Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Introduction to pseudoskepticism (6 must read online articles)
Most visited sections in my blog
The moral poverty and irrationality of materialistic atheism and metaphysical naturalism
- Richard Dawkins
- Lawrence M. Krauss
- Sam Harris on the cosmological argument
- Julian Baggini
- Crispin Wright
- John W Loftus
- Massimo Pigliucci on morality
- Alex Rosenberg
- Tom Clark
- Richard Carrier's original argument for atheism
- Alex Rosenberg: a naturalistic argument against the existence of beliefs
- Keith Parsons
- Michael Ruse on morality
- Members of the Center for Inquiry
- Paul Kurtz and Prometheus Books
- Lewis Wolpert
- Michael Martin
- Theodore Schick Jr.
- Peter Atkins
- Stephen Barrett
- Richard Lewontin
- Steven Novella
- Bertrand Russell on morality
- Bertrand Russell on the implications of naturalism
- Thomas Nagel on atheistic wishful thinking
- J.J.C.Smart on atheistic wishful thinking
Blog Archive
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2012
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May
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- More evidence for Jime's Iron Law: The atheist att...
- Bart Ehrman on Richard Carrier and mythicism and d...
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- Jime's Iron Law in action: Peter Atkins debates
- Stephen Bond and WHY I AM NO LONGER A SKEPTIC: For...
- Cosmologists Audrey Mithani and Alexander Vilenkin...
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April
(12)
- Christian exclusivism, religious pluralism, religi...
- Burton L. Mack, the abuses of the Q document and t...
- Criteria of Authenticity, the historical Jesus, an...
- C.K.Barrett's denial of Jesus' self-perception as ...
- Robert Perry on the resurrection body according to...
- The Jesus Seminar: reflections on worldviews and b...
- Richard B. Hays and The Corrected Jesus: Review of...
- Criteria of authenticity and William Lane Craig le...
- Dale C. Allison Jr. on the resurrection body accor...
- 7´8" Paul Sturgess aka "Tiny": The world's tallest...
- Marcus Borg on the resurrection body according to ...
- The psychology of traditional martial artists in t...
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March
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- The Euthyphro Dilemma, God as the greatest possibl...
- Thomas Nagel on rationality and the location probl...
- John Searle on the location problem for scientific...
- Shopping list metaphysics vs serious metaphysics, ...
- Challenging Dogmatism In Science: David Lorimer in...
- Controversy about the Gracie Diet: Armando Wridt c...
- The historical Jesus of Marcus Borg and the Jesus ...
- David Hume The Theist: A believer in God champione...
- William Lane Craig on UFOs, Ufology, Extraterresti...
- A further commnent on the implications of Jesus' s...
- What part of nothing you don't understand, STUPID?...
- The nature of a Cumulative Argument and the existe...
- Science and Psychic Phenomena: The Fall of the Hou...
- The atheist sophistry of Lawrence M. Krauss, his b...
- The Historical Jesus and Jesus' self understanding...
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January
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- Marcus Borg: From mystical experiences to religiou...
- Atheist philosopher Stephen Law's skeptical argume...
- Bart Ehrman vs. Craig Evans debate: "Does the New ...
- Edward Feser lecture: Natural Theology must be bas...
- William Lane Craig and Peter Williams vs Andrew Co...
- A french psychic makes predictions for 2012 -- Fro...
- The two faces of Bart Ehrman: The scholar vs the d...
- Death and the path of the Apprentice by Jorge Carv...
- 5 basic conclusions about my psychological experim...
- Stephen Braude on the evidence for the afterlife o...
- More on reincarnation and spiritualism and experim...
- Solving the tension between spiritualism and reinc...
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May
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Near Death Experiences: Personal Testimonies on video
Subversive interviews (in the order of publication)
- Michael Prescott
- Denyse O'Leary
- Brian Josephson
- Victor Zammit
- James Webster
- Alan Roebuck
- Chris Carter
- Rene Jorgensen
- Daniel Drasin
- Michael Roll
- Robert Perry
- Robert McLuhan
- Marco Biagini
- Elliot Benjamin
- Piero Calvi-Parisetti
- James McCumiskey
- Ulrich Mohrhoff
- Neal Grossman
- Vitor Moura Visoni
- Michael Tymn
- Guy Lyon Playfair
Professional materialistic debunkers' concessions on the evidence for psi phenomena and psi research
-It is a slight misquote, because I was using the term in the more general sense of ESP -- that is, I was not talking about remote viewing per se, but rather Ganzfeld, etc as well. I think that they meet the usual standards for a normal claim, but are not convincing enough for an extraordinary claim. Richard Wiseman's clarification of his previous citation on remote viewing. Emphasis in blue added (See more )
-The SAIC experiments are well-designed and the investigators have taken pains to eliminate the known weaknesses in previous parapsychological research. In addition, I cannot provide suitable candidates for what flaws, if any, might be present.- Ray Hyman on SAIC experiments on remote viewing. (See Hyman's paper)
-The other major challenge to the skeptic's position is, of course, the fact that opposing positive evidence exists in the parapsychological literature. I couldn't dismiss it all. Susan Blackmore in "Confessions of a Parapsychologist" (p.74)
-Human beings are not built to have open minds. If they try to have open minds they experience cognitive dissonance. Leon Festinger first used the term. He argued that people strive to make their beliefs and actions consistent and when there is inconsistency they experience this unpleasant state of "cognitive dissonance", and they then use lots of ploys to reduce it. I have to admit I have become rather familiar with some of them. Susan Blackmore in "The Elusive Open Mind" (pp.250-1). Emphasis in blue added.
-I am glad to be able to agree with his final conclusion--"that drawing any conclusion, positive or negative, about the reality of psi that are based on the Blackmore psi experiments must be considered unwarranted". Susan Blackmore's reply to Rick Berger's critical examination of her psi experiments. (Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, vol.83 , April 1989, p. 152)
-Why do we not accept ESP as a psychological fact? Rhine has offered enough evidence to have convinced us on almost any other issue... Personally, I do not accept ESP for a moment, because it does not make sense. My external criteria, both of physics and of physiology, say that ESP is not a fact despite the behavioural evidence that has been reported. I cannot see what other basis my colleagues have for rejecting it... Rhine may still turn out to be right, improbable as I think that is, and my own rejection of his view is - in the literal sense, prejudice. Donald Hebb (see more)
Atheistic materialists/ naturalists on the motivations and dangerous consequences of naturalism
-"You", your joys and your sorrows, your memories and your ambitions, your sense of personal identity and free will, are in fact no more than the behaviour of a vast assembly of nerve cells and their associated molecules. As Lewis Carroll's Alice might have phrased: "You're nothing but a pack of neurons". Francis Crick, The Astonishing Hypothesis (p. 3. Emphasis in blue added)
-Nothing did indeed come from nothing... the universe is in fact a big confidence trick. There's truly nothing here. All there is it's a separation of opposites. Peter Atkins in this video.
-A brain was always going to do what it was caused to do by local mechanical disturbances. Daniel Dennett, in his contribution to A Companion to the Philosophy of Mind (p.247. Emphasis in blue added). Think about the implications for morality, moral choice and moral responsability, if Dennett's materialistic-determinitic view is right.
--In a deterministic universe, we understand that a criminal's career is not a matter of an unconditioned personal choice, but fully a function of a complex set of conditions, genetic and enviromental, that interact to produce the offender and his proclivities. Had we been in his shows in all respects, we too would have followed the same path, since there is no freely willing self that could have done otherwise as causality unfolds. There is no kernel of independent moral agency -- we are not, as philosopher Daniel Dennett puts it, "moral levitators" that rise above circunstances in our choices, including choices to rob, rape, or kill. Tom Clark, Director of the Center for Naturalism, in his article "Maximizing Liberty". Emphasis in blue added.
--The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference. Richard Dawkins in River Out Of Eden (p.155. Emphasis in blue added).
-Now, if you then ask me where I get my 'ought' statements from, that's a more difficult question. If I say something is wrong, like killing people, I don't find that nearly such a defensible statement as 'I am a distant cousin of an orangutan... I couldn't, ultimately, argue intellectually against somebody who did something I found obnoxious. I think I could finally only say, "Well, in this society you can't get away with it" and call the police.
I realise this is very weak, and I've said I don't feel equipped to produce moral arguments in the way I feel equipped to produce arguments of a cosmological and biological kind. But I still think it's a separate issue from beliefs in cosmic truths. Richard Dawkins in this interview.
-The modern age, more or less repudiating the idea of a divine lawgiver, has nevertheless tried to retain the ideas of moral right and wrong, not noticing that, in casting God aside, they have also abolished the conditions of meaningfulness for moral right and wrong as well. Richard Taylor in his book Ethics, Faith, and Reason (pp.2-3). Compare it with Dawkins' quote above.
-There is no such a thing as objective morality. We got that straightened out. Morality in human cultures has evolved and is still evolving, and what is moral for you might not be moral for the guy next door and certainly is not moral for the guy across the ocean, the Atlantic or the Pacific Ocean, and so on. Massimo Pigliucci in his debate with William Lane Craig. Emphasis in blue added.
-The moral principles that govern our behaviour are rooted in habit and custom, feeling and fashion. Paul Kurtz in his book Forbidden Fruit (p.65). (Keep in mind that Kurtz is the founder of Prometheus Books, an atheistic publishing company which directly or indirectly endorses abortion, bestiality, infanticide, transvestism, zoophilia, paedophilia, pornography and other similar practiques, as you can read in this post.)
-The position of the modern evolutionist is that humans have an awareness of morality because such awareness is of biological worth. Morality is a biological adaptation no less than hands and feet and teeth. Considered as a rationally justifiable set of claims about an objective something, ethics is illusory. Michael Ruse, The Evolutionary Theory and Christian Ethics, in the Darwinian Paradigm (pp. 262-269. Emphasis in blue added.)
-If ... there are ... objective values, they make the existence of God more probable than it would have been without them. Thus we have ... a defensible argument from morality to the existence of God. J.L.Mackie, The Miracle of Theism (pp. 115-116)
-I think there is a certain degree of plausibility among atheists in the view that without some kind of transcendental intelligence in the universe, there can be no objective moral laws.
Moral laws are maxims which tell sentient beings that certain actions are to be deemed moral or immoral. But how could such laws exist in the absence of any mind or sentience in the universe at all? Are moral laws objective in the way that laws of nature are? They do not seem to be, for few would argue that "murder is wrong" existed in some Platonic realm of ideas when galaxies were forming over ten billion years ago and there was no sign life or consciousness anywhere in the universe. The use of the word "law" implies an objective existence of unchanging moral maxims independently of sentience. Yet it appears that there can be nothing objective about so-called "moral laws", because it seems absurd on its face to say that maxims which tell sentient beings that certain actions of sentient beings are moral or immoral could exist in the absence of sentience.
...But ethics does not come into play in the history of the universe until very recently--when Homo sapiens appeared. It is possible that moral laws have existed since the Big Bang, but that they could not manifest themselves until sentient beings arose. However, such a view implies that there is some element of purposefulness in the universe--that the universe was created with the evolution of sentient beings "in mind" (in the mind of a Creator?). To accept the existence of objective moral laws that have existed since the beginning of time is to believe that the evolution of sentient beings capable of moral reasoning (such as human beings) has somehow been predetermined or is inevitable, a belief that is contrary to naturalistic explanations of origins (such as evolution by natural selection) which maintain that sentient beings came into existence due to contingent, accidental circumstances. If objective moral laws are part of the natural universe (not part of some supernatural realm), then the universe cannot be unconscious--it must be, in some unknown sense, sentient. Few naturalists would want to accept such a nonscientific pantheistic conclusion... But given that moral subjectivism is just as logically viable as moral objectivism and that moral objectivism is implausible if a scientific naturalism is true, I think that there is a good case for the nonexistence of objective moral values. Keith Augustine, in the original version of his online paper "Defending Moral Subjectivism". Emphasis in blue added. (Note: Keith has informed me that currently he has new opinions about these meta-ethical questions and that it's likely he'll update his online article. But I've mentioned the original version of his article because it summarizes in a rigurous philosophical form the subjectivism and relativism implied by naturalism, as evidenced by all the citations on morality by naturalists above)
-Naturalism", I believe, is often driven by fear, fear that accepting conceptual pluralism will let in the "occult", the "supernatural. Hilary Putnam, in his contribution for the book "Naturalism in question"
-How is it that so many philosophers and cognitive scientists can say so many things that, to me at least, seem obviously false?... I believe one of the unstated assumptions behind current batch of views is that they represent the only scientifically acceptable alternatives to the anti-scientism that went with traditional dualism, the belief in the immortality of the soul, spiritualism, and so on. Acceptance of the current views is motivated not so much by an independent conviction of their truth as by a terror of what are apparently the only alternatives. That is, the choice we are tacitly presented with is between a "scientific" approach, as represented by one or another of the current versions of "materialism", and an "unscientific" approach, as represented by Cartesianism or some other traditional religious conception of the mind. John Searle in The Rediscovery of the Mind, pp. 3-4. (Emphasis in blue added).
-Naturalism is, indeed, inherently skeptical. Naturalism naturally gives rise to skepticism and the naturalists’ only way of answering such skepticism is to beg the skeptic’s question. Radical skepticism is not, as naturalists tend to think, a dispensable feature of the new scientific account of man but its natural corollary. David MacArthur in his paper "Naturalism and Skepticism" (Note: Keep in mind that the "skepticism" to which MacArthur is referring to is not pseudo-skepticism, but philosophical skepticism, i.e., rougly, the view that we cannot have true knowledge)
-If there is no purpose to life in general, biological or human for that matter, the question arises whether there is meaning in our individual lives, and if it is not there already, whether we can put it there. One source of meaning on which many have relied is the intrinsic value, in particular the moral value, of human life. People have also sought moral rules, codes, principles which are supposed to distinguish us from merely biological critters whose lives lack (as much) meaning or value (as ours). Besides morality as a source of meaning, value, or purpose, people have looked to consciousness, introspection, self-knowledge as a source of insight into what makes us more than the merely physical facts about us. Scientism must reject all of these straws that people have grasped, and it’s not hard to show why. Science has to be nihilistic about ethics and morality. Alex Rosenberg, in his article "The Disenchanted Naturalistic Guide to Reality". Emphasis in blue added.
-If beliefs are anything they are brain states—physical configurations of matter. But one configuration of matter cannot, in virtue just of its structure, composition, location, or causal relation, be “about” another configuration of matter in the way original intentionality requires (because it cant pass the referential opacity test). So, there are no beliefs. Alex Rosenberg, in the comments on his article mentioned above. (Note: If there are no beliefs, is the belief in naturalism rational? And for that matter, is there any actual and objective difference between rational and irrational beliefs, if beliefs don't actually exist at all? Judge by yourself the logical and intellectual consequences of naturalism)
-There is no room in a world where all the facts are fixed by physical facts for a set of free floating independently existing norms or values (or facts about them) that humans are uniquely equipped to discern and act upon. Alex Rosenberg, same article.
-I believe that this is one manifestation of a fear of religion which has large and often pernicious consequences for modern intellectual life... My guess is that this cosmic authority problem is not a rare condition and that it is responsible for much of the scientism and reductionism of our time. One of the tendencies it supports is the ludicrous overuse of evolutionary biology to explain everything about life, including everything about the human mind. Darwin enabled modern secular culture to heave a great collective sigh of relief, by apparently providing a way to eliminate purpose, meaning, and design as fundamental features of the world. Thomas Nagel in "The Last Word" (see a comment on it here). Emphasis in blue added.
-In our worldview, we are just another tiny byproduct of nature, special in no sense to anyone but among ourselves, subject to a plethora of ramdom accidents and forces, and there is no perfect or supreme being at all, least of all us. Richard Carrier in his book Sense and Goodness without God (p. 259) Emphasis in blue added.
-When we have exhausted all options, and still conclude there is no longer any prospect of happiness, death becomes an acceptable alternative. Richard Carrier, same book (p.342. Emphasis in blue added)
Fictional dialogue between a materialist and a survivalist
Videos and documentaries published in my blog
Pseudoskepticism
- On Pseudoskepticism (Marcello Truzzi)
- Symptoms of pathological skepticism (William J. Beaty)
- Secular Humanism, society and sexual pervertion
- Atheist Peter Atkins says: We're NOTHING
- The Cosmic Authority Problem, atheism and the fear of God
- Why Randi, Shermer and the CSICOPers are not Real Skeptics (Vinstonas Wu)
- Pathological skepticism from Robert Todd Carroll and The Skeptic Dictionary
- Richard Wiseman concedes that remote viewing is proven
- Richard Dawkins' pseudoskepticism
- Richard Dawkins' moral relativism
- Stephen Barrett exposed in court
- Anecdotal evidence for pseudoskepticism
- Skeptical frauds against mediums
- CSICOP’s Stalinist Godfather
- CSICOP and the skeptics (history and agenda of organized pseudoskepticism)
- CSICOP: "Science Cops" at War with Cold Fusion (Eugene Mallove)
- Some notes on skepticism
- Starbaby (Dennis Rawlins)
- The Elusive Agenda: Dissuading as Debunking in Ray Hyman’s The Elusive Quarry
- They Laughed at Galileo: Three Common Examples of Straw Man Arguments Widely Used by Skeptics
- SCEPCOP (Winston Wu's new website)
- Critique of Susan Blackmore's Dying Brain Hypothesis by Greg Stone
- VICTOR J. ZAMMIT: A Lawyer rebuts a negative psychologist on NDEs
- The Skeptical Perspective (Bill Walker)
- Extraordinary Claim? Move the Goal Posts! (Patrick Huyghe)
- Comments on reductionism (Stephen S.)
- A Field Guide to Skepticism (Dean Radin)
- Skeptiko host, Alex Tsakiris, responds to Skeptics Guide to the Universe’s, Dr. Steven Novella
- Blindness of Debunkers and Radical Skeptics (Dr. Jeffrey Mishlove)
- Propagandistic activities of CSICOP
- CSICOP: The paradigm policy (Richard Milton)
- The Skeptical Inquirer Embarrasses Itself (Michael Goodpeed)
- The Relentless Hypocrisy (Michael Goodspeed)
- The Problem with James Randi (Skylaire Alfvegren)
- James Radin runs away
- Richard Wiseman's Critique of the Feilding Report Refuted (Stephen Braude)
- Is It Real Science? (Ted Dace)
- Some unfair practices towars claims of paranormal (Marcello Truzzi)
- Reflections on the reception of unconventional claims in science (Marcello Truzzi)
- Rhetoric over substance (Charles Honorton)
- Pathological disbelief (Brian Josephson)
- The SPR Study Day on Skeptics
- Response to pseudoskeptics of Orgone Research
- Stephen Barrett put in his place again
- Stephen Barrett defeated in court again (Full court document PDF)
- Court Orders Quackbusters Stephen Barrett and Polevoy to Post $433,715.93 Bond
- What I've learned from Skeptics (Alex Tsakiris)
- How Skeptics work (audio by Rupert Sheldrake)
- Skeptical Fallacies
- Skeptical Misdirection
- Winston Wu's treatise debunking pseudo-skeptical arguments
- Winston Wu's interview on pseudoskepticism
- Pseudoskeptic's dialectical ploys
- James Randi backed out his challenge to homeopath George Vithoulkas
- James Randi's Challenge (Michael Prescott)
- Who Will Watch the Watchers? (Michael Prescott)
- Critical Evaluation of the Organized Skeptic Movement
- On Zeteticism (Marcello Truzzi)
- Richard Dawkins comes to call (Dawkins' dishonest and anti-scientific behaviour)
- A skeptical look at James Randi (Michael Prescott)
- James Randi's lies about Gary Schwartz's research
- A Reply to James Randi, by Dr Gary Schwartz
- James Randi's lies about Dr.Sheldrake's research with animals
- The Myth of the James Randi's Million Dollar Challenge
- Critical analysis of James Randi's Million Dollar Challenge
- Mars Effect Drives Skeptics to Irrationality
- Gary Scwartz rebuts Ray Hyman's distortions
- Ray Hyman's The Elusive Agenda: Dissuading as Debunking
- Seven Warning Signs of Bogus Skepticism
- NDE Rhetoric: Debunking the Debunkers
- Bogus Criticism and dishonest Lies of Skeptic's Dictionary
- Zen... and the Art of Debunkery
- Why I'm not a Skeptic (Michael Prescott)
- The Pathology of Organized Skepticism
- Embrace The Unknown and Seek the Truth 1
- Embrace The Unknown And Seek the Truth 2
- Embrace The Unknown And Seek the Truth part 3
- Barrett debunked in court
- Quackpots debunked again
- Exposing the quackpots
- The Quackwatchers
- HealthFreedomLaw
- Das Skeptiker-Syndrom (German)
- Informationen zu GWUP, CSICOP und anderen "Skeptiker" Organisationen (German language)
Philosophy of Mind and Consciousness
- Does Consciousness depend on the Brain? (Chris Carter)
- The Immaterial Aspects of Thought (James Ross)
- William Lycan on substance dualism
- Neuroscience and Free Will (Alexander Batthyany)
- Remarks on the mind-body question (Eugene Wigner)
- Does Consciousness Exist? (William James)
- Causal Efficacy of Consciousness
- Against materialism (Alvin Plantinga)
- Critical analysis of Daniel Dennett's objection against dualism
- Transparency and the Unity of Experience
- Interview with Dr. Edward Kelly and Dr. Emily Kelly (authors of The Irreducible Mind book)
- Why Searle Is a Property Dualist (Edward Feser)
- Physicalism, Dualism, and Intellectual Honesty (Uwe Meixner)
- Scientific contradictions of materialism
- Buddhism implies dualism
- A Defense of Dualism (John DePoe)
- Analysis of Russell (Ted Dace)
- Interview with Richard Swinburne on mind-body dualism
- Dualist online papers by Titus Rivas
- Neuropsychology and personalist dualism: a few remarks
- Critical examination of physicalism
- Daniel Dennett Denied
- Exit Epiphenomenalism: The Demolition of a Refuge (Titus Rivas)
- Space, Time and Consciousness (John Smythies)
- Rebuttal to Keith Augustine's attack of "Does Consciousness depend on the Brain?" (Chris Carter)
- Philosophy of Mind and the Problem of Free Will in the Light of Quantum Mechanics
- Quantum Interactive Dualism: An Alternative to Materialism
- Quantum theory in neuroscience and psychology: a neurophysical model of mind/brain interaction
- New Dualism
- William Vallicela on dualism and materialism
- Mind does really matter (Mario Beauregard)
Parapsychology and Psi research
- Michael Shermer gets positive evidence... for astrology!
- Richard Wiseman concedes that remove viewing is proven
- Richard Wiseman demostrates psi
- Interview with Dean Radin
- Entangled Minds lecture by Dean Radin (Video)
- Magicians on the paranormal (George Hansen)
- Articles on retrocausation
- Investigating paranormal phenomena: Functional brain imaging of telepathy (Dean Radin)
- Replication and Meta-Analysis in Parapsychology (Jessica Utts)
- An Assessment Of The Evidence For Psychic Functioning (Jessica Utts)
- The Paranormal: the Evidence and its Implications for Consciousness (Jessica Utts and Brian Josephson)
- What Educated Citizens Should Know about Statistics and Probability (Jessica Utts)
- Science and the taboo of psi (Dean Radin)
- Magicians Who Endorsed Psychic Phenomena
- Dean Radin's replication of Masaru Emoto's findings (full paper)
- Replicable evidence for PSI
- Response to Hyman
- Updating the Ganzfeld database
- Precognitive Aversion
- Precognitive Habituation
- Public Parapsychology
- ESP Research (Charles Tart et al.)
- Psi 'Proved' not to Exist (Guy Lyon Playfair)
- paraPsi (Portuguese)
Afterlife Research
- Charles Tart - Consciousness and Survival (Youtube)
- 21 days into the afterlife (e-book)
- On the Edge of the Etheric (Arthur Findlay) E-Book
- Do Near-Death Experiences Provide Evidence for Survival of Human Personality?
- Researcher Erlendur Haraldsson's papers
- The Survivalist Interpretation of Recent Studies Into the Near-Death Experience
- A review of near-death experiences (Michael Schröter-Kunhardt)
- The Way of Life (Arthur Findlay) Free e-book
- Where Two Worlds Meet (Arthur Findlay) Free e-book
- Anomalous Information Reception by Research Mediums Demonstrated Using a Novel Triple-Blind Protocol (Gary Schwarz and Julie Beischel)
- Methodological Advances in Laboratory-Based Mediumship Research (Julie Beischel, PhD and Gary E. Schwartz, PhD)
- Premilimary evidence for the continuance of Smith's consciousness after physical death (Gary Schwart and Linda Russek)
- Further Thoughts on Super-psi: A conversation (Neal Grossman)
- Stability of Assessments of Paranormal Connections in Reincarnation Type Cases (Ian Stevenson)
- The Similarity of Features of Reincarnation Type Cases Over Many Years: A Third Study (Ian Stevenson)
- Unusual Play in Young Children Who Claim to Remember Previous Lives (an Stevenson)
- Six Modern Apparitional Experience (Ian Stevenson)
- Phobias in Children Who Claim to Remember Previous Lives (Ian Stevenson)
- A Case of Severe Birth Defects Possibly Due to Cursing
- Survival or Super-Psi?: Interchange Responses (Almeder, Braude, Wheatley)
- Who's Afraid of Life After Death (Neal Grossman)
- Interview with philosopher Neal Grossman (Skeptiko)
- Interview with philosopher Robert Almeder (Youtube)
- Scientific evidence for an afterlife
- Near Death Experiences Research
- Survival After Death website
- The Institute for Afterlife Research
- Other e-books on afterlife
- Survival E-books (Free)
- Titus Rivas' papers on afterlife research
- William Crookes' research
- In defense of William Crookes
- The Imad Elawar Case Revisited
- Project Afterlife
- Pim van Lommel's Response to Shermer
Philosophy
Highly recommended books
- Parasychology and the Skeptics (Chris Carter)
- 21 days into the afterlife (Piero Calvi-Parisetti) Free download
- The Case for Qualia (Ed. Edmond Wright)
- What is thing called science (Alan Chalmers)
- Philosophy of Mind (Edward Feser)
- The Conscious Self (David Lund)
- On the Edge of the Etheric (Arthur Findlay)
- Is There an Afterlife? (David Fontana)
- Your Eternal Self (Craig Hogan)
- The Survival Files: The Most Convincing Evidence Yet Compiled for the Survival of Your Soul (Miles Edward Allen)
- The Conscious Universe (Dean Radin)
- Entangled Minds (Dean Radin)
- The End of Materialism (Charles Tart)
- Irreducible Mind (Kelly, Greyson et al.)
- The Mystery of the Quantum World (Euan Squires)
- De Bono's Thinking Course (Edward De Bono)
- Philosophy as a science (C.J.Ducasse)
- Esp and Psychokinesis: A Philosophical Examination (Stephen Braude)
- A Sceptic's guide to Atheism (Peter Williams)
- God's Undertaker (John Lennox)
- The Last Superstition: A refutation of the new atheism (Edward Feser)
- The Paranormal and the Politics of Truth (Jeremy Northcote)
- Scientific Literacy and the Myth of the Scientific Method (Henry Bauer)
- FATAL ATTRACTIONS: The Troubles with Science (Henry Bauer)
- The Survival of Man (Oliver Lodge) (Free e-book)
- A Critical Examination of the Belief in a Life After Death (C. J. Ducasse) (Free e-book)
- A lawyer presents the case for afterlife (Victor Zammit) (Free e-book))
- Light and Death (Michael Sabom)
Critical review of contemporary atheism
- The New Atheist Movement is destructive (by atheist philosopher Julian Baggini)
- Antony Flew's review of Dawkins' The God Delusion
- Review of Richard Dawkins' book The God Delusion (Peter Williams)
- Review of A.C.Garyling's book Against All Gods (Peter Williams)
- Review of Richard Carrier's book Sense and Goodness without God (David Wood)
Critical Examination of Atheism: websites/blogs/articles
- Atheists: America’s Most Distrusted Minority
- Atheism Analyzed (blog)
- Atheism Analyzed (website with free e-books)
- Atheist bigotry in Amazon.com
- The Irrational Atheist (free e-book PDF)
- The Psychology of Atheism (Paul C Vitz)
- Interview with Antony Flew (2007)
- Intereview with former atheist Antony Flew (2005)
- Atheist Delusion
- David Aikman's lecture on "new atheism" (MP3)
- WEAKNESSES OF THE NEW ATHEISM (David Aikman)
- Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf? (On Dawkins' book The God Delusion)
- Atheism sucks
- How to Respond to a Supercilious Atheist
- Scientists' Belief in God (survey)
- Richard Dawkins' fallacies
- Answering Infidels
Scientific criticism of Neo-Darwinism and synthetic theory of evolution
- Third Evolutionary Synthesis (Gert Korthof)
- Synthetic theory: crisis and revolution (biologist Dr.Maximo Sandin)
- BIOLOGY: AN OLD PERSPECTIVE (Maximo Sandin)
- Neo-Darwinism: time to reconsider (Richard Milton)
- Atheistic Philosopher Jerry Fodor's Against Darwinism
- Jerry Fodor: The Trouble with Psychological Darwinism
- Against Darwinism (by atheist and philosopher Jerry Fodor)
- Jerry Fodor: Natural Selection Has Gone Bust
- Jerry Fodor critiques Natural Selection - why pigs don't have wings
Sociological and philosophical problems of science
Interviews on spirituality, medicine, religion and controversial matters
- Interview with Edward Feser (audio)
- Radio interview with philosopher Edward Feser and his book The Last Superstition
- Interview with Ian Stevenson on scientific proof for Reincarnation
- Interview with parapsychologist George Hansen
- Interview with Dr.Gary Schwartz
- Interview with Dr.Gary Schwartz
- Interview of Stanton T. Friedman on UFOs
- Interview with John Mack on Alien Abductions
- Interview with David Ray Griffin on 9/11 controversy
- Interview with David Ray Griffin on spirituality and religion
- Interview with Dean Radin
- Interview with Dr.Dean Radin
- Interview with Henry Bauer on AIDS and HIV
- Interview with Dr. Valendar F. Turner on HIV tests
- Interview with Eleni Papadopulos-Eleopulos on AIDS
- Interview with Ralph Moss on chemotherapy and other therapies
- Interview with Dr. Hamer on The German New Medicine
Debates
- Rupert Sheldrake vs. Lewis Wolpert (on telepathy)
- Brian Josephson, Nicholas Humphrey and James Randi (Could telepathy one day be explained by modern physics?)
- Michael Shermer vs. Kevin Ryan (on 9/11 controversy)
- Michael Shermer vs. Jim Fetzer (9/11) Part 1 (audio)
- Michael Shermer vs. Jim Fetzer (9/11) Part 2 (audio)
- Stanton Friedman, Jesse Marcel and Michael Shermer (Are Ufos real?)
- Barry Beyerstein, Dean Radin, Marilyn Schlitz, Charles Tart and James Trefil ( Can ESP Affect Our Lives?)
- Debate Alvin Plantinga vs. Daniel Dennett (audio)
Forums
Books reviews
- Victor Stenger's God, The Failed Hypothesis
- Victor Stenger's Has Science Found God?
- Dawkins' The God Delusion (Dawkins the dogmatist)
- Richard Carrier's Sense and Goodness Without God
- Daniel C. Dennett's Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomena (Review by LEON WIESELTIER for The New York Times)
- Daniel C. Dennett's Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomena (Reviewed by Chris Winchester)
- Daniel C. Dennett's Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomena
- Daniel Dennet's Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life
- Christopher Hitchens' god is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything
- Christopher Hitchens' god is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything (Review by Stephen Prothero)
- David Aikman's The Delusion of Disbelief
- David Mills' Atheist Universe: The Thinking Person’s Answer to Christian Fundamentalism
- Vox Day's The Irrational Atheist
- Dean Radin's The Conscious Universe
- Kelly's Irreducible Mind - Toward a Psychology for the 21st Century
- Stephen Braude's The Gold Leaf Lady and Other Parapsychological Investigations
- Parapsychology: The Science of Unusual Experience
- Mario Beauregard's The Spiritual Brain
- Lewis Wolpert's Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast: The Evolutionary Origins of Belief
- Nicholas Humphrey's Soul Searching: Human Nature and Supernatural Belief
- Dean Radin's The Conscious Universe
- Michael Schmicker's best evidence
- David Ray Griffin's Religion and Scientific Naturalism
- Robert L. Park's Voodoo Science
- Robert L. Park's Voodo Science (another review)
- Carroll's The Skeptic's Dictionary
- Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion (review by David Roemer)
- Richard Dawkins's God Delusion
Websites and Blogs (Recommended)
- Suppresed Science
- Skeptical Investigations website
- Journal of Near-Death Studies
- Dr.Gary Schwartz's website
- VERITAS Research Program
- Ncu9nc blog on psi, spirituality and afterlife
- paraPsi (Portuguese)
- Archive Freedom
- Science Frontiers
- American Society for Psychical Research
- Society for Psychical Research
- Parapsychological Association website
- Stanley Krippner's website
- The Paranormal Trickster's blog (George Hansen)
- Afterlife FM
- Minds, body and parapsychology
- Dean Radin's blog
- Paranormalia (Robert McLuhan's blog)
- Rosemary Breen's blog
- Michael Tymn's blog
- Rupert Sheldrake's website
- Michael Prescott's blog
- Survival After Death
- Eteponge's blog
- Post-Darwinism blog
- Bolen Report
- Ayn Rand contra human nature (blog)
Alternative views on medicine (and criticism of orthodox medicine)
- Integrative Medicine
- The Contribution of Cytotoxic Chemotherapy to 5-year Survival in Adult Malignancies (critical study on chemotherapy)
- Is US Health Really the Best in the World?
- Wrong Diagnosis
- Ralph Moss's website
- Cancer Decisions (Ralph Moss)
- Questioning HIV/AIDS (Henry Bauer)
- The HIV/AIDS Debate
- HIV/AIDS Skepticism
- German New Medicine (GNM)
- Audio: Interview GNM's discoveries
- Audio: interview on GNM
General topics
- Debunking 'The God Delusion" (by Deepak Chopra)
- Unreality TV: "Psychic Secrets Revealed" (Michael Prescott)
- John Edward Takes a Hit (Michael Prescott)
- Critical essay on Ayn Rand (Michael Prescott)
- A response to The American Scholar (Michael Prescott)
- The Passion of Christopher Hitchens (Michael Prescott)
- The Case for the Loch Ness Monster: The Scientific Evidence (Henry Bauer)
- Organ Transplants and Cellular Memories
- A Critical Examination of the Blackmore Psi Experiments
- Confirmatory bias in peer review system of scientific journals
- Pseudoscience and Pathological Science (Henry Bauer)
- Suppression of dissent in science
- A change of mind for Antony Flew
