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Parapsychology and the Skeptics: A Scientific Argument for the Existence of ESP

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Chris Carter, in Parapsychology and the Skeptics, treads the same ground that Damien Broderick did in Outside the Gates of Science. Both show convincingly that parapsychologic phenomena have been demonstrated, repeatedly and with statistical significance, using methodologies which have withstood the criticism of skeptics, over multiple decades. And that despite this convincing evidence, a skeptical community continues in a denial mode, contrary to reason and science. His goal is to demonstrate that the skeptics are ideologues, intent on defending a semi-religious worldview for irrational and non-scientific reasons.

The two use different clubs to make their points. Carter uses Gansfeld experiments, and Broderick uses remote viewing. But the approach and purpose of both books is nearly identical. Carter is the better writer of the two, and has produced the better book. Unlike Broderick, he makes his intent clear from the start, and provides more supporting evidence to bolster his argument.

Initially, carter takes the reader through the history of parapsychology, then discusses the experiments of J. B. Rhine, who moved the field into the laboratory. Rhine developed the methods still used today for statistical investigation of psi phenomenon. By 1940 ~1 million card guessing trials had been done using his card-guessing methods, with statistically significant results shown in 27 of the 33 published experiments.

Gansfeld experiments are a variation on the card-guessing process. Gansfeld uses photographs rather than cards, and puts the receiver in a sensory deprivation environment for 15-20 minutes while they free- associate, after which they pick which of four photos the sender was trying to "send". The first decade of Gansfeld experiments reported 28 studies at 10 different labs, with an overall success rate of 35% vs. the 25% of random results, from 1975-1985. A board member of the skeptical society CSICOP criticized the methodology of the tests, asserting the positive results were due to methodological errors. With a leading psi researcher, he then agreed to a set of changes in methodology that would satisfy his objections. Four laboratories then adopted an even more stringent computer controlled procedure, and by 1995 their 11 studies reported an overall success rate of 34%. Studies since 1995 have reverted to the simpler procedures endorsed by the CSICOP board member, and they continue to show an overall 34% success rate. So 3 decades of Gansfeld experiments have shown a nearly 10% higher success rate than chance, in experiments performed at over a dozen labs, and with results that have been independent of the stringency of the of the experimental protocols. This is decisive and convincing evidence, for anyone who actually believes in empiricism ...

Carter then goes on to discuss the skeptics. They form the only international political lobbying group seeking to shut down scientific investigation of a field. Their organization is called CSICOP (The Committee for the Scientific Investigation of the Paranormal), and their publication is The Skeptical Inquirer. While they bill their publication as the only outlet for scientific evaluation of paranormal claims, it is anything but scientific. Skeptic Elizabeth Mayer describes it this way:

Reading The Skeptical Inquirer was like reading a fundamentalist religious tract. I found the journal dismayingly snide, regularly punctuated by sarcasm, self-congratulation, and nastiness, all parading as reverence for true science.

And the society performs no investigation, at least not anymore. It only performed one. Shortly after its founding, the society did investigate the claims of a pair of astrologers that there was a Mars Effect of great athletes being more likely to be born with Mars rising or transiting. Of the 12 possible orbital positions, random results would put about 17% of births in these categories, but a survey of 2200 European champions showed 22% of them born at these times. CSICOP declared that these were just more likely times for all births, and that a comparison of non-champion births to the champions would show the effect just a spurious artifact. The Skeptical Inquirer said such a test would be a definitive test of the astrologers claim. The astrologers took CSICOP up on the challenge, and (to get good data) collected data from a dozen major European metropolitan centers on their birth times, and compared that to a 300 member subset of the athletes born in these metropolitan centers. The non-athlete data did show 17% born at those times, while the subset of athletes matched the overall 2200 set at 22%. They provided the data to CSICOP per the challenge. It took CSICOP 2 years to publish a reply. Rather than admit to the validity of the data provided, CSICOP arbitrarily discarded women athletes, and the men born in the Paris metropolitan area from the 300, and claimed the rest of the champions also were born at a 17% rate in those periods, so the effect was bogus. CSICOP engaged in a raising the bar fallacy, where a "definitive test" is only definitive until it is passed, then a further test is needed, and a classic case of data fudging, where one arbitrarily excludes subsets of one's own data until the results match a pre-chosen outcome. Irrationally, the 300 champion subset they then fudged was irrelevant to the astrologer's conclusions - their analysis was based on the full 2200 person data set, which CSICOP's data fudging was irrelevant to. Several of CSICOP's board members objected to this deceit and data fraud, and were expelled from the organization. But as a result of the scandal they revealed, CSICOP never conducted another investigation again. Engaging in data fraud in their sole investigation is not a particularly stellar record for a defender of science.

A very few members of the organization still do their own investigations, but their record is not much better than the organization itself. I reviewed the autobiography of Susan Blackmore myself. She is a former psi researcher who converted to skepticism, and is a member of the CSICOP board (fortunately for her reputation, well after the data fraud). In her autobiography she claims that her own negative results in her psi experiments were what convinced her to abandon it. But an analysis of her 21 published papers actually shows that 7 of them achieved the fairly high standard of a 95% confidence level of demonstrating a psi effect. The odds of random events producing this success rate accidentally are less than 1:20,000. This is actually a fairly typical rate for the psi research community, since achieving statistical significance generally take long and expensive tests to acquire enough data. A 33% success rate in demonstrating psi effects would not convince me that one had demonstrated psi was FALSE, but that is exactly what she says (although she does not report what her actual success rate was in these assertions). Blackmore has misrepresented her own work in her autobiography and in CSICOP literature for several decades. This is not QUITE as bad a data fraud ...

Richard Wiseman, a junior CSICOP member, has continued to conduct experiments since joining the organization. He was invited, by a researcher he critiqued, to reproduce a test of animal esp that he disputed. A pet dog would jump up on a bay window frame when its owner was out, generally within 5 minutes of the owner turning toward home. The experiment involved the owner returning at a randomly pre-set time, and the measure of interest was what percent of a 10 minute period the dog spent on the bay window. Graphs of the time show about 5% of the time on the window (the dog was active and moved around a lot) until the owner started home, after which it spent about 55% of the time on the window. Wiseman did four tests, and his video data showed the same result. BUT HE DECLARED THE TEST SHOWED NO EFFECT! He reached this conclusion by looking only at the FIRST time the dog got on the window, and declaring the test a failure if it was before the owner headed home. This is the same sort of deceit used against the astrologers - raising the bar as to what a success consists of, then data manipulation until one finds a set of data (or in this case a measure of effect) that confirms one's pre-selected position. Deceit and data fraud strikes again.

James Randi was in on the original CSICOP data fraud, so we already know he is willing to lie about data, but here are two more examples of his deceit. Both were inspired by the same dog experiment that revealed Wiseman's fraud. In 2000 in Dog World he was quoted as saying "We at the James Randi Educational Foundation have tested these claims (of canine ESP). They fail." When demanded to provide these test results, he wrote (in private correspondence, never making a retraction in Dog's World) that the tests were not done at JREF, but were "years ago" and "informal" and involved two dogs belonging to a friend, and all records were lost. In a TV interview Randi also declared that "viewing the entire tape, we see the dog responded to every car that drove by, and every person that walked by." This is untrue, and Randi has since admitted he has never seen the tape. Randi will simply lie if the truth does not support his worldview.

This dog test brought out the worst in all the CSICOP members it seems, since Blackmore also spread falsehoods about it, declaring incorrectly that the dog increased its time on the window the longer the owner was out.

So what motivates the skeptics to deny evidence, fudge data, and repeatedly lie? Carter sprinkles throughout his book assertions by skeptics that psi is "in contradiction to all of science", and this is basically what they clam their motive is. But it is NOT in contradiction to science, as he shows by quotes from Carl Sagan, Albert Einstein, and Karl Popper on how empiricism does not prejudge data or effects (Sagan's example of Continental Drift was particularly pertinent - it was ridiculed as impossible for decades). He also cites surveys of actual scientists showing that the majority consider psi possible. So if contradiction to SCIENCE is not the problem, what DOES motivate this political pressure group of deceivers? It appears to be dogmatic belief in materialism, and the fear that psi phenomenon, if accepted by the public, will encourage belief in spiritual dualism. To prevent this catastrophe, they apparently believe all their fraud and deceptions are justified.

Chris Carter has put together quite a treatise. In thoroughly readable, engaging and clear prose, he provides an erudite and comprehensive review of the skeptical and scientific studies of events that don't fit present paradigms. Despite having researched the subject extensively myself, I found a deep well of new information. "Parapsychology and the Skeptics" contains abundant information about the history and current status of psi phenomena. It is easy to read, and most interesting.

Robert S. Bobrow MD (Author, "The Witch in the Waiting Room: a physician examines paranormal phenomena in medicine")

This is an extremely important book that examines a pervasive prejudice and pre-judgment that permeates science and many other fields of inquiry.

Healthy skepticism is an essential pre-requisite for good science, but as this delightful and well-reasoned book shows, parapsychology can bring out the worst kind of unhealthy - and unscientific - skepticism. It also highlights the way in which some scientists and popular science writers have used polemic rather than reasoned debate to promote their views. For example the opinion that all human ills can be reduced to genetics, or that there is but one interpretation of quantum mechanics. This is a trend that has been questioned by many scientists who have no connection with research in parapsychology.

Throughout my career I have seen how the mere mention of psychic phenomena such as telepathy would incite derision or apoplectic disgust amongst my professors, colleagues and many of my own students. Yet as this book shows, these reactions have more to do with personal and cultural attitudes and beliefs than they do with objective data.

After an excellent and thought-provoking foreword by Rupert Sheldrake, the book is broken into three parts and eighteen chapters:

1: Origins of the Debate
2: The Modern Critics
3: The Historical Evidence

Part I
Is there Conclusive Experimental Evidence for Psi?
4: The Early Years
5: Psychokinesis: mind over matter
6: Telepathy: silent communication
7: The Great Ganzfeld Debate
8: The Research of the Skeptics

Part II
Would the Existence of Psi Contradict Established Science?
9: The Roots of Disbelief
10: Modern Science versus Classical Science
11: The 'Extraordinary Claims' of Parapsychology
12: Psi and Physics
13: Towards a New World View

Part III
Is Parapsychology a Science?
14: The Impoverished State of Skepticism
15: The Nature of Science
16: The Scientific Status of Parapsychology
17: Hume's Argument Revisited
18: Paradigms and Parapsychology

These chapters are followed by a Postscript, Chapter Notes, a well-rounded Bibliography and an Index.

Carter uses many examples to support his thesis that rather than using science, many of the detractors of parapsychology use rhetoric and obfuscation. For instance the late Martin Gardner once claimed that the only evidence for parapsychology comes from a small group of enthusiasts, while negative evidence comes from a much larger group of skeptics. Not so, says Carter, who could find only three credible skeptical researchers. This is at least an order of magnitude less than the number who has produced positive data in peer-reviewed journals.

This is an important book that shows us the true nature and value of healthy skepticism and the dangers of wrongly associating it with mere disbelief. It is a good read, not only for people interested in parapsychology, but also for anyone interested in the way in which there are powerful forces that try to crush unorthodox ideas or concepts, including holistic health and integral perspectives on science, psychology, ecology and spirituality. It

Very highly recommended.

Richard G. Petty, MD, author of Healing, Meaning and Purpose: The Magical Power of the Emerging Laws of Life

While writing on a book on yoga psychology, which included a section providing an overview of parapsychology research, I spent a considerable amount of time going through the skeptical literature. I had found Dean Radin's "Field Guide to Skeptics" particularly helpful. But I've never found anything as comprehensive and incisive as Chris Carter's "Parapsychology and the Skeptics."

For those sitting on the fence, Carter marshals a massive amount of evidence showing - for those willing to consider psi research with an open mind - that there is no doubt that psi phenomena have been found in laboratory experiments, and that such experiments have been successfully replicated.

Particularly helpful is the way Carter shows how skeptics misrepresent parapsychological research. Have you at times wondered, if parapsychological research is valid, why nobody has taken up the so-called "Million Dollar Challenge" of the "Amazing Randi"? I was quite surprised to discover in Carter's section on Randi that the "amazing" magician Mr. Randi set it up so he would never have to pay out. Carter quotes Randi as saying, in regard to the challenge, "I always have an out". You will find many other quite intriguing examples of the skeptics' tactics in Carter's book.

Despite some of these at times shocking revelations, Carter maintains an admirable clarity of mind, providing a fair, balanced treatment. Particularly helpful is his overview of quantum physics and its relevance to parapsychological theory. He does not make the mistake (as unfortunately was done by several scientists in "What the Bleep") of claiming that the findings of quantum physics "prove" psi phenomena, simply that they more flexibly allow for the possibility of telepathy, psychokinesis, etc than classical physics.

Finally, showing again his sympathy toward the skeptics he criticizes, Carter helps us to understand the motivation of the various skeptics. Given their wrong assumption that psi "violates" the laws of nature, it is understandable that they might go overboard in their misguided attempt to "protect" science from psi. Together with B. Alan Wallace (who, in his "Taboo of Subjectivity" provides an excellent account of the origins of psi skepticism both in ancient Greece and in certain aspects of Christian theology), Carter will help many understand why skeptics have been so vehement and irrational in their attempted defense of rationality.

Finally, one of the Amazon reviewers, in an otherwise positive review, made three comments that are worth looking at. She wondered why Carter focused mostly on experimental parapsychology and didn't make more mention of the difference between lab psi and "real-world" psi. In fact, he has an excellent chapter near the beginning of the book providing a summary of extremely interesting anecdotal evidence for psi. Regarding the reviewer's follow-up speculation that psi effects in the lab will never be as strong as those found in the real world, Carter doesn't address this, but look at Alan Wallace's "Samatha" project and consider whether individuals highly trained in contemplation may not surprise us all in terms of the kind of psi effects that might be demonstrated in the laboratory.

The reviewer also asked why Carter didn't mention unconscious fear of psi. I suspect this is actually a more powerful factor working in many skeptics than the desire to defend the scientific enterprise (philosopher Daniel Dennett has said - one hopes, in a whimsical mood - that he would commit suicide if psi were "proven" - someone should write to him and warn him about Carter's book!). However, if Carter had thought of mentioning this, I think he was wise not to. The few times I've brought this up to otherwise rational skeptics, they become vehemently irrational in their denial of the possibility that any kind of unconscious motivation - fear or otherwise - could possibly be relevant to their decidedly rational rejection of parapsychology.


Oh, I almost forgot to mention - the book's lots of fun to read.

Chris Carter's "Parapsychology and the Skeptics" is a major contribution to the literature of the paranormal.

Carter ably recounts the history of ESP studies, covering telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, and micro-PK. He shows how improved protocols and ever more sophisticated statistical analysis have answered skeptical objections. Then he looks at trends in quantum physics, demonstrating that the new post-Newtonian world-picture has ample room for psi phenomena. Finally, he dips into the philosophy of science and provides the clearest exposition of Popper's falsifiability principle I've seen.

His conclusions are that parapsychology has all the elements necessary to be seen as a serious branch of science; that psi phenomena have been proven by well-designed (and yes, repeatable) experiments; and that while no comprehensive theory of psi exists at present, there are provocative pointers in that direction.

His tone throughout is cautious, serious, and sensible. It is hard to see how any open-minded reader could come away from this book with any confidence in the skeptical position.

Like the title suggests, this book is two stories intertwined, one charting the scientific discovery of psychic powers (psi) over the last century and another castigating a misguided social movement known as skepticism for claiming to know better.

Chris Carter surveys the sea of anecdotal and statistical evidence for the existence of telepathy, clairvoyance (also known as remote viewing), precognition and psychokinesis. Skeptics, meanwhile, maintain that psi is incompatible with what we know about reality and therefore must be false. Yet psi phenomena do not violate any known principles of physics, a field which has undergone radical change since Einstein derided quantum entanglement as "spooky action at a distance."

Rather than face the evidence head on, self-proclaimed skeptics are engaged in a holy war, says Carter, "fueled by the fervent belief that they alone are the last defenders of the citadel of science." As to real scientists, most do not identify with organized skepticism.

Going all the way back to Herodotus, Carter examines the history of psi, including the findings of the Society for Psychical Research, JB Rhine, Daniel Home and Charles Honorton, whose "autoganzfeld" procedure was immune to charges of human tampering. He also discusses statistician Jessica Utts' claim that "psychic functioning has been well established" by ordinary scientific methods.

Carter contrasts the sober science of psi with the crusading fanaticism of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal. CSICOP, an organization straight out of Orwell, completely avoids scientific investigation. James Randi, Richard Wiseman, Susan Blackmore and Ray Hyman all get singled out for extensive scrutiny. Needless to say, their methodology is found wanting.

In the face of skeptics who claim that all research into psi is pseudoscience, Carter charges that ideological skepticism represents a mutant form of science known as scientism, which is more concerned with absolute truth than such banalities as hypothesis, experimentation and theory. The only skeptic who emerges from Carter's analysis with a shred of integrity is Blackmore, who at least concedes she was biased and might have gotten it wrong.

For die-hard skeptics, this book will only irritate. For the more thoughtful among us, it will fascinate.

This fine book fills a pressing need: it's an up-to-date source that can be wholeheartedly recommended to people who are under the impression that belief in so-called "paranormal" phenomena is contrary to science -- both those who are dogmatically convinced that it is, and those who do believe in the existence of psi but feel they should be apologetic about it. I am acquainted with some of each, and I will waste no time in suggesting that they owe it to themselves to read what Chris Carter has to say.

In relatively brief but clear and well-documented chapters, Carter covers the history of psi research, the experimental evidence for psi phenomena, the reasons why skeptics reject this evidence, and the principles of contemporary science with which it is compatible. His discussion is wisely limited to extrasensory perception (telepathy, precognition, and clairvoyance) and psychokinesis (PK, the action of mind on matter). Future books dealing with other, less firmly established, phenomena are planned; separating them not only keeps the coverage within manageable length, but avoids the possibility that aspects of research not dependent on each other will be will judged as a whole, causing some readers to doubt even the unassailable facts of what is now known.

Carter's emphasis on the philosophy of science, and his analysis of modern skeptics' determined resistance to acceptance of evidence that in any other area they would consider conclusive, is particularly valuable. I myself suspect that this resistance goes somewhat deeper than he suggests; my own view, expressed in my fiction, is that it is based not merely on commitment to an obsolete conception of scientific principles that would be upset by recognition of psi, but on an underlying unconscious fear. However, that is simply my personal hypothesis. As the book is about science, it rightly focuses on demonstrable facts and scientific considerations rather than speculation about psychological factors.

My only reservation about this book as an introduction to psi for the uninformed reader is that it fails to make clear the distinction between experimental evidence for psi and psi as it operates in the real world.
Although it briefly covers historical reports of real-world psi, the fundamental reason why equally spectacular results are not, and can never be, obtained through controlled experiments may not be grasped by readers whose impression of psychic powers has been gained from pop-culture media. Carter does mention that many people feel that laboratory psi is "somehow different" from real-life psi, but surely that is an understatement. It is generally acknowledged that spontaneous psi experiences are strongly dependent on emotion. That psi exists can be demonstrated scientifically, but its role in human affairs can no more be investigated in a lab setting than can that of love. Furthermore, the extent to which psi occurs spontaneously on an unconscious level, which I believe to be a major factor in that role, cannot be revealed by scientific research of the kind now possible. Whereas these considerations are beyond the scope of the book, I do fear that some readers may be given the impression that the data obtained in laboratories is fully representative of the human mind's "paranormal" capabilities. The absence of a more detailed description of the very real evidence for controlled clairvoyance obtained through military use of remote viewing (a term not even included in the index) is also unfortunate in this regard. But these omissions do not detract from the overall importance of the book as a refutation of the claim that science rules out psi phenomena. It is indispensable for that purpose and should be required reading for everyone with an interest in the nature of reality.

Chris Carter did a great job with this book. If it were not for reading Parapsychology and the Skeptics, I would most likely still be entertaining the idea that parapsychology might well be pseudoscientific bunk. In this book, Carter exposes how skeptics and debunkers willfully distort parapsychological evidence and refuse to acknowledge (publicly, at least) when parapsychologists have a point. There were a number of times while reading this book that I became enraged at the chronicled efforts of skeptics and debunkers to dishonestly malign parapsychology. Carter makes it clear that the skeptics, though wearing the garb of reason, are little more than the priests of scientism -- holding to materialist dogma and demeaning (and excommunicating) any practitioner of science that dares to think outside the box of an outmoded view of nature. Parapsychology and the Skeptics shows that the real zest for truth that should characterize any scientific pursuit is heartily embraced by most who identify themselves with the field of parapsychology, while many of the skeptics cleave to dogma and intentionally create disinformation to protect their dying worldview and monopoly on the truth.

This is a must-read for anyone who is interested in parapsychology or anyone who has given up on parapsychology because of the likes of popular debunkers like James Randi and Michael Shermer. A truly great book!

As a professor teaching about and carrying out research in the fields described in this book, I often encounter the question: If these phenomena are real, why does the scientific mainstream not accept them? Why doesn't someone accept the million dollar challenge and demonstrate the phenomena to the world? In fact, many researchers have demonstrated psi (ESP and psychokinesis) repeatedly and published their results in peer-reviewed publications. So how has this been suppressed?

Chris Carter's book answers these questions clearly and honestly. On one side, a host of scientific investigators carry out careful research, and publish their results in high-quality but limited-distribution journals. On the other side, debunkers who usually do not have a scientific background and very rarely carry out any research themselves throw stones. Mainstream scientists, who do not take the time to read the primary literature, glance at the the skeptics' comments and consider the case closed: their initial impressions that the parapsychology literature is bunk appear confirmed.

At the University of Colorado at Boulder I offer an Honors course called the Edges of Science. There are two required texts, both of which are outstanding: Dean Radin's "Entangled Minds" and "Parapsychology and the Skeptics" by Chris Carter. Radin's book gives more details about the scientific experiments that have been carried out, and Carter's book gives perspective on where psi fits in the scientific world and why it has had such a hard time being accepted.

I highly recommend Chris Carter's book. It will change your worldview.

Chris Carter is at his best when he reviews the controversies that have played out over the research results of parapsychology, when he is detailing the ignorance of skeptics and critics, their tendency to over-estimate their own objectivity, scientific skills and the value of their own research, and their lack of interest in actual details of research in scientific parapsychology. But not only this, he shows how skeptics and critics tend to be disconnected from science itself, misunderstanding at a fundamental level what modern physics entails. A must read cautionary tale for both those who hope to enter the skeptical movement and for those who are interested in the scientific understanding of seemingly paranormal phenomena. The best book of its genre by far!