scott A. "Is There a Scientific 'Taboo' against Parapsychology?" Psychology Today. Sussex Publishers, 31 Jan. 2014, www.psychologytoday.com/blog/unique-everybody-else/201401/is-there-scientific-taboo-against-parapsychology. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.

"Parapsychology." Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 2025, www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/parapsychology. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.

"What Is an Anomalous Experience?" Pacific Neuropsychiatric Institute, 1997–2018, www.pni.org/research/anomalous/. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.

"What Is Parapsychology?" Parapsychological Association. The Parapsychological Association, 24 Nov. 2014, parapsych.org/articles/36/76/what‗is‗parapsychology.aspx. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.