I greatly enjoyed Robert McLuhan's fine new book "Randi's Prize" - it's packed with accurate information while at the same time is surprisingly engaging and fun to read. I'd like to say I couldn't put it down but I actually did put it down late in the evening and picked it up the next morning to finish.
If you haven't investigated the scientific research regarding psychic (now generally called "psi") phenomena objectively and are curious, I assure you it's an amazing adventure and "Randi's Prize" is an excellent place to start. Incidentally, McLuhan is taking some flack because his book doesn't spend a lot of time talking about the prize per se, but because a large part of the book deals with the Skeptic vs Scientist "debate" that is symbolized by the prize, I thought the name was appropriate. (By the way, since most humans could surely be considered to be skeptics or we would have died out long ago, that term doesn't convey much information; we really need another name for an extreme close-minded "Skeptic" who believes that the ends (obliterating this branch of science) justify the means (including personal attacks), perhaps something more like "Antibeliever" or "Denouncer").
As it happens, I have a strong background in science (PhD Geophysics, 20 years in research with teams of nuclear physicists and other highly-qualified scientists), so I understand science and, like you no doubt, I also recognize hot air and hype when I see them. I didn't know anything about the scientific study of psi phenomena until I stumbled onto some of the scientific research three or four years ago. To my total astonishment, I learned that psi phenomena do appear to be an actual part of our reality, but they mostly tend to operate down in the background noise of consciousness and hence are extraordinarily elusive to study, like many other phenomena involving the mind. I found this fascinating, and I've read many scientifically sound books and refereed journal articles on that subject area since then.
Yes, psi effects are elusive but, as the book "Randi's Prize" makes clear, they HAVE been studied in painstaking detail for 150 years by highly qualified scientists, including in recent decades some of the most carefully executed scientific experiments ever conducted with multi-layered experimental controls that put other fields of science to shame. Because researchers in this field are under unrelenting, sometimes vicious assault, they control even against absurdly improbable and unrealistic forms of cheating and fraud among other things, problems that most scientists don't have to think about at all (imagine trying to work in that environment). Statistically and taken as a vast body of work, their results are rock solid with odds against chance of a quintillion to one in some cases, yet the elusive nature of the phenomenon is what gives the million dollar prize offered by entertainer and famed trickster James Randi its power. The terms of the prize demand a single demonstration of psi resulting in immediate, absolute "proof." Since that's not how psi manifests in our world, this prize stunt achieves its goal of "disproving" something that almost certainly is real but not simple.
McLuhan's book "Randi's Prize" is paced like a good novel, yet is solidly based in fact. He describes his experiences as he delves deeply into the vast body of published work currently available on psi phenomena, carefully studies what the "skeptics" say about each subtopic, and then puzzles out the baffling disconnect, in the process occasionally laying bare his soul - oops - heart, as he struggles to make sense of it. But make sense of it he does, and he clearly distinguishes between known facts (which I found to be accurate according to current understanding) and his own speculations (which I found to be interesting and useful, if not always the same as mine).
If you are new to the topic of psi as understood through science this is a fascinating overview of a noisy controversy that has largely been manufactured by a relatively small number of extreme "skeptics". Both sides of this polarizing issue are treated sympathetically and fairly -- in my view McLuhan shows amazing restraint and civility when dealing with examples of seemingly blatant intellectual dishonesty -- but after careful consideration he does find many of the "skeptics'" arguments unconvincing and he explains his reasoning in detail so you can form your own conclusions.
If you already have a good grasp on the facts about psi I still think you're likely to enjoy this book and learn a few things, and probably will find the unobtrusive yet comprehensive end notes and references useful as I did.
If you are an extreme "skeptic" you may still profit from reading this book. It might help you sharpen up your game and avoid pitfalls like posting 1-star, single paragraph book reviews that denounce the book while making it obvious the reviewer hasn't read and thought about the material.
The scientific facts are in; they're well-proven and extensively documented - many tens of thousands of pages of detailed studies. The demand for more proof is simply a ploy. Robert McLuhan's book makes it clear that what has largely been missing for the past century is a FAIR AND CIVIL DEBATE on the ACTUAL, UNDISTORTED, SCIENTIFICALLY DEMONSTRABLE FACTS. This book sets a good example; let's now see a similarly honest, ethical, and scientific treatment of the topic from the extreme "skeptics".
