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Educating Parapsychologists

Journal of Parapsychology, The, Sept, 1999 by Matthew D. Smith

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This brings us to a related issue concerning the way in which parapsychology is perceived by so-called "mainstream" scientists. In the past, parapsychology has received a pretty bad press. In the minds of many people, parapsychology may still be linked to the occult and the supernatural, leading to the perception of parapsychology as little more than a pseudoscience. Furthermore, time after time, researchers have been accused of sloppy methodology, inappropriate use of statistics, or even outright fraud. To make matters worse, those accusations of fraud that have been supported by evidence (and even those which cannot be supported) have taken on almost mythical status leading the cynical observer to tar all parapsychologists with the same brush. Seeing as it is scientists from disciplines other than parapsychology who are typically the funding decision-makers, then the importance of creating the right image for parapsychology when seeking financial support should not be underestimated. Therefore, although th e focus of this paper will be to discuss issues surrounding the education of parapsychologists, we must not overlook the importance of also educating nonparapsychologists. In addition to increasing our chances of gaining financial support for our research from some of the major funding sources, educating researchers from other disciplines might even result in tempting some of these researchers to engage in parapsychological research themselves.

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In short, we can take a number of approaches to reduce the suspicion with which parapsychology is often regarded by so-called "mainstream" scientists. First and foremost, we need to clarify the conditions associated with enhancing the reliability of psi effects. Second, we should be emphasizing, and testing, the applicability of our research findings to important problems facing society and/or the potential commercial applications of our research findings. Of course, when operating in these contexts, it is of utmost importance to ensure that claims are not made which cannot be justified by the data. Finally, we should continue to do what we can to rid parapsychology of its image as little more than a pseudoscience. I believe that it is these approaches that will allow parapsychology to prosper, creating more opportunities for individuals to devote careers to this potentially wide-reaching scientific discipline.

No longer will we need to advise prospective students of parapsychology to choose something else to study, and to put them off studying parapsychology for the sake of their long-term academic careers. Although I believe we still need to be careful about the advice we do give students who wish to include parapsychology in their studies, which I will discuss in more detail later, this advice might actually emphasize the strengths of such a choice rather than focusing purely on the restrictions of studying parapsychology.

OVERVIEW OF EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES IN PARAPSYCHOLOGY

Educating Parapsychologists

Journal of Parapsychology, The, Sept, 1999 by Matthew D. Smith

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