Journal of Scientific Exploration
March 31, 2025
Thorsten Dahmen
The future may be fixed (non-probabilistic) rather than uncertain, but this conclusion cannot be reached through physics or philosophy alone. Instead, the paper argues that precognition—a transtemporal cognitive process studied in parapsychology—offers a superior timeless perspective that invalidates present-time logic and extends observability and reality. A psychophysical hypothesis explains how precognition interacts with the future, how logical paradoxes do not arise, and how intelligible information can be shared between present and future in four-dimensional spacetime. The argument draws on special relativity and quantum theory while treating nonphysical aspects of mind as equally valid. The terms 'deterministic' and 'probabilistic' lose their usual meaning under this framework, making reservations against a fixed future potentially unnecessary.
Journal of Scientific Exploration
July 9, 2024
Brian Laythe, Natalie Roberts, Gordon White et al.
Ritual magic practitioners who combine meditation, visualization, and related mental exercises report more invoked and spontaneously-occurring anomalous phenomena, and this relationship is linked to transliminality, a personality trait reflecting loose mental boundaries. However, on a computerized psi test, these practitioners scored significantly below chance, especially when testing ESP openly or using ritual to influence the test. The findings suggest that magical practice may involve techniques that could remediate a transliminal dis-ease model, but the psi test results indicate a reversal of expected effects.
Journal of Scientific Exploration
May 2, 2023
Peter Hollier
Out-of-body experiences (OBEs) are closely linked to sleep paralysis (SP), with some researchers describing SP as a gateway to OBEs. Because OBEs are notoriously difficult to produce voluntarily through conventional methods, this paper proposes a new approach: inducing sleep paralysis as a preliminary condition. The relationship among sleep onset rapid eye movement (SOREM) sleep, sleep paralysis, and OBEs is discussed, along with earlier laboratory work that first elicited SOREM and SP. Preliminary test results of this methodology are briefly described.
Journal of Scientific Exploration
May 22, 2022
James E. Kennedy
A long-time skeptic of the paranormal revisits the field after two decades and concludes that spontaneous paranormal phenomena may occur, though psi cannot be controlled or demonstrated in laboratory experiments. This shift is based largely on a personal experience of synchronicity, which he describes as having layers of meaning. He estimates a 75% probability that the experience had a paranormal component.
Journal of Scientific Exploration
December 24, 2020
Carlos S. Alvarado
Nandor Fodor's Encyclopaedia of Psychic Science (ca. 1933 or 1934) contains over 900 alphabetically arranged entries covering a wide range of psychic phenomena, including apparitions, auras, automatic writing, clairvoyance, hauntings, materialization, poltergeists, premonitions, psychometry, and telepathy, as well as mediums, psychics, researchers, writers, magazines, journals, organizations, and theoretical ideas. The article argues that despite some omissions and bibliographical problems, the encyclopedia serves as a useful reference work for studying developments in psychical research before its publication.
Journal of Scientific Exploration
June 7, 2020
Todd Hayen
Demonic possession has held cultural fascination for over two millennia, and clinicians can successfully and ethically treat patients who believe they are possessed by integrating the patient's spiritual worldview into clinical practice. The book examines possession and exorcism through modern psychotherapy and the DSM-5, dividing the topic into three sections: the history of spirit possession and exorcism, clinical diagnoses such as Dissociative Identity Disorder, and practical suggestions for clinicians. The author does not attempt to prove or disprove possession, but advocates incorporating patients' spirituality and faith practices to improve treatment outcomes.
Journal of Scientific Exploration
March 23, 2020
George Williams
Philip Goff's book 'Galileo's Error' introduces general readers to the debate on consciousness, covering dualism, physicalism, and panpsychism. Goff argues that materialistic explanations fail to explain consciousness and that consciousness may be fundamental, advocating for panpsychism—the view that fundamental particles have a mental aspect. The book also examines Galileo's role in shaping science by excluding subjective qualities like taste and smell from quantitative inquiry, an approach Goff suggests needs rethinking to make progress on consciousness. Goff emphasizes the importance of philosophical reflection alongside empirical work.