# Psychic studies in college.  Is liberal Europe more "enlightened" or less scientific?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychic-studies-in-college-is-liberal-europe-more-enlightened-or-less-scientific/200568>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [September 9, 2003, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychic-studies-in-college-is-liberal-europe-more-enlightened-or-less-scientific/200568 "2003-09-09T17:27:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 3

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Rayn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85e7bf/32.png) [@Rayn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayn)\
**Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychic-studies-in-college-is-liberal-europe-more-enlightened-or-less-scientific/200568/41 "2003-09-13T21:59:05Z")

</div>

**Shade** : I suppose I should have placed a “such” in front of phenomena, but thanks for pointing that out, pedant 😉

**David Simmons** : Yes, this is rather old news, there are several universities and institutions that study parapsychology and a dedicated staff that attempt to design experiments that can reliably replicate paranormal phenomena. Although it has all been questionable data to this point, I still wouldn’t discount all such research. Technology is becoming increasingly advanced, and the interest in the subject may provide for the necessary funding to get such research conducted.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\
**Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychic-studies-in-college-is-liberal-europe-more-enlightened-or-less-scientific/200568/42 "2003-09-13T22:16:19Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Rayn \*  
> **Shade: I suppose I should have placed a “such” in front of phenomena, but thanks for pointing that out, pedant 😉**

Don’t mention it, all part of the service. Nice to know pedants are still appreciated round here 🙂

I _did_ say sorry, I just couldn’t help myself. Consider ‘such’ as read’

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\
**Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychic-studies-in-college-is-liberal-europe-more-enlightened-or-less-scientific/200568/43 "2003-09-13T22:27:20Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Diogenes the Cynic \*  
> \*\*How exactly are they going to study something which doesn’t exist? \*\*

I studied normal psychology at the Dutch Utrecht University from 1987-1992. There was, at the time, the faculty of parapsychology, as it was called.

As a student, I enrolled in all experiments advertised, for fun and to earn money.

I remember enrolling in an experiment in the parapsychology faculty. It involved sitting in a room, watching a monitor showing a seemingly randomized pattern of spirals. I was told to try, in whatever way I saw fit, to influence the spirals. I tried in earnest, but they didn’t gave out the results. 🙂

I do not know if the faculty has survived the various cuts on the budget the University had to suffer.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\
**Post date:** [September 14, 2003, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychic-studies-in-college-is-liberal-europe-more-enlightened-or-less-scientific/200568/44 "2003-09-14T00:49:09Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by bnorton \*  
> I’m always very, very skeptical of these kinds of surveys.

Heck, it shows Canadians are the least stupid. I could accept that on its face.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![\_Tim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/e47c2d/32.png) [@\_Tim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Tim)\
**Post date:** [September 14, 2003, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychic-studies-in-college-is-liberal-europe-more-enlightened-or-less-scientific/200568/45 "2003-09-14T01:18:38Z")

</div>

Hmm, according to those numbers 15% answered ‘true’ in Canada versus 10% answering ‘true’ in the USA.

More allegedly answered “I don’t know” in the USA, but I’d classify that as considerably more intelligent than answering ‘true’.

On the other hand, I’m skeptical of the numbers too…

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychic-studies-in-college-is-liberal-europe-more-enlightened-or-less-scientific/200568.md?page=2)