Have you ever heard of the Rhine Research Center Institute for Parapsychology“?
I had heard about them for years and i’ve always heard they were THE place to go for information on psychic or paranormal phenomena.
According to the Rhine meetup group, their goal is “to improve the human condition by creating a scientific understanding of those abilities and sensitivities that appear to transcend the ordinary limits of space and time.[ref]“
As the so-called authority on parapsychology research, i thought i’d visit their site (http://www.rhine.org/) in search of some proof of the paranormal. I am particularly interested in finding some evidence of psychic ability, so i figured The Rhine Center should have some studies i could read.
I looked all over their site but couldn’t find any studies. But i did come across a document titled “Requests for Demonstrations or Evaluations of Psi Ability”[1], so i downloaded it and this is what i found:
Am i reading this correctly? They decline requests to demonstrate or evaluate PSI (psychic or paranormal phenomena) because “Modern research has moved beyond the need for mere demonstration of psi ability to a focus on the process of how psi occurs“?
What? The Rhine Center can’t be bothered actually proving or demonstrating the existence of PSI, they just pretend it’s real and spend their time fantasizing how it might work? Wow. Is this really something they should admit?
I wish i had a job where my bosses didn’t worry whether i actually did something, but instead were just happy thinking about how i might work if i did work.
So how does one test their psychic abilities? The Rhine Center has the answer in the same document:
Got it. Let’s all sit around the kitchen table and make up our own uncontrolled tests.
How COULD they endorse somebody? They can’t demonstrate PSI and they don’t test for PSI!!! Are they serious?
That’s my Rhine Whine for the day.
Mason I. Bilderberg
1. Since i downloaded the document used in this piece (evaluation_for_psi_ability.pdf), The Rhine Center removed it from their web page – that’s weird – or maybe they realized their silly admission of not testing or being able to demonstrate PSI abilities. Fortunately, a copy can still be found at archive.org’s WayBack Machine. Scroll about halfway down, you want to click the link that says “rhine.org/research_docs/popular/evaluation_for_psi_ability.pdf” OR you can download it directly from me right here.
James Randi, a.k.a. The Amazing Randi, magician and author of numerous works skeptical of paranormal, supernatural, and pseudoscientific claims has for about ten years offered “a one-million-dollar prize to anyone who can show, under proper observing conditions, evidence of any paranormal, supernatural, or occult power.” His rules were little more than what any reasonable scientist would require. If you are a mental spoon bender, you couldn’t use your own spoons. If you claimed to see auras, you’d have to do so under controlled conditions. If you claimed to be able to do remote viewing, you wouldn’t be given credit for coming close in some vague way. If you were going to demonstrate dowsing powers, you would have to be prepared to be tested under controlled conditions. If you were going to do psychic surgery or experience the stigmata, you would have to do so with cameras watching your every move.
