Why do so many people believe in Dean Radin

  • Thread starter Trollfaz
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In summary, Dean Radin is a parapsychologist who recently conducted an experiment on consciousness and the double slit experiment, which has been widely criticized as pseudoscientific. However, many people seem to agree with his findings, raising the question of why individuals engage in pseudoscience. Some possible reasons include a lack of understanding or background in the subject, the human tendency to be emotional and irrational, and the desire to believe in something that offers answers or hope. While pseudoscience may not be based on solid evidence, it can still have a strong influence on people, especially in vulnerable situations.
  • #1
Trollfaz
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Dean Radin is a parapsychologist and is a great pseudoscientist, his latest experiment on consciousness and the double slit experiment https://explore.scimednet.org/index...consciousness-affects-matter-dean-radin-ph-d/
is another pseudoscientific gibberish, but when I looked through many discussion sites, people apparently agreed with him. Why would people want to engage in pseudoscience?
 
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  • #2
That is a great question.

The xkcd comic has a partial answer for Physics, lack of math background:

https://xkcd.com/1861/
 
  • #3
Trollfaz said:
Dean Radin is a parapsychologist and is a great pseudoscientist, his latest experiment on consciousness and the double slit experiment https://explore.scimednet.org/index...consciousness-affects-matter-dean-radin-ph-d/
is another pseudoscientific gibberish, but when I looked through many discussion sites, people apparently agreed with him. Why would people want to engage in pseudoscience?
Probably not a subject PF will entertain for too long, but anyways...

Do you have a favorite sports team. Why? How does their winning or losing affect anyone's life. Yet fans will become very emotional over the outcome of a game.
Why go to a movie, or read a fictional book? It is all fantasy. Yet we cheer for the hero, and become emotionally involved with characters that do not exist.
One can go on with examples of where we as humans are very not 'Spock like", but irrational and illogical in our decision making.
So we have the ability to make a choice to be nonsensical, and not always calculated to be the most perfect.
Calculated choices require a lot of brain energy to be expended and calculations take time.
We may always not have the required energy input nor the time, so basing choices on limited information could be a matter of survival.
And believing what others have stated as being their experience and conclusions, lends itself to the recipient of not having to re-do the experience themselves nor attempt to formulate a conclusion - more brain power needed.
Pseudoscience may feel to some as if it is offering the answers they seek, to whatever questions they are asking.
For others it may be a fun endeavor.
Some others reasons also.
And who knows, maybe there is something there after all, in all its confusion of ideas.

The difficulty I have with it, is not so much the blind leading the blind, but the manipulative leading the gullible.
And unfortunately, sorry to say we, can all be gullible at times, and definitely not a sign of a character flaw or anything like that, but just human.

( Didn't someone say "There's a sucker born every minute." )
 
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  • #4
@256bits is correct. This kind of post can derail very quickly, and some PF staff may not find it acceptable from the get go.

My opinion is that is useful to understand why garbage like this gets accepted. @256bits mentions the gullibility argument. There are others. People dying of an incurable disease will sometimes resort to magic, or New Age hoo-hah, simply to keep up hope. IMO.
 
  • #5
I'm afraid it is against our guidelines to discuss such pseudoscience :)
 
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Related to Why do so many people believe in Dean Radin

1. Why is Dean Radin's work considered controversial in the scientific community?

Dean Radin's work is considered controversial in the scientific community because many of his studies and claims revolve around parapsychology, a field that is not widely accepted in the scientific community due to a lack of replicability and the presence of potential biases and fraud.

2. What evidence does Dean Radin use to support his theories?

Dean Radin uses a variety of evidence to support his theories, including statistical analyses of experimental data, anecdotal reports, and personal experiences. However, many scientists argue that his methodologies and data interpretation are flawed, making his evidence unreliable.

3. How does Dean Radin address criticisms of his work?

Dean Radin often argues that his work is not meant to provide definitive proof of paranormal phenomena, but rather to encourage further research and discussion in the field. He also responds to criticisms by citing studies that support his claims and by pointing out flaws in the methodologies of his critics.

4. Is there any scientific support for Dean Radin's theories?

While there are some studies that seem to support Dean Radin's theories, they are often met with skepticism and criticism from the scientific community. Many scientists argue that the evidence is not strong enough to support the existence of paranormal phenomena.

5. How does Dean Radin's work impact the scientific understanding of the mind and consciousness?

Dean Radin's work challenges the traditional scientific understanding of the mind and consciousness by suggesting the existence of paranormal phenomena. This has sparked debate and controversy among scientists, with some arguing that his work should be taken seriously and others dismissing it as pseudoscience.

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