[QuarianRex]

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
Where did adolescent fantasies come into this? That is fairly insulting.

It wasn't meant to be an insult. That was not my intention at all. I was just trying to point out that most peoples conecptions of such things are, whether we want to admit it or not, based mostly on what we absorbed from comics and cartoons while growing up. When looking at strangeness in the real world we often hold it up to the benckmark of out disappointed adolescent fantasy and, obviously, find it lacking. This makes it easy to dismiss things out of hand. The actual phenomena are usually quite disappointing. Things like telekinesis are usually completely uncontrolled, and therefore exceedingly difficult to use in an experimental setting. Even when it does occur it is usually uninspiring ("Oh, look. That book just fell off the coffee table... Yippee!!!").

Originally posted by narf poit chez BOOM:
show me the hard data.

I didn't say that I had the hard data, only that I have seen the hard data. I have my notes from the course and such but I do not have copies of the research. I did, however, see the results of much of the research and am aware of some of the theories based (at least in part) on that research. Some of my profs theory is that "psi" phenomena are electromagnetic in nature (or at least manifest that was) and are strongly affected by the earths geomagnetic field (GMF). So much so that during times of GMF flux (such as during a solar flare) the occurrence of psi phenomena plummet. Conversly, the occurrence of hauntings (also a GMF phenomena) skyrockets. Looking at records of "psychic" type incidents going back @100 years seems to hold this theory up.

Anyway, enough typing for now.

EDIT: spelling

[ September 17, 2003, 22:18: Message edited by: QuarianRex ]