About The Aster-P Project
Posted: Wed Mar 31, 2021 11:45 am
About Us
As listeners of both paranormal and skeptical podcasts, we find maddening the contradiction between the two camps. How is a divide like this even possible in the 21st century? Aside from philosophy or faith, these things are largely measurable.
And... the people in paranormal stories often sound.... so... distressed.
Indeed, a survey of paranormal reports demonstrates that yes, a LOT of people appear to be distressed by these events.
What can we do to assist the distressed people?
WELCOME
Thanks for your interest. We are a new project, looking for interested participants from the public and academia. The project will go online in the spring of 2021. To allow for structural feedback, draft-editions of the project materials (paper, website, and new survey) will be run for a short period of time before formal announcement to the public.
Currently, members of the public (Hello, You!) are encouraged to have a look around the new site, add feedback wherever they like, and TAKE THE SURVEY! Give us feedback on that too, if you like. LET US KNOW how we can help!
The over-all mission of the project is to help bring more science to the paranormal, for the purpose of helping people and also doing more research.
SCIENCE
For academics, "the paranormal" is a big subject with a lot of moving parts. The subject itself is a minefield for serious academics. One misstep at the beginning could cast a scorn-worthy pall over an entire research body. Reputation is paramount in academics. The corporate culture of The Aster-P Project is to keep science first. If we stumble, appropriate corrections will be made as best practices emerge. In this minefield we endeavor to call upon the best MINDS in their fields. With constructive, informed feedback we can keep the project on course.
At issue: A library of good scientific information ALREADY exists around the internet and elsewhere. However it appears that this good information is not reaching the people who need it. This contradiction is a self-defeating dead-end.
Meanwhile, some PEOPLE are genuinely distressed about their "paranormal" experiences. The paranormal is not all joke-scares. There appear to be distressed people who aren't frauds, tricksters, or attention-seekers. There appear to be people who have tried to "debunk" their experience to no avail. (APP Study #1). These people either haven't got the message OR the message hasn't been helpful.
Either way, an enlightened society should be able to provide help to distressed people, without stigmatizing the group.
ALSO at issue: The elephant in the room. It is too easy to go off the rails, into the weeds, and away from the scientific method. Yet there are many questions for which the accepted science CURRENTLY falls short. This is the minefield. Let's tread carefully and slowly.
The best case scenario would involve the public and the professionals working together to advance science's foothold in the field of the paranormal.
If you are someone with science-helpful knowledge on any of the many facets of the paranormal, please consider sharing your knowledge with the public via The Aster-P Project. This is especially true for professional skeptics. We need your helpful guidance.
Feel free to jump into any of the methodology discussions, or introduce yourself personally at: feedback@asterpp.org
PROSPECTIVE FELLOWS
To that end: Invitation will be sent to top skeptical and science experts, and select paranormal experts, offering a Fellowship position. Draft-editions of Study #1's paper, the project website, and study #2: the directed survey, will be run for at least seven days after announcement to prospective Fellows, to call for and incorporate structural feedback.
Fellows will be asked for nothing more than their polite commentary (guiding expertise, when convenient) as the many branches of this subject are explored. It is understood that these issues are complicated and multi-faceted, involving many steps and much time, but there is no long-term or formal commitment. The position is meant to be progressive, not cumbersome.
Research is the goal of most academics. In addition to the immediate concern of helping distressed people, we hope to uncover and solidify best practices for dealing with the dozens of paranormal categories.
We need your helpful guidance, not only to tackle the contradiction of distressed people (from "paranormal" events) but also to let us know how to SET UP good conditions for research.
Thank you.
As listeners of both paranormal and skeptical podcasts, we find maddening the contradiction between the two camps. How is a divide like this even possible in the 21st century? Aside from philosophy or faith, these things are largely measurable.
And... the people in paranormal stories often sound.... so... distressed.
Indeed, a survey of paranormal reports demonstrates that yes, a LOT of people appear to be distressed by these events.
What can we do to assist the distressed people?
WELCOME
Thanks for your interest. We are a new project, looking for interested participants from the public and academia. The project will go online in the spring of 2021. To allow for structural feedback, draft-editions of the project materials (paper, website, and new survey) will be run for a short period of time before formal announcement to the public.
Currently, members of the public (Hello, You!) are encouraged to have a look around the new site, add feedback wherever they like, and TAKE THE SURVEY! Give us feedback on that too, if you like. LET US KNOW how we can help!
The over-all mission of the project is to help bring more science to the paranormal, for the purpose of helping people and also doing more research.
SCIENCE
For academics, "the paranormal" is a big subject with a lot of moving parts. The subject itself is a minefield for serious academics. One misstep at the beginning could cast a scorn-worthy pall over an entire research body. Reputation is paramount in academics. The corporate culture of The Aster-P Project is to keep science first. If we stumble, appropriate corrections will be made as best practices emerge. In this minefield we endeavor to call upon the best MINDS in their fields. With constructive, informed feedback we can keep the project on course.
At issue: A library of good scientific information ALREADY exists around the internet and elsewhere. However it appears that this good information is not reaching the people who need it. This contradiction is a self-defeating dead-end.
Meanwhile, some PEOPLE are genuinely distressed about their "paranormal" experiences. The paranormal is not all joke-scares. There appear to be distressed people who aren't frauds, tricksters, or attention-seekers. There appear to be people who have tried to "debunk" their experience to no avail. (APP Study #1). These people either haven't got the message OR the message hasn't been helpful.
Either way, an enlightened society should be able to provide help to distressed people, without stigmatizing the group.
ALSO at issue: The elephant in the room. It is too easy to go off the rails, into the weeds, and away from the scientific method. Yet there are many questions for which the accepted science CURRENTLY falls short. This is the minefield. Let's tread carefully and slowly.
The best case scenario would involve the public and the professionals working together to advance science's foothold in the field of the paranormal.
If you are someone with science-helpful knowledge on any of the many facets of the paranormal, please consider sharing your knowledge with the public via The Aster-P Project. This is especially true for professional skeptics. We need your helpful guidance.
Feel free to jump into any of the methodology discussions, or introduce yourself personally at: feedback@asterpp.org
PROSPECTIVE FELLOWS
To that end: Invitation will be sent to top skeptical and science experts, and select paranormal experts, offering a Fellowship position. Draft-editions of Study #1's paper, the project website, and study #2: the directed survey, will be run for at least seven days after announcement to prospective Fellows, to call for and incorporate structural feedback.
Fellows will be asked for nothing more than their polite commentary (guiding expertise, when convenient) as the many branches of this subject are explored. It is understood that these issues are complicated and multi-faceted, involving many steps and much time, but there is no long-term or formal commitment. The position is meant to be progressive, not cumbersome.
Research is the goal of most academics. In addition to the immediate concern of helping distressed people, we hope to uncover and solidify best practices for dealing with the dozens of paranormal categories.
We need your helpful guidance, not only to tackle the contradiction of distressed people (from "paranormal" events) but also to let us know how to SET UP good conditions for research.
Thank you.