Pseudoscience And Extraordinary Claims Of The Paranormal

Pseudoscience and Extraordinary Claims of the Paranormal provides readers with the tools to make sense of the strange and unexplained. Geared for paranormal believers and skeptics alike, the text utilizes a systematic approach for making measured and thoughtful analyses of paranormal claims. Are ghosts real? Can the living communicate with the dead? Does prayer work? Are astrology and psychic readings accurate? In this groundbreaking book, a leading expert in the field makes sense of these mysteries and many more. Geared for paranormal believers and skeptics alike, Pseudoscience and Extraordinary Claims of the Paranormal: A Critical Thinker's Toolkit provides readers with a highly original, engaging, and clear-headed approach for analyzing paranormal claims and distinguishing science from pseudoscience. Committed above all to embracing fact over fiction, Smith encourages readers to question “fearlessly and honestly.” The result may just be a greater appreciation of the awe and wonder that true science brings to our world. Pseudoscience and Extraordinary Claims of the Paranormal: A Critical Thinker's Toolkit provides readers with a variety of "reality-checking" tools to analyze extraordinary claims and to determine their validity. Integrates simple yet powerful evaluative tools used by both paranormal believers and skeptics alike Introduces innovations such as a continuum for ranking paranormal claims and evaluating their implications Includes an innovative "Critical Thinker's Toolkit," a systematic approach for performing reality checks on paranormal claims related to astrology, psychics, spiritualism, parapsychology, dream telepathy, mind-over-matter, prayer, life after death, creationism, and more Explores the five alternative hypotheses to consider when confronting a paranormal claim