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So how do you define “paranormal”?
Well, open a dictionary and you’ll probably find it defined as something that
cannot be scientifically explained. But I think defining it that way would
include supernatural phenomena, if there is such a thing.
I feel more comfortable thinking of the paranormal as phenomena that is
seemingly inexplicable in scientific terms, while supernatural would definitely
be something defying the laws of nature.
The paranormal includes a wide array of phenomena, like telepathy, psychokinesis, retropsychokinesis,
precognition, clairvoyance, clairaudience, levitation, teleportation,
materializations, automatic writing, dermal optical perception, ghosts, mediums, etc.
Already you are thinking, “Mmmm...
crackpot…”
Not so fast, I say. I told you I’m the skeptical type, but I also told you I’m open-minded.
Did you know dental fillings can capture radio waves and iron particles in the
human body, for example in some bones, may do likewise?
I knew firsthand someone who could actually hear some radio stations
"in her head" and her
husband used to laugh at her. It is not as uncommon as you might think.
Reconfiguring the shape of the fillings usually solves this problem.
There is an awful lot of electrical activity in the brain, and the brain itself
may contain microscopic iron particles, making human beings natural receivers of
electromagnetic waves.
So then… who is to say that it is not possible for some people to receive and
interpret the waves emanating from other brains? Voila! Telepathy!
The paranormal has a somewhat odd flavor to it because there are a lot of
crackpots who claim to have parapsychological powers or claim to have had
certain paranormal experiences, but they just want to take advantage of the
naïve.
I am extremely skeptical of any paranormal claims, but I just can’t dismiss
these things summarily. Some of them might, after all, have scientific
explanations.
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