paranormal: Definition from Answers.com

The adjective used for phenomena lying outside the range of normal scientific investigations. Among other things it includes communication without physical links, telepathy, clairvoyance, movements of objects without known causes, and extrasensory perception (ESP). What these phenomena have in common is not only lack of accepted explanations but the much stronger claim — essentially difficult to justify — that there never will be acceptable explanations, even for any future science.

It is said of paranormal phenomena (and it is these suggestions that seem to lie outside science) that they demonstrate powers of disembodied minds, are associated with some kind of consciousness, and occur without physical force or material stimulus. They thus have implications for psychology, and for our views of the mind and its relation to the physical world. Many of the claimed phenomena are commonplace events, such as objects falling off shelves, for which no natural cause can be established. If any explicable reason can be supposed, then the claim vanishes, however bizarre the event, for the onus is always to show that the event is paranormal. Paranormal intervention is nowadays seldom accepted as the reason for any other than very unusual events, except perhaps in astrology. This has not always been so: 'primitive' explanations of everyday events were often in terms of the direct action of mind on matter, or on other minds.

Research on claims of paranormal phenomena has been and still is active in many countries, but the most influential body organizing experiments and examining such claims is the British Society for Psychical Research. After a century of work, by many highly distinguished people, including scientists of the first rank, there is probably less confidence now in the existence of paranormal phenomena than when the society was founded. As experiments designed to test for extrasensory perception, telepathy, telekinesis, 'fork bending', and so on are tightened up, the phenomena tend to disappear or turn out to be clearly fraudulent. Of course one cannot say that every case is mistaken or fraudulent, but it is hardly to be taken lightly that, for example, the conjuror James Randi is able by conjuring methods to duplicate Uri Geller's fork bending and other phenomena which only recently were widely accepted as paranormal. There are, however, a few cases of dramatic demonstrations of claimed paranormal abilities which have never been explained in terms of known or conceivable physics, or as cheating: especially those of Daniel Douglas Home (1833–86) who, among other inexplicable reported events, was 'seen' by many people at a party in London to levitate — passing out of one window and through another into a different room — and to perform many other dramatic 'paranormal' feats over many years without ever being 'found out'. On the other hand, there have been several accepted conjurors whose methods, though never ascertained, are assumed not to be paranormal abilities. In any case, it has come as a shock to discover how easily even the best observers and experimenters can suffer illusions and be mistaken and misled into errors of observation and reporting. Even if all claims of paranormal phenomena are totally rejected, as they have been by such sceptics as David Hume in his famous 'Essay on miracles' (1748) and more recently C. E. M. Hansel (1966), it is interesting nevertheless to consider such claims, as they do highlight weaknesses of observation and experiment (for science depends on the reliability and honesty of its practitioners). They may also highlight some extremely difficult questions concerning the relation of mind to matter, and suggest what kinds of evidence might be useful for settling philosophical questions by scientific means, as discussed, for example, by S. E. Braude (1978).

The Cambridge philosopher Charlie Dunbar Broad (1887–1971) suggested that we have beliefs which are deeper and more general than scientific theories, and that it is when these 'basic limiting principles', as Broad called them, of acceptable belief are violated that we move into the domain of the paranormal. Broad did not attempt to give an exhaustive list of these limiting principles, beyond which acceptable science cannot go, nor did he say how the limits of scientific acceptance might be determined. No doubt some people do believe that the paranormal is somehow 'beyond' science, and that science is blind to paranormal truths. This may, however, be difficult to maintain when we consider that many 'paranormal' phenomena are simple and well-known kinds of events — apart from their explanation. So, whether they appear to be within the bounds of science or beyond it depends on showing that they cannot be explained in normal terms in those particular conditions. The difficulty is to establish that some kind of 'trick' conditions are not in operation, such as a child pushing objects off a shelf with a knitting needle poked through the wall from the next room. For example, there is the famous case of the 'telepathic' boys, who communicated with supersonic whistles hidden in their pockets — with air bulbs which they squeezed according to a code. The high-pitched signals were inaudible to the elderly investigators, who assumed that a paranormal explanation was necessary — until the trick, for trick it was, was found out. But suppose that telepathy can occur by some kind of scientifically acceptable though at present unknown radiation, analogous to radio. (And, after all, radio must seem magical to people with no understanding of its principles — it is amazing enough to those who do!) Telepathy would, then, no longer be regarded as paranormal as it could be explained by science. This brings out the difficulty in defining 'paranormal' as lying outside accepted science — for with new discoveries and theories science often changes dramatically and unpredictably — so what once seemed mysterious or 'paranormal' may become accepted science, as science changes to take account of it. This is so for several past mysteries, which have moved from being regarded as occult or paranormal to being accepted by and even to becoming central in science: such as thunder and lightning being once considered to be the wrath of the gods, but now understood as the same electricity that we generate and use for wonders of our technology.

While electricity was seen as an occult life fluid — which it appeared to be with its ability to shock and convulse, its frenzied sparks, and its sinuous ethereal glow in discharge tubes responding wonderfully to magnets and to a nearby human hand — both electricity and magnetism were supposed to effect cures, and produce trances and other mental states. Franz Mesmer (1734–1815) convinced many highly intelligent people with his demonstrations of such vital powers of magnetism, seeming to act directly upon mind. As we see it now, Mesmer was demonstrating hypnotism. He worked with histrionic skill, and most effectively. He made wooden pretend magnets, which worked as well as the real steel magnets — provided they looked like steel magnets. Mesmer attributed this to some far more general, and indeed all-pervading, spiritual magnetism, acting on mind, though obeying laws of physics (such as being reflected from mirrors). The curious trance states and other phenomena which Mesmer demonstrated were gradually distinguished from 'spirit' or 'animal magnetism' — especially after the clinical demonstrations of the French neurologist Jean Martin Charcot (1825–93) — when hypnotism was finally seen to be a psychological phenomenon, and it was used as a tool for probing the unconscious mind by Sigmund Freud, who was a pupil of Charcot's.

However all this may be, we remain uncertain about the powers and limits of mind; so claims of paranormal powers can hardly be dismissed out of hand. What seems to underlie accounts of the paranormal is the notion of mind affecting matter, or other minds — but this is exactly what most of us believe happens whenever we do anything at all, even just waggling a finger. This is part of the deep problem of dualistic accounts of 'mental' mind and 'material' brain (see dualism). A way out for psychology is to suppose that minds are not entities which control behaviour, or brains, but are generated by brain activity. Hence the significance of the various kinds of mind–brain identity theories, which deny a causal relationship between mind and brain; it should be recognized, however, that mind –brain identity accounts are controversial and hard to formulate. Clear-cut paranormal phenomena demonstrating disembodied mind might conceivably show identity theories to be untenable. So paranormal accounts do have empirical consequences, even though — in spite of the immense work of controlled experiments, especially on telepathy, and the collections of accounts of bizarre phenomena by Frederic Myers (1903) and later writers — we may seriously doubt whether there are any such phenomena.

For further discussion of the paranormal see extrasensory perception; parapsychology: a history of research.

(Published 1987)

— Richard L. Gregory

Bibliography

Braude, S. E. (1978). 'On the meaning of "paranormal" '. In Ludwig, J. (ed.), Philosophy and Parapsychology.
Broad, C. D. (1962). Lectures on Psychical Research.
Hansel, C. E. M. (1966). ESP: A Scientific Evaluation.
Hume, D. (1748). 'Of miracles'. In Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, section X.
Ludwig, J. (ed.) (1978). Philosophy and Parapsychology.
Myers, F. W. H. (1903). Human Personality and its Survival after Bodily Death.

"Paranormal Activity" redirects here. For the 2007 horror film, see Paranormal Activity (film).

Part of a series of articles on the Paranormal

Main articles
Paranormal · Forteana Supernatural · Miracles Ghosts · Ghost hunting Haunted locations Remote viewing · Clairvoyance Extra-sensory perception Near-death experience Precognition · Psychokinesis Psychometry · Telepathy Apparitional experience Parapsychology UFOs · UFO sightings Paranormal UFO explanations Paranormal fiction Cryptozoology · Folklore Psychics · Phasmophobia Mythology Crybaby Bridge · La Llorona Skepticism
Committee for Skeptical Inquiry Debunking · Hoaxes Cold reading · Magical thinking James Randi Educational Foundation Paranormal challenges
Related science articles
Anomalous phenomena Fringe science · Pseudoscience Protoscience · Falsifiability Scientific method
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Paranormal is a general term that describes unusual experiences that lack a scientific explanation,^[1] or phenomena alleged to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure.^[2] Notably, paranormal phenomena also lack scientific evidence, as detectable but not well explained phenomena such as dark matter or dark energy are not commonly called paranormal.

Stories relating to paranormal phenomena are found in popular culture and folklore, but the scientific community, as referenced in statements made by organizations such as the United States National Science Foundation, maintains that scientific evidence does not support paranormal beliefs.^[3]

1 Paranormal research
2 Belief polls
3 Paranormal subjects
4 Paranormal challenges
5 Etymology
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

Paranormal research

Approaching the paranormal from a research perspective is often difficult because of the lack of acceptable physical evidence from most of the purported phenonema. By definition, the paranormal does not conform to conventional expectations of the natural. Therefore, a phenomenon cannot be confirmed as paranormal using the scientific method because, if it was, it would no longer fit the definition. Despite this contradiction, studies on the paranormal are periodically conducted by researchers from various disciplines. Some researchers study just the beliefs in the paranormal regardless of whether the phenomena are considered to objectively exist. This section deals with various approaches to the paranormal: anecdotal, experimental, and participant-observer approaches, the skeptical investigation approach and the survey approach.

Anecdotal approach

Charles Fort, 1920. Fort is perhaps the most widely known collector of paranormal stories.

An anecdotal approach to the paranormal involves the collection of stories told about the paranormal.

Charles Fort (1874-1932) is perhaps the best known collector of paranormal anecdotes. Fort is said to have compiled as many as 40,000 notes on unexplained paranormal experiences, though there were no doubt many more than these. These notes came from what he called "the orthodox conventionality of Science", which were odd events originally reported in magazines and newspapers such as The Times and scientific journals such as Scientific American, Nature and Science". From this research Fort wrote seven books, though only four survive. These are: The Book of the Damned (1919), New Lands (1923), Lo! (1931) and Wild Talents (1932); one book was written between New Lands and Lo! but it was abandoned and absorbed into Lo!.

Reported events that he collected include teleportation (a term Fort is generally credited with coining); poltergeist events, falls of frogs, fishes, inorganic materials of an amazing range; crop circles; unaccountable noises and explosions; spontaneous fires; levitation; ball lightning (a term explicitly used by Fort); unidentified flying objects; mysterious appearances and disappearances; giant wheels of light in the oceans; and animals found outside their normal ranges (see phantom cat). He offered many reports of OOPArts, abbreviation for "out of place" artifacts: strange items found in unlikely locations. He also is perhaps the first person to explain strange human appearances and disappearances by the hypothesis of alien abduction, and was an early proponent of the extraterrestrial hypothesis.

Fort is considered by many as the father of modern paranormalism, which is the study of the paranormal.

The magazine Fortean Times continues Charles Fort's approach, regularly reporting anecdotal accounts of the paranormal.

Such anecdotal collections, lacking the rigour of empirical evidence, are not amenable to be subjected to scientific investigation. The anecdotal approach is not a scientific approach to the paranormal because it leaves verification dependent on the credibility of the party presenting the evidence. It is also subject to such logical fallacies as cognitive bias, inductive reasoning, lack of falsifiability, and other fallacies that may prevent the anecdote from having meaningful information to impart. Nevertheless, it is a common approach to paranormal phenomena.

Parapsychology

Experimental investigation of the paranormal has been conducted by parapsychologists. Although parapsychology has its roots in earlier research, it began using the experimental approach in the 1930s under the direction of J. B. Rhine (1895 – 1980).^[4] Rhine popularized the now famous methodology of using card-guessing and dice-rolling experiments in a laboratory in the hopes of finding a statistical validation of extra-sensory perception.^[4]

In 1957, the Parapsychological Association was formed as the preeminent society for parapsychologists. In 1969, they became affiliated with the American Association for the Advancement of Science. That affiliation, along with a general openness to psychic and occult phenomena in the 1970s, led to a decade of increased parapsychological research.^[4] During this time, other notable organizations were also formed, including the Academy of Parapsychology and Medicine (1970), the Institute of Parascience (1971), the Academy of Religion and Psychical Research, the Institute for Noetic Sciences (1973), and the International Kirlian Research Association (1975). Each of these groups performed experiments on paranormal subjects to varying degrees. Parapsychological work was also conducted at the Stanford Research Institute during this time.^[4]

With the increase in parapsychological investigation, there came an increase in opposition to both the findings of parapsychologists and the granting of any formal recognition of the field. Criticisms of the field were focused in the founding of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (1976), now called the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, and its periodical, Skeptical Inquirer.^[4] Eventually, more mainstream scientists became critical of parapsychology as an endeavor, and statements by the National Academies of Science and the National Science Foundation cast a pall on the claims of evidence for parapsychology. Today, many cite parapsychology as an example of a pseudoscience.

Though there are still some parapsychologists active today, interest and activity has waned considerably since the 1970s.^[5] To date there have been no experimental results that have gained wide acceptance in the scientific community as valid evidence of the paranormal.^[5]

Participant-observer approach

Ghost hunters taking an EMF reading which proponents say may show evidence of ghosts.

While parapsychologists look for quantitative evidence of the paranormal in laboratories, a great number of people immerse themselves in qualitative research through participant-observer approaches to the paranormal. Participant-observer methodologies have overlaps with other essentially qualitative approaches as well, including phenomenological research that seeks largely to describe subjects as they are experienced, rather than to explain them.^[6]

Participant-observation suggests that by immersing oneself in the subject being studied, a researcher is presumed to gain understanding of the subject. Criticisms of participant-observation as a data-gathering technique are similar to criticisms of other approaches to the paranormal, but also include an increased threat to the objectivity of the researcher, unsystematic gathering of data, reliance on subjective measurement, and possible observer effects (observation may distort the observed behavior).^[7] Specific data gathering methods, such as recording EMF readings at haunted locations have their own criticisms beyond those attributed to the participant-observation approach itself.

The participant-observer approach to the paranormal has gained increased visibility and popularity through reality-based television shows like Ghost Hunters, and the formation of independent ghost hunting groups which advocate immersive research at alleged paranormal locations. One popular website for ghost hunting enthusiasts lists over 300 of these organizations throughout the United States and the United Kingdom.^[8]

Skeptical scientific investigation

James Randi is a well-known investigator of paranormal claims.

Scientific skeptics advocate critical investigation of claims of paranormal phenomena: applying the scientific method to reach a rational, scientific explanation of the phenomena to account for the paranormal claims, taking into account that alleged paranormal abilities and occurrences are sometimes hoaxes or misinterpretations of natural phenomena. A way of summarizing this method is by the application of Occam's razor, which suggests that the simplest solution is usually the correct one.^[9] The standard scientific models gives an explanation for what appears to be paranormal phenomena is usually a misinterpretation, misunderstanding, or anomalous variation of natural phenomena, rather than an actual paranormal phenomenon.

The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, formerly the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), is an organisation that aims to publicise the scientific, skeptical approach. It carries out investigations aimed at understanding paranormal reports in terms of scientific understanding, and publishes its results in its journal, the Skeptical Inquirer.

Former stage magician James Randi is a well-known investigator of paranormal claims.^[10] As an investigator with a background in illusion, Randi feels that the simplest explanation for those claiming paranormal abilities is often trickery, illustrated by demonstrating that the spoon bending abilities of psychic Uri Geller can easily be duplicated by trained stage magicians.^[11] He is also the founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation and its famous million dollar challenge offering a prize of US $1,000,000 to anyone who can demonstrate evidence of any paranormal, supernatural or occult power or event, under test conditions agreed to by both parties.^[12]

Anomalistics

Main article: Anomalistics

Anomalistics works on the premise that paranormal phenomena may be hoaxes, understood within current scientific models, or else be rationalized using an as yet unexplored avenue of science.^[13]^[14] ^[15]

Belief polls

While the validity of the existence of paranormal phenomena is controversial and debated passionately by both proponents of the paranormal and by skeptics, surveys are useful in determining the beliefs of people in regards to paranormal phenomena. These opinions, while not constituting scientific evidence for or against, may give an indication of the mindset of a certain portion of the population (at least among those who answered the polls).

One survey of the beliefs of the general United States population regarding paranormal topics was conducted by the Gallup Organization in 2005.^[16] The survey found that 73 percent of those polled believed in at least one of the ten paranormal items presented in the survey. The ten items included in the survey were: extrasensory perception (41% held this belief), haunted houses (37%), ghosts (32%), telepathy (31%), clairvoyance (26%), astrology (25%), communication with the dead (21%), witches (21%), reincarnation (20%), and channeling spiritual entities (9%). These items were selected as they "require the belief that humans have more than the 'normal' five senses." Only one percent of respondents believed in all ten items.

Another survey conducted in 2006 by researchers from Australia's Monash University^[17] sought to determine what types of phenomena people claim to have experienced and the effects these experiences have had on their lives. The study was conducted as an online survey with over 2,000 respondents from around the world participating. The results revealed that around 70% of the respondents believe to have had an unexplained paranormal event that changed their life, mostly in a positive way. About 70% also claimed to have seen, heard, or been touched by an animal or person that they knew was not there; 80% have reported having a premonition, and almost 50% stated they recalled a previous life.^[17]

Polls were conducted by Bryan Farha at Oklahoma City University and Gary Steward of the University of Central Oklahoma in 2006, and compared to the results of a Gallup poll in 2001.^[18] They found fairly consistent results.

Percentage of Americans polled
	belief	not sure	belief	not sure
	Farha-Steward		Gallup
psychic/spiritual healing	56	26	54	19
ESP	28	39	50	20
haunted houses	40	25	42	16
demonic possession	40	28	41	16
ghosts/spirits of the dead	39	27	38	17
telepathy	24	34	36	26
extraterrestrials visited Earth in the past	17	34	33	27
clairvoyance and prophecy	24	33	32	23
communication with the dead	16	29	28	26
astrology	17	26	28	18
witches	26	19	26	15
reincarnation	14	28	25	20
channeling	10	29	15	21

Other surveys by different organizations at different times have found very similar results. A 2001 Gallup Poll found that the general public embraced the following: 54% of people believed in psychic/spiritual healing, 42% believed in haunted houses, 41% believed in satanic possession, 36% in telepathy, 25% in reincarnation, and 15% in channeling.^[19] A survey by Jeffrey S. Levin, associate professor at Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk found that over 2/3 of the U.S. population reported having at least one mystical experience.^[18]^[20]

A 1996 Gallup poll estimated that 71% of the people in the United States believed that the government was covering up information about UFOs. A 2002 Roper poll conducted for the Sci Fi channel reported that 56% thought UFOs were real craft and 48% that aliens had visited the Earth.^[18]

A 2001 National Science Foundation survey found that 9 percent of people polled thought astrology was very scientific, and 31 percent thought it was somewhat scientific. About 32% of Americans surveyed stated that some numbers were lucky, while 46% of Europeans agreed with that claim. About 60% of all people polled believed in some form of Extra-sensory perception and 30% thought that "some of the unidentified flying objects that have been reported are really space vehicles from other civilizations."^[21]

Paranormal subjects

This section explores the notable paranormal beliefs that appear in popular culture.

Ghosts and other spiritual entities

Main articles: ghost and spirit

For believers, ghosts are generally seen to be the spirit or soul of a deceased person.^[22] Alternative theories expand on that idea and include belief in the ghosts of deceased animals. Sometimes the term "ghost" is used synonymously with any spirit or demon^[23], however in popular usage the term typically refers to a deceased person.

The belief in ghosts as souls of the departed is closely tied to the concept of animism, an ancient belief which attributed souls to everything in nature.^[4] As the nineteenth-century anthropologist James Frazer explained in his classic work, The Golden Bough, souls were seen as the creature within that animated the body.^[24] Although the human soul was sometimes symbolically or literally depicted in ancient cultures as a bird or other animal, it was widely held that the soul was an exact reproduction of the body in every feature, even down to clothing the person wore. This is depicted in artwork from various ancient cultures, including such works as the Egyptian Book of the Dead, which shows deceased people in the afterlife appearing much as they did before death, including the style of dress.

A widespread belief concerning ghosts is that they are composed of a misty, airy, or subtle material. Anthropologists speculate that this may also stem from early beliefs that ghosts were the person within the person, most noticeable in ancient cultures as a person's breath, which upon exhaling in colder climates appears visibly as a white mist.^[4] This belief may have also fostered the metaphorical meaning of "breath" in certain languages, such as the Latin spiritus and the Greek pneuma, which by analogy became extended to mean the soul. In the Bible, God is depicted as animating Adam with a breath.

Numerous theories have been proposed by scientists to provide non-paranormal explanations for ghosts sightings.^[4] Although the evidence for ghosts is largely anecdotal, the belief in ghosts throughout history has remained widespread and persistent.

Extraterrestrial life and UFOs

Main articles: extraterrestrial life and unidentified flying object

A 1952 photo of a purported UFO over Passaic, New Jersey.

The possibility of extraterrestrial life is not, by itself, a paranormal subject. Many scientists are actively engaged in the search for unicellular life within the solar system, carrying out studies on the surface of Mars and examining meteors that have fallen to Earth.^[25] Projects such as SETI are conducting an astronomical search for radio activity that would show evidence of intelligent life outside the solar system.^[26] Scientific theories of how life developed on Earth allow for the possibility that life developed on other planets as well. The paranormal aspect of extraterrestrial life centers largely around the belief in unidentified flying objects and the phenomena said to be associated with them.

Early in the history of UFO culture, believers divided themselves into two camps. The first held a rather conservative view of the phenomena, interpreting it as unexplained occurrences that merited serious study. They began calling themselves "ufologists" in the 1950s and felt that logical analysis of sighting reports would validate the notion of extraterrestrial visitation.^[4]

The second camp consisted of individuals who coupled ideas of extraterrestrial visitation with beliefs from existing quasi-religious movements. These individuals typically were enthusiasts of occultism and the paranormal. Many had backgrounds as active Theosophists, Spiritualists, or were followers of other esoteric doctrines. In contemporary times, many of these beliefs have coalesced into New Age spiritual movements.^[4]

Both secular and spiritual believers describe UFOs as having abilities beyond what is considered possible according to aerodynamics and physical laws. The transitory events surrounding many UFO sightings also limits the opportunity for repeat testing required by the scientific method. Acceptance of UFO theories by the larger scientific community is further hindered by the many possible hoaxes associated with UFO culture.

Cryptids

Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (December 2009)

Main articles: cryptid and cryptozoology

A cryptid is an animal whose existence is not confirmed by science. The study of these creatures is known as cryptozoology.

Paranormal challenges

Main article: List of prizes for evidence of the paranormal

In 1922, Scientific American offered two US $2,500 offers: (1) for the first authentic spirit photograph made under test conditions, and (2) for the first psychic to produce a "visible psychic manifestation." Harry Houdini was a member of the investigating committee. The first medium to be tested was George Valiantine, who claimed that in his presence spirits would speak through a trumpet that floated around a darkened room. For the test, Valiantine was placed in a room, the lights were extinguished, but unbeknownst to him his chair had been rigged to light a signal in an adjoining room if he ever left his seat. Because the light signals were tripped during his performance, Valiantine did not collect the award.^[27] The last to be examined by Scientific American was Mina Crandon in 1924.

Since then, many individuals and groups have offered similar monetary awards for proof of the paranormal in an observed setting. These prizes have a combined value of over $2.4 million dollars.^[28]

The James Randi Educational Foundation offers a prize of a million dollars to a person who can prove that they have supernatural or paranormal abilities under appropriate test conditions. No famous psychic has gone through with taking the challenge.

Etymology

The word “paranormal” has been in the English language since at least 1920.^[29]^[30] It consists of two parts: para and normal. In most definitions of the word paranormal, it is described as anything that is beyond or contrary to what is deemed scientifically possible.^[31] The definition implies that the scientific explanation of the world around us is the 'normal' part of the word and 'para' makes up the above, beyond, beside, contrary, or against part of the meaning.

Para has a Greek and Latin origin. Its most common meaning (the Greek usage) is 'similar to' or 'near to', as in paragraph. In Latin, para means 'above,' against,' 'counter,' 'outside,' or 'beyond'. For example, parapluie in French means 'counter-rain' – an umbrella. It can be construed, then, that the term paranormal is derived from the Latin use of the prefix 'para', meaning 'against, counter, outside or beyond the norm.'

References

This article may contain inappropriate or misinterpreted citations that do not verify the text. Please help improve this article by checking for inaccuracies. (help, talk, get involved!) (October 2008)

^ Paranormal in TheFreeDictionary, Accessed February 3, 2008
^ "What does 'Paranormal' mean? by Christopher Orapello, Mid-Atlantic Paranormal Research, Accessed November 23, 2008
^ Belief in the Paranormal or Pseudoscience
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j Encyclopedia of Occultism & Parapsychology edited by J. Gordon Melton Gale Research, ISBN 0-8103-5487-X
^ ^a ^b Odling-Smee, L. (2007). The Lab That Asked The Wrong Questions. Nature, February 2007.
^ Logical Investigations Husserl, E. 1970 Humanities Press
^ Problem of inference and proof in participant observation : Problem of inference and proof in participant-observation, Reprint edition. Becker, Howard S. 1993 Irvington Pub
^ Paranormal Groups, GhostVillage.com, accessed December 14, 2006
^ Three skeptics' debate tools examined,^{[dead link]} accessed July 1, 2007
^ JREF Commentary, February 18, 2005, accessed July 1, 2007
^ Interview with James Randi in NOVA episode, "Secrets of the Psychics".
^ Million Dollar Challenge, accessed July 1, 2007
^ Hess David J. (1997) "Science Studies: an advanced introduction" New York University Press, ISBN 0814735649
^ R. Westrum, Truzzi Marcello (1978) "Anomalies: A Bibliographic Introduction with Some Cautionary Remarks", Zetetic Scholar 2, p. 69-90
^ Wescott, Robert W. (1973) "Anomalistics: The Outline of an Emerging Field of Investigation" Research Division, New Jersey Department of Education
^ Gallup poll shows that Americans' belief in the paranormal persists, Skeptical Inquirer, accessed October 28, 2006
^ ^a ^b 'Spooky survey' gets big response, ABC Science Online, 17 November 2006
^ ^a ^b ^c Smart People See Ghosts, Brad Steiger, Fate Magazine, April 2006 Issue, p. 52-56; the unusual thing found by Farha and Steward was that belief in the supernatural increased with education level, contrary to many other surveys. However, that aspect of their study is not being used here.
^ Skeptical Inquirer, 30, 1; 37-40
^ USA Today, January 12, 1994
^ Science and Technology: Public Attitudes and Understanding-Public Knowledge About S&T, Chapter 7 of Science and Engineering Indicators 2004, National Science Board, National Science Foundation
^ http://www.parapsych.org/glossary_e_k.html#g Parapsychological Association, glossary of key words frequently used in parapsychology, Retrieved December 13, 2006
^ http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ghost Retrieved December 13, 2006
^ The Golden Bough at Project Gutenberg
^ NASA Scientists To Discuss Search For Extraterrestrial Life, Space Daily, Dec 11, 2003
^ How SETI Works, HowStuffWorks.com, Accessed July 4, 2007
^ "Randi $1,000,000 paranormal challenge". The Skeptic's Dictionary. http://skepdic.com/randi.html. Retrieved 2008-02-03.
^ Larsen, Claus (September, 2003). "Get Rich Quick or Save the World". Skeptic Report. http://www.skepticreport.com/skepticism/getrichquick.htm. Retrieved 2007-03-07.
^ “Paranormal” in Merriam-Webster http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/paranormal
^ “Paranormal” in Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/paranormal
^ Glossary, The Journal of Parapsychology, Parapsychological Association, accessed August 05, 2006

External links

Paranormal at the Open Directory Project

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Examples	AIDS denialism · Moon landing conspiracy theories · Astrology · Bogdanov Affair · Creation science · Dianetics · Faith healing · Homeopathy · Intelligent design · List of topics characterized as pseudoscience · Lunar effect · Melanin theory · Parapsychology · Perpetual motion · Time Cube · Ufology

Resources	Committee for Skeptical Inquiry · Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience · The Ragged Edge of Science · The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience · James Randi Educational Foundation

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