Educating Parapsychologists

ABSTRACT: This paper considers a number of issues relating 2 education in parapsychology. He suggests that the scarcity of active researchers in parapsychology is due (a) the current lack of reliability & applicability of the results of parapsychological research & (b) how parapsychological research is perceived by the "; mainstream; scientists. A brief overview of some of the educational opportunities in parapsychology currently available is presented. Suggestions for future developments in the training of researchers in parapsychology are made on the current situation in the UK and the role of the Koestler chair of parapsychology at the University of Edinburgh. It is argued that parapsychology is likely 2 grow by greater integration into larger disciplines (including psychology) and exploiting connections with other sub-disciplines (such as studies of consciousness and transpersonal psychology )

A central interest in any discipline or at least should be, the training of future researchers. Because the future of a discipline depends on the size of future generations of individuals who decide to devote their time of his study. A discipline ', the s future success depends on it, what those individuals decide to study how they choose to study the importance of the results and how successful they have, these results are disseminated. In an area such as parapsychology, the issue of training is particularly acute. This is because relatively few active researchers and even some educational opportunities. Coll the American Psychological Association - probably the largest body of professional psychology - claims at 155,000 members. Meanwhile, the connection can parapsychological below 250 members) just say (including auxiliary students. While we can assume that a significant proportion of this number currently or to have actively participated in research to be relatively few in training involved in parapsychology. Since there seems to be a few individuals that educates the Parapsychologists if you are included, there are few opportunities for potential researchers received valuable advice and experience they need to devote a significant amount of parapsychological research time. If parapsychology is to flourish as a discipline is an issue that needs to be addressed. In this paper some issues that are surrounding the training of Parapsychologists considered. First, I explore the question of why there are so few Parapsychologists, and consequently so few educational opportunities. After that I present a brief overview of some of the current educational opportunities that are available for aspiring researchers. In conclusion, I will try to make some proposals on the prospects for future developments in the training of researchers in parapsychology. WHY ARE THERE Parapsychologists so few? One could argue that parapsychology has potential implications for many other fields such as philosophy, psychology and religion. When were the case, why are not there more people looking for an area? The study of parapsychological phenomena may be light on the philosophy of science, philosophy of mind, the nature of consciousness and spilling into a more practical level, our relationship to the environment in which we live. They seem to be any significant contributions to the study of humanity, could apply to any selbstrespektierende graduated from high school or university as worthy of devoting some time. However, the number of full-time researchers in the field is probably less than the number of people that are used in a typical McDonald '; simple; Restaurant p. I thought that the prospect of bringing the important potential contributions to the world in which we are the bait to countless students Parapsychology live (and from employment with McDonald ', s) can fill up their desire real difference in the world (compared with burgers and fried food to the people who are pressed). However, in practice it does not seem to edit it. In practice, while there are plenty of opportunities for many graduate-take fast track to management with Ronald McDonald are-the opportunities for aspiring researchers of paranormal close to zero. Consequently, the need to seek an answer to the question of why there are so few Parapsychologists, we address the question of why there are so few opportunities for potential researchers. Probably the main reason for the lack of simple poles used for research in parapsychology from the nature of mental phenomena themselves, it is only too well aware that the results of parapsychological research lack the level of reproducibility, which they would be adopted by a majority of scientists will leave. Although the level of reproducibility, which until now by using the meta-analysis has been demonstrated, could be enough to convince substantial number of people who regularly read the paper, this level of reliability or falling further short of the level at which many scientists agree that a true difference has been demonstrated and that we should devote our precious resources, trying to explain them and to understand