Festival attacked over paranormal 'nonsense'
Pastor Dale Morgan
Festival attacked over paranormal 'nonsense'*
Reports by Roger Highfield and Nic Fleming
(Filed: 06/09/2006)
The British Association was attacked yesterday for giving credence to
heretical ideas such as telepathy, out of body experiences and life
after death at the largest science festival in Europe.
Over its 175 years the association has witnessed many milestones in
science and technology: Isambard Kingdom Brunel argued the case for
transatlantic steamships, Thomas Henry Huxley championed the cause of
Darwinian evolution against Bishop "Soapy Sam" Wilberforce and dinosaurs
were named by Sir Richard Owen.
But yesterday, at the University of East Anglia, the association fielded
a panel of three speakers in a discussion of ideas about the paranormal,
prompting a storm of criticism.
Anecdotal evidence from two hospices raised questions "about the
continuation of consciousness after death" said Dr Peter Fenwick of the
Science and Medical Network, which explores "the interface of science,
medicine and spirituality".
Dr Fenwick bases his "new model of dying" on reports of death bed
visions, such as visitations by deceased relatives, and spooky
coincidences, such as clocks stopping when someone dies.
Dr Rupert Sheldrake, funded by a scholarship to investigate unexplained
phenomena, presented the results of tests, published "in peer-reviewed
journals," and replicated by the Nolan sisters — "a 1980s girl band" —
in which subjects who thought they might be telepathic were contacted by
four "senders" many miles away.
He said: "Subjects were able to guess who was calling or e-mailing them
before they picked up the receiver or received the e-mail with average
hit rates of more than 40 per cent, significantly above the chance level
of 25 per cent, suggesting that telepathy was indeed involved."
Prof Deborah Delanoy, of Northampton University, said: "People seem to
be able to respond at a psychophysiological level, a physical biological
level, to remote thoughts and intentions that another is directing
towards them."
Lord Winston, a former association president, said: "I know of no
serious properly done studies which make me feel that this is anything
other than nonsense."
He said the arguments should be "robustly challenged" and the panel
properly balanced.
Prof Peter Atkins, of Oxford University, said: "Work in this field is a
complete waste of time. Although it is politically incorrect to dismiss
ideas out of hand, in this case there is absolutely no reason to suppose
that telepathy is anything more than a charlatan's fantasy."
He said it was "extraordinary that the BA should consider them worth a
platform".
Prof Richard Wiseman, a psychologist from Hertfordshire University,
said: "It is the principle that is important. If the issue was race and
intelligence, and you had three people saying one race are less
intelligent than another, that would be outrageous. If there is not a
consensus within science then any panel like this should be balanced.
"It would be interesting to see what happens if Sheldrake tries to
re-run the experiment in collaboration with a more sceptical researcher."
A Royal Society spokesman said: "The Scientific and Medical Network,
which is organising this session, lies far from the scientific
mainstream and the list of speakers reflects this. Modern science is
based on a rigorous evidence-based process involving experiment and
observation. The results and interpretations should always be exposed to
robust peer review."
Prof Helen Haste, a festival organiser, said there would be one sceptic
to debate the issues with the three speakers at an event last night.
Telepathy and ESP were legitimate areas of research. "We feel in the
British Association that we should be open to discussions on debates
which are seen as valid generally."
She said yesterday's reports tried to conform to "acceptable scientific
method".