Plain English Summary
About 100 academics — including Nobel laureate Brian Josephson and well-known psychologists like Phil Zimbardo — co-signed this bold open letter arguing that psi research (studying phenomena like telepathy and precognition) deserves serious investigation. Their case: this research happens at accredited universities, tighter experimental controls haven't made the evidence disappear, publication bias doesn't explain the results, effect sizes match mainstream psychology, and modern physics doesn't rule psi out. They also push back on "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence," calling it an unfairly raised bar.
Research Notes
Landmark collective statement providing institutional backing for parapsychological research. Frequently cited as evidence that serious academics support psi inquiry. Duplicate of cardena_2014_call_open_consciousness (in 09_Methodology_and_Theory); both entries reference the same 4-page opinion article.
Collective opinion statement in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, co-signed by approximately 100 academics including Nobel laureate Brian Josephson, Jessica Utts, Daryl Bem, Robert Rosenthal, and Phil Zimbardo. Six evidence-based arguments are presented: psi research occurs at accredited universities worldwide with ~80 UK PhDs awarded; increased experimental controls have not diminished the evidence as shown by multiple meta-analyses; publication bias cannot explain the results; effect sizes are comparable to mainstream psychology and medicine; modern physics does not preclude psi. Challenges the misapplication of 'extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.'
Links
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
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- Neuroimaging during Trance State: A Contribution to the Study of Dissociation — Peres, Julio Fernando (2012)
- When the Truth Is Out There: Counseling People Who Report Anomalous Experiences — Rabeyron, Thomas (2022)
- Entertaining Without Endorsing: The Case for the Scientific Investigation of Anomalous Cognition — Schooler, Jonathan W (2018)
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More in Overview
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📋 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_handbook,
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},
}