Frequently Asked Questions

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Where Can I Share/Talk to Someone About My Experiences?

Last Updated: Monday, July 4, 2022
Report an Experience ● Rhine Research Center Reporting Form Counseling or Support Services Canada ● Spirituality in Healthcare Network ● Spiritual Emergence Service  France ● The Center for Information, Research, and Counseling on Exceptional ... More

What is this FAQ about?

Last Updated: Tuesday, October 27, 2015
This FAQ was first compiled in 1995 by an ad-hoc group of scientists and scholars interested in parapsychology, the study of what is popularly called "psychic" phenomena. Since then this document has been translated into German, Portuguese, ... More

Who is the intended audience?

Last Updated: Tuesday, October 27, 2015
This FAQ was written as a general introduction to parapsychology for individuals ranging from advanced high-school students to professionals with little or no background in parapsychology. Writing for such a broad audience is a challenge, because gaining ... More

Technical Note: The Audience

Last Updated: Tuesday, October 27, 2015
The content and style of this FAQ sparked a debate among the authors. At least six potential audiences were identified: physical scientists, social and behavioral scientists, hardened skeptics, New-Age enthusiasts, those interested in ghost and haunting ... More

What is parapsychology?

Last Updated: Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Parapsychology is the scientific and scholarly study of three kinds of unusual events (ESP , mind-matter interaction, and survival), which are associated with human experience. The existence of these phenomena suggest that the strict subjective/objective ... More

What is not parapsychology?

Last Updated: Tuesday, November 24, 2015
In spite of what the media often imply, parapsychology is not the study of "anything paranormal " or bizarre. Nor is parapsychology concerned with astrology, UFOs, searching for Bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster, paganism, Satanism, vampires, ... More

What is a paradigm?

Last Updated: Tuesday, October 27, 2015
When one speaks about a topic which is controversial to many, such as parapsychology, it is crucial to understand the concept of a paradigm. A paradigm is an underlying worldview. It can be thought of as a framework of beliefs which are so taken for ... More

What do parapsychologists study?

Last Updated: Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Many feel that the strangest, and most interesting, aspect of parapsychological phenomena is that they do not appear to be limited by the known boundaries of space or time. In addition, they blur the sharp distinction usually made between mind and matter. ... More

Technical Note: Terms

Last Updated: Tuesday, October 27, 2015
The above terms are representative of common usage, but parapsychologists usually define psi phenomena in more neutral or operational terms. This is because labels often carry strong but unstated connotations that can lead to misinterpretations. For ... More

Why is parapsychology interesting?

Last Updated: Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Parapsychology is interesting mainly because of the implications. To list a few examples, psi phenomena suggest (a) that what science knows about the nature of universe is incomplete; (b) that the presumed capabilities and limitations of human potential ... More

Technical Note: Some Implications of Parapsychology

Last Updated: Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Physicists tend to be interested in parapsychology because of the implication that we have a gross misunderstanding about space and time and the transmission of energy and information. Biologists are interested because psi implies the existence of ... More

Practical applications of psi

Last Updated: Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Studies of direct mental interaction with living systems suggest that traditional mental healing techniques, such as prayer, may be based on genuine psi-mediated effects. In the future it may be possible to develop enhanced methods of healing based on ... More

What are the major research approaches?

Last Updated: Tuesday, October 27, 2015
As in any multidisciplinary domain, there are many ways of conducting research. The five main methods used in parapsychology are: Scholarly research, including discussion of philosophical issues and historical surveys. Analytical research, including ... More

What are the major psi experiments today?

Last Updated: Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Through popular books and portrayals of parapsychology in movies like Ghostbusters, many people assume that psi experimenters today primarily use the well-known ESP cards. This is a deck of 25 cards, with five repetitions of five cards showing symbols of ... More

(1) PK on random number generators

Last Updated: Tuesday, October 27, 2015
The advent of electronic and computer technologies has allowed researchers to develop highly automated experiments studying the interaction between mind and matter. In one such experiment, a Random Number Generator (RNG) based on electronic or ... More
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