8. ABOUT Psychological Explanations
Posted: Wed Mar 31, 2021 7:01 pm
Obligatory "Its Your Imagination"
Of course we have to mention all the psychological reasons that skeptics say it's all in the imagination.
The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe book How To Know What's Really Real in a World Increasingly Full of Fake has a big section on this. But it's a steep read for the true layman.
To be helpful, we have summarized 24 bullet points from the book, of the top psychological explanations for paranormal experiences.
See our two-page PDF summary here.
Do pick up the real book if you can, it's a good read. These are some of the best-informed people on the planet, because they've dedicated their lives to keeping up with cutting edge science developments. Everyone else on the planet would probably do well to listen to these cats.
Speaking of listening to those cats, shameless plug, consider adding their podcast to your lineup: "The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe." They put out a 90m show every week on exactly what was said above - cutting edge science developments. It's not all dry either! The segments are really interesting and there are five panelists so you get a variety of commentary. Between the five they cover a lot of different areas of science. Plus they play a game at the end of each episode called "Science or Fiction" where you guess which one of three items is the fake and which two are true. (I "win" maybe half the time, which to me just means guessing correctly to myself BEFORE they go around the table and each give their own arguments for/against each item being the fake.) They've been doing their show for 15 years. They're like family to those who've been listening for a lot of that time. But don't take my word for it, give them a listen yourself. (Your brain will thank you later.)
Really, if anyone were to ask me to name a SINGLE THING they could do to get consistently smarter, I would say.... listen to the SGU podcast.
That being said, if they're not your cup of tea, do try some other science podcasts. The others are good also (but we all have our favorites, eh?) just do yourself a favor and stay in touch with current developments somehow. By the time developments get to mass-media level it tends to get distorted to be sensational or push some agenda. It's helpful to get your info closer to the original sources.
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QUICK LINKS for Debunking Self-Help
1. Start Here
2. Air Quality
3. Infrasound
4. EMF
5. Drafts
6. Home Surveillance Systems
7. Movement
8. Psychology
9. Shadows
10. When Self-Debunking Fails
APP HOME PAGE
FEEDBACK
Share your reviews, and knowledge. Don't be shy if you have a quality contribution. (But please be polite and proofread.)
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.
.
Of course we have to mention all the psychological reasons that skeptics say it's all in the imagination.
The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe book How To Know What's Really Real in a World Increasingly Full of Fake has a big section on this. But it's a steep read for the true layman.
To be helpful, we have summarized 24 bullet points from the book, of the top psychological explanations for paranormal experiences.
See our two-page PDF summary here.
Do pick up the real book if you can, it's a good read. These are some of the best-informed people on the planet, because they've dedicated their lives to keeping up with cutting edge science developments. Everyone else on the planet would probably do well to listen to these cats.
Speaking of listening to those cats, shameless plug, consider adding their podcast to your lineup: "The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe." They put out a 90m show every week on exactly what was said above - cutting edge science developments. It's not all dry either! The segments are really interesting and there are five panelists so you get a variety of commentary. Between the five they cover a lot of different areas of science. Plus they play a game at the end of each episode called "Science or Fiction" where you guess which one of three items is the fake and which two are true. (I "win" maybe half the time, which to me just means guessing correctly to myself BEFORE they go around the table and each give their own arguments for/against each item being the fake.) They've been doing their show for 15 years. They're like family to those who've been listening for a lot of that time. But don't take my word for it, give them a listen yourself. (Your brain will thank you later.)
Really, if anyone were to ask me to name a SINGLE THING they could do to get consistently smarter, I would say.... listen to the SGU podcast.
That being said, if they're not your cup of tea, do try some other science podcasts. The others are good also (but we all have our favorites, eh?) just do yourself a favor and stay in touch with current developments somehow. By the time developments get to mass-media level it tends to get distorted to be sensational or push some agenda. It's helpful to get your info closer to the original sources.
.
QUICK LINKS for Debunking Self-Help
1. Start Here
2. Air Quality
3. Infrasound
4. EMF
5. Drafts
6. Home Surveillance Systems
7. Movement
8. Psychology
9. Shadows
10. When Self-Debunking Fails
APP HOME PAGE
FEEDBACK
Share your reviews, and knowledge. Don't be shy if you have a quality contribution. (But please be polite and proofread.)
For quick comment about this post, just reply to this thread. To add more in-depth commentary, add a new post to this forum: Go back one page (hit the "BACK" arrow or use the breadcrumbs near the header) so you can see ALL the posts on this topic. Then look for the "NEW TOPIC" button. It has bright purple text.
If you have GOOD INFORMATION, please choose to add a new post rather than a reply here. That way you'll generate comments of your own.
TIPS FOR POLLS: Polls appear on some topics, if the post's author has created one. They're open to ALL registered users. All APP-written polls are set to be ongoing and allow you to change your vote later. Feel free to comment your suggestions for improving any poll, ours or others', just be kind and helpful.
CREATING A POLL: When writing any post (not comment replies) the option for "Poll Creation" is in a tab below the "submit" button. You can always edit the poll later via editing the post itself and navigating back to that tab, but that sort of defeats the purpose if you change it after people have answered, right? To start, try to think through the answers and provide an option for all likely points-of-view. Lastly, the poll will display below the post after it's published. In "preview" mode it shows on top.
.
.