The Paranormal (Where is it now?)

by George Jelliss , Crewe, Friday, January 16, 2009, 11:57 (5573 days ago) @ dhw

DHW: << George writes, of eyewitness accounts: &quot;Independent evidence is needed before the conclusion can be called &quot;scientific&quot;. - I have two problems with this statement. &#13;&#10; &#13;&#10;Firstly, what constitutes &quot;independent evidence&quot;? If BBella and her family, David, his wife and his medical colleagues have personal knowledge of information obtained in a manner they can&apos;t explain, I will not insult them by questioning their intelligence or their integrity. I will join them in looking for an explanation. >> - I am not insulting anyone or questioning anyone&apos;s integrity. It was DHW that introduced the &quot;scientific&quot; claim. He wrote: << If three eyewitnesses identify X as the bank robber, I doubt if even the Counsel for Defence will object that they can&apos;t prove scientifically that X was there. >> - I&apos;m afraid more evidence is indeed needed for a scientific conclusion to be reached. For instance evidence of the wherabouts of the accused at the time of the robbery, evidence of the disposal of the goods, etc, etc, etc. Eyewitness testimony alone is notoriously unreliable. - DHW: << Secondly, I couldn&apos;t care less whether you call the conclusion &quot;scientific&quot; or not. I only want to know whether it&apos;s true. >> - It was you that called the conclusion &quot;scientific&quot; not me. I was just responding. It seems you want to know whether something is true, but are not bothered about the standards of proof. You will settle for three eye-witness statements, I require more stringent evidence. - DHW: << If we limit the field to NDEs and OBEs, my first conclusion is that there is plenty of evidence to confirm that they happen, >> - I agree with this, as I&apos;ve already stated. - DHW: << and that during NDEs and OBEs, information has been obtained that could not have been known beforehand. >> - I don&apos;t agree with this. It looks as though I will have to search out the link to David Turell&apos;s book and read it and comment directly on what he claims there. This may take some time.

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GPJ