The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

Carl Sagan's, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark discusses such topics as UFO's, "channeling", witchcraft, faith healing, ghosts/demons, and hoaxes such as (crop circles, spoon-bending), possession, and reincarnation. He goes into detail about the importance of knowing 'real' science from pseudoscience, and the reprecussions that could ensue from a lack of knowledge. Sagan takes a good look at the topics mentioned above and does not dismiss them, he lets the reader look at the reports, and claims from actual believers. The presentation of these claims allows the reader to make their own decisions about the topic, and supplies the reader with scientific facts that either support or disprove the phenomenon.

The author went to great lengths to gather as much information about the topics presented in order to be objective. I think it is important for those who either believe or do not believe in different paranormal or pseudoscientific phenomena to read this novel, as it presents two sides to each subject. With a rich background in science, Sagan allows the reader to understand the science behind different phenomena in simple terms.

In the novel several chapters discussed the topic of UFO's, UFO abductees and their claims, compared these abductees' testimonies to those individuals that had been sexually abused. Starting with the belief in UFO's, Sagan presented a plethora of information about sightings, abduction and abuse by extraterrestrials. Sagan lists numerous claims and testimonies in which each of the proposed abductees gave their stories. Abductees along with those individuals that have been sexually abused truly believe in their stories. The comparison deals with therapy and interaction with UFO psychiatrists, and how abduction victims and sexual abuse victims can sometimes be led on or influenced by their doctors about the contents of their stories and experiences. This same topic was discussed in Chapter 6 of the text, in terms of suggestive interviewing and leading questions.

The main concern taken from these two sets of seemingly different individuals is the amount of trust these patients have in their psychiatrists, and how they can easily be taken advantage of. These abductees and victims come into the office of these proclaimed UFO doctors with full expectation that they can trust them, and help them move forward. Suggestive interviewing and leading questions are two techniques that sometimes occur consciously or unconsciously by psychiatrists and can cause confusion and sometimes belief in something that never happened. These techniques can be in the form of subtle words, body language or repeated scenarios that are internalized by the individual. After this internalization of these scenarios, the individual may begin to use these 'planted ideas' as their own when telling their story.

The novel illustrates very clearly that victims of sexual abuse and alien abduction may be similar, in that victims of alleged abduction may not have been abused by aliens but by the guardians or parents who we are raised to trust. The realization that their parent or guardian have sexually abused these abductees may come to a shock to some, but it seems clear that it is a makeshift defense mechanism. In blaming an UFO or extraterrestrial, the individual does not have to face the possibility that they have been betrayed or hurt by the person they are supposed to trust and look to for protection.

Staying on the topic of UFO's and abduction, the next thing discussed will be the story of Betty and Barney Hill, who were the first couple to report an alien abduction story back in 1961. The couple was driving home, on a lonely stretch of highway when they sighted a bright glowing object, afraid of injury the coupld decided to take back roads to their home. After arriving home, much to their suprise they realized it had been much later than they anticipated in getting home, by two hours. Where did the lost time go, Betty read a novel about UFO abduction, which she shared with her husband and friends, and so their story became legend. The following video shows the story of the Hills.

The novel describes clearly and precisely numerous paranormal and pseudoscientific phenomena, with they use of biological sciences and a large selection of testimonies, articles and history. I feel like the novel has the potential to support the sciences and the importance of learning about 'real science', according to Sagan, and not believing in unsupported data without justifiable proof. Further, Sagan advises that individuals should learn to admit when they are wrong, and look for ways to get proof through proper 'scientific research.'

Remote Viewing (RV) & Project Star Gate

Remote Viewing (RV) is a psychic phenomena not to be confused with the remote viewing of a person's PC desktop via another PC desktop. Project Star Gate is the name of a series of remote viewing experiments our government funded and is not to be confused with the popular "Stargate" movies or television series.

What exactly is Remote Viewing? Wikipedia describes RV as the "practice of seeking impressions about a distant or unseen target," while "using extra-sensory perception (ESP)." A practitioner does not utilize their five senses - instead, they perceive (see or sense) with only their mind which is otherwise known as clairvoyance.

To better understand RV and how it works, consider this: You're sitting in your living room and without any outside influence or stimuli, you obtain an accurate real-time vision of a specific person, place, object or event outside of the range of your five senses (ex. at your neighbor's house, in the next town, state or country etc.). Obviously, you would need (confirmation) another person to be at the location or monitoring the location that you are seeing in order to verify your description.

The implications of RV, if plausible and reliable would then be staggering. From an intelligence or military perspective, one could know the battlefield up close and personal before entering it and the location of hidden enemies and whatever plans they may have without physically being in harm's way. Such an ability would become a powerful weapon for us or potentially used against us. With these considerations in mind, our government funded a program to study the effectiveness of Remote Viewing and implemented RV training. This research was conducted for 23+ years. According to Remoteviewed.com, in 1995, the CIA went public with the program and released "12,000 files totaling 89,000 pages of material" spanning the entire life of the project.

If you guessed the release of such information is evidence that nothing epic was discovered in the research, you guessed correctly. In fact, The Skeptic's Dictionary has published an excellent overview of RV and outlined its supporters and debunkers, CIA based studies as well as independent studies. To summarize, the CIA shut the project down because it was proven to be of "no practical value to the intelligence community." In addition, independent studies could not replicate the results.

Despite this end result, people have continued to believe that Remote Viewing is real and can be learned. This causes it to fall under the category of pseudoscience. Many movies, books, websites and how-to training manuals have been published. One of my favorite RV-related movies is Suspect Zero where a former FBI agent is trained in RV and uses it to catch a serial killer. I thought the concept was pretty cool but the DVD extras included information about Operation Star Gate which was far more interesting. All entertainment aside, many people seem smitten with the concept of RV which is precisely why the RV industry was born and still thrives today.

Crystal Healing

Crystal healers allege that gemstones carry "vibrational rates" and that when placed within your aura your vibrational rate changes as well. It is suggested that simply wearing high quality round beads around the neck can have significant benefits, but healers warn that if metal surrounds the gemstone the benefits are greatly reduced or eliminated completely.
The fancier techniques of crystal healing, however, are not so simple as donning a fancy necklace but rather seeking a crystal healer who will work with the gemstones in the context of your chakras. The "healer" may also arrange the crystals around the body in order to create an "energy grid" which then surrounds the subject with "healing energy."
So what is all this healing energy supposed to do? (Besides nothing, we'll be there in a moment). Crystal healing claims to remove blockages in your aura (uh-huh), as well as in the body's electromagnetic field (right). Some practitioners use laser quartz wands which may be used to perform "psychic surgery" (oh yes, it exists). One crystal healer lists her personal experience on her website (where she also sells her services and gemstones) and claims that these therapies have energized and healed her; from breaking bad habits, to healing dog bites, she claims they have changed her life. To see a list of many gemstones and their therapeutic properties click here.
There is evidence that crystal healing or at least the belief in the power of gemstones has existed for quite some time in several cultures, such as the Hopi Indians, the Hawaiian islanders, the Egyptians and Chinese (both fond of Jade) and Asians drawn to the emerald. We often see that these bogus therapies are promoted because of their Eastern histories or how "ancient" they are, the same holds true for crystal healing which also has ties to other occult medicines such as Chakra therapy. Much of the "results" are deduced to be the placebo effect, and nothing more. In fact, studies down with both real and fake quartz crystals showed no difference in results.
An interesting tidbit; Marcel Vogel, former IBM research scientist, is a proponent of this jargon claiming, "The crystal is a neutral object whose inner structure exhibits a state of perfection and balance. Like a laser, it radiates energy in a coherent, highly concentrated form, and this energy may be transmitted into objects or people at will. With proper training, a healer using a crystal can release negative thoughtforms which have taken shape as disease patterns." Whatever you say, Marc.
So now, what do you think about this video and its claims? (If it works, *fingers crossed*).