Psychic

The term psychic comes from the Greek psychikos, meaning "of the soul, mental," which is in turn derived from the Greek word psyche (soul/mind). It was first used by French astronomer Camille Flammarion, who was also a noted spiritualist and psychical researcher. As an adjective, the term psychic means any event which involves psi; as a noun, the word means a person who can produce psi phenomena. The term is often used interchangeably with medium, although many psychics attribute abilities they may have to ESP or clairvoyance rather than to contact with spirits.

The existence of psychic phenomena is disputed. Some skeptics say that those who claim to perform psychic feats may in fact be engaging in cold reading, hot reading, or self-delusion. Parapsychologists state that there are real and provable psychic phenomena.

Psychical research

Main article: Parapsychology

The rise of modern inquiry into reports of psychical phenomena coincided with the introduction of modern Spiritualism in 1848 and the movement's claims of paranormal abilities. Shortly thereafter, the Society for Psychical Research was founded in Britain (1882) and the American Society for Psychical Research was founded in the United States (1885). Spiritualism was so widespread and the reports of its effects so numerous and impressive that it was inevitable that scientists would be attracted to the alleged phenomena. Early psychical researchers concerned themselves with studying mediums and spiritualist claims. In the early 1900s, a dissatisfaction with the results of the research and political disagreements within psychic research organizations led to a new approach and a new term for the study of psychic phenomena: parapsychology.

Parapsychology began using the experimental approach to psychic phenomena in the 1930s under the direction of J. B. Rhine (1895 – 1980). Rhine popularized the now famous methodology of using card-guessing and dice-rolling experiments in the laboratory in an attempt to find a statistical validation of extra-sensory perception.

In 1957, the Parapsychological Association was formed as the preeminent society for parapsychologists. In 1969, they became affiliated with the American Association for the Advancement of Science. That affiliation, along with a general openness to psychic and occult phenomena in the 1970s, led to a decade of increased parapsychological research. During this time, other notable organizations were also formed, including the Academy of Parapsychology and Medicine (1970), the Institute of Parascience (1971), the Academy of Religion and Psychical Research, the Institute of Noetic Sciences (1973), and the International Kirlian Research Association (1975). Each of these groups performed experiments on paranormal subjects to varying degrees. Parapsychological work was also conducted at the Stanford Research Institute during this time, research which continued till February 2007.

The methodology and results of parapsychological work are often disputed. However, a consensus within the field of parapsychology is that certain types of psychic phenomena such as psychokinesis, telepathy, and precognition are well established experimentally. Critics such as Ray Hyman argue that the evidence for psi (psychic phenomena) needs further replication and theoretical work before it is accepted. However, the existence of psychics and the validity of parapsychological experiments is heavily disputed by skeptics.

Skepticism

The possibility that psychic phenomena are real is often met with skepticism, both in science and the general public. Skeptics say that the evidence presented for its existence is unverified or not sufficiently verified for scientific acceptance. Many parapsychologists who study psychic phenomena agree with skeptics that many of the instances of more popular psychic phenomena such as mediumism, can be attributed to non-paranormal techniques such as cold reading. Magicians such as Ian Rowland and Derren Brown have demonstrated techniques and results similar to those of popular psychics, but they proffer psychological explanations instead of paranormal ones. They have identified, described and developed complex psychological techniques of cold reading and hot reading.

Noted debunker of psychic fraud James Randi has offered a $1 million prize to anyone who can demonstrate their psychic powers under controlled circumstances agreed upon by both parties. So far, no one has passed the preliminary testing procedures.

Popular culture

Belief in psychic abilities is common. For example, one 2006 poll by researchers Bryan Farha of Oklahoma City University and Gary Steward of University of Central Oklahoma, showed that college seniors and graduate students have more paranormal beliefs than college freshmen.

Some people also believe that psychic abilities can be activated or enhanced through the study and practice of various disciplines and techniques such as meditation, with a number of books and websites being dedicated to instruction in these methods (see Psionics article for details).

There are also a number of individuals who have been proclaimed or proclaimed themselves to be psychics and/or mediums. Some of them make a living as professional fortune tellers. Some either host their own TV programs, such as John Edward or are featured on the shows of others, such as Sylvia Browne (see Paranormal television). Some have made predictions of future events, or published books of predictions or metaphysical ideas based on psychic themes.

See here for more such individuals.

Fiction

Psychic characters are common in fiction as well. For example, The Dead Zone by Stephen King (and the film and TV series based on it) are about a psychic named Johnny Smith whose abilities are awakened after a car accident.

See also

• Parapsychology
• Clairvoyance
• Psychometry
• Cold reading
• Psychic detective
• Remote viewing
• Scrying
• Psychokinesis
• Precognition
• Telepathy
• Psionics
• Hylics
• Mediumship

External links

• The Society for Psychical Research — Founded in 1882 to examine paranormal phenomena scientifically
• James Randi Educational Foundation — An Educational Resource on skepticism of the Paranormal, Pseudo-scientific, and the Supernatural
• Alternative Science - Criticisms of James Randi's $1 million challenge
• Skeptic's Dictionary — Entry in the "Skeptic dictionary" for the term 'Psychic'
• A parapsychology organization