Could even the heaviest doubter of psychic phenomenon believe in it if there were a scientific explanation?

Question

ok hear me out now. I was really interested in hearing what those of you who do not believe in paranormal happenings think. But consider these points, and tell me what your take on them is:

Could not things such as premonition, and other psychic phenomenon be explained by the natural world, and not simply by calling people who experience them crazy? For instance, as little as a century ago, people did not know about pheromones. Science was simply not advanced enough to provide a means of measuring and/or observing them. However now, through improved technology, we have been able to prove beyond any shadow of a doubt they exist. Stick with me now...

So if I had told you 50 years ago (if you were alive back then...) that computers are able to read the human mind, you might have told me I was crazy, needed to take medicines, ect. Yet we know clearly that through various experimentation and implant of devices which read EEG signals from the human brain, that the human mind IS able to control computers to the extent that those who have lost the ability to speak/move due to neurological damage, can now do so through their thoughts alone. Thus, the computer is able to translate electrical impulses into thoughts. (more information can be found on this at http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/04/02/a_case_of_mind_over_matter/ ).

Ok so computers can read our minds. That's established, scientific fact. Now, let's move on to what humans may or may not be able to do: In a recent article published by the American Elasmobranch Society, (http://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/nceas-web/kids/experiments/lab/shark/shark.html ) sharks were found to have an extremely sensitive organ on the tip of their snouts, which can detect electrical impulses generated in the nervous systems of their prey- as well as magnetic impulses from the earth itself, thought to be used as a sort of GPS system for the sharks.

Ah, sharks and computers... are you sensing what I am getting at here? If not, let me explain. If a computer can translate our electrical impulses into readable thought, and a shark (as well as many other animals) is known to sense those impulses from a distance, then who is to say that it's not within the realm of scientific probability that HUMANS can also sense electrical impulses, and translate them into thought?

In other words, if Joe Shmoe asks me to "see" his dead grandmother, and I as a psychic, successfully describe what I "see", who is to say that I am not unconsciously reading what is in Joe's mind, ie, his own mental picture of his grandmother?

For the uninitiated, plenty of conclusive studies have been done to prove that there IS a basis for psychic abilities. So far we just don't understand HOW.

What is your take on this? I am most interested in doubter's opinion.

Answer 1

exchange the phrase "psychic phenomenon" with "evolution" and there's your answer.

Answer 2

"Plenty of conclusive studies have been done to prove that there IS a basis for psychic abilities." I'd like to see those studies. Because last I heard, someone was offering a very substantial reward to anyone who could provide evidence, in an empirical double-blind experiment, of the supernatural. Anyway, accepting something as fact is not about any "scientific explanation" available. The basis in our scientific system in proving something is re-creatable results. If anyone could consistently and with sufficient statistical significance correctly guess a shape, that might be acceptable proof of psychic abilities. And in regards to mind reading... The electrical current created by a firing neurons is nearly unperceivable. The Ampullae of Lorenzini (the pits within a shark's snout, as you mentioned) are a highly sensitized set of organs. The fact that sharks have so many of them, that they need so many just to detect something buried under half an inch of loose sand or soil, underscores how faint the electrical field is. Even within the neurons themselves, the pathways for the electrical signals must be mylenated in order to relay the messages with any amount of efficiency, and even then the signal is transferred frequently from neuron to neuron to keep the signal from becoming to weak to be picked up once it reaches its goal. Outside of the body, there is no such special setup to conduct the electrical signals. Since even within the body, an electrical signal across a mylenated axon more than a few feet long cannot be perceived by the receiving neuron, there is no way any such signal could be perceived by a neuron not directly connected even a couple inches away from the source. And even then, there are so many neurons firing throughout the brain at any given moment, it would be impossible to decipher their origin.

Answer 3

Science deals with natural laws and principles. If there is a valid tested scientific explanation for phenomenon, then it would cease being of a psychic nature, would it not? So called 'psychic phenonmena' lie outside the realm of natural law.

Answer 4

I'm well initiated, thank you, and disagree with your assessment of the state of scientific support for the existence of psychic abilities. Until there are credible and repeatable observations to explain, there's no reason to discuss any physical basis for these imaginary events.

Answer 5

Though I believe in psychic abilities, I cannot comprehend as to how it works. Hence,take it as a gift given by God to a few.