"Science and the paranormal", a talk by Dr. Joe Schwarcz

Since the dawn of civilization humans have been fascinated by phenomena which appear to lie outside the scope of science. Our history is peppered with accounts of psychics predicting the future, mediums conversing with the dead, and aliens in UFO's abducting earthlings. Today the likes of Deepak Chopra confuse people with their quantum psychobabble and there is widespread belief that the moon and planets influence our behavior, that "psychic surgeons" can remove tumors without making incisions and that Uri Geller bends spoons with the power of his mind. .Do these effects really lie outside the scope of modern day science? This lecture examines paranormal phenomena and describes how many of the effects can be explained by perfectly "natural" means. The presentation is highlighted by a number of "demonstrations" aimed at increasing the awareness of the need to evaluate "paranormal" phenomena by critical scientific methods.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• paranormal
• science
• Joe Schwarcz
• centre for inquiry
• cfi

[Darkrider6970]

Great video. More people should be watching it.

[Greenhornet270]

FIVE stars excellent Post!!!!

[AtheistToothFairy]

Why wouldn't they have used a local microphone, so all that annoying audience coughing doesn't overcome the speaker's voice?

[thruthem]

Nice one. Now add 16 Million views.

[shawandrew]

I had heard about Tony Robins' coal walking seminars, but I thought they were about conquering your fears and not about turning into some sort of wizard.

[YesIamJames]

Wow the woman at 1:15:30 was painful to listen to.

[OurFadedGarden]

Another good book is The Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan.