Cerebral Institute of Discovery

Cerebral Institute of Discovery - Parapsychology

One of the sites below gave the following description of parapsychology and I can't think of a better way of putting it: Most science tries to explain observable phenomena; parapsychology tries to observe unexplainable phenomena. Parapsychology studies all those things we've wondered about but can't define in rational terms -- ESP, ghost limbs, out of body experiences, etc. Many of the areas of study are extremely controversial or even just plain quacky. However, there is a growing interest in a truly scientific approach to many of these topics, often described as the study consciousness phenomena or mind/matter interactions or other phrases used to avoid the quacky connotations the word parapsychology carries with it. The links below are as objective as can be found.

WWW Resources

Paranormal Page
http://www.yahoo.com/Science/Alternative/Parapsychology/index.html
Yahoo's page of parapsychology links with minimal description to various paranormal sites around the net. Most of the links lead to sites of questionable authority, but there are several academic links to be found.

Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness
http://assc.caltech.edu/
While this site contains some parapsychology information, it is far more than that. It is a professional, academic organization studying all facets of human consciousness.

Explore Parapsychology
http://www.mdani.demon.co.uk/para/parapsy.htm
A good site with introductory information, a glossary of terms, and online experiments. Worth a visit.

Parapsychology Sources on the Internet
http://www.ed.ac.uk/~ejua35/parapsy.htm
An excellent site which breaks the subject into parapsychology, skepticism, and other resources. A well-balanced, objective approach to a controversial subject.

Anomalous Cognition
http://www.psy.uva.nl/resedu/pn/res/ANOMALOUSCOGNITION/anomal.shtml
A University of Amsterdam site including online PSI "games", abstracts, and a decent list of links.

Consciousness Research Laboratory Home Page
http://www.psiresearch.org/
A site regarding the first US patent for a psi-based effect, work which grew out of the theories put forth in the book, The Conscious Universe: The Scientific Truth of Psychic Phenomena, by Dr. Dean Radin (see below). An above average site with an advanced discussion of psychic phenomena from a scientific point of view.

Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research
http://www.princeton.edu/~pear/
This long-standing program at Princeton University is conducting exacting experiments on possible interactions between human consciousness and the engineered world around us. What many people would call rigorous parapsychology, PEAR calls the scientific study of consciousness-related physical phenomena.

Cognitive Sciences Laboratory
http://www.lfr.org/csl/index.shtml
CSL is another organization trying to ascertain with scientific certainty the validity of psychic phenomena and, if they are valid, how they work. Through government funding, they have conducted a substantial amount of research, including participating in a review of the CIA STARGATE research.

Dr. Charles T. Tart Homepage and Virtual Library
http://www.paradigm-sys.com/cttart/
Site of Charles Tart, author of Body Mind Spirit: Exploring the Parapsychology of Spirituality (see below). A well done (although commercial) site with a number of Dr. Tart's articles and summaries of his work. There is also an excellent list of links to researchers and other sites.

The Skeptic's Dictionary - parapsychology
http://wheel.dcn.davis.ca.us/~btcarrol/skeptic/parapsy.html
An excellent, skeptical discussion of the topic with embedded links and bibliography.

Parapsychology Foundation, Inc.
http://www.parapsychology.org/html/about.html
With a title like this, you would think this would be the authoritative source on the net for parapsychology research. It isn't. The Foundation itself may be a great thing (I don't know); they've been around since 1951 and run a library in NYC, but their site has zero information and lots of bad links. They do run a mailing list that you can supposedly subscribe to via their "About" page. If the content of their site is any indication, though, the list wouldn't be worth it.

Mailing Lists

Mind Machine Mailing List
http://www.aquathought.com/mind-l/
Mind-L has been around for at least 5 years. The URL above yields a page with a description of the list, archives since '95, and links to related web sites. If you're at all interested in some of the more esoteric things the brain is capable of doing, you should subscribe to this list.

Books of Interest

Click on the image or title to read a summary or order the book

	Body Mind Spirit: Exploring the Parapsychology of Spirituality by Charles T. Tart (Editor) List Price: ~~$12.95~~ Our Price: $10.36 You Save: $2.59 (20%) Availability: Usually ships within 24 hours. Paperback - 255 pages (November 1997) Hampton Roads Pub Co; ISBN: 1571740732 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.68 x 8.46 x 5.58
	The Conscious Universe: The Scientific Truth of Psychic Phenomena by Dean I. Radin List Price: ~~$25.00~~ Our Price: $17.50 You Save: $7.50 (30%) Availability: Usually ships within 24 hours. Hardcover - 384 pages 1 Ed edition (August 1997) Harpercollins; ISBN: 0062515020 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.30 x 9.56 x 6.48

Saturday, 13-Jan-2001 07:03:36 EST