Religion Supernaturalism The Paranormal And Pseudoscience

Religion Supernaturalism The Paranormal And Pseudoscience Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle version is available to download in english. Read online anytime anywhere directly from your device. Click on the download button below to get a free pdf file of Religion Supernaturalism The Paranormal And Pseudoscience book. This book definitely worth reading, it is an incredibly well-written.

Religion, Supernaturalism, the Paranormal and Pseudoscience

Homayun Sidky
Religion Supernaturalism the Paranormal and Pseudoscience Book PDF

Author : Homayun Sidky
Publisher : Anthem Press
Page : 520 pages
File Size : 55,7 Mb
Release : 2019-11-30
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781785271632

Get Book

Religion, Supernaturalism, the Paranormal and Pseudoscience by Homayun Sidky Pdf

"Religion, Supernaturalism, the Paranormal, and Pseudoscience" provides a comprehensive rejoinder to the challenges posed to science, scientific anthropology, evolutionary theory and rationality by the advocates of supernatural, paranormal, and pseudoscientific perspectives and modes of thought associated with the current rise of irrationalism, antiintellectualism, and emboldened religious fundamentalism and violence. Drawing upon H. Sidky’s scientific anthropological background and ethnographic field research of supernatural and paranormal beliefs and practices in several cultures over three decades, the book answers several important questions: Why do humans have a proclivity for the supernatural and paranormal thinking? Why has humanity remained shackled to sets of ideas inherited from a violent past that have no basis in reality and which bestow an illusionary solace, promote bloodshed, endless cruelties and fervent hatreds, and have come at a high cost? Why have ancient superstitions been held as sacred, inviolate truths while other aspects of the archaic belief systems of which they were a part have long been discarded? Why have not humans outgrown religion and paranormal beliefs?

Pseudoscience and Extraordinary Claims of the Paranormal

Jonathan C. Smith
Pseudoscience and Extraordinary Claims of the Paranormal Book PDF

Author : Jonathan C. Smith
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
Page : 287 pages
File Size : 42,6 Mb
Release : 2011-09-26
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 9781444358940

Get Book

Pseudoscience and Extraordinary Claims of the Paranormal by Jonathan C. Smith Pdf

Pseudoscience and Extraordinary Claims of the Paranormal: A Critical Thinker's Toolkit provides readers with a variety of "reality-checking" tools to analyze extraordinary claims and to determine their validity. Integrates simple yet powerful evaluative tools used by both paranormal believers and skeptics alike Introduces innovations such as a continuum for ranking paranormal claims and evaluating their implications Includes an innovative "Critical Thinker's Toolkit," a systematic approach for performing reality checks on paranormal claims related to astrology, psychics, spiritualism, parapsychology, dream telepathy, mind-over-matter, prayer, life after death, creationism, and more Explores the five alternative hypotheses to consider when confronting a paranormal claim“/li> Reality Check boxes, integrated into the text, invite students to engage in further discussion and examination of claims Written in a lively, engaging style for students and general readers alike Ancillaries: Testbank and PowerPoint slides available at www.wiley.com/go/pseudoscience

No Sacred Cows

David G. McAfee,Yvette d'Entremont
No Sacred Cows Book PDF

Author : David G. McAfee,Yvette d'Entremont
Publisher : Pitchstone Publishing (US&CA)
Page : 446 pages
File Size : 44,7 Mb
Release : 2017-08-22
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781634311199

Get Book

No Sacred Cows by David G. McAfee,Yvette d'Entremont Pdf

While belief in religious supernatural claims is waning throughout the West, evidence suggests belief in nonreligious supernatural claims is on the rise. What explains this contradiction? How can a society with a falling belief in God have a rising belief in ghosts, psychic powers, ancient astronauts, and other supernatural or pseudo-scientific phenomena? Taking the same anthropological approach he employed in his notable studies of religion, atheist author and activist David G. McAfee turns his attention to nonreligious faith-based claims. Whether going undercover as a medium, getting tested at Scientology headquarters in Los Angeles, or interviewing celebrity paranormalists and famous skeptics, he leaves no stone unturned in his investigation. As in the case of religion, he finds an unwillingness among "believers" to critically examine their most closely held convictions. Only once individuals honestly assess their own sacred cows will they be able to ensure that their beliefs conform to the known facts—and that our decisions as a society are based on the best available evidence.

Critical Thinking

Jonathan C. Smith
Critical Thinking Book PDF

Author : Jonathan C. Smith
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
Page : 320 pages
File Size : 44,8 Mb
Release : 2017-09-05
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 9781119029359

Get Book

Critical Thinking by Jonathan C. Smith Pdf

Comprehensive and engaging, this extensively revised edition of a student and instructor favorite introduces the basics of critical thinking using the claims of pseudoscience and the paranormal. Guides readers through the critical thinking process by considering different types of support (sources, logic, and scientific observation) and ruling out alternative explanations Allows students to practice and apply their new critical thinking skills on claims of extraordinary cures including energy treatments, complementary/alternative medicine and faith healing as well as four paranormal claims of consequence: astrology, spiritualism and the afterlife, parapsychology, and creationism. Couples a conversational, nontechnical narrative with student-friendly pedagogical tools, including critical thinking questions and a study guide for each chapter. Provides clear and open-minded discussions of the paranormal spectrum, belief justification surveys, the placebo effect, and the relationship between religion and critical thinking

Paranormal Beliefs

Erich Goode
Paranormal Beliefs Book PDF

Author : Erich Goode
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 324 pages
File Size : 48,5 Mb
Release : 2000
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN : IND:30000068999394

Get Book

Paranormal Beliefs by Erich Goode Pdf

Despite the continued and growing popularity of such phenom- ena as angels, witches, extra-sensory perception, psychics, astrology, foretelling the future, living past lives, ghosts, and communicating with the dead, such beliefs have received little scrutiny from sociologists. Who believes in them? Why? And with what consequences? A paranormal belief system is generated as a result of cultural, social, and social-psychological forces; it is linked with social institutions in identifiable ways and has identifiable consequences. According to the author, the explication of how paranormal beliefs are accepted or rejected yields richer understanding of social structures and dynamics. Accepting one or more of the beliefs--or accepting a cosmology that rules them out of the realm of the possible--tells us a great deal about the believers and disbelievers as well as the society in which they live. This compelling, well-documented work presents a much-needed sociological examination of the role paranormal beliefs play in our society.

Pseudoscience and the Paranormal

Terence Hines
Pseudoscience and the Paranormal Book PDF

Author : Terence Hines
Publisher : Prometheus Books
Page : 516 pages
File Size : 41,7 Mb
Release : 2010-09-30
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN : 9781615920853

Get Book

Pseudoscience and the Paranormal by Terence Hines Pdf

Television, the movies, and computer games fill the minds of their viewers with a daily staple of fantasy, from tales of UFO landings, haunted houses, and communication with the dead to claims of miraculous cures by gifted healers or breakthrough treatments by means of fringe medicine. The paranormal is so ubiquitous in one form of entertainment or another that many people easily lose sight of the distinction between the real and the imaginary, or they never learn to make the distinction in the first place. In this thorough review of pseudoscience and the paranormal in contemporary life, psychologist Terence Hines teaches readers how to carefully evaluate all such claims in terms of scientific evidence.Hines devotes separate chapters to psychics; life after death; parapsychology; astrology; UFOs; ancient astronauts, cosmic collisions, and the Bermuda Triangle; faith healing; and more. New to this second edition are extended sections on psychoanalysis and pseudopsychologies, especially recovered memory therapy, satanic ritual abuse, facilitated communication, and other questionable psychotherapies. There are also new chapters on alternative medicine, which is now marketed in our drug stores, and on environmental pseudoscience, with special emphasis on the evidence that certain technologies like cell phones or environmental agents like asbestos cause cancer.Finally, Hines discusses the psychological causes for belief in the paranormal despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. This valuable, highly interesting, and completely accessible analysis critiques the whole range of current paranormal claims.

Science and Anthropology in a Post-Truth World

H. Sidky
Science and Anthropology in a Post Truth World Book PDF

Author : H. Sidky
Publisher : Lexington Books
Page : 241 pages
File Size : 47,9 Mb
Release : 2020-11-12
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781793606525

Get Book

Science and Anthropology in a Post-Truth World by H. Sidky Pdf

At the end of 2019, Americans were living in an era of post-truth characterized by fake news, weaponized lies, alternative facts, conspiracy theories, magical thinking, and irrationalism. While many complex interconnected factors were at work, this post-truth era was partly the culmination of a cadre of anthropologists and other academics in American universities and colleges during the 1980’s and 1990’s. In Science and Anthropology in a Post-Truth World, H. Sidky examines how their untoward dalliance with problematic and dangerous ideas by Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, Jean-François Lyotard, Bruno Latour, and Jean Baudrillard informed and empowered a forceful assault on science and truth in the following decades by corporate organizations, politicians, religious extremists, and right-wing populists.

Authors of the Impossible

Jeffrey J. Kripal
Authors of the Impossible Book PDF

Author : Jeffrey J. Kripal
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 352 pages
File Size : 48,7 Mb
Release : 2011-09-16
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780226453897

Get Book

Authors of the Impossible by Jeffrey J. Kripal Pdf

Most scholars dismiss research into the paranormal as pseudoscience, a frivolous pursuit for the paranoid or gullible. Even historians of religion, whose work naturally attends to events beyond the realm of empirical science, have shown scant interest in the subject. But the history of psychical phenomena, Jeffrey J. Kripal contends, is an untapped source of insight into the sacred and by tracing that history through the last two centuries of Western thought we can see its potential centrality to the critical study of religion. Kripal grounds his study in the work of four major figures in the history of paranormal research: psychical researcher Frederic Myers; writer and humorist Charles Fort; astronomer, computer scientist, and ufologist Jacques Vallee; and philosopher and sociologist Bertrand Méheust. Through incisive analyses of these thinkers, Kripal ushers the reader into a beguiling world somewhere between fact, fiction, and fraud. The cultural history of telepathy, teleportation, and UFOs; a ghostly love story; the occult dimensions of science fiction; cold war psychic espionage; galactic colonialism; and the intimate relationship between consciousness and culture all come together in Authors of the Impossible, a dazzling and profound look at how the paranormal bridges the sacred and the scientific.

Hitler's Monsters

Eric Kurlander
Hitler s Monsters Book PDF

Author : Eric Kurlander
Publisher : Yale University Press
Page : 411 pages
File Size : 50,7 Mb
Release : 2017-06-06
Category : History
ISBN : 9780300190373

Get Book

Hitler's Monsters by Eric Kurlander Pdf

“A dense and scholarly book about . . . the relationship between the Nazi party and the occult . . . reveals stranger-than-fiction truths on every page.”—Daily Telegraph The Nazi fascination with the occult is legendary, yet today it is often dismissed as Himmler’s personal obsession or wildly overstated for its novelty. Preposterous though it was, however, supernatural thinking was inextricable from the Nazi project. The regime enlisted astrology and the paranormal, paganism, Indo-Aryan mythology, witchcraft, miracle weapons, and the lost kingdom of Atlantis in reimagining German politics and society and recasting German science and religion. In this eye-opening history, Eric Kurlander reveals how the Third Reich’s relationship to the supernatural was far from straightforward. Even as popular occultism and superstition were intermittently rooted out, suppressed, and outlawed, the Nazis drew upon a wide variety of occult practices and esoteric sciences to gain power, shape propaganda and policy, and pursue their dreams of racial utopia and empire. “[Kurlander] shows how swiftly irrational ideas can take hold, even in an age before social media.”—The Washington Post “Deeply researched, convincingly authenticated, this extraordinary study of the magical and supernatural at the highest levels of Nazi Germany will astonish.”—The Spectator “A trustworthy [book] on an extraordinary subject.”—The Times “A fascinating look at a little-understood aspect of fascism.”—Kirkus Reviews “Kurlander provides a careful, clear-headed, and exhaustive examination of a subject so lurid that it has probably scared away some of the serious research it merits.”—National Review

The Demon-Haunted World

Carl Sagan
The Demon Haunted World Book PDF

Author : Carl Sagan
Publisher : Ballantine Books
Page : 474 pages
File Size : 41,5 Mb
Release : 2011-07-06
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780307801043

Get Book

The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan Pdf

A prescient warning of a future we now inhabit, where fake news stories and Internet conspiracy theories play to a disaffected American populace “A glorious book . . . A spirited defense of science . . . From the first page to the last, this book is a manifesto for clear thought.”—Los Angeles Times How can we make intelligent decisions about our increasingly technology-driven lives if we don’t understand the difference between the myths of pseudoscience and the testable hypotheses of science? Pulitzer Prize-winning author and distinguished astronomer Carl Sagan argues that scientific thinking is critical not only to the pursuit of truth but to the very well-being of our democratic institutions. Casting a wide net through history and culture, Sagan examines and authoritatively debunks such celebrated fallacies of the past as witchcraft, faith healing, demons, and UFOs. And yet, disturbingly, in today's so-called information age, pseudoscience is burgeoning with stories of alien abduction, channeling past lives, and communal hallucinations commanding growing attention and respect. As Sagan demonstrates with lucid eloquence, the siren song of unreason is not just a cultural wrong turn but a dangerous plunge into darkness that threatens our most basic freedoms. Praise for The Demon-Haunted World “Powerful . . . A stirring defense of informed rationality. . . Rich in surprising information and beautiful writing.”—The Washington Post Book World “Compelling.”—USA Today “A clear vision of what good science means and why it makes a difference. . . . A testimonial to the power of science and a warning of the dangers of unrestrained credulity.”—The Sciences “Passionate.”—San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle

Pseudoscience and the Paranormal

Terence Hines
Pseudoscience and the Paranormal Book PDF

Author : Terence Hines
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 372 pages
File Size : 40,6 Mb
Release : 1988
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN : 0879754192

Get Book

Pseudoscience and the Paranormal by Terence Hines Pdf

Examines the evidence behind many types of paranormal and pseudoscientific claims and explains, through an analysis of the psychology of belief, why people continue to believe in the reality of the supernatural

Pseudoscience and the Paranormal

Terence Hines
Pseudoscience and the Paranormal Book PDF

Author : Terence Hines
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 524 pages
File Size : 53,6 Mb
Release : 2003
Category : Occultism
ISBN : UCSC:32106016121995

Get Book

Pseudoscience and the Paranormal by Terence Hines Pdf

Television, the movies, and computer games fill the minds of their viewers with a daily staple of fantasy, from tales of UFO landings, haunted houses, and communication with the dead to claims of miraculous cures by gifted healers or breakthrough treatments by means of fringe medicine. The paranormal is so ubiquitous in one form of entertainment or another that many people easily lose sight of the distinction between the real and the imaginary, or they never learn to make the distinction in the first place. In this thorough review of pseudoscience and the paranormal in contemporary life, psychologist Terence Hines teaches readers how to carefully evaluate all such claims in terms of scientific evidence. Hines devotes separate chapters to psychics; life after death; parapsychology; astrology; UFOs; ancient astronauts, cosmic collisions, and the Bermuda Triangle; faith healing; and more. New to this second edition are extended sections on psychoanalysis and pseudopsychologies, especially recovered memory therapy, satanic ritual abuse, facilitated communication, and other questionable psychotherapies. There are also new chapters on alternative medicine, which is now marketed in our drug stores, and on environmental pseudoscience, with special emphasis on the evidence that certain technologies like cell phones or environmental agents like asbestos cause cancer. Finally, Hines discusses the psychological causes for belief in the paranormal despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. This valuable, highly interesting, and completely accessible analysis critiques the whole range of current paranormal claims.

The Psychology of Paranormal Belief

Harvey Irwin
The Psychology of Paranormal Belief Book PDF

Author : Harvey Irwin
Publisher : Univ of Hertfordshire Press
Page : 192 pages
File Size : 41,8 Mb
Release : 2009-09-01
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN : 9781907396380

Get Book

The Psychology of Paranormal Belief by Harvey Irwin Pdf

With a thorough and systematic review of investigations into the bases of belief in paranormal phenomena, this discussion explores the four main theoretical approaches relating to the nature of such beliefs. Objective and well-researched, this account addresses different points of view on the topic--while some commentators depict paranormal believers as foolish, others propose that paranormal beliefs must be understood as necessities that serve certain psychodynamic needs. The foundations and shortcomings of each approach are also documented, and a new comprehensive theory attempts to explain the development of scientifically unsubstantiated beliefs.

An Unnatural History of Religions

Leonardo Ambasciano
An Unnatural History of Religions Book PDF

Author : Leonardo Ambasciano
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 280 pages
File Size : 45,5 Mb
Release : 2018-12-27
Category : Science
ISBN : 9781350062405

Get Book

An Unnatural History of Religions by Leonardo Ambasciano Pdf

An Unnatural History of Religions examines the origins, development, and critical issues concerning the history of religion and its relationship with science. The book explores the ideological biases, logical fallacies, and unwarranted beliefs that surround the scientific foundations (or lack thereof) in the academic discipline of the history of religions, positioning them in today's 'post-truth' culture. Leonardo Ambasciano provides the necessary critical background to evaluate the most important theories and working concepts dedicated to the explanation of the historical developments of religion. He covers the most important topics and paradigm shifts in the field, such as phenomenology, postmodernism, and cognitive science. These are taken into consideration chronologically, each time with case studies on topics such as shamanism, gender biases, ethnocentrism, and biological evolution. Ambasciano argues that the roots of post-truth may be deep in human biases, but that historical justifications change each time, resulting in different combinations. The surprising rise of once-fringe beliefs, such as conspiracy theories, pseudoscientific claims, and so-called scientific creationism, demonstrates the alarming influence that post-truth ideas may exert on both politics and society. Recognising them before they spread anew may be the first step towards a scientifically renewed study of religion.

Paranormal America (second Edition)

Christopher D. Bader,Joseph O. Baker,F. Carson Mencken
Paranormal America second Edition Book PDF

Author : Christopher D. Bader,Joseph O. Baker,F. Carson Mencken
Publisher : NYU Press
Page : 319 pages
File Size : 50,9 Mb
Release : 2017-04-18
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN : 9781479819652

Get Book

Paranormal America (second Edition) by Christopher D. Bader,Joseph O. Baker,F. Carson Mencken Pdf

"Based on extensive research and their own unique personal experiences, the authors reveal that a significant number of Americans hold these beliefs, and that for better or worse, we undoubtedly live in a paranormal America. Readers will join the authors as they participate in psychic and palm readings, and have their auras photographed, join a Bigfoot hunt, follow a group of celebrity ghost hunters as they investigate claims of a haunted classroom, and visit a support group for alien abductees."--Provided by publisher.