But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
Sonnet 18 - William Shakespeare
In this section you will explore the notion of cultural evolution. You will begin by reading an extract from Richard Dawkin's famous book The Selfish Gene for homework. This usually captures the imagination of students.
This will be followed by a seminar on various aspects of the emerging field of study of memetics; the theory of how culture develops as based on Dawkins' ideas. To cover all these topics will take about two lessons, or from 2 to 3 hours of classroom time.
Part 1 : Reading
I would like you to read Chapter 11 from evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkin’s book on evolution, The Selfish Gene and answer the questions below.
You will find it at the following website:
The Selfish Gene
You should answer all the questions in note form and be prepared to speak about them in class.
1. Give the definition of a ‘meme’.
2. Give some examples of memes.
3. What is a Saddleback and what has it got to do with memes? For the curious you can listen to its song by going to the following website: terranature
4. What do memes and genes have in common?
5. Explain the analogy between human brain and computers.
6. Explain what a co-adapted gene complex is , and then what a co-adapted meme complex is?
7. How can we achieve immortality through memes?
Answers____________________________
Part 2: Seminar Research
In this section you will work in groups of three or four and research a topic related to memes and cultural evolution. Once you have completed your research share your findings with the class.
1) Who is Dr. Susan Blackmore?
a) She studied the paranormal for nearly 30 years, explain why she abandoned it
b) What is her field of current interest? Go to the following site, click on "Outcast 8" and listen from minute 1:28-3:30: http://thesciphishow.com/?p=57
c) How did she get interested in memes. Go to Pbs Evolution site and watch a video clip of susan Blackmore entitled Memetic Evolution and listen from minute 4:27.
d) According to Susan Blackmore memetic drive may be the reason why humans have such big brains. Watch the Pbs Evolution video 'Memetic Evolution' and hear what Dr. Blackmore means by this.
2) The Evolutionary Algorithm
Read an extract from Chapter 2 of Susan Blackmore's book The Meme Machine and answer the questions below. Your teacher will give you a paper copy.
a) What is an algorithm?
b) Explain the idea that algorithms are 'subsrate neutral'.
c)What do memes and genes have in common?
d) Are memes and genes the same?
3) Religion and Natural History
Listen to philosopher Daniel Dennett talking about his latest book on bringing science and religion together.
For questions a-d listen from minute 0.0-5:59
a) What is the core part of his definition of religion
b) How did the emergence of language relate to the development of religion. Talk about the "orientation reaction".
c) What is Dennett's explanation for the origin of religion. Listen to his account of the "the talking tree"
d) What was the role of writing in helping religion to develop?
Part 3 Written Homework
i) Describe an one of your own paranormal experiences and try to explain it rationally.
ii) Secondly comment on Susan Blackmore's decision to abandon her research into the paranormal.
Dr. Blackmore's repsonses to Jerome, Saba and Adrien
Return to Nature, Art & Language
© All Copyright, 2007, Ray Genet
29 comments:
So you asked us today to write a comment about the idea of Ms. Blackmore concerning the inexistance of the paranormals.
I think it's a personal approach. I don't know how we can generalize such an aspect. It's so related to the society and personal beliefs.
In my country ,Iran, for instance paranormal is something normal! everyday in the media, at school, in the public transportation you can hear people explaining their paranormal observations and experiences. It's something deeply hacked on the culture and after that on the religion(like they believe in the religous ceremonies they see the ghosts of the imams) .Whereas here in France it's compeletely different.
Personaly something that happended to me several times and I can't find the explanation is that I sleep but I see me from exterior, I shout, I can hear me, I even see the room, the person beside me, I try to move but it's IMPOSSIBLE, it's like something so heavy is on me! this situation lasts 2 minutes more or less and then it's like I come back to the world!
I don't know if it's a good example of paranormal, may be there are some classical psychological reasons,I don't know,,
so I can't judge Ms. Blackmore if she's right or not. If she couldn't find any reason to be right in 30 years I can't find it in 1 week:)
I just wanted to add that I'm glad to have this occasion of learning something that I never had time or chance to deal with. This is really amazing! Thanks
Thankyou Sabah for opening up this discussion. Your personal experiences are reminiscent of "sleep paralysis" that Blackmore speaks about in her book 'The Meme Machine'(p176-176)
She says:
'During dreaming sleep most of our muscles are paralysed so that we do not act out our dreams. By the time we wake this paralysis has usually worn off and we know nothing about it...however, the mechanism that keeps waking and dreaming apart sometimes fail, especially in people who work shifts or who have disrupted sleep....If you recognise the symptoms...the best response is to wait and relax, the paralysis wears off within a minute or two'
Personally, I have just one paranormal experiment: I was 15 and with my friends we played the well-known game of the glass : Scrabble’s Letters, a glass and a circle of friends with a lot of beliefs…. . Ha, there’s also a sad story behind : a loss in a family, someone to get in touch with… Well, this experiment was rather impressive. First I was skeptic, we all put a finger on the glass except me (skepticism…), in the middle of a circle of letters, unsorted. The glass did move. (Well, They had our fingers on it so someone pushed it, don’t you think ?). Of course someone pushed it but what is strange is that nobody thinks that he is the one moving the glass ! We have been in touch with the grandfather of a friend, who “claimed” things apparently true… Hard to believe but what is strange is that, in my opinion ,no one could have been able to move the glass fluently enough to point at each letter so fast… A strange experiment…
To explain that materialistically, I would say that their beliefs were so strong that their subconscious made them believe what they wanted : a mind, a spirit took control of their fingers… In my case, I was not touching the glass, but It seems paranormal to me … I guess I wanted to believe in too….
Oh, it looks like that I have now the answer about this paralysis when I wake up !
It's a really amazing situation, because you can think, but you can't move...
However, as far as I'm concerned, this paralysis doesn't last more than 10 seconds. But it is not really pleasant...
About paranormal experiment, I try to think about this but I can't find things that happened to me that I can't explain. Sometimes, Strange things appear but when you think a little bit you can find an explanation. For example, I have sometimes the feeling to have already seen (in my dreams ?) the scene that I am living... But I think there are many situations that are similar in our life, and that's why I can feel this...
Well, I'm thinking of any unusual experiment which could have been related to a paranormal experience, but sadly i don't see one.
I believe paranormal may exist, there are still so many things we don't understand. We should not forget that during the last 50 years we have discover more things than in the 2000 years before. And with the quantic physic which point out phenomena really strange to understand like the way to create a link between two atoms and then when modifying one it has implication on the other. I think that paranormal could be explained the same way, some force actually unknown are acting on us when we are in some special environment
So maybe in some years we'll be able to explain it scientifically
I believe in ghosts, even though I have never met one. I think under certain circumstances, paranormal phenomenon may just be our imagination, but there is certainly something more than that. I believe that ghost is something which is invisible, but which is able to manipulate the magnetic field around us. Our brain will then be influenced and forced to see the illusion.
For example, we all have seen magic show. I think paranormal phenomenon is like a magic show, and ghost can be compared to the magician. We all know that the magician cannot make his assistant disappeared. He cannot either cut her into half or catch a fired bullet with his teeth, but that’s what exactly we “see”. It is no more than a very well-performed illusion. So I think a ghost is just a magician which is hanging around us all the time and perform some magic tricks to us from time to time. On purpose or accidentally.
Of course I cannot prove any of these. It is just my opinion. But if you ask me whether we can find truths or understand the entire world completely with our technology and the very few physic laws that we have, my answer is definitely no. Paranormal phenomenon may exist or not, but proving either of the answer is as much difficult as proving the other.
I believe that the paranormal phenomena are above all things that cannot be explained by today's science, and remarkable enough to stimulate the human imagination and make one think of strange and wonderous potential explanations to this.
Take the example of the out-of-body experiences. On a rational point of view, the people that assert that they lived such strange experiences where probably in a particular state of mind, maybe almost dying or fainting. Nobody can say what kinds of thought a human brain can set up in such a state, nor if it only produces things that can be considered as thoughts. All we know is that the people who come back to tell about their experiences have the *feeling* that they experienced something unique.
The fact of basing entire theories on a feeling created by a human brain in a stress or anormal situation to conclude about the existence of parallel worlds or whatever does not look very relevant. But it make people dream and invent new stories, and this is a typically human activity.
So finally, the paranormal things must be unexplained phenomena that we can use to tell new stories and legends.
I'd like to expand the post of q.a because I like the idea of science having all the answers, though not just yet.
The concept of brain as a powerful simulator (just how powerful is easily demonstrated by how vivid some of our dreams are), modeling our reality from all the scrap signals it can get from our senses, can explain a lot -- a little misalignment on the input (e.g. fatigue) may be the cause of all the paranormal activity we perceive. So, I don't see any mystery here..
Now, the only thing that remains is to explore how exactly it happens.. I sure hope we'll map the brain sooner than we land on Mars though (i.e. in this century!).
Like Adrien, I had this paranormal experiment and, honesty, I dont know what to say precisely..
My point of view is the answer comes from the imagination of human brain. Very powerfull ability, but it can work against him. For example, after watching a thriller on TV or an horror film, when I turn off the light, the atmosphere of the film is still in my mind -like a meme- and I can't stop imagining some paranormal events. Every noise, every light, every little things are distorted. It's only retrospectively, in the middle of the day that I can, reasonably, say it's just my imagination. Not before, and maybe not after, when I turn the light off again.
I dont know if paranormal exists, but is it important ? I think it's good there is some unexplainable events. Life is a game, and when you know exactly how to have an optimized play, there is no more game. Life will be uninspiring.
What is important is to follow our own ideas because we dont know what we can found after research.
Spending time, research to finally give up is not a failure. Some things have to be done, time isn't lost. S. Blackmore keep smiling, and I think she has find an answer somewhere, and answer satisfactory enough to stop researches and start taking care of another meme.
I am so sorry not to have any experience on that matter to share with you... I then have to be hopelessly pragmatic.
First of all, I don't understand why aliens and life after death are treated likewise. Indeed, life appeared on Earth, why shouldn't it appear elsewhere ? Contrary to life after death, that is such a nonsense for science today. Isn't it a proof that all these paranormal phenomena are not dealt with seriously ? I don't like this « potpourri », as bad for us as was once the elusive difference between magic and science, like for example astrology and astronomy, which were considered to be the same matter. With such a rotten basis, a blend of reason and nonsense, anything can be proved, and injustice, or simply stupid actions, are done.
Then, if magic pendants had to be tested (as Susan Blackmore did), then let's test some others, like upside-down breads on tables to see if any demon appears, as it is said to happen according to superstitious traditions. But how could it be tested ? Measuring misfortune is not that easy. As Susan Blackmore says, people always find excuses. As it can not be disproved, it can not be relevant. Any conversation about paranormals can only entail new leads to the analysis of such phenomena. Therefore, I understand why she decided to stop her research. Charlatans always try to make money out of anything that is in fashion, and naive superstitions pop up easily. There are so many of them, that Susan Blackmore would have to work several centuries to find out anything interesting.
Finally, I have to admit that, even if I generally answer « it depends » about paranormals, I really doubt about their existence. As far as I know, there is no reproducible phenomenon that can not be explained and that is considered as paranormal. It is no proof that there is no such thing as paranormal. But it shows how science has always be able to explain everything. What is considered as paranormal is only undiscovered human abilities or unknown natural phenomena. But paranormal phenomena actually seem to be a secret place for hope in a fair hereafter, or a way to relieve people of their responsibility. Indeed, if destiny exists, then whatever I do is done according to it. So if I go to sleep now, it is my destiny, I can't help it. I can calmly do whatever I want. But it is time now for us to be responsible for what we do.
And above all, I can't bear those explanations dealing with real themes of science, like electromagnetism and waves. I am convinced that if the media were more interested in quantum physics, numerous charlatans would appear, claiming that they discovered quantic flying saucers... Because why should we care about any explanation, since it can be discovered after that the phenomenon is isolated ? A man giving such an explanation only tries to bypass science, not to help it. He wants to keep it magic, to trust in « paranormals ».
As you said French people are very Cartesian and I think I am myself very Cartesian. But I remember of having experienced some strange phenomenon.
For instance at the age of seven I saw myself, sleeping from the roof of my room and under panic I moved and I saw my body move. I woke up some second after I felt myself falling. A lot of people have experienced that and so we can suppose that this experience is a physiological process.
I think that all can be explained by the powerfulness of our brain. Indeed, by taking some substances it is possible to experience some hallucinations. After that you understand people who are convinced of being an animal. For example, I experienced the lost of time perception during one hour I think and I was not able of knowing if the moment I saw the clock was before or after the moment I was thinking. It was very strange and frightening.
Furthermore, I think we are not aware of all the possibilities of our sensitiveness as when someone is looking at you it is possible to turn the head and look at him without cognition, as a reflex.
The intellectual epic of Susan Blackmore is a good example of conflict which can occur between what you feel and what you think. One problem is that when we see something, we don't need a demonstration to prove what we have just seen but the problem is that the view is a perception which can be corrupted by substances in our blood or the lack of others ( like oxygen )for instance.
Another problem is the power of belief. When you believe in something very strongly, you are not only blinded by your belief but you have the power of convince someone else and this is the moment when the notion of memes appears because your idea of ghosts for example can be spreading like a virus. And so the Darwinism which was until now dedicated to the human field can be applied on the ideas which struggle for survive in an environment which is made of our brains.
Although this theory is very interesting I think that we mustn't forget the control we have on our brain.we are not only supports but also actors. The question is the one of our liberty of cognition. Finally the question is: Do we consider that our brains only needs memes to their state and their processing be determined ? It would be very sad.
I have a really scientific point of view for this kind of phenomenoms. I always try to explain things with a rationnal explanation. I agree that there is many times where I can't tell what is happening to me, but I put it on a unknown (at least for me) thing of psychological (or biological) phenomenom.
For example, the example you gave to us last cours, where you sleeped in an abandonned (haunted) house. You said you saw people at the corner of the room. For me, if you didn't knew that this place was haunted, you would not have created this view (just like your friend). Our mind often creates what it wants to see.
I had many experiences like that. For example, when I was a child, I went to see my uncle in Bretagne. I slept with my brother this night, when we could hear some cracks here and there. We just remembered that their neighboors told us that there was once an old man in this house who died from disease in the room we were. By this time, we were afraid and thinking of many things (I can't remember but I could have seen some lights here and there).
The day after, we spoke to our uncle, he said that their was some rats in the attic. Here is the trigger of our mind !
When I hear that a mysterious hostel in Italy (can't remember where) where each renter died quickly after buying. Why it doesn't tick me ? Because around the world, there was a very little chance that it happens. But in our new society, news travels fast, so this will be known quickly. If it happened just once or twice, nobody will react. But more... someone will, and we know the rest.
I know that this kind of point of view is a true rationnalist thing but it's how I feel. I believe in science, statistics and rationnal explanation.
A last word for Ms. Blackmore : I don't want to discourage anybody, I don't want to spread this kind of thinking. Maybe there are other things, so maybe I am wrong (I know that my theory is not perfect). So if someone that believes in it wants to do researches, then he has to go for it. But I can understand why you stopped. Are you right or not ? Well, I think that there is no answer to that, I am not here to judge, that is a shame for global researches but I you had to stop, then you didn't need to force it.
Well, paranormal phenomenon, what a great sensation it should be to see something like that. Nevertheless, i can't believe that sort of things could appear, why?
first, i have to explain what is paranormal for me: paranormal is what we can't explain by a rational process how it appears.
So what we have to take into account is first the aspect of Time: What we can explain now with our technology or scientifical luggage, is less that tomorrow or after we could explain. For instance, the mechanisms of periodic vibrations from the pendulum was a great subject of superstition before the Newton theory of Mechanic.So science is always growing. The question of the possible existence of a limit could be discussed in an other topic.
Besides,what we have also to consider is the level of education from people:
For instance, some old indian tribes (Loretto, if my memory is good) believe that rain was the manifestation of a big human who lives in the air and that lightnings were his legs. And now we know pretty good the mechanisms of rain and clouds.So progress is always growing, and so everybody doesn't fear anymore from the rain.
Therefore, with this two clues, what is really a paranormal phenomenon? A great delirium, nothing more: No matter what sensations you fell in an old castle, these are only sensations: Sensations created by the fact that our culture has plenty of story of ghosts, of damned souls, and so in that situation, your subconscient or something like that tells you: hey guy, don't you see the ghost behind the windows? and you feel terrified.
That's why i don't believe to such stories even if people who deliver them, are really realy convincing because they have created a great logical progress to explain and describe what they see or what they feel.
To conclude with the scientifical career of Susan Blackmore and the end of it when she decides to quit her researchs, i wnat to say that she had the honesty to say, "yes i can't prove it now", and to get away all that stuff of research. Perhaps science has no reason to be here, and that paranormal is only a part of our common (even universal) culture, and mechanisms about them are only the way to create a sensation , to create something in order to fill a lack of something in our brain. Imagination is the most powerful thing of human activity, but sometimes, some overflows appear ...
Well, I've never lived any paranormal phenomenon. Funny things actually happened to me, but I wouldn't bet they were caused by paranormal. Though, I don't think paranormal doesn't exist, but I never met any example convincing enough.
I think that what we call 'paranormal' may simply be a field of science of which rules are still unknown to us, just as electric lights or radio would seem paranormal to anyone born three centuries ago.
That's why I don't try hundred of experiments to explain a phenomenon, but neither do I laugh at someone who explains me that he lived something he can't explain. I think the right way is to look for both a scientific and a paranormal cause of the phenomenon.
I agree with q.a that sooner or later, science will be able to find an explaination for each paranormal issue. From crops in the fields, to haunted houses, what I think is that everything around us is lead by some physic laws. Even though we only know an tiny part of these laws, nature cannot function randomly.
As far as I can remember, I never encounter a really paranormal experience, such as ghosts or UFOs. Some surprising things happened to me. I will mention "ever seen" events. These mainly happen in my dreams. In some dreams, I am in place I remember. And when I try to find when I was there before, a dream comes out. Then, I know that I am in a dream and I know exactly what is going to happen. More bizarre than that occured. I was in a dream, speaking with somebody. Suddenly, I stopped talking, saying "Stop, something will happen." As soon as I pronounced these words, my alarm clock sounded. It was like I predicted the event.
I would like to add that the psychologic part of our experiences is enormous. Influenced by what you heard about, or saw on the television, you are able to imagine many things that are hapenning to you. One night, I heard about noises in the roof. I was not scared because I was not in a old house, reputated as haunted. But I can imagine my interpretation if it had been the case. The explaination was simple. An animal (very likely a rat) used to live there. This is just to explain how our brain can interpretate anything around you.
To finish, I would like to say that everyone needs his or her own opinion. For now, nobody has been able to proof the existence or the non-existence of paranormal. Some significant awards were proposed by rich people, to anybody who can show them a paranormal phenomenom. These competitions attracted a lot of people, but all of these appeared to be cheaters.
I don't have any personal paranormal experience to relate. I wish I had, it would have made this exercise much easier.
Concerning Ms. Blackmore's carrier and her choice to give up on her studies, i find it very impressive.
Her life and the dedication of nearly 30 years of her life to things like telepathy, clairvoyance, psychokinesis and life after death, widely perceived as unscientific, represent a true scientific commitment.
I don't believe that such things exist or can happend, but i had to admit that the idea is pleasant. It's pleasant to think that we're not only flesh and blood.
However, i hardly see what experimentations on such subjects can be...
The fact that Ms Blackmore didn't find any "evidences" strengthens my general disbelief.
Across times, human nature didn’t change at all. Peoples still always want to explain what they see.
With a cognition science point of view, one hypothesis seems quite good to explain this phenomenon: More of been reassuring, people in concern keep a consistent representation of the world in their mind, and then can predict and act consequently. This is a condition of the human survival, even if the interpretation is not correct. But we have today to consider the fact that a theory explains some facts does not mean that this theory will explain all the facts that will be observed in the future. Even if this theory is a good functional theory.
Paranormal experiences are examples of this process. When some people seen something new and don’t achieve to explain it, they use memories of mystical events they already ear about to compose a mystical theory on it. If this theory is never reconsidered (the event is never observed anymore of it has not impacts), a new case a paranormal experience is created.
I me really sorry that today, some people still believe is those things. The development of sciences and communications, the explanation of most of those mystical events and the fact that paranormal experience never been seriously observed should have made people think about it. More of that, now we are conscious of this process, we can consider that is we do not understand something, it is not immediately something magical. I am aware that this is not always something easy to do and that they are huge interest conflicts - believers are easy to exploit (lotto, clairvoyance, religion, hope …) – but I wish and I will act for, that soon, people will realize how much paranormal experiences are inconsistent and finally ridiculous.
Some people pretend that they can guess the future, using cards or a crystal ball for example.
Some people believe in it and pretend that these psychic phenomenons will be scientifically proved in the future. Is there any explanation to it?
Firstly, people never get accurate answers to their questions. They always avoid giving facts in order not to show that they might be wrong. They evoke events or dangers for example but never say when or who will be at the origin of it.
Secondly, fortune-telling might be based on trying to guess what people are expecting. You need to use it in order to suggest to people that what they are expecting might probably happen. They will be so happy that the coincidence between what you say and what people expect will be interpreted as a proof.
Susan Blackmore had studied the paranormal for years and has abandoned it because she concluded that it did not exist.
Her attitude is probably the best because prejudice is opposed to science. Some scientists refuse to investigate about it because they already think that it does not exist.
You can investigate on everything if you keep on being honest because the only important thing is not to pretend that something is right when it is wrong.
Susan Blackmore has the same attitude towards Universal Darwinism. She tries to prove that memes behave the same way as genes without any prejudice but we still need more proofs.
However, studies about Universal Darwinism are probably easier to do because you try to explain existing facts rather than trying to prove that paranormal events can occur.
Personally, I haven’t any experience that shows the existence of paranormal but I have heard a lot of stories about that subject. The fact is that, in my country Tunisia, the majority of people believes in ghosts and magic especially because it is written in the Koran that they do exist, that ghosts aren’t dead people but are the citizens of a parallel world to ours.
I don’t think it would be interesting that I relate you these stories as even me I don’t really believe they are true. But, roughly speaking some are about haunted houses, others about soothsayer telling the truth about past things.
I have already seen soothsayer that told me things that really happened and that say they are in connection with ghosts which are their source. I don’t know how they do but what I noticed is that they aren’t very precise when they are speaking so to keep enough margins to guess true things. I also noticed that very often we give more importance to things they guess that were true to those that were wrong but in percentage it rarely go beyond fifty percent. We are so surprised when they guess something that really happened that we forget about the rest. I think they learn how to interact with our reactions so that they know if they are at the point of guessing something real or not by looking to our reactions.
As about the Dr. Susan Blackmore's abandonment of scientific research into this field of study, I think it is quite understandable as she have already spent 30 years trying to prove the existence of paranormal which is rather impressive. Because she kept faith in it even without proving anything during 30 years and it really require a lot of steadiness. I also think that this way she has proven the inexistence of paranormal or at least the impossibility to prove its existence, that it is only a question of personal beliefs and not scientific and universal truth.
First of all, I want to say that I'm very Cartesian ... In my point of view, a lot of paranormal things can be related to a particular state of brain. Some hormonal phenomena or some substances (what ? It's true, isn't it ?) can bring our brain to imagine some things, consciously or not. That's why I can bilieve in ghosts for exemple.
Concerning the physical phenomena, like crop circles, we can't explain that. I think that the issue with human conscious is that we want to categorize everything. So, there are the things we can explain, and the others. And thanks to some ideas (in the 70's I think), aliens are related to almost everything we can't explain ... I quite agree the fact that some things unexplained by science nowadays could be explained within some years.
My personal experience with paranormal phenomenon is quite boring. I confess that sometime, I feel like if I live some experience I already lived before ... Perhaps it's because the current situation is like in one of my dreams, or because i already lived a similar experience, and my brain make a relation between both of them.
Concerning Ms Blackmore's decision, I just want to say that I understand the difficulty she may have to admit she was wrong ... I think that it will be so difficult to me to admit, if one day somebody can say "Paranormal phenomenon exist, and I will show you ...", that I am wrong. But the question which remain is : Can we explain paranormal phenomenon ? Or, by definition, are they only personal things, only explainable by the people who experiment them ?
See you in some years for conclusions ... Or not ...
It's quite difficult for a rational scientific mind to admit the existence of some "paranormal" facts. I always try to find some kind of logical interpretation when something really amazing happens. You know, even for the example of the "haunted room" you gave us last thursday, I think it has something to do with psychology : you were aware of the situation, therefore you - probably - unconsciously felt the presence of previous inhabitants.
Disturbing experiences for me are the moments when you are feeling that you already have witnessed an event, e.g. in a conversation, you already know what will be said or when you visit a totally unknown place and progressively, it looks so familiar. I was troubled many times, especially when I was a child, until I discovered that it's a common feeling named paramnesia or with French words "déjà vu". In fact, it's a real precognition, but only a few milliseconds long : your short-term memory receive information about what happens right before your brain analyze it. Here is the great illusion. I was a bit disappointed not to be medium or some kind of prophet : just a anomaly of memory.
Of course, I could add how afraid I was when sleeping outside with frightening noises, the threat of the Boogie man or whoever else. But it's rather cultural traditions of fear for children than paranormal experience.
I understand the point Mrs Blackmore's point of view : to my mind, paranormal period was to come to an end with the development of science for two centuries. Now we can explain natural phenomenons, researches on brain allow a better understanding of our mind. It's far more difficult to resist to the attraction of rationality. But that's complementary : one side is trying to explain what the other side put as paranormal. In this situation, discouragement is normal when you realize you'll never proof any paranormal situation.
Personally, I think It's really hard to confirm whether paranormal is just our imagination or not. Our present scientific knowledge does not allow us to explain or prove that kind of phenomenon existing or not.
Everyday, we hear more and more story of paranormal, we believe in some but not in others although all of these stories have no proof. As a student in science, I always tend to see some proofs to believe in a story, but sometimes I hear a story with no evidence to prove its existence, I still could not refuse it, I doubt whether or not it's a real story.
For example, a famous paranormal story in my country is about one place where a railway passes by. We have so many accidents of trains and passengers there. Witnesses of these accidents said that when passengers went close to the railway, their eyes became glassy and they walked unconsciously to the railway. Even though a train was comming in a loud trainwhistle and witnesses also shouted to them, they still walked right to the train. A passenger who was saved from accidents when a witness failed to alarm him then tried to pull him back, said that when he approached the railway, his head became empty, he heard many voices told him to advance and he advanced out of his control. At first, maybe you did not believe in this story, neither did I. But in fact, this kind of accidents happened so many times, again and again, at just only this section of railway. Once, I have tried to explain this phenomenon with my knowledge and also imagination, maybe there is an electro-magnetic field or another kind of field there and its effect on the passengers deactivated some of brain functions and create an illusion of voices. But maybe it is a true paranormal phenomenon.
Another example, on national TV channel, we have a military program for searching missing soldier bodies of the two last wars. Once, this program presented a talk of a psychic who has a special gift – finding missing soldiers. She told about her last success in finding a missing body of a soldier. One night, she had dreamed that she met a soldier in a corner of Truong Son forest and he told her his name, his birthday, his hometown and how he died and asked her to inform his family that he was there because his family had been trying to find him since the national reunification. The day after, the psychic came to the address the soldier gave, she told the name and the birthday of the soldier... the members of that family were so supprised because they really have a brother, with this name, missing in the last war. And after many days in Truong Son forest, searching the place in the psychic's dream, they finnaly found it. When they excavated this site, they found a skeleton with some personal stuffs and a diary (writting diary was the interest of most of our soldiers in these two wars). From these stuffs and the diary, they confirmed that this skeleton was their brother. In this case, I could not explain the phenomenon of the psychic's dream. The psychic and the soldier have nothing in contact, nothing in relation. There is so much coincidence that we can not explain. I believe that it is one case of paranormal.
Paranormal phenomena really exist and we can explain them scientifically but not with our present scientific knowledge. We do not have clear proofs for their existence but we do not have any proofs for their non-existence, either.
So far I haven't lived any paranormal experience. Certainly because I don't believe in anything refering to ghosts, spirits or miracles. I would explain that by saying that I haven't been raised in a religious or mystical way.
This is all about superstitions.
I don't say that I'm not superstitious. But there are different kind of superstitions. I'm more the kind of guy who
wears the same t-shirt to play tennis games or other little things like that. However among the superstitions there is the Susan Blackmore's study kind. To my mind they exist because they are the reflections of people fears and beliefs. If you have never been told about the after-life and all the psychic things I don't think that you will believe naturally in those superstitions.
It's a matter of beliefs, fears and worries which rise above the reason. That's why when some "paranormal" thing happens people start thinking something spiritual is at stake. But it's only because they are not guided by their own reason. It is similar to the Coué's method : think about something very strongly and you will end up being convinced that it exists.
This was my point of view. A cartesian point of view I admit but it's the only way I found to deal with psychic phenomena.
One last thing, just to say a word about Susan Blackmore. I think that in her case, she abandoned her studies because her reason came back. I know 30 years is very long, maybe for some people taking so much time is what it's worth to come back to reality. (I was not totally serious. Like she said she was tired and there is nothing more to say, we have to be realistic)
I am a very cartesian personn and i just believe what i see. So, as i have never experienced something of paranormal, I don't think that this kind of event can exist.
Besides, according to me, people who said they saw paranormal phenomen are traped by their minds or subconscious. Indeed, often we see that we want to see, and not that we really see. For instance, when people see ghost of deads who were closed of them, i think it is only their consciousness which draw pictures and not deads who come back to do a last task ... It is the same thing when you are in a house which could be haunted, our mind, sometimes feed by our fears, create some pictures of ghost and some scared sounds.
Finally, we don't know everything about some fields which can explain paranormal phenomen, for example quantic physic. Maybe, we'll made some breakthroughs which will prove that there is nothing of paranormal, but only sciences and logic. For example in medecine to explain how in few cases, diseases disappear without explanation. But obviously, it's more difficult to try to demonstrate an event than believe that it's paranormal.
I would like to finish with the Susan Blackmore's decision. I think it's a pity to stop something which occupyed 30 years of her life. Besides, all the researchers find one day in front of them deep deadlocks, but they don't stop ... A real researcher stop only when he finds what is looking for.
Jérôme G.
I have experienced a very disturbing paranormal experience when I was 15,but I will share it with you only after vacation,'cause I don't have the time to write it down now(it's a bit long).
Although I don't really believe in paranormal experiences!!!I really think that only our brain is capable of creating things that doesn't exist.The power of our brain is huge,if you study psychologie you will see that you can be blind only because you saw something that disturbed you.
I think that all that surrounds us is true and only our brain can create lies,and give a description of something that isn't really happening.
I think that the incouscient part of our brain can explain by itself paranormal experiences.I have to catch the English class but I'll continue soon.
Everybody has heard about somebody who had a strange story: a haunted place, ghosts, or vampires… something special closed of a paranormal phenomenon.
All of these people believe that something special happened to them, something real… Is it just their imagination or the truth? Could human beings explain all of this paranormal phenomenon? Are all these people crazy?
If we take a large part of people that have psychological complications, because of drugs or emotional problems (such as a death of a member of family, a friend) , they could believe on a lot of strange things . If we take the example of people that have lost a member of family, the emotional shock is so hard, these people are suffering. They want to talk with this person, to pass time with him but they are not able. They think about this person all the time, all the days and they can not accept that everything is finished with this person. This will lead them to use their imagination ( to believe that they have seen this person) because they are not ready to admit that this person is death. All the work of a psychotherapist is to make them accept that they should accept what happened and start a new turn in their life.
But what about other people, that seems to be normal without any psychological complications?
If we take the hypothesis that science could explain everything, and makes us reach to the truth, the first point is that all things that happened to these people are real, but it is just related to natural phenomenon that scientists are not able to explain now. In this case, it must be a rational explanation to all of these things. It is like when you see a show of a magician: you are amazed of what you see A child of six or seven years old will believe that what he had seen is true, and that the magician is able to do strange things, and he will believe that all things that he had seen are truth. For me, it is really the same thing about other phenomenon: perhaps that these people had seen something strange, but it just a natural phenomenon that science is not able nowadays to explain, equivalent to the trick of the magician. Perhaps, in the future everything will be clear when science would be strong enough to explain all of this. The second point is consequence of the first one: when you could not give a reasonable explanation to what happened : you could feel that you are in danger, mystery and this will makes you have an emotional shock. In this case, you will be like other people that have real psychological complications, which will lead to use your imagination, an illusion to explain what happened.
As a conclusion, paranormals phenomenon illustrate that human beings are not strong enough to give rational explanation of the world, losing their lucidity when they do not have a rational explanations of things. Our only solution is working hard to make science develop to explain the natural phenomenon and also our strange cerebral system.
Personnally, I think that some paranormal phenomenon are due to imagination but I some others can be true because there are so many things that we don't understand.
So, for me, we have to try to explain these phenomenon in order to find if it was a paranormal one or not.
I had a paranormal experience, almost the same as Adrien's one, but I was so young ... The rationnal explanation I have been given doesn't persuade me but it must be a sort of belief : I don't want to live with paranormal, so I believe there is an explanation, I just don't know what now. I really think it's a belief : what's the difference between believing in paranormal and saying "I don't know, I just wait for a rationnal explanation" ? When the explanation is found (if it's possible ...), everybody agree, but until then, I'm sure there is one, without any proof. Isn't it a simple belief ?
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