SGUTranscripts - User contributions [en]

5X5 Episode 47

2013-02-20T15:25:58Z

Hecatommyriagon:

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You are listening to the Skeptics Guide 5x5, five minutes with five skeptics. With Steve, Jay, Rebecca, Bob and Evan.

S: This is SGU 5x5 and tonight we are talking about remote viewing. Remote viewing is a form of extra-sensory perception or ESP, that involves as the name implies -
imagining or seeing in your mind, an image that is remote from your current location. So you are not seeing it with your eyes, you’re seeing it with your mind. The term
itself was introduced, by two parapsychologists, Russell Targ and Harold Puthoff in 1974, who did some of the first research on remote viewing.

B: Also to be a little bit more specific, if a sender or beacon is used to send psychic images, then it's said to be telepathy. If no beacon is used, then, the term
clairvoyance is more generally used.

E: Except how does that work when, there are claims of being able to see things such as mountains on far away planets, and other unverifiable facts by any other, by any
other means.

S: Well the entire phenomenon of remote viewing has not been verified. So if we talk about it from the point of view of plausibility - how could it possibly work? Well
certainly it lies far, far, far outside the realm of physics and neuroscience etc. There is no, process or property of the brain that could account for it, there is no
energy or phenomenon in physics that can account for this phenomenon either. So that gives it an extremely implausible position to be starting from.

E: There is trickery and fakery though. Which many people over the course of (*laughs*) history conducting these tests both subjects and researchers, have been found on
many occasions to be cheating.

S: Yeah, certainly magicians can produce the effect of seeming to do remote viewing, and in fact some of Targ and Puthoff's original research was criticized as them just
being fooled, by trickery.

?: Would dousing be considered a form of remote viewing?

S: No. Dousing is a form of ESP, but that's more divination. Divination is getting information, by using some kind of a yes/no-system. Whereas remote viewing is getting an
image or picture.

B: The US government actually popularized remote viewing with the Stargate project, which where active in the 1970s all the way up through 1995. And the psychic research
was done at Stanford University and the American Society for Psychical Research.

S: So what was that? About 20 years or so of research, and about 20 million dollars - the government concluded that remote viewing was worthless. That they, you could not
use it in order to spy, you know remotely, on your enemies. Could not use it to transfer information in any, you know any, useful information - even three letters or
anything. So essentially, abandoned as worthless after about 20 million of tax-payers money was spent. Has also been a lot of, civilian research in the area - ah, and even
some overlap of course. The most famous research into remote viewing was the so called Ganzfeld experiments. Ah. That was a - ahm, Ganzfeld is a procedure where you have
somebody in a somewhat of a sensory deprivation situation and they have to choose among four images that the sender is sending to them. And proponents or believers, like
Dean Rayden for example, claimed that they have been able to obtain, greater than chance results, with the Ganzfeld set-up, however - ah, ahm, careful review of data and
the procedures that are being used in the specific labs, as the controls are tightened satisfactorily the, the effect size disappears, it shrinks until it disappears
entirely. And once you get to, a lab doing really, very, very tight protocols - where there is no leaking for example of information, and the randomization process is
proper etc. Following the so called Hyman and Honorton criteria for a tight study - then the effects really are just within chance. And there's - they haven't been able to
replicate the Ganzfeld experiment to produce an actual effect. And, no - you know, no researchers have been able to produce a consistent, replicable effect, so - remote
viewing is left as being highly implausible and - not validated by any specific research protocol, that can consistently or in any replicated fashion, produce positive
results. So, I think Occam's Razor, dictates in this case, that the phenomenon of remote viewing simply does not exist.

B: Like much of the paranormal, not only is the experimental evidence lacking, the plausibility factor by itself is a complete deal breaker for me. There is no evidence
that the brain is a receiver of information, in the way that remote viewing would've require. The energy that could carry such information has never been detected and
would be detectable. If a brain could detect it, then so could our instrumentation.

S: And if you even just, ask questions like what happens with this, if, if, there is an alleged signal that cannot be detected by equipment. Can it be blocked by,
shielding? Can it be - will it diminish with distance? And any way you try to test it, to try to see what characteristics it has, it turns out not to have any
characteristics. It doesn't, it can't be blocked by anything, it does not diminish with distance. Again, Occam's Razor - dictates that that's consistent with there being
no effect there. There is no signal.

*outro

S: SGU 5x5 is a companion podcast to The Skeptics Guide to the Universe - a weekly science podcast brought to you by the New England Skeptical Society, in association with
Skepchick.org. For more information on this and other episodes, visit our website: www.theskepticsguide.org. Music is provided by Jake Wilson.

Template:5X5 episode list

2013-02-20T08:49:59Z

Hecatommyriagon:

<noinclude>This template is used to display the list of 5X5 episodes on the [[Main Page]] and the [[5X5 Episodes]] page. Additions and amendments to this template will be reflected on those pages.

For help on how to add a new row, see [[Template:5X5 list entry]].
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!No.!!class="unsortable"|Date!!Status!!Contents!!Categories
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{{5X5 list entry
|status = verified
|episode = 113
|date = May 9 2012
|contents = What's the Harm?
|category1 = Myths & Misconceptions
|category2 = Logic & Philosophy
|category3 = Religion & Faith
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|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = verified
|episode = 112
|date = May 2 2012
|contents = Anecdotal Evidence
|category1 = Legal Issues & Regulations
|category2 = Myths & Misconceptions
|category3 = Neuroscience & Psychology
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = verified
|episode = 111
|date = Apr 25 2012
|contents = Facilitated Communication
|category1 = Pseudoscience
|category2 = Myths & Misconceptions
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = verified
|episode = 110
|date = Apr 11 2012
|contents = Naturalistic Fallacy
|category1 = Logic & Philosophy
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = verified
|episode = 109
|date = Apr 4 2012
|contents = Celebrity Pseudoscience
|category1 = Pseudoscience
|category2 = Entertainment
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = verified
|episode = 108
|date = Mar 28 2012
|contents = Cancer Cure
|category1 = Science & Medicine
|category2 = Conspiracy Theories
|category3 = Pseudoscience
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 107
|date = Mar 21 2012
|contents = Chilean UFO
|category1 = UFOs & Aliens
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 106
|date = Mar 19 2012
|contents = Availability Heuristic
|category1 = Logic & Philosophy
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 105
|date = Mar 7 2012
|contents = Representativeness Heuristic
|category1 = Logic & Philosophy
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = verified
|episode = 104
|date = Feb 22 2012
|contents = WiFi
|category1 = Myths & Misconceptions
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = verified
|episode = 103
|date = Feb 15 2012
|contents = Creationism
|category1 = Creationism & ID
|category2 = Science & Education
|category3 = Legal Issues & Regulations
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = verified
|episode = 102
|date = Feb 8 2012
|contents = Biofuels
|category1 = Technology
|category2 = General Science
|category3 =
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 101
|date = Jan 26 2011
|contents = Skepticism 101 - Slippery Slope/Post Hoc
|category1 = Logic & Philosophy
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 100
|date = Jan 13 2011
|contents = Testable
|category1 = General Science
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 99
|date = Jan 5 2011
|contents = Graphology
|category1 = History
|category2 = Pseudoscience
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 98
|date = Dec 30 2010
|contents = Harry Houdini
|category1 = History
|category2 = Paranormal
|category3 = Ghosts & Demons
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = verified
|episode = 97
|date = Dec 20 2010
|contents = Repressed Memories
|category1 = Neuroscience & Psychology
|category2 = Science & Medicine
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 96
|date = Nov 9 2010
|contents = Magnets
|category1 = General Science
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 95
|date = Sep 21 2010
|contents = Chelation
|category1 = Science & Medicine
|category2 = Alternative Medicine
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 94
|date = Sep 12 2010
|contents = Nostradamus
|category1 = Prophecy
|category2 = History
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 93
|date = Aug 13 2010
|contents = Chiropractic - Part 3
|category1 = Science & Medicine
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 92
|date = Jul 28 2010
|contents = Chiropractic - Part 2
|category1 = Science & Medicine
|category2 = History
|category3 = Legal Issues & Regulations
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 91
|date = Jul 13 2010
|contents = Chiropractic - Part 1
|category1 = Science & Medicine
|category2 = History
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 90
|date = Jun 29 2010
|contents = The Unification Church
|category1 = Religion & Faith
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = open
|episode = 89
|date = Jun 14 2010
|contents = Chemtrails
|category1 =
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = open
|episode = 88
|date = May 19 2010
|contents = PSI - Part 2
|category1 =
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = open
|episode = 87
|date = Mar 31 2010
|contents = PSI - The Ganzfeld Experiments
|category1 =
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = open
|episode = 86
|date = Feb 21 2010
|contents = Psi
|category1 =
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 85
|date = Feb 9 2010
|contents = Prediction
|category1 = Prophecy
|category2 = Pseudoscience
|category3 = Paranormal
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 84
|date = Jan 25 2010
|contents = Bermuda Triangle
|category1 = Paranormal
|category2 = Myths & Misconceptions
|category3 = UFOs & Aliens
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 83
|date = Dec 20 2009
|contents = Irreducible Complexity
|category1 = Creationism & ID
|category2 = Nature & Evolution
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = open
|episode = 82
|date = Dec 2 2009
|contents = Psychic Surgery
|category1 =
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = verified
|episode = 81
|date = Nov 18 2009
|contents = Naturopathy
|category1 = Alternative Medicine
|category2 = Science & Medicine
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 80
|date = Oct 28 2009
|contents = Polygraphs
|category1 = Technology
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = open
|episode = 79
|date = Oct 14 2009
|contents = The Lunar Effect
|category1 =
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = open
|episode = 78
|date = Sep 23 2009
|contents = Crop Circles
|category1 =
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = open
|episode = 77
|date = Sep 9 2009
|contents = The Double-Blind Protocol in Science
|category1 =
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = open
|episode = 76
|date = Aug 18 2009
|contents = The Argument from Design
|category1 =
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 75
|date = Aug 12 2009
|contents = The Coriolis Effect
|category1 = General Science
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = open
|episode = 74
|date = Aug 4 2009
|contents = Perpetual Motion Machines
|category1 =
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = open
|episode = 73
|date = Jul 22 2009
|contents = The Age of the Earth
|category1 =
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 72
|date = Jul 16 2009
|contents = Randi Million Dollar Psychic Challenge and Connie Sonne
|category1 = Pseudoscience
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = open
|episode = 71
|date = Jul 8 2009
|contents = The Roswell UFO Mythology
|category1 =
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = open
|episode = 70
|date = Jun 30 2009
|contents = New Element Discovered
|category1 =
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = open
|episode = 69
|date = Jun 5 2009
|contents = Einstein's Eclipse and General Relativity
|category1 =
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 68
|date = May 22 2009
|contents = Near Death Experiences
|category1 = Myths & Misconceptions
|category2 = Science & Medicine
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 67
|date = Apr 30 2009
|contents = Skepticism 101 - Special Pleading
|category1 = Logic & Philosophy
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = open
|episode = 66
|date = Apr 22 2009
|contents = Plausibility in Science
|category1 =
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 65
|date = Apr 16 2009
|contents = Skepticism 101 - Scientific Theory
|category1 = General Science
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = open
|episode = 64
|date = Apr 2 2009
|contents = The Clever Hans Effect
|category1 =
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = open
|episode = 63
|date = Mar 25 2009
|contents = Possession and Exorcism
|category1 =
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 62
|date = Mar 19 2009
|contents = Skepticism 101 - How to Argue
|category1 = Logic & Philosophy
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = open
|episode = 61
|date = Mar 13 2009
|contents = Friday 13th Superstition
|category1 =
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = open
|episode = 60
|date = Mar 5 2009
|contents = Cryptozoology
|category1 =
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = open
|episode = 59
|date = Feb 25 2009
|contents = Sprites and other atmospheric phenomena mistaken for UFOs
|category1 =
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = open
|episode = 58
|date = Feb 17 2009
|contents = The Self-Corrective Nature of Science
|category1 =
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = verified
|episode = 57
|date = Feb 10 2009
|contents = Skepticism 101 - Moving the Goalpost
|category1 = Logic & Philosophy
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 56
|date = Feb 4 2009
|contents = Probability
|category1 = General Science
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 55
|date = Jan 28 2009
|contents = Skepticism 101 - Poisoning the Well
|category1 = Logic & Philosophy
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 54
|date = Jan 21 2009
|contents = Skepticism 101 - False Dichotomy
|category1 = Logic & Philosophy
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 53
|status = verified
|date = Jan 13 2009
|contents = Anecdotal Evidence
|category1 = Myths & Misconceptions
|category2 = Logic & Philosophy
|category3 = General Science
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = verified
|episode = 52
|date = Jan 6 2009
|contents = Atlantis
|category1 = Myths & Misconceptions
|category2 = Logic & Philosophy
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = open
|episode = 51
|date = Dec 29 2008
|contents = Skepticism 101 - Channeling
|category1 =
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 50
|date = Dec 15 2008
|contents = Skepticism 101 - The Argument from Ignorance
|category1 = Logic & Philosophy
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 49
|date = Dec 8 2008
|contents = Skepticism 101 - Argument from Authority
|category1 = Logic & Philosophy
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 48
|date = Dec 1 2008
|contents = The 10% Brain Myth
|category1 = Myths & Misconceptions
|category2 = General Science
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = incomplete
|episode = 47
|date = Nov 24 2008
|contents = Remote Viewing
|category1 =
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 46
|date = Nov 18 2008
|contents = Skepticism 101 - Correlation and Causation
|category1 = General Science
|category2 = Logic & Philosophy
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = verified
|episode = 45
|date = Nov 11 2008
|contents = Chi and other forms of vitalism
|category1 = Energy Healing
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 44
|date = Nov 4 2008
|contents = Homonculus-based Medical Pseudoscience
|category1 = Alternative Medicine
|category2 = Pseudoscience
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 43
|date = Oct 29 2008
|contents = Holocaust Denial
|category1 = Myths & Misconceptions
|category2 = History

}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 42
|status = verified
|date = Oct 22 2008
|contents = Skepticism 101 - Confirmation Bias
|category1 = Neuroscience & Psychology
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 41
|status = verified
|date = Oct 15 2008
|contents = Skepticism 101 - Logical Fallacies: Straw Man Argument
|category1 = Logic & Philosophy
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 40
|date = Oct 8 2008
|contents = Skepticism 101 - Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence
|category1 = Logic & Philosophy
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 39
|date = Aug 1 2008
|contents = Skepticism 101 - The Ideomotor Effect
|category1 = Neuroscience & Psychology
|category2 = Paranormal
|category3 = Pseudoscience
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = verified
|episode = 38
|date = Sep 24 2008
|contents = Skepticism 101 - Pareidolia
|category1 = Nature & Evolution
|category2 = Neuroscience & Psychology
|category3 = Paranormal
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = verified
|episode = 37
|date = Sep 17 2008
|contents = Skepticism 101 - The Scientific Method
|category1 = General Science
|category2 = Logic & Philosophy
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = incomplete
|episode = 36
|date = Sep 10 2008
|contents = Skepticism 101 - Cold Reading
|category1 = Paranormal
|category2 = Neuroscience & Psychology
|category3 = Cons, Scams & Hoaxes
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 35
|date = Sep 3 2008
|contents = No sunspots in August - will this lead to a period of solar cooling?
|category1 = Astronomy & Space Science
|category2 =
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 34
|date = Aug 27 2008
|contents = Woman claims wires grow out of her body
|category1 = Paranormal
|category2 = Cons, Scams & Hoaxes
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = verified
|episode = 33
|date = Aug 20 2008
|contents = The Shroud of Turin - Shroud scientists try to resurrect the controversy
|category1 = Myths & Misconceptions
|category2 = Religion & Faith
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 32
|date = Aug 11 2008
|contents = Skepticism 101 - Occam's Razor
|category1 = Logic & Philosophy
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = verified
|episode = 31
|date = Aug 4 2008
|contents = Digital Homeopathy 20 years after Benveniste
|category1 = Homeopathy
|category2 = Pseudoscience
|category3 = Cons, Scams & Hoaxes
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = verified
|episode = 30
|date = Jul 29 2008
|contents = Evaluation of a UCONN study of therapeutic touch on bone cells in culture
|category1 = Alternative Medicine
|category2 = New Age
|category3 = Science & Medicine
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 29
|date = July 20 2008
|contents = The SGU celebrates the 39th anniversary of Apollo 11 by debunking some moon landing hoax myths, and they are joined by Phil Plait, the Bad Astronomer
|category1 = Astronomy & Space Science
|category2 = Conspiracy Theories
|category3 = History
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 28
|date = July 13 2008
|contents = Exposing the logical fallacy of equating faith healing with medical care
|category1 = Logic & Philosophy
|category2 = Pseudoscience
|category3 = Science & Medicine
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 27
|date = July 06 2008
|contents = Cracking the Dogu Code - Ancient Astronauts
|category1 = Myths & Misconceptions
|category2 = UFOs & Aliens
|category3 = Pseudoscience
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = verified
|episode = 26
|date = June 29 2008
|contents = New study sheds light on genetic vs environmental contributions to sexuality
|category1 = Science & Medicine
|category2 = Nature & Evolution
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 25
|date = June 22 2008
|contents = NASA Plans Probe to the Sun
|category1 = Astronomy & Space Science
|category2 = Technology
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = verified
|episode = 24
|date = June 15 2008
|contents = New strategy for SETI - The Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence
|category1 = Astronomy & Space Science
|category2 = Technology
|category3 = UFOs & Aliens
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = verified
|episode = 23
|date = June 08 2008
|contents = Lame car design analogy to intelligent design from the Discovery Institute
|category1 = Creationism & ID
|category2 = Logic & Philosophy
|category3 = Nature & Evolution
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = verified
|episode = 22
|date = June 01 2008
|contents = Researchers allow monkey to control robotic arm with its mind
|category1 = Technology
|category2 = Neuroscience & Psychology
|category3 = Science & Medicine
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = verified
|episode = 21
|date = May 25 2008
|contents = Family claims women miraculously brought back to life after rigor mortis
|category1 = Science & Medicine
|category2 = Science & the Media
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 20
|date = May 18 2008
|contents = SPAM Chainletter e-mails do not spread as virally as thought
|category1 = Technology
|category2 = Cons, Scams & Hoaxes
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = verified
|episode = 19
|date = May 11 2008
|contents = The Science of Science Fiction Movies
|category1 = Entertainment
|category2 = General Science
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = verified
|episode = 18
|date = May 4 2008
|contents = Man Regenerates Finger - Bad Science News Reporting
|category1 = Science & the Media
|category2 = Science & Medicine
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = verified
|episode = 17
|date = Apr 27 2008
|contents = T-Rex proteins closely related to chickens
|category1 = Nature & Evolution
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = verified
|episode = 16
|date = Apr 20 2008
|contents = Surgery under hypnosis
|category1 = Science & Medicine
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = incomplete
|episode = 15
|date = Apr 13 2008
|contents = Examining a fossilized snake - with legs
|category1 = Nature & Evolution
|category2 = Creationism & ID
|category3 = General Science
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = verified
|episode = 14
|date = Apr 6 2008
|contents = Nomophobia - the fear of being out of cell phone range
|category1 = Science & Medicine
|category2 = Technology
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = verified
|episode = 13
|date = Mar 30 2008
|contents = Man convicted of molestation claims he was raped by Bigfoot
|category1 = Cryptozoology
|category2 = Legal Issues & Regulations
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = verified
|episode = 12
|date = Mar 23 2008
|contents = Faith-healing cult leads to child death from medical neglect
|category1 = Alternative Medicine
|category2 = Energy Healing
|category3 = Religion & Faith
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = verified
|episode = 11
|date = Mar 16 2008
|contents = Art project to give the city of Portland, Oregon acupuncture
|category1 = Alternative Medicine
|category2 = Energy Healing
|category3 = Entertainment
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 10
|status = verified
|date = Mar 9 2008
|contents = Steven Spielberg to create new paranormal online community
|category1 = Paranormal
|category2 = Entertainment
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 9
|status = verified
|date = Mar 2 2008
|contents = An Emmy award winning actress and her 911 conspiracy theory
|category1 = Conspiracy Theories
|category2 = Entertainment
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 8
|status = verified
|date = Feb 23 2008
|contents = Cryptozoology - Hunting for the Thunderbird
|category1 = Cryptozoology
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 7
|status = verified
|date = Feb 17 2008
|contents = Proposed center for exorcism in Poland
|category1 = Ghosts & Demons
|category2 = Religion & Faith
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|episode = 6
|status = verified
|date = Feb 11 2008
|contents = Dr. Harris's Pain Relief Snake Oil Infomercial
|category1 = Cons, Scams & Hoaxes
|category2 = Alternative Medicine
}}
|-
{{5X5 list entry
|status = verified
|episode = 5
|date = Feb 3 2008
|contents = Pope Benedict XVI takes on science
|category1 = Religion & Faith
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{{5X5 list entry
|status = verified
|episode = 4
|date = Jan 28 2008
|contents = Do celebrity deaths come in threes? The rogues take on numerology
|category1 = Myths & Misconceptions
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|contents = Multilevel Marketing and Pyramid Schemes
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|date = Jan 13 2008
|contents = Ghost Photographs
|category1 = Paranormal
|category2 = Ghosts & Demons
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|date = Jan 6 2008
|contents = The National Health Service of the UK plans to regulate alternative medicine
|category1 = Alternative Medicine
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|}

5X5 Episode 47

2013-02-20T08:36:52Z

Hecatommyriagon:

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You are listening to the Skeptics Guide 5x5, five minutes with five skeptics. With Steve, Jay, Rebecca, Bob and Evan.

S: This is SGU 5x5 and tonight we are talking about remote viewing. Remote viewing is a form of extra-sensory perception or ESP, that involves as the name implies -
imagining or seeing in your mind, an image that is remote from your current location. So you are not seeing it with your eyes, you’re seeing it with your mind. The term
itself was introduced, by two parapsychologists, Russell Targ and Harold Puthoff in 1974, who did some of the first research on remote viewing.

B: Also to be a little bit more specific, if a sender or beacon is used to send psychic images, then it's said to be telepathy. If no beacon is used, then, the term
clairvoyance is more generally used.

E: Except how does that work when, there are claims of being able to see things such as mountains on far away planets, and other unverifiable facts by any other, by any
other means.

S: Well the entire phenomenon of remote viewing has not been verified. So if we talk about it from the point of view of plausibility - how could it possibly work? Well
certainly it lies far, far, far outside the realm of physics and neuroscience etc. There is no, process or property of the brain that could account for it, there is no
energy or phenomenon in physics that can account for this phenomenon either. So that gives it an extremely implausible position to be starting from.

E: There is trickery and fakery though. Witch many people over the course of (*laughs*) history conducting these tests both subjects and researchers, have been found on
many occasions to be cheating.

S: Yeah, certainly magicians can produce the effect of seeming to do remote viewing, and in fact some of Targ and Puthoff's original research was criticized as them just
being fooled, by trickery.

?: Would dousing be considered a form of remote viewing?

S: No. Dousing is a form of ESP, but that's more divination. Divination is getting information, by using some kind of a yes/no-system. Whereas remote viewing is getting an
image or picture.

B: The US government actually popularized remote viewing with the Stargate project, which where active in the 1970s all the way up through 1995. And the psychic research
was done at Stanford University and the American Society for Psychical Research.

S: So what was that? About 20 years or so of research, and about 20 million dollars - the government concluded that remote viewing was worthless. That they, you could not
use it in order to spy, you know remotely, on your enemies. Could not use it to transfer information in any, you know any, useful information - even three letters or
anything. So essentially, abandoned as worthless after about 20 million of tax-payers money was spent. Has also been a lot of, civilian research in the area - ah, and even
some overlap of course. The most famous research into remote viewing was the so called Ganzfeld experiments. Ah. That was a - ahm, Ganzfeld is a procedure where you have
somebody in a somewhat of a sensory deprivation situation and they have to choose among four images that the sender is sending to them. And proponents or believers, like
Dean Rayden for example, claimed that they have been able to obtain, greater than chance results, with the Ganzfeld set-up, however - ah, ahm, careful review of data and
the procedures that are being used in the specific labs, as the controls are tightened satisfactorily the, the effect size disappears, it shrinks until it disappears
entirely. And once you get to, a lab doing really, very, very tight protocols - where there is no leaking for example of information, and the randomization process is
proper etc. Following the so called Hyman and Honorton criteria for a tight study - then the effects really are just within chance. And there's - they haven't been able to
replicate the Ganzfeld experiment to produce an actual effect. And, no - you know, no researchers have been able to produce a consistent, replicable effect, so - remote
viewing is left as being highly implausible and - not validated by any specific research protocol, that can consistently or in any replicated fashion, produce positive
results. So, I think Occam's Razor, dictates in this case, that the phenomenon of remote viewing simply does not exist.

B: Like much of the paranormal, not only is the experimental evidence lacking, the plausibility factor by itself is a complete deal breaker for me. There is no evidence
that the brain is a receiver of information, in the way that remote viewing would've require. The energy that could carry such information has never been detected and
would be detectable. If a brain could detect it, then so could our instrumentation.

S: And if you even just, ask questions like what happens with this, if, if, there is an alleged signal that cannot be detected by equipment. Can it be blocked by,
shielding? Can it be - will it diminish with distance? And any way you try to test it, to try to see what characteristics it has, it turns out not to have any
characteristics. It doesn't, it can't be blocked by anything, it does not diminish with distance. Again, Occam's Razor - dictates that that's consistent with there being
no effect there. There is no signal.

*outro

S: SGU 5x5 is a companion podcast to The Skeptics Guide to the Universe - a weekly science podcast brought to you by the New England Skeptical Society, in association with
Skepchick.org. For more information on this and other episodes, visit our website: www.theskepticsguide.org. Music is provided by Jake Wilson.

5X5 Episode 47

2013-02-20T08:30:35Z

Hecatommyriagon: Created page with "?: You are listening to the Skeptics Guide 5x5, five minutes with five skeptics. With Steve, Jay, Rebecca, Bob and Evan. S: This is SGU 5x5 and tonight we are talking about r..."

?: You are listening to the Skeptics Guide 5x5, five minutes with five skeptics. With Steve, Jay, Rebecca, Bob and Evan.

S: This is SGU 5x5 and tonight we are talking about remote viewing. Remote viewing is a form of extra-sensory perception or ESP, that involves as the name implies -
imagining or seeing in your mind, an image that is remote from your current location. So you are not seeing it with your eyes, you’re seeing it with your mind. The term
itself was introduced, by two parapsychologists, Russell Targ and Harold Puthoff in 1974, who did some of the first research on remote viewing.

B: Also to be a little bit more specific, if a sender or beacon is used to send psychic images, then it's said to be telepathy. If no beacon is used, then, the term
clairvoyance is more generally used.

E: Except how does that work when, there are claims of being able to see things such as mountains on far away planets, and other unverifiable facts by any other, by any
other means.

S: Well the entire phenomenon of remote viewing has not been verified. So if we talk about it from the point of view of plausibility - how could it possibly work? Well
certainly it lies far, far, far outside the realm of physics and neuroscience etc. There is no, process or property of the brain that could account for it, there is no
energy or phenomenon in physics that can account for this phenomenon either. So that gives it an extremely implausible position to be starting from.

E: There is trickery and fakery though. Witch many people over the course of (*laughs*) history conducting these tests both subjects and researchers, have been found on
many occasions to be cheating.

S: Yeah, certainly magicians can produce the effect of seeming to do remote viewing, and in fact some of Targ and Puthoff's original research was criticized as them just
being fooled, by trickery.

?: Would dousing be considered a form of remote viewing?

S: No. Dousing is a form of ESP, but that's more divination. Divination is getting information, by using some kind of a yes/no-system. Whereas remote viewing is getting an
image or picture.

B: The US government actually popularized remote viewing with the Stargate project, which where active in the 1970s all the way up through 1995. And the psychic research
was done at Stanford University and the American Society for Psychical Research.

S: So what was that? About 20 years or so of research, and about 20 million dollars - the government concluded that remote viewing was worthless. That they, you could not
use it in order to spy, you know remotely, on your enemies. Could not use it to transfer information in any, you know any, useful information - even three letters or
anything. So essentially, abandoned as worthless after about 20 million of tax-payers money was spent. Has also been a lot of, civilian research in the area - ah, and even
some overlap of course. The most famous research into remote viewing was the so called Ganzfeld experiments. Ah. That was a - ahm, Ganzfeld is a procedure where you have
somebody in a somewhat of a sensory deprivation situation and they have to choose among four images that the sender is sending to them. And proponents or believers, like
Dean Rayden for example, claimed that they have been able to obtain, greater than chance results, with the Ganzfeld set-up, however - ah, ahm, careful review of data and
the procedures that are being used in the specific labs, as the controls are tightened satisfactorily the, the effect size disappears, it shrinks until it disappears
entirely. And once you get to, a lab doing really, very, very tight protocols - where there is no leaking for example of information, and the randomization process is
proper etc. Following the so called Hyman and Honorton criteria for a tight study - then the effects really are just within chance. And there's - they haven't been able to
replicate the Ganzfeld experiment to produce an actual effect. And, no - you know, no researchers have been able to produce a consistent, replicable effect, so - remote
viewing is left as being highly implausible and - not validated by any specific research protocol, that can consistently or in any replicated fashion, produce positive
results. So, I think Occam's Razor, dictates in this case, that the phenomenon of remote viewing simply does not exist.

B: Like much of the paranormal, not only is the experimental evidence lacking, the plausibility factor by itself is a complete deal breaker for me. There is no evidence
that the brain is a receiver of information, in the way that remote viewing would've require. The energy that could carry such information has never been detected and
would be detectable. If a brain could detect it, then so could our instrumentation.

S: And if you even just, ask questions like what happens with this, if, if, there is an alleged signal that cannot be detected by equipment. Can it be blocked by,
shielding? Can it be - will it diminish with distance? And any way you try to test it, to try to see what characteristics it has, it turns out not to have any
characteristics. It doesn't, it can't be blocked by anything, it does not diminish with distance. Again, Occam's Razor - dictates that that's consistent with there being
no effect there. There is no signal.

*outro

S: SGU 5x5 is a companion podcast to The Skeptics Guide to the Universe - a weekly science podcast brought to you by the New England Skeptical Society, in association with
Skepchick.org. For more information on this and other episodes, visit our website: www.theskepticsguide.org. Music is provided by Jake Wilson.