Pseudoscience and the Paranormal: A Critical Examination of the Evidence First Edition

by Terence Hines (Author)

6 ratings

ISBN-13: 978-0879754198

ISBN-10: 0879754192

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Examines the evidence behind many types of paranormal and pseudoscientific claims and explains, through an analysis of the psychology of belief, why people continue to believe in the reality of the supernatural

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Prometheus Books; First Edition (February 1, 1988)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 372 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0879754192
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0879754198
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.35 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 1.35 x 9.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #5,079,847 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #8,106 in Parapsychology (Books)
- #9,220 in Occultism
- #146,222 in New Age & Spirituality

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Richard Joltes

Required reading for critical thinkers!

Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2002

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One reviewer inaccurately states that this book is nothing but a compendium of the author's "personal biases." Nothing could be further from the truth; instead this is a wonderful and highly readable work that exposes pseudoscientific charlatanry for what it is. Hines' work is concise and easy to understand. He cites numerous studies to support his assertions, enabling the reader to cross-reference additional material if desired. Perhaps most important are the concepts of the irreducible minimum and the irrefutable hypothesis, both of which are often used by pseudoscientists to justify otherwise unsupportable positions for which they lack sufficient data.
Hines makes the point that credulous 'believers' are more likely to ignore or twist evidence that doesn't fit their pre-conceived beliefs about a given subject, whereas 'non-believers' are generally more open to new material -- even if it contradicts what they've already learned. Surprisingly, studies have been performed that confirm this assertion, and thus it's not surprising (sad as it may be) that our world is full of people who continue to believe in Atlantis, psychic phenomena, creationism, channeling, and other pap philosophies despite all logic and evidence to the contrary.
The book also contains significant material describing the reasons that scientists are sometimes hoodwinked by charlatans and hoaxers; as James "The Amazing" Randi has also pointed out, often it takes a trained magician to catch someone who's attempting to deceive a researcher.
Highly recommended to anyone who's studying human behavior, folklore, or the difference between real science and pseudoscience. This book also should be required reading in public school science classes, and for legislators who are too often lacking in understanding where science is concerned.

13 people found this helpful

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Daniel Knepshield

A Virtual Encyclopedia of Bogus Ideas and Beliefs

Reviewed in the United States on December 11, 2000

I highly recommend this book to anyone wishing to immunize themselves against irrational beliefs in the strange and unexplained. This is one of the better books on the subject, even though some entries are treated unfairly such as Chiropractic. In fact, some schools and colleges actually use this as a textbook and make it required reading.
The author covers many areas in this book and offers, for the most part, sound reasons for not believing in the subjects he is attempting to debunk. The book is very detailed, but still very readable.
Anyone who enjoyed this book should also check out the following: Carl Sagan's Demon Haunted World, James Randi's Flim Flam, and Henry Gordon's Extra Sensory Deception. These books, along with the book being reviewed, are among the best available dealing with the subject of debunking paranormal claims. They should all be read to help build what Carl Sagan calls a "Baloney Detection Kit".

2 people found this helpful

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Average Reader

Fair treatment of 'New Age'. Evidence for it fares poorly.

Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2003

Books that give alternative views of the paranormal are few. From a visit to a new age bookshelf one might get the impression that acceptance of new age ideas is universal. (Probably this is because only believers are interested in reading about astrology, ESP, dream interpretations and all that). But for those of us who like to be open-minded enough to examine the evidence a book like this is a welcome find. Many people reject paranormal beliefs out of hand, but does this mean that an examination of the evidence will compel belief? The short answer is "no". This book explains why. He shows that new age claims and been examined, and found to be inadequate.
Some of the refutations of paranormal claims could have been more exhaustive, but most of us don't want that. He brings enough evidence to the table to show it for what it is. Some reviewers have claimed that the book is "one-sided". As if the truth is always in the middle of any dispute. (I suppose if there is a disupte as to if 2+2 is 4 or 5, decide on a compromise value of 4.5)
What recommends this book over some others similiar to it is it's wide range of topics. The author debunks polygraph machines, subliminal persuasion, and even pychoanalysis. This last one seemed especially surprising to me given that the author is a teacher of psychology! This is a good reference to have to debate with people who plead "just keep an open mind". Here is the evidence, it doesn't help their cause one bit. Ah, the waste of time and money a person can avoid by reading this book! I endorse it enthusiastically.

8 people found this helpful

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Lee Hartsfeld

How wonderful that this is still in print.

Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2001

I read this marvelous book years ago, and I'm slightly amazed that it is still in print, because that means that it has sold many copies--or at least enough to keep going. Meanwhile, the entertainment industry, determined to continue the work of Scholastic Books, Weekly Reader, and Steven Spielberg, continues to push paranormal propoganda on children and cable-station "Ghosts, Part 500" installments on brainwashed adults. There will never be any kind of balance between the truth-tellers and the nonsense-peddlers, because the latter bring in far more money to publishers and producers, but it's nice to see the skeptics at least treading water. May this beautifully-written and thorough guide to reason-friendly thinking stay in print until, say, Fox fires Linda Blair, psychic hotlines go out of business, or the sun implodes--whichever comes first.

10 people found this helpful

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CLAUDIO

Excellent Primer-Encyclopaedia on irrational beliefs

Reviewed in the United States on December 11, 1999

A very complete way to review the sceptical/scientific approach to XX Century paranormal myths, hoaxes and scams. Highly commendable as a first book on the subject, and with the excellent bibliographic index, it would guide very well any reader interested on learning more on the matter, (although Hines' treatment of the subject, at over 300 pages, is quite thorough in itself). By the way, I found the other review (a reader, 1997) very useful, but I am not sure what I voted (boxes are not too clear as to which is which)

12 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Hardly a 'critical examination'

Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2001

This book is a tiresome rant of the authors personal opinions. His section on alternative medicine is especially uninformed. He claims that food additives are perectly safe and suggests that anyone who questions the FDA must be crazy.

18 people found this helpful

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Pseudoscience and the Paranormal: A Critical Examination of the Evidence First Edition

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