Waubonsee Community College

Pseudoscience and the paranormal, Terence Hines

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 439-483) and index

platesillustrations

index present

non fiction

Pseudoscience and the paranormal

bibliography

50124260

Terence Hines

"In this updated and expanded edition of Pseudoscience and the Paranormal, the most comprehensive and up-to-date work of its kind, psychologist and neuroscientist Terence Hines explores the question of evidence for the paranormal and delves beyond it to one that is even more puzzling: Why do people continue to believe in the reality of the supernatural despite overwhelming evidence that it does not exist?" "Critiquing the whole range of current paranormal claims, this carefully researched, thorough review of pseudoscience and the paranormal in contemporary life shows readers how to carefully evaluate such claims in terms of scientific evidence. This scholarly yet readable volume is an invaluable reference work for students and general readers alike."--Jacket

Preface -- 1. Nature of pseudoscience -- The paranormal -- Scientific mistakes: N rays, polywater, and cold fusion -- Conspiracy theories -- Why study pseudoscientific claims? -- 2. Psychics and psychic phenomena -- Spiritualism -- Psychic readings -- Psychic predictions -- Psychic crime detection -- Ted Serio's thought pictures -- Prophetic dreams and hunches -- Demonic possession and neuropathology -- 3. Life after death -- Ghosts and poltergeists -- Near-death and out-of-body experiences -- Reincarnation -- 4. Laboratory parapsychology -- The nature of evidence -- Early research: J.B. Rhine and S.C. Soal -- The Uri Geller episode -- Remote viewing -- Ganzfeld studies -- Random events and reaction time studies -- Psi theory and belief -- 5. Pseudopsychology -- Freudian theory -- Clinical applications of psychoanalysis -- Neurobiology and mental disorders -- The future of psychoanalysis -- The psychology of Jung -- Humanistic psychology -- 6. Astrology, the lunar effect, and biorhythms -- Astrology and astronomy -- Testing astrological predictions -- Moon madness -- Biorhythm theory -- 7. UFOs I : close encounters of the first kind -- The constructive nature of human perception -- Close encounters of the first kind -- 8. UFOs II : photographs, physical evidence, and abductions -- Photographic evidence -- Physical evidence -- The Tunguska event -- Close encounters of the third kind and alien abductions -- The end of the world and the hollow Earth -- The great UFO cover-up -- The role of the media -- 9. Alien astronauts, cosmic collisions, and the Bermuda Triangle -- Ancient astronauts -- Pyramid power -- Von Däniken in Peru -- The case of the Dogon -- The Bermuda Triangle -- Immanuel Velikovsky and cosmic collisions -- 10. Faith healing -- The nature of disease -- Faith healers' techniques -- Psychic surgery -- The dangers of faith healing -- The role of shrines -- 11. "Alternative" medicine -- Distinctions between "alternative" and scientific medicine -- Homeopathy -- Therapeutic touch -- Herbal remedies -- Other "alternative" treatments -- 12. Collective delusion, mass hysteria, and environmental health scares -- Asbestos -- Microwaves and electromagnetic fields -- PCBs -- a case of environmental mass hysteria -- Silicone breast implants and connective tissue disease -- 13. Special topics in pseudoscience -- Autism and facilitated communication -- Creationism -- Cryptozoology -- Dowsing and the magic pendulum -- Firewalking -- Graphology -- Kirlian photography -- Polygraphy -- The Shroud of Turin -- Appendix: Skeptical web sites