We were recently watching the Paul Merton in India series on the tele and my ten year old son was amazed by what he didn't know about India. And more than a little disturbed as he watched with a new set of eyes, the land where a majority survive not on bread and water, but on belief alone. It made us a little sad really. I am a skeptic at heart, and feel that truth above all else must prevail. And though only ten, and unable to articulate why he felt so uncomfortable with the complex ritualism that seems to define a large part of India (and even the tech-savvy part of India), he does know that something's not quite right.
Is it sheer coincidence then (please let it be!), that The Guardian weekly science podcasts invited guest Prof Chris French - coordinator of the anomalistic psychology research unit at Goldsmiths, University of London - to share his ideas and the work being done on the subject of Anomalistic Psychology. You can listen to the Guardian podcast here. You can also get access to the audio and video presentations of the anomalistic psychology research unit at Goldsmiths here.
Anomalistic psychology seeks to provide non-paranormal explanations for a whole range of para-normal experiences. And to teach critical thinking. And to help people understand the nature of evidence and assess the worth of evidence, and why they should believe more in certain forms of evidence than in others. In other words, it seeks to teach people to adopt a scientific, skeptical approach to life and phenomena.
In a country where poverty, hunger and homelessness abound, there is no doubt that paranormal beliefs can play a positive role - that of a shock absorber that makes it possible to face each day of hardship. It's often a case of Believe or Go Mad with Frustration or Die from Despair. But where belief and blind faith take away from people their faith in themselves and their own power of decision making, it can do no good. Where belief is used to make puppets of people and disempower them and keep them from achieving their true potential, it can do no good.
Derren Brown, master conjurer and mindtrickster is also a promoter of skepticism and critical thinking. Read more about his views here.
I fear that change may be a long time coming in India. But please let it begin here and now. Surely there is more to science education and IT advances than merely a foothold to the world of material advancement? Surely above all else, it is about building questioning minds and evidence based thinking?
