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Informationen zum Autor Chris French is Emeritus Professor and Head of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit in the Psychology Department at Goldsmiths, University of London. He is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society and of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and a Patron of Humanists UK. He is the coauthor of Anomalistic Psychology: Exploring Paranormal Belief and Experience . Klappentext "Psychological insights into weird beliefs and experiences"-- Zusammenfassung An accessible and gratifying introduction to the world of paranormal beliefs and bizarre experiences. Ghostly encounters, alien abduction, reincarnation, talking to the dead, UFO sightings, inexplicable coincidences, out-of-body and near-death experiences. Are these legitimate phenomena? If not, then how should we go about understanding them? In this fascinating book, Chris French investigates paranormal claims to discover what lurks behind this “weird shit.” French provides authoritative evidence-based explanations for a wide range of superficially mysterious phenomena, and then goes further to draw out lessons with wider applications to many other aspects of modern society where critical thinking is urgently needed. Using academic, comprehensive, logical, and, at times, mathematical approaches, The Science of Weird Shit convincingly debunks ESP, communicating with the dead, and alien abduction claims, among other phenomena. All the while, however, French maintains that our belief in such phenomena is neither ridiculous nor trivial; if anything, such claims can tell us a great deal about the human mind if we pay them the attention they are due. Filled with light-bulb moments and a healthy dose of levity, The Science of Weird Shit is a clever, memorable, and gratifying read you won’t soon forget. Inhaltsverzeichnis Contents Foreword by Richard Wiseman ix Preface xiii 1 WEIRD SCIENCE 1 2 WAKING NIGHTMARES 33 3 HIGH SPIRITS, PART 1: GHOSTLY ENCOUNTERS 69 4 HIGH SPIRITS, PART 2: COMMUNICATING WITH THE DEAD 111 5 FANTASTIC MEMORIES OF ALIEN ENCOUNTERS 133 6 MANY HAPPY RETURNS? 171 7 DYING TO KNOW THE TRUTH 191 8 NO SUCH THING AS COINCIDENCE? 215 9 TRICKS OF THE MIND 235 10 SKEPTICAL INQUIRIES 247 11 DREAMS OF THE FUTURE 267 12 LESSONS FOR (THE) LIVING 283 EPILOGUE: THE LIMITS OF SKEPTICISM 301 Author’s Note and Acknowledgments 317 Notes 321 Index 365...
