Pseudoscience and Extraordinary Claims of the Paranormal: A Critical Thinker's Toolkit [Paperback]

Jonathan C. Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 29, 2009 | ISBN-10: 1405181222 | ISBN-13: 978-1405181228 | Edition: 5

Pseudoscience and Extraordinary Claims of the Paranormal: A Critical Thinker's Toolkit provides readers with a variety of "reality-checking" tools to analyze extraordinary claims and to determine their validity.

• Integrates simple yet powerful evaluative tools used by both paranormal believers and skeptics alike
• Introduces innovations such as a continuum for ranking paranormal claims and evaluating their implications
• Includes an innovative "Critical Thinker’s Toolkit," a systematic approach for performing reality checks on paranormal claims related to astrology, psychics, spiritualism, parapsychology, dream telepathy, mind-over-matter, prayer, life after death, creationism, and more
• Explores the five alternative hypotheses to consider when confronting a paranormal claim
• Reality Check boxes, integrated into the text, invite students to engage in further discussion and examination of claims
• Written in a lively, engaging style for students and general readers alike

Ancillaries: Testbank and PowerPoint slides available at www.wiley.com/go/pseudoscience

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Smith's work is a valuable contribution to the field. It will certainly be of interest to psychologists interested in the consequences of cognitive errors, and it is no doubt the best textbook on the market for a course on the psychology of paranormal belief. Although Smith explains paranormal thinking in terms of cognitive errors, his presentation of psychological issues is not technical; thus, this text would be especially useful in a freshman seminar, so popular now on American campuses, whose purpose is to help entering college students develop critical thinking skills. Students will either love or hate this text, but they will not be left unchanged by it. And that, after all, is what college is all about." (PsycCRITIQUES, April 2010)

Review

"This book, particularly in regard to its discussion of memory errors and its insistence on the value of real science, takes a place of prominence on my personal library shelf."
–James Randi, Chairman of the James Randi Educational Foundation

"I am astonished by the excellence of this book. Smith has produced a highly readable and very entertaining yet critical examination of virtually the entire gamut of paranormal claims, and he demonstrates an encyclopedic knowledge of the field in doing so. While drawing extensively from psychology, physics, logical analysis and history, he always manages to keep things clear and straightforward, so that one is never lost in complexity. Moreover, the tone is light-hearted throughout, and never becomes pedantic or condescending. And the book offers much more than an evaluation of extraordinary claims. It provides a refined set of critical thinking tools that the reader will find invaluable in everyday life. I strongly recommend this book to everyone who values the pursuit of truth in all things. And I can only wish that those who know that they already have the truth would read it as well, for they need it the most."
–James Alcock, PhD, Professor of Psychology, York University

"Can you be both a critical thinker and a believer in the paranormal? The “reality checks” in Jonathan Smith’s Critical Thinker’s Toolkit will guide you to your answer."
–Robert Todd Carroll, author of The Skeptic's Dictionary

"An excellent, engaging, and highly readable introduction to the paranormal and to the distinction between science and pseudoscience. A superb student-friendly guide to extraordinary claims. Chock full of interesting and fun examples, not to mention humor. Should become a favorite in undergraduate psychology courses."
–Scott O. Lilienfeld, Emory University

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell; 5 edition (September 29, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1405181222
• ISBN-13: 978-1405181228
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 1 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #747,300 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jonathan C. Smith PhD is an international expert on stress, relaxation, meditation, and mindfulness -- and more recently critical thinking and the paranormal. He is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Professor of Psychology at Chicago's Roosevelt University, and Founding Director of the Roosevelt University Stress Institute (and the Pseudoscience and Paranormal Laboratory). The Institute has an extensive research program, online and classroom instruction, and Certificates in Relaxation, Meditation and Mindfulness Dr. Smith has published 17 books and more than three dozen articles, served as expert outside reviewer for six top psychological and medical journals, and published chapters as "guest expert" in eight textbooks and encyclopedias. His book publishers have included Aldine, Guilford Press, Macmillan, Oxford University Press, Plenum, Praeger, Prentice-Hall, Research Press, Springer, and Wiley/Blackwell. In addition, he has served as Chairman of the Department of Psychology at Roosevelt University for a decade and created Chicago's first university-based PsyD in Clinical Psychology. Under the leadership of subsequent Directors, this program has proudly earned a 7-year APA accreditation and is acclaimed nationwide for its focus on quality instruction, small classes, and rigor.

Author webpage:

http://faculty.roosevelt.edu/jsmith

Dr. Smith's primary research focus has been theoretical and clinical issues related to stress management, relaxation, meditation, and mindfulness. His work on critical thinking focuses on paranormic religiosity and extraordinary paranormal "claims of consequence." (He has been confirmed as a "Level 6.14 Psychic.")

Dr. Smith has taught thousands of students, clients, and health professionals and has served as consultant for government, business, educational, medical, and health organizations in the US, Canada, Australia, Spain, France, India, Germany, and the People's Republic of China.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why Should I? Why Wouldn't You?, December 8, 2009

By 

Shelly Fields (Chicago, Il) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pseudoscience and Extraordinary Claims of the Paranormal: A Critical Thinker's Toolkit (Paperback)

Dr. Smith's book is on "good common sense, everyday thinking at its best." (P.41) Wouldn't this world be a much better place if we all had a dose of good common sense? Indeed! Critical thinking on any subject should be mandatory for all students starting in high school. Just as they are required to take four years of math and science, students should be required to take a course in Critical Thinking. I mean who really uses geometry or chemistry anyway? We need critical thinking skills EVERYDAY.

Pseudoscience and the Paranormal is much more than a novel concept. Offering a course on Pseudoscience and the Paranormal is an ideal means for students to develop their critical thinking skills. There are hundreds of topics, thousands of articles, and countless videos that are ripe for the proverbial picking! Plus, it is more interesting and engaging to discuss topics that are more popular than say, Critical Thinking on the Environment or on Politics, not that those are unimportant, but discussing spoon-bending, exorcisms, and watching Penn and Teller videos is much more fun!

You don't realize how pervasive pseudoscience and the paranormal is until you look at it with a critical eye. Anyone can turn on the TV and find a show about ghost chasers, "How to Feng Shui Your House", or the healing power of yoga. Before this course, I might have been able to watch that and feel like I was learning something new and wondrous about our world. I used to enjoy the idea of arranging furniture to free up the energies in my house and relished my adjustments at the chiropractor but now I am no longer looking through rose-colored glasses. I find myself (often to the annoyance of my husband) putting on my critical thinking cap and really examining what claims are being made. My husband says, "Ok, Debbie Downer, thanks for the thorough analysis on the claims of Feng Shui, now, can we just watch the show!" Perhaps he is jealous of my sharply honed critical thinking skills. I mean, these skills can be quite powerful and do have to be kept under wrap at times. I don't want to burst his entire pseudo/para bubble! Also, I don't want to come across as cynical just cheerfully skeptical.

I never really thought about my beliefs of the pseudoscience/paranormal until taking this course. Do I believe in ghosts? Are psychics real? What about reflexology, ear candling, or vitamins! Not only has this course improved my writing skills and critical thinking skills but also it will save me money! I will never look at homeopathic medicine or 1-800-PSYCHICS the same again! Thanks Dr. Smith!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pandora's Box?, July 1, 2010

By 

Dr. Jan - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pseudoscience and Extraordinary Claims of the Paranormal: A Critical Thinker's Toolkit (Paperback)

Pseudoscience and Extraordinary Claims of the Paranormal is an excellent guide for truth-seekers to logically investigate and analyze paranormal claims. It provides the reader a rational account of the strange and unexplainable phenomena through reality-checking tools based on reason. For those who ask, "Why Study these Things," Smith fittingly turns to Socrates for his answer, noting, "the unexplained life is not worth living."

Using reality-checking tools, Smith places the collection of paranormal claims under the microscope for closer scrutiny. With the inclusion of the Continuum Mysteriosum--an eight part hierarchical ordering of the claims--Smith ranks the various claims of the paranormal, weighing each proposition in determining validity. Its range and breadth extends from Bigfoot and acupuncture to flying saucers and Faith healing. A critical thinker's Toolkit is also provided to systematically examine the claims of the paranormal phenomena. When using the toolkit to perform reality checks, Smith suggests that one should ask (1) Is the claim based on sound methods, and (2) Are there alternative explanations in critically examining the claims. The remainder of the book is devoted to the Paranormal Files in which Smith discusses timely and pertinent issues, such as Spiritualism, Alternative Medicine, and Faith Healing--all being discussed through the prism of a logical methodology in using the critical thinker's toolkit.

In essence, this book challenges the reader to examine, and perhaps question long standing beliefs and dogma associated with the paranormal. Whether one accepts or rejects paranormal claims, this book, to be sure, urges the reader to be intellectually honest when analyzing and evaluating these phenomena. An excellent read for both believer and skeptic alike--but be forewarned, it may open Pandora's Box!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great exercise for the mind, December 15, 2010

By 

Rory Coker (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pseudoscience and Extraordinary Claims of the Paranormal: A Critical Thinker's Toolkit (Paperback)

I doubt that this book will find wide readership among the general public, and more's the pity. It is designed as a university-level textbook, and indeed I use it as such in my course Physics 341, Pseudoscience... to be taught again in Spring 2011. I can't think of another book like this one, and I have searched, believe me.

Dr. Smith has created a kind of critical-thinker's toolkit, and the majority of tools therein are quite sharp and serviceable. Since Americans are bombarded by a vomiting flood of utter nonsense masquerading as fact, through all media outlets, the ability to process this information at least slightly, and to sift the few percent of possibly factual claims out of the near 100% of totally bogus crap, is a very valuable ability to possess. In fact, democracy is unlikely to survive in the US unless a significant fraction of the voting public becomes able to distinguish between fact and fantasy.

Books like this one must of necessity cover a very wide range of examples and topics, many of which would fall outside of any one author's range of expertise, no matter how broad. Compounding the problem, I think the author has relied a bit too much on the Internet in doing his research. For example, I was surprised on p. 311 to read of "close parallels" between the mythology of Egyptian God Horus and the mythology of another famous son, Yeshua ben Yosef. The challenge would be to find well-known Egyptologists who have found any such very detailed parallels.

Because the author is a psychologist and I am a physicist, I also found myself unable to go along with him in various areas, particularly his comments on "hypnosis" and suggestion, scattered throughout the text. However, in a book 364 pages long it would be an almost impossible situation if any reader found himself or herself in perfect agreement with the author in every case.

This volume is just what it is subtitled to be, "A Critical Thinker's Toolkit." If only we could bring that toolkit to the attention of every citizen, instead of only to the tiny fraction of US college students taking courses in psychology, philosophy or research methods.