Skeptiko, Paranthropology, and the Institute of Noetic Sciences
For the last few years, what we call the paranormal has been gaining more respect than it has had in the past. There is an organized skeptical movement, the goal of which is to distribute as much misinformation about such topics as psi, telekinesis, NDEs, etc., which has been tremendously successful in portraying researchers such as Dean Radin and Rupert Sheldrake among others as incompetent mountebanks. The reality of the situation, however, is that these scientists have made great strides in understanding consciousness, and parapsychology more broadly.
While there are many top-notch blogs and books which do a great job of clearing up this intentional confusion, I have decided to bring together some of the best resources from which you can actually learn more about parapsychology and the noetic sciences. You will be less likely to fall for anti-parapsychological propaganda if you understand what scientists in the field are actually saying. So without further ado, here are my top three outlets for learning more about parapsychology:
This podcast is phenomenal. It has grown to reach quite a wide public and has played a very important role culturally in showing how good the evidence for what we call “the paranormal” really is. It has also been very important in exposing the propaganda of the organized skeptical movement. Take a listen for yourself and see which side you come down on.
This is a great albeit overlooked research journal for anything we would consider anomalous. As the title suggests, these phenomena are approached from a distinctly anthropological perspective which serves to underline man’s perennial interaction with the paranormal and our link thereto. I am not sure how wide the readership of this excellent periodical is but it is my hope that more people will sign up (it’s free) and learn from actual scientists working in the vast yet interrelated field.
The Institute of Noetic Science concerns itself with the study of consciousness and has invited not only scientists but people from the various wisdom traditions from around the world to come and talk about the importance of consciousness. Like with Skeptiko and Paranthropology, the research of IONS is quite diverse and difficult to pigeon-hole, so I invite the reader to check it out for him or herself!
