Parapsychology (Literature)

A number of papers have investigated the idea of rational versus intuitive thinking and how this might relate to paranormal beliefs. Those who possess both intuitive and rational thinking styles are more likely to report paranormal experiences and subjective ...

This study investigated the relationship between superstitions and the personality traits of an individual in the city of Mumbai, Maharashtra population. 300 individuals completed two tests, one based on common superstitions found in the city and the other Big Five Personality Test. The samples were collected between the age group of 18-50 years. Out of 300 samples collected, 232 samples showed high correlation between neuroticism and the level of superstitions. This research was conducted in order to provide support to the case studies where the relation between superstitions and neuroticism was observed. It is observed that beliefs in superstitions is a byproduct of the over emotionality and irrationality inherent in neuroticism. Superstitions are also related with magic, black magic parapsychology, religious beliefs, and spirituality. In this sense the present study offers a bridge between neuroticism and the social marginality hypothesis of superstitious beliefs.

Despite the differences in variables of religious faith between Christians and Muslims, similarity relating emotional competence traits was found. The structure of model of Faith is the same for both confessions. The similarity is getting closer as soon as the Faith becomes more mature. Empathy is observed in 1st and 3rd level of faith for Christians and 3rd level of Muslims. Selfdiscipline as a value is observed on 2nd of Christians and 2nd and 3rd level of Muslims. Cheerfulness shows itself for both Christians and Muslims mature in faith.

A number of papers have investigated the idea of rational versus intuitive thinking and how this might relate to paranormal beliefs. Those who possess both intuitive and rational thinking styles are more likely to report paranormal experiences and subjective ...

Beliefs happen to be the most significant indicators of a person’s overall personality and provide us a window on his mental constructs. The study of the paranormal activities and phenomena has been riddled with controversy since its conception and previous researches revealed mixed and contradictory findings. The present study focuses to study correlation between Religious beliefs, paranormal beliefs and the personality factors across different religious groups, among individuals of different age groups and socio-economic status. Significant positive correlation was found between religiosity and paranormal beliefs as well as between religiosity and the traditional religious beliefs, psi and witchcraft subscales of the paranormal beliefs scale. Results also report a negative correlation between religious beliefs and the spiritualism, extraordinary-life-forms and precognition subscales of the paranormal beliefs scale. Neuroticism was found to be the only personality factor significan...

Beliefs happen to be the most significant indicators of a person’s overall personality and provide us a window on his mental constructs. The study of the paranormal activities and phenomena has been riddled with controversy since its conception and previous researches revealed mixed and contradictory findings. The present study focuses to study correlation between Religious beliefs, paranormal beliefs and the personality factors across different religious groups, among individuals of different age groups and socio-economic status. Significant positive correlation was found between religiosity and paranormal beliefs as well as between religiosity and the traditional religious beliefs, psi and witchcraft subscales of the paranormal beliefs scale. Results also report a negative correlation between religious beliefs and the spiritualism, extraordinary-life-forms and precognition subscales of the paranormal beliefs scale. Neuroticism was found to be the only personality factor significan...

In Nigeria, almost every tribe has several superstitious beliefs which, tend to affect their day to day behavior. The current work investigated the relationship of such beliefs with personality traits in the southeast geopolitical zone of the country [specifically Igbo land]. The researchers used the Big 5 personality Inventory (BFPI) and the Igbo Culture Superstitious Belief Scale. The internal consistency reliability of the ICSBS ranged from .30 to .67. A total of 250 participants [94 males and 156 females, between 25 and 53 years, with the mean age of 36.99 and standard deviation 5.89] participated in the study.  Multiple regression analysis was adopted. From the above result, openness to experience (Beta = .484, t=8.15, p

The present study examining the relationship between spirituality and psychological well-being among Muslims and Christians adolescents and young adults. Daily Spiritual Experience Scale and Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale were used to examine the study variables. The present study was carried out on the sample of (N = 254) i.e. Muslims (n = 123) and Christians (n = 131). The sub sample of Muslims and Christians were further divided into males (n = 48) and females (n = 75). Similarly Christian males (n = 60) and Christian females (n = 71). The instruments used to measure the variables possessed satisfactory reliability i.e. spirituality (α = .80) for Muslims and (α = .92) for Christians and psychological well-being (α = .82) for Muslims and (α = .84) for Christians. Results of the study revealed that spirituality not only had significant positive correlation with psychological well-being but also found to be significant positive predictor of psychological well-being among ...

Beliefs happen to be the most significant indicators of a person’s overall personality and provide us a window on his mental constructs. The study of the paranormal activities and phenomena has been riddled with controversy since its conception and previous researches revealed mixed and contradictory findings. The present study focuses to study correlation between Religious beliefs, paranormal beliefs and the personality factors across different religious groups, among individuals of different age groups and socio-economic status. Significant positive correlation was found between religiosity and paranormal beliefs as well as between religiosity and the traditional religious beliefs, psi and witchcraft subscales of the paranormal beliefs scale. Results also report a negative correlation between religious beliefs and the spiritualism, extraordinary-life-forms and precognition subscales of the paranormal beliefs scale. Neuroticism was found to be the only personality factor significan...

The Rosenheim Poltergeist of 1967, is cited everywhere as probably the most serious and trustworthy detection of a paranormal event, by technicians and instruments from companies and institutions like Deutsch Post, Siemens, Max Planck Institute. And yet, so far any attempt to frame this phenomenon within the known laws of physics-including quantum mechanics-failed. Therefore, a new scientific paradigm is being proposed here, in order at least to categorize-if not to explain-this kind of paranormal events. § Introduction:

Bullying is something that needs to be considered and gets special treatment. This event is very closely related to adolescents who are not yet mature. Thus the need for this research as further study material. Personality can support growing prosocial behavior. In the top five personalities, there are factors that contribute to this prosocial behavior namely conformity, agreement is considered as the strongest predictor that contributes to prosocial relationships, where individuals are pleasant. In people who behave prosocially, personality agrees to influence, but also has great importance supported by someone's religiosity someone who makes prosocial protection. Results The value obtained from the regression test using the first ANOVA is 0, 124 which means that the agreed variables influence the prosocial behavior variable by 12.4%. Furthermore, after the moderating variable (Religiosity) in the second regression equation which is the second hypothesis test, the R Square value is increased to 0.167 or 16.7%. Thus it can be accepted that the "hypothesis is accepted". The variable of religiosity (as a moderating variable) will be able to be agreed to or improved in its suitability variable for the prosocial behavior variable.

Parapsychology, in a restricted sense, is defined as the scientific, statistical, the experimental approach to extrasensory phenomena. It is placed within the framework of science (Banks, H.N., 1989). Those who believe in paranormal or psychical phenomenon are said to be paranormal believers. Their beliefs in paranormal activities are associated with their personality, spiritual belief and religious belief but this association is not significant as is reflected in the results of this study. There was a negative non-significant correlation between conscientiousness and agreeableness and paranormal belief. There was a positive non-significant correlation between openness, neuroticism, extraversion and spirituality and paranormal belief. Religiosity was significantly positively correlated with paranormal belief. Males and females also showed difference in paranormal belief. Gender difference was observed where females were found to be more religious and spiritual than males. Religiosity was significantly positively correlated with spirituality.

In Indian context, religion even defines a person's characteristics and shapes his personality, sometimes leading to false notion of placing one's religion above others, or religious prejudice. With time, bias and prejudice have decreased to some extent but still many cases of violence and discrimination arise in society due to the conflict between Hindus and Muslims. This research study focuses on analyzing the quality of life of people following these two religions based on their prejudice towards each other. Two scales were used for this research, Prejudice Scale by Dr R.L.Bharadwaj and Dr Harish Sharma (2006) and Quality of Life Scale by B.L.Dubey and Padma Dwivedi (2009). Random sampling method was used to collect data from the population of Ahmedabad city of Gujarat, India. The findings suggested that Hindus have a higher level of prejudice against Muslims and they even have a higher level of Quality of life than the other community.

The aim of the research was to check the effect of Big Five Personality Traits on Emotional Intelligence on males and females among College Students. In the study it included 100 participants (N=100) who were grouped into 50 M and 50 F according to their age range 18-22 respectively. They were asked to complete the self-report measures of NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) and Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Test (SSEIT).

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines PSI phenomena (PSIP) as: “the aggregate of parapsychological functions of the mind including extrasensory perception [telepathy, clairvoyance], precognition, and psychokinesis”. Parapsychology (which is considered pseudoscience by the majority of mainstream scientists [including academics], with articles published only in a relatively small number of niche journals) also investigates other paranormal and psychic phenomena like: near-death experiences, reincarnation, apparitional experiences and other paranormal claims. This paper brings in discussion some specific cases of PSI phenomena (which weren’t proved yet to be frauds) with possible explanations and implications in physics, biology and the theories of information and human consciousness. If proved (with no doubt) to be authentic, PSI phenomena may have huge implications in the evolution (and unification) of physics, biology and spirituality (including religious currents): this unification (built on synapse-like bridges of knowledge and informational integration) is the constant purpose of interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity.
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Rezension zweier Werke, die sich mit Albert Frh. v. Schrenck-Notzing auseinandersetzen:
* Manfred Dierks
Thomas Manns Geisterbaron. Leben und Werk des Freiherrn Albert von Schrenck-Notzing
UND
* Timon L. Kuff
Okkulte Ästhetik. Wunschfiguren des Unbewussten im Werk von Albert von Schrenck-Notzing

Nu-i asa ca va era dor de putina ninsoare? Parca nu simti ca e iarna cand lipseste stratul ala zdravan de zapada. Parca ceva nu e in regula cand e ianuarie si tu inca simti ca ai degete.. sau chiar sa iti simti fata calda. Ei bine, toate acestea au luat sfarsit, pentru ca partea aia a anului tocmai a sosit! Multi spun ca "nu au ce sa faca pe vremea asta" si ca trebuie sa stea in casa permanent, "plictisindu-se".

Beliefs happen to be the most significant indicators of a person's overall personality and provide us a window on his mental constructs. The study of the paranormal activities and phenomena has been riddled with controversy since its conception and previous researches revealed mixed and contradictory findings. The present study focuses to study correlation between Religious beliefs, paranormal beliefs and the personality factors across different religious groups, among individuals of different age groups and socioeconomic status. Significant positive correlation was found between religiosity and paranormal beliefs as well as between religiosity and the traditional religious beliefs, psi and witchcraft subscales of the paranormal beliefs scale. Results also report a negative correlation between religious beliefs and the spiritualism, extraordinary-life-forms and precognition subscales of the paranormal beliefs scale. Neuroticism was found to be the only personality factor significantly predicting paranormal beliefs. Muslims scored higher on the traditional religious beliefs subscale in comparison with the Hindus. On the other hand, among the Hindus a higher degree of endorsement of witchcraft was observed. However, so far as the Christians are concerned no significant differences were observed either on global paranormal beliefs or any of the subscales of the paranormal beliefs. Socially marginal groups were found to be more susceptible to paranormal beliefs. They scored higher on psi, witchcraft, superstition, spiritualism, precognition as well as the total-paranormal beliefs scale. Beliefs happen to be the most significant indicators of a person's overall personality and provide us a window on his mental constructs. Yet there is little agreement as to what they are; or how they should be construed. They are basic to our understanding of a wide range of central phenomena in modern psychology. Beliefs are the key components of our personalities and sense of identity, and our expression of beliefs often defines us to others. The topic of beliefs is vast and diverse. It crosses many disciplinary boundaries both within psychology and across many traditional disciplines. It has an extensive coverage ranging from traditional beliefs to 1 Department of school education Government of J&K

Given the present paradigms and attitudes that influence the continuing development of science, the undisputed recognition of paranormal phenomena seems no more than a "pipe dream" even though today's scientific establishment is more liberal than ever before. However, a 'pipe dream' does not represent a scientific impossibility. There now seems to be ample experimental evidence for precognition, telepathy, micro-psychokinesis and other forms of the paranormal, but paranormal phenomena will never be recognized as undisputed as long as this evidence flies in the face of our commonly accepted scientific theories and concepts of physical reality. So the key element necessary for the complete recognition of paranormal phenomena must be a theory that allows, and perhaps even requires, the reality of what we now regard the paranormal. This is an unpublished essay. As far as I know, the final entry date of the contest was extended twice and no winner was ever announced.

What is meant by the paranormal? Though it cannot be defined exactly, except as a group of anomalies, it is better known for what it is not. It is not normal. As a group of phenomena it is broken down as either ESP (Extra-Sensory Perception) of PK (PsychoKinesis): This breakdown represents a natural split between purely mental and physical. There are still arguments against the legitimacy of parapsychology based on an older mind/matter (religion/science) dualism, yet parapsychology itself is plagued by internal arguments whether psi is mental or physical. Once that road is traveled, we can move on and develop a physical theory, which may be necessary because of certain shortcomings in parapsychology if for no other reason. The final acceptance of psi in the scientific community will depend on a theory which can form a framework for research. Such a theory is necessary and is recognized as such, whether mentally or physically based, by most parapsychologists. Yet analogies between characteristics of psi events and modern physical phenomena demonstrate that a physical theory is what is really needed. This leads to the question “is there such an ‘animal’ as Paraphysics?” Unfortunately, very little has been done along the line of developing a real a physical theory and there may still be reasons why such a theory may be unacceptable. The physical theories presented are broken along two basic lines paralleling trends in modern physics: Quantum mechanics versus field theory. The greater trend seems to be toward an explanation along quantum mechanical lines. However, arguments for both are given. Some general characteristics of psi are mentioned, but the main emphasis will be on the relation of psi signaling to the inverse square law, physical barriers to ESP and electrical brain waves. Some of the theories dealt with in more detail are those authored by Wasserman, Marshall, Walker, Dobbs, Forwald, Carrington, Roll and Puharich, among others. Again, these are physical theories, related directly to the physical aspects of psi. Where possible, comments either pro or con relative to the different theories are discussed. And finally, I propose my own physical theory, or perhaps my first speculation on which a true physical theory will develop. My own theory is completely original, approached from a completely different angle and hopefully far more basic than the theories thus far investigated. * The original paper comprised more than one-hundred handwritten pages and was entered into a word processor nearly two decades later, so the intent was never to publish this paper. Yet it is important because it was the starting point for all of my later work in physics, the history of science and paraphysics. Although never published in its entirety, all the material in this paper eventually found its way into other published work.

It is a common error to equate paraphysics with parapsychology since they are entirely different, although related, disciplines. Paraphysics is concerned with natural phenomena that physics does not normally cover in its day to day business and this obviously includes the paranormal and so much more. After all, paranormal is still natural and physics studies the realm of all that is in nature and thus natural. Paraphysics is a branch of theoretical physics and should include any physical phenomena not normally sensed and conveyed to the human mind by way of our five normal senses, not necessarily material phenomena alone. This would include any possible life force that go beyond the normal bio-chemical interactions normally associated with life as well as mind and consciousness itself, at least as long as they are not just material epiphenomena. Within this context, paraphysics would include not only paranormal phenomena, but any natural phenomena dependent on the existence of higher-dimensional spaces than our normal three-dimensional material space. This book offers a comprehensive overview of the science of paraphysics including analytical arguments why it should be considered a legitimate science as well as definitions and histories of the subject. Furthermore, the book outlines the initial development of a new unification theory of physical reality that can easily explain paranormal phenomena as well as mind and consciousness.

Everyone seems to have some innate idea that there is an afterlife. Developing a mental picture of the afterlife seems quite natural to us and seems be as old as humankind, more than likely predating even the earliest development of religions. However, religions have taken the initiative in dictating our most commonly held views of the afterlife over the past few thousand years even though there is no hard and fast rule stating that only religions have the right to develop views of the afterlife to the exclusion of all other forms of human knowledge. In fact, a concept of the afterlife is more fundamental to religions as a whole than belief in a Supreme Being, God or gods. Some of religion’s grasp on concepts of the afterlife have recently slipped as moviemakers have taken the initiative in representing how we picture the afterlife. On the other hand, science has been conspicuously absent from this whole process even though science has developed more and more complex paradigms about life, mind and consciousness, just those concepts which would seem important with regard to any possible afterlife. The very silence of science on this issue is simply deafening. However, the present lack of scientific worldviews that include some form of an afterlife will soon change as science takes a greater interest in the concept of consciousness and develops working theories to explain consciousness. Only then will science begin to consider the possibility that consciousness, at the very least, could survive death of the body and brain and only then will science consider the possibility that the afterlife is another part of our physical reality requiring explanation.

Physics has long been considered the most fundamental and basic of all sciences because it represents human attempts to explain the common reality of our physical existence. No other science deals with our physical reality in either this or any similar manner. However, there are still questions about our existence that fall outside of the scope of physics, so physics cannot be said to offer a complete explanation of our total being. The most important of these questions have been anything to do with death itself.  In the scientific search for objectivity, life has been deemed separate from non-living matter in the discourses and theories of physics, so physicists would have had no reason to explain the death of living beings. Yet recent questions regarding the essential role of consciousness in physics have raised the level of theoretical inquiry to the point that scientists in the physics community can no longer ignore life and death. Furthermore, the recent discovery (or rediscovery) of ‘near death experiences’ (NDEs) has raised serious questions regarding the common reality that we experience, which essentially challenges the physics of consciousness for an explanation. The universality of the experiences is the best evidence for their validation as real events describing a portion of our physical being and this universality has allowed scientists to determine the common properties of the experiences. When accepted as real events, the NDEs imply that our normal conceptions of physical reality are both lacking and inadequate, so it is the duty of those who study physical reality, the physicists, to account for this new extension of our reality.

Present study aims to translate and develop Paranormal Belief Questions (Rice, 2003) measuring students' nonscientific beliefs which threat science education. Original version of these questions was asked in Southern Focus Poll (1998). 17 questions about paranormal beliefs were administered to 114 university students from different departments. After translating and developing Paranormal Belief Questions into Turkish, factor analysis was conducted and paranormal beliefs were limited in two dimensions as classical paranormal beliefs and religious paranormal beliefs as parallel with original form. Déjà vu item that is not consistent with other paranormal beliefs was removed depending on the factor analysis. The results of the current study enable to differentiate scientific beliefs from non-scientific beliefs of students. By this way, science educators can benefit from this scale.

The Jewish enlightenment (the Haskalah movement) in Eastern Europe in the first half of the nineteenth century is best known for its negative relationship to Hasidism and for its intellectual tendencies. Against this background various angry missives were written, deprecating this growing mystical movement which was rising in popularity, as well as various satires aimed at its followers and leaders. In order to thwart the new movement, the Maskilim sought to define Hasidism as an errant sect, not only in relation to

Spontaneous combustion occurs when an object self-ignites. The cause may be chemical, as when lithium oxidises explosively in water, or biological, as when a haystack catches fire due to heat generated from bacterial fermentation. There is no scientific evidence that the human body can self-ignite. However, spontaneous human combustion (SHC) as an alleged cause of death has a long and controversial history. If true, the mechanism of ignition is mysterious and challenges what we know about the human body.....

In her Avatars of Story (2006), Marie-Laure Ryan argues that drama “is a well-recognized cultural institution, but as a live performance using multiple sensory channels, it cannot be distinguished from ballet or the opera on strictly semiotic or technological grounds.” Since the ‘liveness’ of a theatrical performance thrives on the sensory interaction between sender and receiver, such a communicative framework requires a set of mutually recognizable signifiers or patterns, even if these ‘typifications’, in turn, are equally the product of negotiation.

Since ‘media’ create their own operative languages while operating in a cultural context, they appropriate strategies and signifiers from other media and genres. Consequently, receptive frameworks appear as isomorphic constructions. Moreover, according to Patrice Pavis, media intrinsically do not favour activity or passivity by virtue of their technological possibilities. It is rather their specific mode of structuring and transmitting messages that stimulates a certain kind of cognitive involvement. The polysemous ‘liveness’ of an intermedial theatrical performance in particular draws attention to the contingent nature of cultural communication. This paper will therefore consider the connotative ‘excess’ of signifiers as principal indicator of the overarching framework’s essentially functional purpose.

The selected case study of David Mamet’s Water Engine (1977, 1978, 1992) should illustrate how in a hybridising cultural complex the interplay, interconnectedness, and interpenetration of various ‘media’ actually contradict feedback-models of technological ‘optimisation’. Rather than the assumed or projected linear causality behind industrial and cognitive frameworks alike, distinctions and symbolic patterns arguably result from what Douglas Hofstadter termed ‘strange loops’. Based on a differentiation between ‘reception’ and ‘perception’, the strange loop refers to “the passage leading from vast numbers of received ‘signals’ to a handful of triggered ‘symbols’, […] a kind of funnelling process in which initial input signals are manipulated or ‘massaged’” (Hofstadter 2007). This concept, rooted in the subjectivity of individual perception, integrates stimuli from various levels of abstraction, “which feels like an upward movement in a hierarchy, and yet somehow the successive ‘upward’ shift turns out to give rise to a closed cycle” (Hofstadter, ibid.). The application of such ‘strange loop’-perspective to ‘intermedial’ theatrical performance provides a constructive platform that allows for a purpose-oriented integration of seemingly unrelated methods, concepts, or heuristic strategies and simultaneously reminds of this construct’s artificiality. Ultimately, therefore, the ‘strange loop’ celebrates analogical thought while circumventing its essentialist excesses.


WORKS CITED:
Hofstadter, Douglas. I Am A Strange Loop. New York: Basic, 2007.

Pavis, Patrice. “Theatre and the Media: Specificity and Interference”. Approaching Theater. Ed. André Helbo. Bloomington: Indiana U.P., 1991. 21-47.

Ryan, Marie-Laure. Avatars of Story. Minneapolis: Minnesota
U.P.,2006.