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NJCher

(37,763 posts)
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 12:02 AM Jul 2012

Accomplished Scientists Who Were Open to the Occult

This is an intriguing blog post at Scientific American. The writer discusses the many scientists who have held an open mind to what is often called the paranormal, but which many maintain is just the normal that we don't understand (yet).

snip

(Referring to Alan Turing, the computer scientist) The pioneering computer theorist was a believer in telepathy, or mind-reading. (Turing was apparently impressed by the card-guessing experiments of J.B. Rhine.) Then, last weekend, I learned that a prominent scientist whom I once interviewed had had a vivid vision of the violent death of his child shortly before it happened, an example of clairvoyance. Serious scientists aren’t supposed to believe in paranormal phenomena, sometimes called “psi,” and yet some serious scientists do. I thought it would be fun to list a few, starting with ones who, like Turing, have passed into the great beyond.

...

Two accomplished living physicists who believe in extrasensory perception are Freeman Dyson and Brian Josephson. As I mentioned in a post last year, Dyson has written that “paranormal phenomena are real but lie outside the limits of science.”

snip

And then, ofr course, he discusses the scientists we all know about, such as Freud, Jung, and William James.

See more at Scientific American.


Cher

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Accomplished Scientists Who Were Open to the Occult (Original Post) NJCher Jul 2012 OP
No mention of Sir Isaac Newton. Downwinder Jul 2012 #1
"Occult" and paranormal are in my mind two different things. Quantum physics is in its infancy, or mother earth Jul 2012 #2
William Tiller is not mentioned BanzaiBonnie Jul 2012 #3
The hermetic temple I'm involved in Matariki Jul 2012 #4

mother earth

(6,002 posts)
2. "Occult" and paranormal are in my mind two different things. Quantum physics is in its infancy, or
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 09:42 AM
Jul 2012

at least our understanding of it is.

BanzaiBonnie

(3,621 posts)
3. William Tiller is not mentioned
Wed Jul 25, 2012, 05:27 PM
Jul 2012

And he is conducting scientific experiments into what is behind our reality.

Matariki

(18,775 posts)
4. The hermetic temple I'm involved in
Fri Jul 27, 2012, 04:10 PM
Jul 2012

Our members include a couple physicists, a biologist, an environmental lawyer, quite a few software developers, writers and artists. A bunch of smart and grounded people who I'm happy and proud to work with. The idea that science and occult studies are antithetical is usually only espoused by people who don't understand either.

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