What
is the Paranormal?
By Nick Kyle (16.8.2002)
Definition of paranormal:
beyond the scope of normal objective investigation or explanation (The Oxford
English Reference Dictionary, 1996). Another definition is: events that cannot
be explained by natural law or knowledge, often alleged to have been acquired
by other than the usual sensory abilities (adapted from the Britannica
Encyclopedia, 2003). Alternatively, phenomena existing outside the limits of
the consensual trance through which humans perceive the world (E. W. Kellogg
III, Ph.D., from The Association for the Study of Dreams website). It’s an odd
word in etymology, half Greek (para = beyond) and half Latin (normal =
conforming to a standard; regular, usual typical); an adjective (circa 1920) on
its way to becoming a noun, replacing 'paranormality'. As a word it is already
crossing boundaries, confusing attempts to nail it down. Paranormal is
preferred over supernatural, which has mystical connotations, though
‘anomalous’ is also gaining favour amongst parapsychologists Paranormal Study:
the discipline concerned with investigating such phenomena is called
parapsychology. Some people use the term ‘psychical research’. What are the
differences?
|
Parapsychology |
|
Psychical
Research |
|
Very formal academic
study |
|
Less formal
investigation |
Scientific study of the
paranormal is of relatively recent origin, but belief in the reality of such
phenomena has been widespread throughout history, across all cultures, and at
all educational and socio-economic levels. Before she rise of modern science,
the causation of all complex physical phenomena was very poorly understood, and
was attributed to non-material agencies (ghosts, sorcerers demons, mythological
beings) rather than a causal, scientific explanation. The existence of
paranormal phenomena continues to be a subject of fierce dispute, despite the
existence of societies, such an the Society for Psychical Research, for over a
century, made up of eminent scientists and laymen. Paranormal phenomena can be
grouped loosely into two categories:
1. cognitive, and in the
area of clairvoyance, telepathy, or precognition, where one person is believed
to have acquired knowledge of arts, of other people’s thoughts, or of future
events, without the use of the ordinary scenery channels - hence the term
‘extrasensory perception.’
2. physical in character:
the fall of dice or the dealing of cards is thought to be influenced by a
person’s “willing” them to fall in a certain way; or objects ace moved, often
in a violent fashion, allegedly by poltergeists. The term psychokinesis is
often used in this connection. The paranormal can also appear as religious
phenomena, e.g. hearing voices or seeing visions, which have no natural origin,
or being in some peculiar mystical state. To define is to limit, and no single
definition will cover every aspect of the paranormal, so to compensate, I have
provided a mind map of the boundaries of my view of the paranormal. The
paranormal phenomena that get most attention from the SSPR are those that seem
to relate most directly to the human condition. The phenomenon that most
interests me is physical mediumship, now sadly elusive.