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| What is CSICOP? | |
| CSICOP stands for "the Commitee for the
Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal." CSICOP is a highly
skeptical group composed of scientists, magicians and writers who have
organized themselves ostensibly for the purpose of objectively
investigating unusual claims. Unfortunately, the track record of CSICOP
indicates that the members of the Committee are more interested in
debunking than in objective, unbiased investigation. According to their website, CSICOP's mission statement is: CSICOP encourages the critical investigation of paranormal and fringe-science claims from a responsible, scientific point of view and disseminates factual information about the results of such inquiries to the scientific community and the public. If CSICOP were simply a skeptical group, this would be useful and productive to those trying to investigate parapsychological topics. Indeed, we should all be skeptical. We should weigh all the evidence carefully and accept a conclusion only after a valid case has been made for that conclusion. However, a true skeptic does not deny evidence that is solid. Or attempt to make it impossible for others to investigate an issue in an unbiased manner. These are the characteristics of the debunker, and, unfortunately, seem to represent the mainstream views of CSICOP. As described elsewhere, parapsychology is NOT the study of UFOs, Bigfoot, the Bermuda Triangle, fairies, etc. Members of CSICOP like to redefine parapsychology to include all these other topics. Thus, it is not unusual to hear them cluster ESP with UFOs and Bigfoot. Whether you believe in extraterrestrials or cryptozoological creatures, this has no bearing whatsoever on the possible reality of ESP. It does, however, make the listener of such criticism think that ESP must be "crazy" and unscientific. CSICOP has done two major disservices to parapsychology in particular and to the pursuit of knowledge in general. First, it lumps together anything unusual under the term "paranormal" and fails to distinguish the different strengths of evidence for very different phenomena. Thus, parapsychology is not distinguished from UFOs, witches, astrology, organic gardening and other quite different phenomena. All are lumped together for common criticism and denial. Second, the reporting of CSICOP is incomplete, biased, and misleading. CSICOP itself stresses information which is favorable to its cause and ignores information that is unfavorable. For example, it might report that Magician X was able to perform a certain "paranormal" feat, and then concludes that since the feat was simulated by means of "magic," or sleight of hand, then the original phenomenon (as perhaps studied in a laboratory under controlled conditions) must also have been produced by trickery. What CSICOP does not mention is that the conditions under which the two demonstrations were made differed greatly. It ignores the fact that in one case, for example, the props were supplied by the magician or were switched through misdirection and sleight of hand. While in the other case, the props were supplied by the investigator who conducted the study, and the test conditions were designed to eliminate tampering or other forms of trickery. Apparently, one of the clief concerns of CSICOP is that the public may abandon its faith in logic and science in favor of what they call a "new irrationality." What CSICOP fails to recognize is that a certain kind of rationalism and a certain kind of science is only one of a number of ways of knowing, of learing about the universe. CSICOP fails to recognize that at some point in the history of science, many of today's truths were considered heresies by yesterday's counterparts of CSICOP. It also fails to recognize that a number of "irrational beliefs" are being embraced because of growing disenchantment with the materialistic and deterministic doctrines of science. But this materialism and determinism belongs to the science of the 18th and 19th centuries. We are learning that contemporary science is dealing more and more with concepts that are not as inconsistent with paranormal phenomena as we might at first believe. If CSICOP is to be respected by laymen and scientists alike, it will have to change its current methods of operation and begin to function in a manner consistent with its professional aims. |
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| See also A Critical Examination of the Blackmore Psi Experiments | |
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Explore more psi phenomena with the Psi Explorer CD-ROM |
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