Not really sure where to post this, but Im doing it here since Im hoping for specific information.
Looking for books/documentaries that do legitimate science studies/research showing how they disprove paranormal studies.
As subjective as possible while if possible entertaining.
Im talking about people who are willing to say “I don’t know” when they couldn’t legitimately disprove something, but who otherwise can provide real explanations on the rest.
Thanks
An excellent source is James Randi’s web site (www.randi.org). He also has a number of books out, some of which will go a long way to answering your question.
Haj
There is an excellent book called Paranormal Borderlands of Science, which is a collection of various research efforts, articles, essays, etc., about how claims of paranormal activity are debunked. James Randi has one or two articles in there.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0879751487/104-4597382-1804750?v=glance
However, it was written a number of years ago and so is somewhat out of date. Still valid, but no John Edward or Sylvia Browne examples in there. Also, there is no “I don’t know how they did it” element to it. It’s explained very clearly explained “how” they do it, which, by the way, none of the psychics are able to keep doing under controlled conditions.
One small nitpick, the majority of paranormal phenomona cannot be disproved, since you cannot disprove a negative. A particular study can be debunked, explained in other ways, shown to be non-scientific, fraud could have easily been involved, statistcally insignificant etc.
I understand the skeptics society is also a good resource. http://www.skeptic.com/
Another vote for the excellent work of the James Randi Educational Foundation.
The link given above did not work for me, so here it is again: James Randi Educational Foundation.
George O. Abell’s Science and the Paranormal (1981) (He’s the editor)
The aforementioned Paranormal Borderlands of Science, edited by Kendrick Frasier
Alsop his Sciencve Confronts the Paranormal
Lawrence David Kunsche’s The Bermuda Triangle Mystery — Solved
Oh, heck, check out this page:
I was going to post a reply here, but it slipped my mind. I was reminded of it today when I received my used copy of *Paranormal Borderlands of Science * from Amazon booksellers (another $1 wonder), the purchase of which was inspired by this thread. Looks like a pretty good book, by the way—I’ll tackle it in a couple of weeks when finals are over.
I’ve been dying to get my hands on a copy of this book. It’s basically ‘how to be a psychic medium’. It’s $50 though, so it’s going to have to wait awhile. I found out about it from this article which is itself a really entertaining read.
[sub]Pssst … you do realise that Ian Rowland is ianzin?[/sub]
No! :eek: I didn’t know that! I’m still somewhat of a newbie here. :smack: I wonder if he gives a ‘Doper Discount’. 