Oh goodie, a little soap box :-).
My position is that psychic abilities are real. They are skills that are capable of being scientifically proven. They have been scientifically proven in the past. And if one so desires, it's possible to prove them to yourself, even with very strict protocol.
I believe the classical skeptical mindset is that of a fundamentalist. I categorize their behavior in the same group of people who claim I'm going to hell because I wear jeans and listen to rock music. The patterns are the same - "I am right, because I am right, and you don't agree, therefore you are wrong and stupid."
I find it ironic that those who claim to be the most logical and scientific are actually the least logical and scientific. It forces me to conclude that human beings are emotional creatures, no matter how hard we try to be "logical". I believe that society incorrectly identifies logic as how humans behave... that we ARE intelligent creatures. I think this is a slight distortion - we are emotional creatures who have learned to use logic to support our emotions.
For this reason, I love to study beliefs and emotion. I love to get to the root of behavior, and understand why we act the way we act. How can we say one thing, but believe something else? How can we delude ourselves? How come our beliefs aren't transparent? Why do they affect us so much? Why isn't reality clear? Questions like that :-).
As far as the paranormal goes, I think the best strategy is healthy skepticism. Healthy skepticism means that we study with an open mind. It's ok to think, "Hmm this seems stupid", as long as it's followed by: "... but maybe they are right, so let me drop what I believe for a moment, and give them a fair and honest chance." Also: "I believe they are right, however, I need to make sure my beliefs aren't causing me to be biased, and act unfairly. If I detach myself from the outcome, what is the most efficient way to fairly evaluate their claims, without bias?"
If you are being skeptical, and turning angry in the process, then that means you are not being a healthy skeptic. If you are being skeptical, and have a knee jerk reaction that anything crazy sounding must be wrong and stupid, then you are not being a healthy skeptic.
Those are my current thoughts.
~Sean
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