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Plain English Summary
Around 100 academics — including a Nobel Prize winner in physics — signed a collective statement saying: the scientific community should take psychic research seriously instead of dismissing it out of hand. Their argument? Psi research already happens at respected universities, supportive results keep appearing in peer-reviewed journals, and tightening experimental controls hasn't made those results disappear. They push back on the popular motto that 'extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence,' calling it a conversation-stopper rather than a genuine scientific standard. This statement served as a rallying flag for open-minded evaluation — and paved the way for Cardena's detailed 2018 review.
Research Notes
Landmark collective statement providing institutional legitimacy to psi research by assembling ~100 signatories from major universities worldwide. Often cited as evidence that serious academics support parapsychological inquiry. Companion to Cardeña's more detailed 2018 American Psychologist review.
A collective opinion statement signed by approximately 100 academics — including Nobel laureate Brian Josephson and researchers from psychology, physics, and neuroscience — arguing that parapsychological research deserves open, unprejudiced scientific investigation. Six evidence-based points are presented: psi research occurs in accredited universities worldwide; supportive findings appear in peer-reviewed journals; increased controls have not diminished the evidence; publication bias cannot explain the results; effect sizes are comparable to those in psychology and medicine; modern physics does not preclude psi. Challenges the misuse of 'extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence' and calls for non-dogmatic evaluation of the evidence on its own merits.
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Related Papers
Cites
- Feeling the Future: Experimental Evidence for Anomalous Retroactive Influences on Cognition and Affect — Bem, Daryl J (2011)
- Examining Psychokinesis: The Interaction of Human Intention With Random Number Generators—A Meta-Analysis — Bösch, Holger (2006)
- Predictive Physiological Anticipation Preceding Seemingly Unpredictable Stimuli: A Meta-Analysis — Mossbridge, Julia (2012)
- Reexamining Psychokinesis: Commentary on the Bösch, Steinkamp and Boller Meta-Analysis — Radin, D (2006)
- Consciousness and the Double-Slit Interference Pattern: Six Experiments — Radin, Dean (2012)
- Distant intentionality and the feeling of being stared at: Two meta-analyses — Schmidt, Stefan (2004)
- Can We Help Just by Good Intentions? A Meta-Analysis of Experiments on Distant Intention Effects — Schmidt, Stefan (2012)
- Meta-Analysis of Free-Response Studies, 1992–2008: Assessing the Noise Reduction Model in Parapsychology — Storm, Lance (2010)
- Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence: The Case of Non-Local Perception, A Classical and Bayesian Review of Evidences — Tressoldi, Patrizio E (2011)
- Replication and Meta-Analysis in Parapsychology — Utts, Jessica (1991)
Companion
Also by these authors
More in Overview
Editorial: Emerging Research: Self-Ascribed Parapsychological Abilities
When the Truth Is Out There: Counseling People Who Report Anomalous Experiences
What if consciousness is not an emergent property of the brain? Observational and empirical challenges to materialistic models
Inner Experience – Direct Access to Reality: A Complementarist Ontology and Dual Aspect Monism Support a Broader Epistemology
Entertaining Without Endorsing: The Case for the Scientific Investigation of Anomalous Cognition
📋 Cite this paper
Cardeña, Etzel (2014). A Call for an Open, Informed Study of All Aspects of Consciousness. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00017
@article{cardena_2014_call_open_consciousness,
title = {A Call for an Open, Informed Study of All Aspects of Consciousness},
author = {Cardeña, Etzel},
year = {2014},
journal = {Frontiers in Human Neuroscience},
doi = {10.3389/fnhum.2014.00017},
}