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Post by salexanderhardison on May 3, 2014 17:15:42 GMT -5
As an attempt to get things going here, this post is centered on "introductions". I haven't participated in a forum, outside of Facebook, in some time -the last one was the Skeptiko forum, something which I was active on sporadically. Anyway, I'll start:
I've had a long-standing interest in parapsychology (and related subjects), especially after a personal experience threw me head-first into a web of captivation -that was in 2009, though I've always had an interest in the so-called "anomalous". After my initial experience, I began researching parapsychology on a more academically-based level; probably because I was soon to begin college in January of 2011 (I took a two-semester break after graduating high school).
Starting in December of 2010, I began exploring hypnosis, partly because of the claims made in the Spiritualistic literature that such methods were used to facilitate supposed "spirit communication" in the past (i.e. think Andrew Jackson Davis; I published an article on my early, more privately-motivated research in the July 2013 edition of the JSCS). Over time, even though I initially inclined toward belief in the paranormal, I've seen myself drift further into a stance of skepticism. I don't think that the question of whether or not some select anomalous claims are genuinely "paranormal" can be resolved very easily; in fact, labeling something "paranormal" is just an excuse for our ignorance. But I don't think the difficulties posed should hold us back and, on a personal-level, if it weren't for certain hopes that I have, I could see my own life being "sacrificed on the altar of psychical research" (something Dr. Richard Hodgson once suggested was happening to him via private correspondence with a friend).
I have a strong interest in psychology. Historically, psychical research and psychology were two-sides of the same coin in many respects; both developed hand-in-hand, with psychical research eventually becoming psychology's estranged first-cousin. Additionally, with the development of my interest in conjuring (starting in early 2011; mentalism primarily), I procured a fairly profound interested in what might be called "anomalistic psychology" (which, to me, is simply a sub-branch of ordinary parapsychology); this became more marked after reading Peter Lamont's Extraordinary Beliefs: A Historical Approach to a Psychological Problem (2013). From that point on, I believe my interest in what one might refer to as "the framing problem", in relation to anomalistic beliefs, reached full fruition. That said, I am still highly interested in the underlying nature of the phenomena in question.
Anyway, that's a brief summary of "myself" in relation to the subject matter of the forum. I've had many personal experiences and these issues are very "near and dear" to me; for the sake of "saving typing space", I'm attaching a video from my YouTube channel below (on some of my experiences):
With this forum, I look forward to lively, polite, thorough and, hopefully, fulfilling debates and discussions.
Kindest regard to everyone (and it's good to be here).
Alex |
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nemo85
New Member
I ain't afraid of no ghost!
Posts: 4 
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Post by nemo85 on May 4, 2014 14:45:37 GMT -5
Alex and I are already acquaintances. Like him, I have also spent time on the Skeptiko forum, but like many others I eventually left. I do however miss being able to discuss parapsychology and related subjects which I currently only occasionally discuss through email exchanges. I have a master's degree in psychology, and will likely get a Ph.D at some point, but right now I don't miss the university and hold a mainstream job that provides me with more than enough money for me to be able to buy the literature I desire. My library thus grows each month. 
During my eduction parapsychology was never mentioned and I was barely aware of the subject's existence until spring 2010 when I listened to interviews with Stanley Krippner, Dean Radin and Charles Tart. I became curious and read The Conscious Universe, Entangled Minds, The End of Materialism and The Trickster and the Paranormal. After having read those books I concluded that the subject was fascinating and in many ways challening but definitely worth further study. I thus joined the Swedish Society for Psychical Research, later also the British SPR and eventually the Parapsychological Association as well.
I regard the phenomena under study as normal rather than paranormal, natural rather than supernatural and expect them to turn out to be explainable rather than inexplainable. To me it seems most likely that psi exists and I also expect to survive bodily death (but would prefer not to). That said, it's clear that a lof of questions remain unanswered and everything that gets past peer review is unfortunately not necessarily accurate. In general I have however not been impressed by the self-styled sceptics' treatment of parapsychology as my books reviews of Richard Wiseman's Paranormality (which appeared in the Journal of Parapsychology, vol 76) and Brian Clegg's Extra Sensory shows.
I cannot brag about having an extensive publication list, but I expect to add to it with time. I am interested in both the history of parapsychology and contemporary research. In particular I am interested in the psychology of psychics, but have recently turned my attention to possession, hypnagogia and sleep paralysis. I have not had any so-called paranormal experiences which I consider to be evidential, but while experimenting with hypnagogia and techniques meant to induce out-of-body experiences I have had some curious experiences which I am both unable to explain or forget. I have also experimented a bit with "moving energy" in the body without due reflection - that gave rise to interesting experiences but also some unpleasant.
I think this brief, but honest, presentation should be sufficient.
Best regards
Nemo |
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Post by Erika A. Pratte on May 5, 2014 16:27:57 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum, Alex and Nemo!
I think we will have some interesting discussions on the topics you named, Nemo.
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Post by salexanderhardison on May 5, 2014 18:42:14 GMT -5
Alex and I are already acquaintances. Like him, I have also spent time on the Skeptiko forum, but like many others I eventually left. I do however miss being able to discuss parapsychology and related subjects which I currently only occasionally discuss through email exchanges. ......I am interested in both the history of parapsychology and contemporary research. In particular I am interested in the psychology of psychics, but have recently turned my attention to possession, hypnagogia and sleep paralysis. I have not had any so-called paranormal experiences which I consider to be evidential, but while experimenting with hypnagogia and techniques meant to induce out-of-body experiences I have had some curious experiences which I am both unable to explain or forget. I have also experimented a bit with "moving energy" in the body without due reflection - that gave rise to interesting experiences but also some unpleasant.
I think this brief, but honest, presentation should be sufficient.
Best regards
Nemo Hi Nemo. It's been quite a while to say the least -I hope you've been well. I personally haven't been keeping up with my email correspondence much, at least lately, so I'm elated to have you here. Our past conversations have been interesting and I think your intelligence and interests will fit right in with the discussions. I believe Erika put up a section on "experiences", so if you'd like to share some of your personal experiences in experimenting with hypnagogia, I'd be interested in hearing about them. I, too, have had some experiences with it, though it's not a state that I can get into "at will", at least while retaining some conscious awareness; I may start trying to self-induce trances pretty soon, though (I've got an interest in -at least- learning how to do automatic writing). Oh, and the interest you've developed in possession (spirit-possession, specifically, for me), hypnagogia and even sleep-paralysis are things that I also find fascinating. Is your interest in conjuring, in relation to parapsychology, still there? Anyway, your presentation was, indeed, "sufficient" and it's great to have you on the forum. Alex |
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nemo85
New Member
I ain't afraid of no ghost!
Posts: 4
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Post by nemo85 on May 25, 2014 10:22:38 GMT -5
Sorry for the late response - I have been busy and have not been giving parapsychology much thought lately.
Few are able to get into hypnagogia at will and remain there for some time, but there are some tricks which I will mention in another post. I will however write little about my own experiences, partly because I experimented with hypnagogia some years ago and have not been able to find my notes. I think every parapsychologist should have some familiarity with hypnagogia and sleep-paralysis since they are likely to at some point come across people who have had deeply unsettling experiences during these states, besides one comes across such experiences in the literature. Once one considers survival after bodily death as a likely possibility it becomes quite natural to also consider that there might be other entities and the literature about possession and auditory hallucinations suddenly feels more relevant...
"Is your interest in conjuring, in relation to parapsychology, still there?"
No, currently other topics interest me more.
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jma
Member/Review Board Member
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Post by jma on May 26, 2014 6:08:48 GMT -5
Like him, I have also spent time on the Skeptiko forum, but like many others I eventually left.
Like many paranormal skeptics I was banned from the Skeptiko forum a long time ago.  The rules may be different over there now (don't know, I don't go visit that forum anymore), but at the time Tsakiris wouldn't let very long on his forum anybody who would not agree with most of his takes on the paranormal and actions on his podcast (ways to conduct interviews, and so on). Ben Radford got ban around the same time for, according to Tsakiris, "misrepresenting" there debate about a psychic helping cops. All that stuff was pretty awful. I still listen to the podcast for the interviews, but I have to say I can't stand Tsakiris very much. |
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Post by salexanderhardison on May 28, 2014 9:59:49 GMT -5
Like him, I have also spent time on the Skeptiko forum, but like many others I eventually left.
Like many paranormal skeptics I was banned from the Skeptiko forum a long time ago. The rules may be different over there now (don't know, I don't go visit that forum anymore), but at the time Tsakiris wouldn't let very long on his forum anybody who would not agree with most of his takes on the paranormal and actions on his podcast (ways to conduct interviews, and so on). Ben Radford got ban around the same time for, according to Tsakiris, "misrepresenting" there debate about a psychic helping cops. All that stuff was pretty awful. I still listen to the podcast for the interviews, but I have to say I can't stand Tsakiris very much. The guy does seem very belief inclined. But, oh well. I was there at one point, myself, and I'm still struggling to come to grips with all this "stuff".  |
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The rules may be different over there now (don't know, I don't go visit that forum anymore), but at the time Tsakiris wouldn't let very long on his forum anybody who would not agree with most of his takes on the paranormal and actions on his podcast (ways to conduct interviews, and so on). Ben Radford got ban around the same time for, according to Tsakiris, "misrepresenting" there debate about a psychic helping cops. All that stuff was pretty awful. I still listen to the podcast for the interviews, but I have to say I can't stand Tsakiris very much.