Why is parapsychology studied?

Answer 1

Parapsychology is studied for many reasons, two stand out: understanding the relationship between brain and mind, and studying apparently anomalous phenomena. The study of consciousness opens our understanding to the deeper workings of the mind and the possible brain/mind relationship. Far from being a product of the brain, it now appears that mind (and consciousness) is very real and yet, confusingly enough, non-physical. Recent research in neuroimaging suggests that much of what we know of the brain/mind relationship is in its early stages. And there is much to be learned. This branch of science is related to the consciousness intetrests of parapsychology. Hence, in a real way, parapsychology is a leading edge science. Parapsychologists traditionally study three fundamental phenomena, at least two of which are related to consciousness research: the first is the study of General Extrasensory Perception or GESP, comprised of thought-transference (telepathy) and the ability to sense events and items where there is no normal way of doing so. The latter is known as clairvoyance when visual items are presented, clairaudience when the perception is auditory, and clairsentience when the item or event is presented as knowledge only. Parapsychology also studies more quantitative events in the form of psychokinesis (PK). This involves the movement of and changes to the form of objects without any apparent physical explanation. This phenomena is sometimes called the 'poltergeist' phenomenon. Unlike the subjective and qualitative experiments in GESP, PK studies are more quantitative in that motion studies are possible. In the end, studies in parapsychology are actually studies in ourselves and the universe that surrounds us. Scientific methods and processes are used to understand and predict the nature of the world around us. Reports on laboratory studies and new models and theories are published in peer-reviewed journals as well as adjunct scientific journals.