Yes the "why" is tough in this case - perhaps a desire for fame or money? I did notice that his justification (in the video) was that it "often" happened that discoveries fell outside of science to later became validated by science. My comments: yes paranormal beliefs make it into the mainstream all the time!
When we watch the "Prisoners of Silence" about facilitated communication we discuss the "why" at length since the harm here is significant and it is hard to understand why these ideas continue to be promoted by people who should know better (like educated people at a major university). My students' last project is a series of pod casts (to be broadcast on our local radio station) in which they discuss why people believe weird things (that is, what are some of all the reasons why people believe pseudoscientific BS) and the costs of believing weird things (my students tend to think that it is mostly harmless or irrelevant, like horoscopes). Marie **************************************************** Marie Helweg-Larsen, Ph.D. Department Chair and Associate Professor of Psychology Kaufman 168, Dickinson College Carlisle, PA 17013 Office: (717) 245-1562, Fax: (717) 245-1971 Office Hours: Tues and Thur 9:30-10:30, Wed 10:30-11:45 http://alpha.dickinson.edu/departments/psych/helwegm **************************************************** -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, October 01, 2008 2:04 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: RE: [tips] Colin Ross and his amazing psychic eye beam On 1 Oct 2008 at 10:01, Helweg-Larsen, Marie wrote: > Great post Stephen -- thanks. I'll use it in my first year seminar > class "Why people believe weird things". Hi Marie: Thank you. It sounds like the perfect place for it. But that "why" question is a tough one. Especially explaining how an science-educated individual like Dr. Ross (who has published in the American Journal of Psychiatry) can believe such stuff. And unlike this harmless nonsense of his about a psychic eye beam, his influential promotion of the dangerous nonsense of MPD/DID and repressed memory therapy has caused much grief. Stephen ----------------------------------------------------------------- Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology, Emeritus Bishop's University e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 2600 College St. Sherbrooke QC J1M 1Z7 Canada Subscribe to discussion list (TIPS) for the teaching of psychology at http://flightline.highline.edu/sfrantz/tips/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
