Re: Attempt to put Paranormal discussion in context

From: Kaj Sotala (xuenay@sci.fi)
Date: Mon Jan 02 2006 - 14:06:23 MST


> Anyone want to comment on "The sense of being stared at" By Rupert
> Sheldrake? For a quick overview and his response to critics from the
> Skeptical Inquirer check out:
> http://www.sheldrake.org/papers/Staring/followup_full.html. Sheldrake
> claims that he's designed a replicable experiment showing approximately
> 60% of the time people can tell (when following the protocol) that they
> are being stared at.

I believe the Skeptic column in the latest (or maybe the one before
that) Scientific American addressed this. The columnist, when he
performed that experiment himself, got results no better than chance.

Also, it was mentioned that a sense of being stared at tends to be
self-fulfilling propechy: you have a feeling of being stared at, turn to
look, and a nearby person catches the movement from the corner of their
eye and turns to look at you - making you think he was staring at you
all along.

That was the main gist of the column, I believe - I don't have the
magazine with me right now so I can't check.



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