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Science & the Paranormal Part 2 The Results

Science & the Paranormal Part 2 The Results. Zener Cards and Dowsing Rods How the Scientific Method Works. “Definitions”. Hypothesis : Tries to explain an occurrence or phenomena – a mere assumption or guess

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Science & the Paranormal Part 2 The Results

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  1. Science & the Paranormal Part 2The Results Zener Cards and Dowsing Rods How the Scientific Method Works

  2. “Definitions” Hypothesis: Tries to explain an occurrence or phenomena – a mere assumption or guess Theory: Closer to being a proven fact than a hypothesis, but still conjecture or educated guess Validity: Follows logically, truth based Repeatability: Can the same results be observed again multiple times over? Bias: Expectations we bring to the table and how they can taint the outcome

  3. The Scientific Method Source: http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_scientific_method.shtml

  4. Why Science & the Paranormalare a difficult combination: Repeatability is very hard to attain. The validity of much of our so-called “evidence” can be easily brought into question. Examples: photos, video, EVP The more improved the software, the easier the fake is as in the case of photoshop. There are very few paranormal investigators who don’t bring their own biases on investigations with them. Even fewer who identify their biases and try to compensate for them with the goal of true objectivity. Without standard protocol across the board, scientists outside the paranormal community will always have a difficult time taking us seriously. Skeptics will always be skeptics. It’s their nature.

  5. Why the Dowsing Rods ExperimentFailed: • Insufficient instructions given by the facilitator (me) • Not enough time to practice with the rods for those who hadn’t used them • Not enough participants, incomplete forms • Alcohol consumption probably didn’t help

  6. Highlights from the Zener cards test: • 31 participants • Only one participant achieved noteworthy results: 9 of 25. • No one scored a zero. • The “dummy deck”/random choices used by Mark only scored 2 of 25 • The average number of correct answers was 5.64, however most people scored a 4.

  7. Zener Card Results Breakdown

  8. Questionnaire • Even split: 15 men and 15 women returned the form • The spiritual beliefs ranged from unsure to Atheist to Christian to all encompassing. • A few of the forms were incomplete, or the answers weren’t taken seriously.

  9. Do You Believe You Have ESP?

  10. Number of people who believed they had ESP vs. Zener test results 1 = Yes, 2 = No, 3 = Maybe, 4 = Two Answers

  11. Age Range

  12. Number Who Believe They’ve Had a Paranormal Encounter

  13. Do You Believe the Spirit Continues After Death?

  14. Arts-Minded vs. Science-Minded

  15. Ever Experienced Pre-Cognition?

  16. Now It’s Your Turn • Put on your critical thinking caps. • What other questions might you want to answer using the data from this little study? • What could have been done differently in preparing the test and questionnaire? • What biases might have effected the outcome? • Why might these results be less than valid? • What other comments or ideas to you have?

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