God Helmet - Failed Replication Debacle

This is a link to a possibly

I've never even heard of this thing so I guess I should look into it

Persinger's helmet produced (from memory) sensed presences in some people and a feeling of there being somebody with them close by and other vague  sensations, some loosely associated with NDE's.

If you put a contraption on someone's head (leaving aside the effects of magnets) which is believed to induce "mystical" experiences, it's not really surprising that some people report something, is it.

As far as I know the experiment was never performed blind but even if it was; people who have near death experiences don't have Persingers helmet on their head and are not being exposed to electro magnetic stimulation.

We've been through this before many times in the past. Michael Persinger RIP died a few years ago and now cannot be seen mowing his front lawn in his three piece suit (which is a shame), near to the university where he lectured.

[Laird]

now cannot be seen mowing his front lawn in his three piece suit

Haha, is this a made-up dig for fun, tim, or something that really happened? ("Wouldn't you like to know?" is an appropriate response, btw).

[Laird]

Re the subject of this thread, I am glad that Max has challenged the purportedly failed replication, because the basis on which it was used to dismiss the original experiment in the article nbtruthman originally shared seemed to me to be too akin to the basis on which "skeptics" dismiss parapsychology experiments due to failed replications, and I wouldn't want us to encourage the sort of double-standards by which we object to "skeptic" dismissals yet put forth our own on the same (or similar) grounds.

Haha, is this a made-up dig for fun, tim, or something that really happened? ("Wouldn't you like to know?" is an appropriate response, btw).

No, it's not made up, Laird. He did indeed used to mow his lawn in his three piece suit (including waistcoat) whatever the weather.
There's a video on line somewhere but we discussed this years ago on Skeptiko.

I know I should stick up links (apologies) but I just can't be bothered going over this stuff yet again. If anyone wants to accredit the helmet to debunking NDE's then I say  feel free.

[Laird]

No, it's not made up, Laird. He did indeed used to mow his lawn in his three piece suit (including waistcoat) whatever the weather.
There's a video on line somewhere but we discussed this years ago on Skeptiko.

Ha. What a character. It's kind of taking the idea of "Put your best foot forward in public" to an extreme, isn't it?

I know I should stick up links (apologies) but I just can't be bothered going over this stuff yet again. If anyone wants to accredit the helmet to debunking NDE's then I say  feel free.

Oh, I don't think that the helmet debunks NDEs, even if the original experiment had exactly the effects claimed. I just think we have to be very careful about any grounds we think we have for denying those claimed effects.

Michael Persinger was ramrod slim, taut, with a puckish expression. He wore a dark blue three-piece suit, with a
gold watch and chain tucked into his vest. I liked him immediately.

“I heard a rumor,” I said,“that you wear a three-piece suit when you mow the lawn.”

“True!” he admitted, seeming pleased that this eccentricity had made its way back to the States.

“Interesting. May I ask why?”

“For comfort. Three-piece suits are so versatile. I take off the jacket when it’s hot, and put it on when I’m cold.”

“How long have you been doing this?”

“Since I was in high school at least.”

Back in Michael Persinger’s chamber, I found myself once again expected to manufacture a spiritual experience. I willed myself to stop thinking and simply relax. As the minutes ticked by, a few images penetrated the darkness—a flash of a park near my house, the brief glimpse of a face. The most profound moment came as I tottered on the edge of sleep.

“I am utterly relaxed,” I said in a thick, gravelly voice.“I feel as if I’m dissolving into the chair. It’s not that I don’t have boundaries, but the boundaries include the chair.” Pause. “I’m communing with a chair.” Pause. “Great.”
For the remainder of the session, I felt blackness cresting over itself like roiling waves. I briefly saw a woman’s
face, but even in that suggestible moment, I knew these were creations of an imagination trying too hard, and
certainly not the presence of a Sentient Being. Mercifully, the session ended a few moments later.

My answers on Persinger’s follow-up questionnaire reflected my desultory performance. On only one question
—“I felt relaxed”—did I give an enthusiastic response. I had also (erroneously, I came to believe) checked the
item:“I felt I left my body,” thinking about the union with the chair.

Dr. Persinger seized on that answer. I tried to explain that it was more relaxation, not an out-of-body experience,
but he persisted.
“But you did feel something like this,” he insisted, and in that instant I realized how he came by his remarkable results.

“Yes,” I said, “but no Sensed Presence.”
“Well, according to your EEGs, you were right on the verge of feeling a Sensed Presence,” he assured me. The
machine was showing very fast spiking behavior in my brain waves about three minutes before the session ended.
“If we had continued, it would have hit you”—he flicked his fingers in front of his face, as if releasing a ball of a energy..it would have hit you powerfully

https://kingauthor.co/books/Barbara%20Br...agerty.pdf

Ha. What a character. It's kind of taking the idea of "Put your best foot forward in public" to an extreme, isn't it? 


Oh, I don't think that the helmet debunks NDEs, even if the original experiment had exactly the effects claimed. I just think we have to be very careful about any grounds we think we have for denying those claimed effects.

Who's denying the effects. Not me, Laird. It does produce some vague effects. Claimed effects are different, are they not ? Find me someone who has donned the helmet and has claimed to have a near death experience. I'm pretty certain there wasn't such a success.

[Laird]

https://kingauthor.co/books/Barbara%20Br...agerty.pdf

Reading it. Comments so far:

I got a good laugh out of this: "It was stunningly low-budget. I half expected him to hand me a bong."

Who's denying the effects. Not me, Laird.

Not you: the guy who wrote the article to which nbtruthman linked in another thread. He denied them on the basis of a supposedly failed replication.

It does produce some vague effects. Claimed effects are different, are they not ? Find me someone who has donned the helmet and has claimed to have a near death experience. I'm pretty certain there wasn't such a success.

Right, I'm not aware of anything from the experiment remotely in the class of an actual full-blown NDE, especially a veridical NDE.