A conventional explanation for the sense of being stared at? Or not.

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(2024-05-14, 09:40 PM)sbu Wrote: No, the odds are not close at all. Achieving a 53% success rate under the null hypothesis, given such a large number of trials, is highly improbable.

I'm not sure if Bem has conceded entirely—probably not. A study's failure to replicate an effect does not definitively prove that the effect doesn't exist.

Given the replication crisis across various disciplines, I approach old studies demonstrating small effect sizes, such as those exemplified by the Bem study's reported 53%, with considerable skepticism, particularly if they didn't adhere to modern standards like preregistration. This skepticism extends to studies by researchers like Sheldrake; at the very least, it's time for a redo. My skepticism isn't specific to psi research; even fMRI studies, among others, face similar scrutiny. It appears that researchers in the fMRI field are also acknowledging these challenges.(https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2020/0...ity-crisis)

I still disagree about the odds, since I'd want to know if people running the trials were pseudoskeptics or genuinely looking the truth. Also very curious as to Bem's final word - did he feel that the replications were fair or a hit job done by those who'd prefer parapsychology to be completely discredited based on their materialist faith.

That said, if we're also including studies used by the materialist faith in the critique I would agree that Sheldrake should seek to properly replicate his results as a matter of fairness.
'Historically, we may regard materialism as a system of dogma set up to combat orthodox dogma...Accordingly we find that, as ancient orthodoxies disintegrate, materialism more and more gives way to scepticism.'

- Bertrand Russell



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RE: A conventional explanation for the sense of being stared at? Or not. - by Sciborg_S_Patel - 2024-05-14, 10:11 PM

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